03-06-2015, 04:32 PM
I really put some effort into thinning the hordes of perch in Fish Lake but I believe there may still be over 500 perch left in the lake. [
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I arrived on Tuesday afternoon to find over 14 inches of snow on the short road leading to the cabin I would be using Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I was towing my Can-Am ATV on a 10 foot trailer and there was no way to get the trailer up the road to the cabin. I unhooked the trailer and I was able to drive my 4x4 truck to the cabin. After 40 minutes of snow shoveling I was able to clear the parking area adjacent to the cabin. By the time I was done, it was too late to venture out on the ice.
I did determine the snow was too deep to use the ATV. I drove over to Joe Bush and found the access road plowed to the parking area and restroom. Most of the other access pullouts had not been plowed by Tuesday evening and many were still not plowed when I left at 2:00 p.m. yesterday. The main road is not plowed beyond Joe Bush and there was about 12 to 14 inches of wind blown snow on the road. I took my ATV down the highway and I couldn't get very far without bogging down. Some folks did drive in about 100 yards and unload snowmobiles yesterday and they went out on the lake north of Joe Bush.
Conditions on the lake: The most recent series of snowstorms dumped quite a bit of snow in the area. I estimated there was 14 inches of snow in sheltered areas. The snow depth on the lake varied as some of the snow had been blown off by the strong winds Tuesday night. At Joe Bush there was about 10 to 12 inches of snow on the ice and the bottom few inches was beginning to get saturated with water. Walking was possible but in the areas where the slush monster was rearing it's ugly head, you would break through the crust and hit the slush which was about 2 or 3 inches deep. Waterproof boots will be needed for awhile unless you walk out on someone else's trail which has had a chance to freeze up.
I know what you're thinking: Enough of this dribble, what about the fishing?
I left the cabin at 0700 on Wednesday and the temp was minus 8 degrees. Needless to say any exposed slush had frozen to concrete. I walked out from the Joe Bush parking area and went to water that was 16 to 17 feet deep. I was about 150 yards from my truck. My Showdown fish finder immediately showed many fish near the bottom. I wanted to target perch and there were many that wanted to play. I was using a small Kastmaster spoon in Perch color as an attracter and then a 6 inch leader to a small jig. I used half a meal worm until I caught the first few perch, then I switch to perch eyeballs. I fished until 4:00 p.m. and I ended the day with exactly 200 perch by actual count. I also caught about 25 rainbows and several splake during the day but my primary focus was on the perch. Of the 200 perch I caught, 49 of them were 7.5 to 9 inches and I filleted them back at the cabin.
I didn't post any photos because 200 perch on the ice looks like 200 perch on the ice. The perch ranged in size from 4 to 9 inches. About one in four or five was big enough to produce a usable fillet.
I met a fellow fisherman in the morning and we eventually got to know each other. When he told me he was planning to sleep overnight in his Toyota Tacoma I invited him to share the cabin for the night. I'm sure it was much more comfortable in the cabin! Thursday morning the temp at the cabin was minus 6.
My new friend Brian and I fished until 1:00 p.m. yesterday. At the end of the trip our total catch was 384 perch and perhaps 40 to 50 rainbows and about a dozen splake. Brian decided since he had plenty of time on his hands he would take all of the perch I hadn't filleted and he told me he would slice and dice when he got home in Sevier County. We did offer one perch as a gift to the fishing gods. I tossed a four incher to a persistent Raven sitting about 50 feet away. I actually tossed him the fish to stop his insistent calling. The Raven ate all of the perch except the skull and gill covers.....pretty impressive for five minutes of work.
The weather was great. After the cold start, the days were nice with light winds and clear, sunny skies. I would imagine slush will be a problem until the saturated layers of snow freeze. I would not recommend the use of an ATV until the layers get hard. An ATV would probably break though the crust and get stuck. The folks using the snowmobiles didn't seem to have any problem going across the north end of the lake.
Like gnorth said, there will be several weeks of good ice conditions at Fish Lake and it's one of the only options left for us diehards. Remember, the more perch removed will only help the entire fishery up there. Heck, even the perch will probably show signs of additional growth when there is more food to go around. Each female perch removed now will prevent the introduction of thousands of young in a couple of months. Load up the clan and go get your share of tasty perch.
Mike
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]I arrived on Tuesday afternoon to find over 14 inches of snow on the short road leading to the cabin I would be using Tuesday and Wednesday nights. I was towing my Can-Am ATV on a 10 foot trailer and there was no way to get the trailer up the road to the cabin. I unhooked the trailer and I was able to drive my 4x4 truck to the cabin. After 40 minutes of snow shoveling I was able to clear the parking area adjacent to the cabin. By the time I was done, it was too late to venture out on the ice.
I did determine the snow was too deep to use the ATV. I drove over to Joe Bush and found the access road plowed to the parking area and restroom. Most of the other access pullouts had not been plowed by Tuesday evening and many were still not plowed when I left at 2:00 p.m. yesterday. The main road is not plowed beyond Joe Bush and there was about 12 to 14 inches of wind blown snow on the road. I took my ATV down the highway and I couldn't get very far without bogging down. Some folks did drive in about 100 yards and unload snowmobiles yesterday and they went out on the lake north of Joe Bush.
Conditions on the lake: The most recent series of snowstorms dumped quite a bit of snow in the area. I estimated there was 14 inches of snow in sheltered areas. The snow depth on the lake varied as some of the snow had been blown off by the strong winds Tuesday night. At Joe Bush there was about 10 to 12 inches of snow on the ice and the bottom few inches was beginning to get saturated with water. Walking was possible but in the areas where the slush monster was rearing it's ugly head, you would break through the crust and hit the slush which was about 2 or 3 inches deep. Waterproof boots will be needed for awhile unless you walk out on someone else's trail which has had a chance to freeze up.
I know what you're thinking: Enough of this dribble, what about the fishing?
I left the cabin at 0700 on Wednesday and the temp was minus 8 degrees. Needless to say any exposed slush had frozen to concrete. I walked out from the Joe Bush parking area and went to water that was 16 to 17 feet deep. I was about 150 yards from my truck. My Showdown fish finder immediately showed many fish near the bottom. I wanted to target perch and there were many that wanted to play. I was using a small Kastmaster spoon in Perch color as an attracter and then a 6 inch leader to a small jig. I used half a meal worm until I caught the first few perch, then I switch to perch eyeballs. I fished until 4:00 p.m. and I ended the day with exactly 200 perch by actual count. I also caught about 25 rainbows and several splake during the day but my primary focus was on the perch. Of the 200 perch I caught, 49 of them were 7.5 to 9 inches and I filleted them back at the cabin.
I didn't post any photos because 200 perch on the ice looks like 200 perch on the ice. The perch ranged in size from 4 to 9 inches. About one in four or five was big enough to produce a usable fillet.
I met a fellow fisherman in the morning and we eventually got to know each other. When he told me he was planning to sleep overnight in his Toyota Tacoma I invited him to share the cabin for the night. I'm sure it was much more comfortable in the cabin! Thursday morning the temp at the cabin was minus 6.
My new friend Brian and I fished until 1:00 p.m. yesterday. At the end of the trip our total catch was 384 perch and perhaps 40 to 50 rainbows and about a dozen splake. Brian decided since he had plenty of time on his hands he would take all of the perch I hadn't filleted and he told me he would slice and dice when he got home in Sevier County. We did offer one perch as a gift to the fishing gods. I tossed a four incher to a persistent Raven sitting about 50 feet away. I actually tossed him the fish to stop his insistent calling. The Raven ate all of the perch except the skull and gill covers.....pretty impressive for five minutes of work.
The weather was great. After the cold start, the days were nice with light winds and clear, sunny skies. I would imagine slush will be a problem until the saturated layers of snow freeze. I would not recommend the use of an ATV until the layers get hard. An ATV would probably break though the crust and get stuck. The folks using the snowmobiles didn't seem to have any problem going across the north end of the lake.
Like gnorth said, there will be several weeks of good ice conditions at Fish Lake and it's one of the only options left for us diehards. Remember, the more perch removed will only help the entire fishery up there. Heck, even the perch will probably show signs of additional growth when there is more food to go around. Each female perch removed now will prevent the introduction of thousands of young in a couple of months. Load up the clan and go get your share of tasty perch.
Mike
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