Scofield

[cdbrc]

Anyone go to Scofield today? Any ice? Heading up tomorrow morning hope to get some bait and big ones.[bobhappy][bobhappy]
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[Jedidiah]

I don't know if it's been cold enough for ice, but if not you might want a backup plan. It's 13% full and last I heard it was quite a mud-slog to get to the water.
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[albinotrout]

As of Tuesday no ice.
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[OCF]

On the news this a.m., they reported 3 degrees at Scofield - so it should not be long!
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[cdbrc]

Took the boat up today got there about 10, 1015 ice covered. Just a skif in the middle but the bas and the shores had maybe one to three inches thick wouldn't dare walk on it yet. Still 1 2 weeks off.
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[KodiakFisher]

Saw some photos on FB of a group that caught a nice mess of chubs by the dam. They said 5-6 inches of ice.
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[Jedidiah]

This is 11/22, on the north shoreline and the thinnest ice on the lake:
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[Lip_Ripr]

5 inches in the dam arm

She's a beaut Clark!

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[Kent]

I wish people would not throw rocks onto the ice. After it snows it is impossible to know the rocks are there until one hits them with the blade of an auger.
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[Fishrmn]

[quote kentofnsl]I wish people would not throw rocks onto the ice. After it snows it is impossible to know the rocks are there until one hits them with the blade of an auger.[/quote]

Ah, but they are so effective at telling you whether or not the ice will support your weight.... NOT.



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[FishMcFisherson]

Did you manage to pull any fish up through that hole?
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[cbassonafly]

[quote Fishrmn][quote kentofnsl]I wish people would not throw rocks onto the ice. After it snows it is impossible to know the rocks are there until one hits them with the blade of an auger.[/quote]

Ah, but they are so effective at telling you whether or not the ice will support your weight.... NOT.



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But if you throw the big rocks up in the air high enough you can get a good estimate [:/] I have yet to find a rock with my auger and hope to avoid it. Spud bars work wonders when checking ice safety.
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[Kent]

I just got my auger blades sharpened, and on the very next trip and on my very first hole I hit about a 5" thick limb, that someone left on the ice, and of course it snowed and buried it.[frown] The blades were worse than before I had them sharpened.
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[Fishrmn]

[quote cbassonafly]But if you throw the big rocks up in the air high enough you can get a good estimate [:/] I have yet to find a rock with my auger and hope to avoid it. Spud bars work wonders when checking ice safety.[/quote]

Or you could put your foot on the ice and step on it in shallow water. If it holds your weigh you know it is thick enough to stand on. I know that is a difficult concept for some folks to grasp. Spud bar should be someone's first purchase. Great for testing ice, opening holes, getting things out that have frozen in to the ice.



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[cdbrc]

Did any one do any fishing instead of just throw rocks, how did you do?
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[MisterCompletely]

[quote kentofnsl]I wish people would not throw rocks onto the ice. After it snows it is impossible to know the rocks are there until one hits them with the blade of an auger.[/quote]

I hate it when those big rocks are thrown onto the boat ramps
.
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[PIKEMAN99]

Wah Wah Wah. Jedidiah has as much right to put rocks
on the ice as much as you have a right to aug a hole right where he threw them. He wasn't even close to the boat ramp. And it looks to me he was trying to fish his favorite spot on the bank. One last time. So give him a break. Take care of number 1 when you can master number 1 then worry about 2 and 3. I would have done the same thing Jedidiah. Oh the fishing report: we caught a feeeeeeewwwww.
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[Jedidiah]

I caught several dink cutts and one keeper at about 13". I don't know man, if you're drilling holes in water that's 5 feet out and three feet deep, you're probably not doing it right. Though I suspect that this argument is a case of misunderstanding and that you meant that you don't like when people carry rocks out onto the ice and drop them to check thickness.

About the limb on the ice....it could easily have frozen in place, then unfrozen, readjusted to stick out of the ice surface a bit, then refrozen. I've seen that with my own two eyes quite a few times.

Ultimately though, criticism is good and it's good that we get to hear criticism through the internet that we wouldn't normally get. I'm certainly not one to hold back criticism. I'll definitely think carefuly about leaving rocks or anything else where someone might be drilling in the future.
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[albinotrout]

I can see the issues with rocks and augers, but another comes to mind is a tripping hazard. Slogging through snow is difficult enough some days without having to worry about tripping over a rock left out in the area. This is not just to you but all of us who enjoy ice fishing. Just like the consideration we give others on soft water we should do the same on the hard deck.
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[roynut]

[left]In my experience, some of the best ice fishing at Scofield is five feet out and three feet deep, which makes it the right thing to do, and it also means those rocks can become a hazard. I've caught large numbers of some very nice trout in just one or two feet of water right along the shore, often far outperforming the herd of people out in the middle in deeper water. So it's better to not judge whether fishing near shore is a good thing or not and just recognize that ALL of the ice is subject to use and therefore should be treated with respect.[/left]