Hyrum 03/01

[Brighamfish]

I decided to hit Hyrum this morning for a few hours while the Splake from me and Kent's Fish lake trip finished brining before going in the smoker this after noon. Got there about 7:30 and parked at the Beach area.

I took my spud and a plank along in case edges or ice was degrading but neither where needed. Easy on/off and there were at least 9" of clear ice under 3-4" of white ice everywhere I drilled. Ice is very slick with no snow on top at all. I went all the way across to the south side along the "cliffs" and fished in 10-35 FOW. One bite set of the jawjacker in 10 FOW all day. No fish caught there. I caught about 30 perch in 25-30 FOW along with a dozen small bass and one nice hog (see pic). Also managed one 17" bow on the jawjacker over 35 FOW set 10 feet down. Left at 1pm.

As I left I stopped at the Marina office and the nice lady in there sold me a new state park pass (my old one expired yesterday) and counted the $10 beach area fee I paid today toward the new pass.

Overall just a great morning out. Saw lots of deer and elk around Mantua on the way up and listened to Turkeys, Pheasants, Ducks, Geese, Seagulls and Eagles the whole time on the lake. Real Marty Stouffer stuff, mating eagles and all. LOL!
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[hookngrinin]

Sounds like a great trip and that is a toad bass. I'm glad the ice is holding on.
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[EyLayo]

Muy bueno!


Sorry Hook, I meant to reply to Brighamfish
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[muirco]

How big were your perch?
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[Brighamfish]

Biggest was about 8" most were 6" or less. Fun to keep occupied with but not so great for taco filler []

There were tents out on the ice as I drove by Mantua this morning so I'm guessing the ice is holding on there as well for now. It has been giving up a lot of nice 9-10"+ perch this year if you can find a good pocket of them. I've had several 50+ fish days there this season.
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[catchinon]

It looks like you just crushed the bass category in the ice challenge. But then you won the whole shebang last year, didn't you? It seems like you got a little bit of a late start this year but are coming up and challenging for the top again.
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[Brighamfish]

I really got lucky on that bass. I was actually looking for brown trout hoping to add another species to the board. It was my best bass ever in UT, ice or no ice.

Yeah, I got a pretty bad case of the flu followed right after by another bug that really held me back at the first of the ice season. Missed a lot of the first ice on many lakes. Gonna make it pretty hard to catch up to EyLayo at this point. I definately plan on giving him a run for his money though [fishon]

Likes you guys have said, the contest is a super fun motivator to try new lakes and new methods for new species. I've really enjoyed it the last few years. This whole kokes with dodgers / jigs through the ice has got me excited. Never tried that one before. Seen it many times trolling but never jigging. Always something new to learn about fishing.
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