03-10-2025, 01:59 AM
Arrived Saturday at 7:30 am, 4 degrees, and no tracks on the lake. Oh boy! I thought. Turns out there was a reason there were no tracks. The snow was very deep. I did follow a set of tracks out onto the dam and down to the edge of the lake. I quickly found why they had turned around as I found myself in chest deep snow where it had stacked up against the dam face. I made my way back to the parking lot and debated giving it a try vs going to Scofield when a couple guys with a snowdog showed up. They decided to try to pack a trail with the snowdog. It went fine over to and down the ramp and made a small loop on the lake. The snowdog struggled getting back up to the parking lot. While they were loading their gear, I ventured down the trail. It was mostly good but did break through once in a while. At the outer part of the loop I headed out parallel to the dam. The snow was 20” deep on a little bit of slush. Walking and pulling a sled was difficult. I made it about 100 feet.
To prepare an area to fish, I stomped down the snow in a rectangular area. I decided to drill two holes to see what conditions were like. Hah! I had to dig down a little and add a 1- foot extension to my Strikemaster lite flite auger. I was just able to get a hole through the several layers of frozen slush and ice. Drilled one more and called it good. The other two guys borrowed my auger to get holes in as they didn’t have an extension for their K-drill.
I immediately marked several fish on my flasher. I was in 13.5 feet of water. I caught 12 splake (all +/- 13”) and 2 tiger trout (longest was 17”). Caught fish mostly on white plastics (Cut’r bug) and bare hook with small minnow or ball of nightcrawler. Caught only one on a dead stick (Jawjacker). Also caught a couple on a dark tungsten jig.
Go prepared if you decide to fish Huntington/Mammoth this winter!
To prepare an area to fish, I stomped down the snow in a rectangular area. I decided to drill two holes to see what conditions were like. Hah! I had to dig down a little and add a 1- foot extension to my Strikemaster lite flite auger. I was just able to get a hole through the several layers of frozen slush and ice. Drilled one more and called it good. The other two guys borrowed my auger to get holes in as they didn’t have an extension for their K-drill.
I immediately marked several fish on my flasher. I was in 13.5 feet of water. I caught 12 splake (all +/- 13”) and 2 tiger trout (longest was 17”). Caught fish mostly on white plastics (Cut’r bug) and bare hook with small minnow or ball of nightcrawler. Caught only one on a dead stick (Jawjacker). Also caught a couple on a dark tungsten jig.
Go prepared if you decide to fish Huntington/Mammoth this winter!
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j.o.a.t.m.o.n.
jack of all tackle, master of none
j.o.a.t.m.o.n.
jack of all tackle, master of none
