Soldier Creek Dam 1/4/20

[joatmon]

I went to Soldier Creek Dam with my friend Rinehart, his BIL and BFTer justaguywaworm, and their sons Colton, Zach, and Brody. They were kind enough to invite me along and made room on their snowmobiles for me and my gear.

The parking lot at Soldier Creek was full. We unloaded there and Rob parked his rig across the highway. Rob (justaguywaworm) had a nifty set up on the back of his snowmobile for their power auger. It was a small hitch hauler with a set of gun mounts that allowed the auger to be attached securely. See photo.

As we traveled down the road to the dam, we noted quite a bit of open water still in the Soldier Creek side. We did have one minor travel mishap. I was riding behind Rob and occasionally turning to check the gear on the sleds. He and I both turned the same direction once when were on a bit of a side hill and the sled started to tip. I bailed off and did a tuck and 2 rolls. Without my weight, Rob was able to steady the sled and get it back upright.

We got to the dam mid morning and noted there were three tents on the ice, but no one around. The other groups did arrive later to fish or retrieve their tents. We traveled out that narrow finger of land off the west abutment to access the lake, then fished on the east/dam side.

We set up and fished in about 20 fow. Ice was generally about 4 inches but seemed to get thinner to the north. Early it seemed the cutthroats were caught on small white tube jigs and green paddle bugs, tipped with either chub meat or a bit of night crawler. Later in the day we caught a few rainbows on white tungsten jigs and various Kastmasters, and a few cutthroats on various rigs/colors. Chub meat seemed to be the best bait overall.

Rob caught the biggest fish of the day, a nice 21.5” cutthroat. Everybody caught fish and we had a good time on the ice.

Thanks again Rinehart, Rob, and boys for allowing me to come along.
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[lakepowellnut]

What was the ice thickness like?
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[joatmon]

Ice was 4” and clear hard ice under an inch of snow. No slush. Did seem to get thinner as we went north. There was a bit of open water along the continuation of that thin ridge. We could see open water to the. Roth and northeast. We didn’t stray far.

Others walked clear across next to the dam and one group was fishing over the deepest part. Snow was knee deep in spots on shore. We drove the snowmobiles right to the lake and turned around on the ice.

Hope this helps.
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[Justaguywaworm]

[fishon]Fishing with Joatmon was a real treat - he is a very knowledgeable and disciplined fisherman on the ice. He says that he is a much better fisherman than that BFT moderator Catchinon (His Brother). [shocked]

My Brother in Law Lip Rippin Rino and I are just a couple of hacks with our Fish kissin' kids. (see photo) I was impressed at how light Joatman packed. All he had was a sled, bucket and a couple of poles. When I pack for a day on the ice I bring everything but the kitchen sink. Goals 2020 pack lighter on the ice.

Back to the fishing report - weather was excellent upper 40's no cloud cover felt like 50's with a cool breeze. Every man, women, child, cabin owner and dog that was not at Mantua was at the Berry! Never in my life had I seen the parking lots so full! The tents dotted Chicken Creek bay like ants. And not even the Scouts where there hogging up the parking lots and the place was still packed. The Lake is plenty big enough for all of us to enjoy, but the access points are not. Why can't the DWR just make a few bigger parking lots and then charge us all $5.00 to park too pay for the plowing? The parking situation was dangerous. Unloading road side w/ oil tankers barreling down the highway at 75 mph always gives me awesome feeling of.. I could be the next piece of road kill laying road side. That's a good feeling everyone should experience on Saturday's at the Berry.

Arrival to the dam was much later than anticipated. Joatman quickly pulled up 2 nice size cuts that that gave him a bump in the Ice Fishing Challenge. About an hour later he politely pulled up his lines as the next go around of fish presented themselves on the finders so I could catch the Grand Daddy of the Day. (See pictures)

Later Lip Rippin Rino got it going with the Jaw Jackers and the Pan size Rainbows. That's when the kids starting kissing the fish. I guess we taught it to them to prove their manhood to us. Now it's just an awkward situation in front of other people.

Joatman gave us Tackle Tethers that he made with these little ropes with carbines you can hook them onto your pole and a bucket so you don't lose your pole all kinds of uses. Such has holding your buckets in place into your sled. Bucket Guy (me) didn't work so well with the buckets on the long bumpy drive. dumped my buckets until I used the Tackle Tethers.

All in all good day on the ice - wished & fished for more numbers, it was average, but still a good day.

Looking forward to doing it all again - hopefully sooner than later. [fishon]

Rob
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[catchinon]

"He [joatmon] says that he is a much better fisherman than that BFT moderator Catchinon (His Brother). Shocked"

I'm sure he is but just ask him who has the biggest fish in the Challenge. []
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