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So I have a few questions for the seasoned anglers,
I've ice fished for a few season's now and im trying to get a grasp on how some of the lakes around here traditionally behave. From my understanding, Mammoth and Scofield always freeze first, around the first of December. Strawberry is usually safely capped by the week before Christmas. Now last year Mud Creek has some good ice early in the month while the rest of the lake was open water. And Soldier Creek freezes differently compared to the Strawberry side. Is that typical for that lake? All of the other ones are kinda hit or miss it seems. East canyon, rockport, east canyon, jordanelle have all had short and sketchy ice season it seems. Is that normal as well?
Any info is greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
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I wouldn't be surprised if Tubedude has an article on this already somewhere in archives lol
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Many things affect how a body of water will freeze. Elevation, water depth, temperatures, and wind will be the biggest factors.
Mammoth and Scofield are smaller lakes that are high in elevation so the water cools quickly and freeze over pretty fast. The same applies for Mud Creek last year. Shallow water and being protected from the wind helped the formation of the ice in the bay while the deeper water and wind slowed the process out on the main body of the water.
Lower elevation lakes along the front have always been hit or miss. At Deer Creek they had a big crash in perch numbers in the late 90's and when they opened the lake to the harvest or perch again we had to dig out the boat in January because the lake never did ice over all winter.
Just have to wait, watch, and pounce when the conditions get right.
That being said a friend and I are heading to the Gorge on Monday to try out the ice before he leaves for his year long deployment with the navy. Hopefully all will go well.
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Excellent information, thank you for the insight. And safe travels this next week out at the gorge!
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I can't speak with any specifics about the ponds you reference, but I can say every year is different, ice isn't tied to the calendar, it's always weather front related... Got to watch the average temperatures and durations below freezing to see if a large enough volume of water has had time to lose enough heat to be able to freeze up... Then the wind and mixing currents enters into the mix and it never is the same... But figure the deeper the water, the longer it will take to chill a big enough pool to freeze... I'm sure you're familiar with the turning over of the lakes due to the changing density of water... So surface water drops to 39 degrees and as it gets colder to that point it gets more dense and drops to the bottom of the pond... Once all of the subwater is cooled to approximately that point then as the surface water gets cooler, it actually gets less dense so it floats to the surface, thus why ice floats it's less dense than the water... Anyway long story for just saying that once the lake temp gets below 39 degrees then it's primed to start freezing when the nights get cold enough to freeze water... (Key point here is to watch the water temps, then you know when to expect ice to start...) At this point the wind and currents enter in to keep the water from freezing and so sometimes you get water colder than 32 degrees that only needs the wind to stop long enough for the crystals to set up into ice... Days like that you can watch the ice build across the lakes... pretty cool to see, but not often witnessed... What does all my BS mean??? It freezes when its right to freeze and till then we just need to be patient and remember to be careful and check as we go out on early ice... Our ice seasons seem to be pretty short lately in Utah, so when the ice gets good, you need to take advantage of it... The last few years it seems like the good ice only lasts 8- 10 weeks at best...(Note high altitude lakes have longer seasons... Strawberry is still fishing good ice after the lower lakes are thinking about water skis..)
Good luck this year and have fun... Later J
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My favorite scenario for Utah Lake is clear cold weather with little wind. Once the lake is capped I like see several weeks of good old Utah inversions. The sun does very little to stop the ice forming.
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[#0000FF]There is an old saying that the only thing permanent is change. And the one thing that can be said about Utah lakes and ice is that every year seems to be different...some in small ways...others in big ways.
You are right though about Mammoth (Huntington) and Scofield usually providing the first ice...safe or not. But there are some other small ponds in that area that also freeze early and can be good fishing, at least for planters.
Deer Creek is deep and it takes a prolonged period of single digit nights and no wind to get it to cap and then to thicken up. Not unusual for it to freeze and thaw several times with no safe ice ever. But when it does freeze, the upper part of the Charleston arm usually caps first...and can provide some decent rainbows in fairly shallow water along the old Provo River channel.
Jordanelle is another deeper pond that can be fickle with her ice thickness...and the fish she puts out. If it is going to freeze enough for ice fishing it will usually do so before January...first or second week. It has not been good ice fishing on Jordanelle for several years. But the perch population is coming back and they are planting new species. You can almost always count on getting some rainbows up in the Rock Cliff arm...and perch if you fish out deep enough toward the main lake. Think at least 35 to 50 feet of water.
On Strawberry, Mud Creek is generally the first area with walkable hard deck. But once it sees the first week of ice zoo the rest of the protected bays get hard and then the rest of the lake. Just gotta watch the weather and the fishing reports...and then take your safety gear...and cold weather gear. Cool runnings.
Starvation is like Deer Creek...with a lot of the same species. It is deep enough that it takes some serious cold to cap and freeze solid enough for hard deckers. But it gets mighty cold there so once it caps it gets thick pretty fast. It will usually have at least some fishable areas by early January most years. But you gotta watch the weather and the wind. Been known to have ice fishermen standing on a foot of ice in Rabbit Gulch with boats and or float tubes fishing within 25 feet of them on open water...with an easterly wind gnawing at the ice edges. One thing about Starvy is that the wind often blows off the snow as fast as it falls. The ice is sometimes clear and SLICK. Never leave home without ice cleats. And there is no need to pucker when it looks like you are walking on water. I have seen anglers tiptoeing across 16 inches of clear ice like it was only a couple of inches. Still, as always, it is a good idea early in the season to drill some test holes as you go...and have company with ropes and other safety equipment.
This past year or two has been strange. Last year it remained warmer longer but then got heavy storms and deep cold fast. This year it also stayed warm and the water levels have been lower on many lakes. All of those things affect the onset of ice and how the fish act.
The best time to go is whenever you can...and conditions are safe. As old Zig Ziglar used to say "If you wait until all the lights are on green you ain't never gonna leave the house."
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I have fished the ice for many years. Most years, we fish the Friday after Thanksgiving either at Scofield or Huntington. Mudd Creek normallywould be the 2nd week of December with the rest of Strawberry capping around the dam the weekend before Christmas or Christmas week. Since my wife started fishing with me, we wait a little longer before venturing out on the ice. We always take the snowmobile so I want the ice to be at least 6 inch thick for the snowmobile. Renegade and Soldier Creek down by the highway freeze up pretty early also at Strawberry. I am sure both are iced over now. The last 2 years have had late ice in comparison with most years, but by New Years, most everything is fishable. 2 years ago, Starvation was a very short season. Last year was a bit longer. Pineview is a late date but generally good around New Years. I am not a Mantua fan or Hirum fan. Guess cuz I lived up that way too long and those waters just don't interest me. Echo and Wanship haven't been that good of fishing for a few years, so I don't follow those waters anymore. Deer Creek is hit and miss and generally freezes up after January 1 if at all. Never done well at Deer Creek since the perch down fall. Fish Lake can be fun, but is such a long way to travel, but it should be coming on pretty quick now. Never fished Ottercreek, but it is on my bucket list. I am sure you could hit any of the Uinta lakes and find good ice. I just don't like catching planters, so I stay away from that high country.
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So once a lake gets a solid few inches of ice what will conditions like strong winds and heavy snows have on the ice?
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I've not seen snow affect things much although I am sure it does. You are not concentrating the weight of the snow in a small area, it is across the entire surface which spreads out the weight. Winds can start the ice moving and then it breaks up and blows to the edges. I remember one year Bear Lake lost all of it's ice in one night due to high winds. I was told the ice at the time was 6 inches thick, which could have been the case at the edges and most likely thinner in the middle. I would suspect that the wind blew the center off and then got under it and and lifted everything.
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[quote Bmason]
So once a lake gets a solid few inches of ice what will conditions like strong winds and heavy snows have on the ice?
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On smaller bodies of water the wind has minimal impact on the ice after it freezes. On larger bodies of water (Bear Lake, Utah Lake and Flaming Gorge for example), the wind can shift the entire ice and can create islands of ice or blow it off entirely. Heavy snow can cause pressure ridges to open up and with the water coming on the ice it can create slush on top of the ice.
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You guys are all awesome, thank you for the information. With all this info i hope i can make safe educated decisions in regards to fishing the hard deck for many years to come
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Snow is also an insulator as well so if you get a thin layer of slush and then a heavy snow fall on that it can actually trap the warmth and the Ice will decay that as well.
I stopped by Starvation one year after we were done up chasing cow elk on a late season hunt when the ice was Gin clear it had to of be at least 8-10 inches from what i could tell form the cracks I could see. It was pretty cool to slide more the walk as you could of played a game of hockey on it, it was so smooth .
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