Birch Creek Reservoir 12/30/20

[jaredhyde49]

I went with 2 other people to Birch Creek Reservoir on 12/30. Ice was a solid 13-14 inches, but boy it was sure making lots of noise.  The big bummer is that it was not good fishing whatsoever. I was fully expecting even a halfway decent day but got skunked. Only one of the three was able to land two bows early in the morning.  We tried every kind of jig and lure, etc and tipped it with minnows, spikes, meal worms, etc. Nothing did the trick. We we’re all getting lots of bites but the fish wouldn’t take it. They would just barely tap it and then move on and not come back. The only two fish that were caught were with a jaw jacker so I’m thinking that’s the only reason they were caught. There were only a couple other groups of people on the reservoir and one of them didn’t appear to have any luck either and the other group told me they were seeing the same thing. They even said they had an underwater camera and were watching the fish just barely bump the bait and not give a lot of interest and then move on. I haven’t experienced anything like it. It was almost worse than not getting any bites because it kept us there all day with hopes we could at least get a few on the ice. 
This was my first time at Birch Creek and boy that dam is a bugger to climb with a sled with your gear in it. I was sucking some serious wind when I got to the top and unfortunately it didn’t pay off. Oh well, next time I think I’ll stick to Daniel’s or some of the southern Idaho reservoirs. I’m looking for Trout and not particularly interested in the panfish.  If anyone has a report on any Good trout ice fishing not too distant from Cache Valley please let me know.

[wiperhunter2]

Welcome to the site Jared. Thanks for posting your report. Birch creek can be like you experienced, hit and miss, IMO it just is not worth the effect to fish that lake. If you are interested in catching trout in decent numbers try the pond or lake above Randolph, I think it's called little creek. If you want bigger trout and are OK fishing in Idaho, try Chesterfield.

[remo_5_0]

Go across the road and hit Woodruff Res. not sure if you can make it to the res. without a snow machine, or if you have one. But if you can get to the lake it should be good. Or, like Wiperhunter said, hit Little Creek in Randolph. Small little pond but lots of fun.

[jaredhyde49]

Welcome to the site Jared. Thanks for posting your report. Birch creek can be like you experienced, hit and miss, IMO it just is not worth the effect to fish that lake. If you are interested in catching trout in decent numbers try the pond or lake above Randolph, I think it's called little creek. If you want bigger trout and are OK fishing in Idaho, try Chesterfield.

thanks for the input! I think I’ll try Chesterfield out again. I went a couple years ago and it was really good, I need to stick with what works.

[catchinon]

As the saying goes, "You never know until you go!" Thanks for the report so we don't all have to go. Keep the reports coming.