Devil Creek, Deep Creek & Weston Report

[BrianID]

[black]I was able to get on the ice today for the first time this winter. I had a good day but forgot my coat. Lucky for me it wasn’t that cold and there was little or no wind. I should have a 3-4 hours tomorrow afternoon to spare and plan on checking out American Falls Reservoir. I will post a report if I get out.[/black]
[black] [/black]
[black]Weston Reservoir[/black]
[black]Completely Iced over. I fished the mid section of the reservoir. I measured the ice at 5” (+/- 1/4") in all 6 holes that I drilled. To me it appeared the ice was close to 5” thick over the entire reservoir. The ice was clear and appeared strong but I would be careful because there are a few springs and Weston. The fish were biting but I had a hard time hooking them.[/black]
[black] [/black]
[black]Deep Creek Reservoir[/black]
[black]Completely iced over. By the boat ramp there was 2” of clear ice in most places. I didn’t drill any on the NW end of the dam and First Creek arm but it appeared to be thicker than 3”. I would guess it was 4”-6” in places. The ice was clear and first appeared to not be iced over in most of the reservoir. The fish were biting but I had a hard time hooking them.[/black]
[black] [/black]
[black]Devil Creek Reservoir[/black]
[black]About 90% iced over. The open water was on the upper end of the reservoir. There was also some thinner glass like ice on the upper end of the reservoir. By the dam the ice was 5”-6” thick. There was some vegetation frozen in the ice in places so be careful. The fish were biting and some of them would hook themselves. I only put a tape on a handful of the fish I caught but I feel confident that all of them were 9”-15”. I caught one cutbow and the rest were rainbows.[/black]
[signature]

[BrianID]

Here are a few tips.

By far the best bite at Devil Creek was on the bottom. I was fishing in 15'-20' of water. I caught a few suspended but I caught more than 10 fish on the bottom for every one I caught suspended.
I wasn't fishing directly on the bottom. I was catching most of them 1-2 feet off the bottom and 5' off the bottom wasn't that bad either. For this report my definition of suspended was 2'-10' below the ice. The fish would take anything I put down the hole. I used everything from a 3" glo white tube jig with a minnow to a 1/124 oz ice fly with a small piece of meal worm. I also like to smear a little powerbait on my jigs and ice flies. 1.5" glo white tube jigs with a piece of night crawler and a little powerbait and a 1/32 oz ice fly with the same bait were probably my most successful but not by much.

At Deep Creek I didn't get enough bites to establish a pattern. I had hits on suspended poles and poles fished close to the bottom. My smaller tube jigs and ice flies were probably best. The fish were hard to hook though. They would come and do one very light bite and then they were gone. At Devil Creek many of them would hook themselves or bite multiple times until I hooked them.

At Weston I didn't get enough bites to establish a clear pattern either. I did get more bites on suspend poles and a pole fished in 4 feet of water than poles fished close to the bottom in deeper water. Like Deep Creek, the fish at Weston would general just bite once and wouldn't come back.

I think that the higher concentration of fish in Devil Creek and more competition for food caused the fish to be more aggressive there. That is just a guess though. It could have been the time of day or I was fishing the right part of the reservoir at Devil Creek.

Jigging my poles didn't seem to make a difference. Most of my bites came when I was dead sticking.
[signature]

[OvidCreek]

Thanks for the report Brian! I may be headed that way in a couple of weeks. I hope Deep picks up last year it was phenominal.

OvidCreek
[signature]

[BrianID]

I was too busy with other stuff to make it to American Falls today.

Ovid Creek,
I fished Deep Creek for less than an hour. Maybe I was just fishing it when the fish weren't very active or there just weren't very many fish in the part of the lake I was fishing.
[signature]

[halojm]

Thanks for the info Brian. I hoping to go up this weekend. Sportsmans in Ogden has a flyer up for the 1st Annual Devil Creek fishing tournment on the 20th and 21st of January. Do you know anything about that. info at web site: bigdogfishing.net Anyway thought a little trip up there prior is always a good thing. I'm on the pro staff of Rocky Mountain Tackle and will be trying some of our new stuff out. Hope the ice stays good.
[signature]

[acey]

Brian- Any plans to go out ice fishing anywhere on Friday the 15th? I would like to make a run somewhere before the end of the year. The posts I have read sound like Devil's Creek is the best bet. Any one needing a buddy for an ice fishing trip around Malad? Acey
[signature]

[BrianID]

[font "Times New Roman"][size 3] [/size][/font]acey,

Devil Creek should be a good bet but be careful on the ice. Today when I drove by Devil Creek there looked like there was possible less ice than there was a week ago. I did see one guy fishing it by the dam. I might go fishing for a few hours on Friday. I haven't decided where yet. Weather might be bad. Give me a call on my cell phone tomorrow (Thursday) or send me a PM.

halojm,

Thanks for posting the information about the Devil Creek on the 20th and 21st of January. The Sportsman’s Warehouse in Pocatello also had flyers. Sounds like a fun time but if I go fishing that weekend I think I will steer clear of Devil Creek.
[signature]

[halojm]

I agree with the detour. If it is anything like the derbies in Wyoming it will be a zoo on the ice.
[signature]