Mantua

[FatBiker]

Fished Mantua for a couple of hours this afternoon. 2ish inches of good clear hard ice. Three smaller slime rockets and a perch to show for risking a dunking. It was worth it! If you go, take safety/rescue equipment.
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[lavaman]

Hi Larry, nice fish!!
2" is really risky for a few fish, you're braver than I. This morning a buddy of mine said there were spots about an inch. So be super careful out there. I'm guessing it will be lots safer by this weekend.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Larry nice perch, figured the stories were a little over exaggerated on ice thickness. Glad your ninja skills kept you dry. Thanks for a first hand report. Later J
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[FatBiker]

Your right. I stuck my hand in one hole to check the depth. It came to my knuckle on my bird finger. Just measured it and that was right at two inches. Guess there's a reason I went swimming three times last year including a chest deep done at Bear Lake. You really can't teach old dogs new tricks. Got stuff going on there next few days. Probably be Friday or Saturday before I make it back up. Hopefully, the nights will stay cold.
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[Ahi1953]

I tried it also. Stayed a little close to the boat ramp had about 3 inch there. only iced 2 dinky perch and 1 8.5 inch. and one of them slimy guys. quit at noon the ice was making me nervous when it started popping and creaking
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[Anglinarcher]

Ice often pops and creeks when it is freezing more, water expands and it has to pop to get "thicker".

I once was fishing Eleven Mile Res. above Colorado Springs when we had over 4' of ice. Took a special aguar to get through it and none of the gas models were long enough.

We had a nice bright sunny day at 20 below zero and we started getting rooster tails forming all around the lake. The ice would crack and start shooting ice dust and shards into the air about 10' as the ice crack would run miles across the lake.

One of them went right between a less experienced friends legs; scared him to death.

I have observed it many times over the years and never ever saw popping or cracking ice to be a danger, unless it was on a river and breaking up. [pirate]

[SkunkedAgain]

I might add one little addition to your comments... When the ice is piling up and making ridges it can get a little dangerous, often times it will pile up and then back off and leave open water near the cracks and it can create issues, but in general you're right the cracks aren't too much to worry about... They sound bad, but it's usually when you have good ice when you get the noise... When its quiet is when you need to start worrying... Later J
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[Ahi1953]

Everything on early ice scares me . later in the season the singing ice don't bather me at all but when I 'm standing on only 2 to 3 inches I get a little nervous. the need to fish over rides my fears and I'll be right back out there every year.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Nice catch and report John, not wasting much time getting on the board for the ice contest. Way to go. Later J
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[kingfisher82]

I’m curious to know the appeal of ice fishing at Mantua. Seems like a very popular spot. But aren’t all the fish pretty small there, based on the species people are targeting? It is mostly the table fare of the variety of fish that excites people? I’m more of a Strawberry guy because I like knowing a 5-7 pounder is possible on any given trip.

I’m not trying to draw even more crowds to Mantua but why does it seem to be so appealing to ice fishermen?
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[SkunkedAgain]

It's the first, close easy access ice of the season. Lots of panfish so catch rate is usually pretty good. Throw in some trout to mix things up and yup it's busy early on. If you watch later in the season the pressure really drops off. Nothing special other than close and easy. That's my take anyway. I know there are some nice LMB in there too but most don't target them. I'll fish it till something better has ice then I'll move on. Besides Strawberry is too far for me to hit often or for short couple hour fish trips. Later J
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[RockyRaab]

Mantua has some decent perch and bluegill, both of which are delicious.

In my experience, the trout there are awful tasting. They eat a lot of snails, which is probably the reason.
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[lavaman]

Yeah the catch rate can be good *for the first couple of weeks of ice season*, and then that pond takes a beating from all the pressure and the fish tend to increasingly develop lockjaw as the winter rolls on.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Totally agree with ya on that one. J
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