Sportsmans Park ice

[MtnHomer]

anyone fished Sportsmans Park the last 2 days? With the warmer weather I was concerned it may be messy maybe even unsafe?
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[MMDon]

I'm thinking really messy. I went down to check the Gem Lake Pond today and the water was running along the bank where you need to walk in. No fishing there until we get another hard freeze!
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[MtnHomer]

hells bells.........may try it anyways
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[prvrt]

The ice is fine. There have been trucks and 4 wheelers on it recently and 4 wheelers today. There is about 3' of open water at the bottom of the boat ramp where the 4 wheelers broke through, but everything else is fine. Still 12" thick and only a few spots here and there with a skim off water. I fished from 11:00 to 6:00 and caught 2 trout @ 12" and around 60 perch. Largest was 12" all the way down to 3". Brought home 9.

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[MMDon]

Nice report and pic prvrt! The center ice should hold up fine as long as you can get on it!
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[prvrt]

Thanks. No problem getting on the ice. That 3' spot of water was only at the boat ramp and was about 8' wide, about the width of the ramp. The docks are still out so it is walk right onto the ice with any problems. Along the shores was looking pretty good also. I should remember to take more pics.
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[MMDon]

With the docks in you could probably go a month like we did last year at Ririe as we fished on an iceberg! [cool]
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[SteelieNut]

Where's the Sportsman's Park?
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[prvrt]

West Side of AF Res just East of Aberdeen. On Google maps it is called Big Hole.
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[MtnHomer]

thanks for the info, we ended up going today and enjoyed good fishing. Between 4 of us we kept 40 and let go more then we caught. Our two biggest were 11" with many that were better then normal for us anyways. I liked the area but won't make it down there often due to distance (I live between Teton and St. Anthony now) but it was fun. If anyone on here was there Saturday, we were the guys with the homemade boxes with skis on them that tip up and we had a black Frabil shack. We talked to several people and one guy said he cruises BFT every now and then.
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[prvrt]

I was out there again in a Red Eskimo pop up. Did about the same as yesterday. Averaged around 60, but most were 6"-7". Only kept a few. Largest was 12". No trout, but the guys behind me caught a nice one.
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[snakeriver]

Think I'll give it a try tomarrow morning till about noon. maybe I can luck into some nice perch. any advice about area or jigs would be appreciated.
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[me_and_myboy]

A group of us went up today and almost got skunked. We had almost two dozen holes drilled (there were eighteen fishermen) and only two consistenly produced fish. My son and I happened to be the lucky guys sitting on those holes, so it was okay! However, we certainly did not have the kind of day that I am hearing about from Curt and the others. We only managed to keep 13 small perch + 2 small trout. [pirate] All fish were caught on SMALL jigs tipped with nightcrawler.

The ice was popping and groaning something fierce. We had to use the floating dock to get off the ice. But the ice we were fishing through was 11 inches so no worries there.

Good luck.
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[why3zx]

im thinking about heading out later this morning, anyone else?? any suggestions as to colors and jig sizes??
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[fearnofish1996]

Hey mthomer that was me u talked to on the ice. my girlfriend and i had my son out there. u gave us some good pointers on where the fish were at. thanks we ended up catching some fish.
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[snakeriver]

The Perch bite was hot for me yesterday[] I ended up fishing 25 feet of water and Am pretty sure I caught 100 perch yesterday. As I put back as many as I brought home which was 55. Had fun filleting for about hour and a half. Those perch sure are good eating. I also caught one average trout at about 14 inches and one chub. Most of my hits were 2 to 4 inches off the bottom. Got one 11 inch perch, biggest I have ever caught. Most the perch I brought home were 7 inches.I was very pleased it's the best I have ever done out there. Guys here is a helpful tip, keep your jig moving. I would jigs 2- 3 times small strokes and then pause and they would hit. If I sat the pole down and just dead sticked it they wouldn't touch it. The ice was 10-12 inches and as mentioned the docks are the way to get on and off safely.Good luck to those that give it a go.
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[why3zx]

headed out there right now, will report when i get back, if anyone heads out come say hi, will be in a light blue dodge just me and my dog. will probably be the only one out there with an ice bar
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[fearnofish1996]

i went out this morning and did ok. i had a couple of peole with me that are really new to the sport. we had fun and caught a few fish. brought home about 12 fish. weather was nice early on but then the wind picked up and the snow came with it. doesnt bother me though i always have fun.
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[prvrt]

Any more recent reports?
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[MtnHomer]

Nice to meet you fearnofish. Maybe we'll run into you again, we're flirting with another trip south, but we're also thinking about Chesterfield as well.
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