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My brother in law and I are looking at taking an overnight trip to Scofield this coming weekend so we can get up early and hit the hard deck while the fish are biting.
Anyone have any experience with winter camping specifically at Scofield? I'm thinking the Mountain View campground is our best bet. Seems close to the docks.
I have experience with cold-weather camping in general, but any information specific to Scofield this time of year, whether it's camping- or fishing-related, is much appreciated as I make sure we have everything we need to make this trip non-miserable (i.e. access issues, ice thickness, times of day for the bite, lure/jig/bait info, etc.)
My understanding is that perch are biting pretty well this year?
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Be ready for really cold temps. It gets frigid up there at night.
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"My understanding is that perch are biting pretty well this year?"
[#0000FF]The above statement...together to your reference of the Mountain View Campground...leads me to believe that you want info on Starvation...not Scofield.
Yes, the perch have been biting fairly well for ice anglers at the back end of Rabbit Gulch. But haven't heard of any action near the main State Park facilities. Also, perch bit better during the brighter times of day rather than at daybreak. However, if you find walleyes or trout the early morning bite might be good.
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[#0000FF]If you are serious about a worthwhile trout experience you could target a better lake than scofield. It has been producing little more than a few small skinny cutts and a lot of chubs. There are bigger fish in the lake but they are so well fed on the chubs that they seldom fall for the silly stuff that anglers offer them.
If you are concerned about snow levels where you set up a tent, bring a shovel to scoop out the snow...and then pile it back around the base after the tent is in place.
And yes, there is a Mountain View campground at Starvation. And it is a much better place to catch both trout and perch.
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Myself and my sons and grandsons fished it last year around this time. 9AM 15 below zero.
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Might as well target chubs. Ain't many people catching any trout worth talking about.
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As the Tubedude said, if you want to target trout or anything else besides chubs, there are a lot better choices out there. Starvation has rainbows that people refer to as steelies, due to their size and color. Great trout area and you can move to get perch. Strawberry has easy camping in the campgrounds near the lake as well. I don't think anyone is trying to rain on your parade but I think many would agree not to waste time at scofield this year.
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I would recommend starvation myself. Lots of trout and perch. Probably better camping too.
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Yeah, you guys are basically echoing what I found out when I finally unraveled my confusion about Scofield vs Starvy. Everywhere I looked said Scofield is a bust this year.
I think Strawberry is a good option instead. Reading online, I'm concerned about access issues with my Saturn SL1? I've never been to Strawberry, let alone in the winter. Is there a best place to camp/fish? I understand 6lb line and white or pink tube jigs is a great setup to try?
My other option is Deer Creek. I figure the fishing is probably better at Strawberry, but how has the hard deck been on Deer Creek this year? It's so much closer that it's tempting.
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. Looks like Scofield doesn't even have perch; it's a trout lake. In that case, we'll target trout 
