Find Heaven On Ice
by Don Allphin
February 22, 2010
Most anglers pass through several stages in their fishing lives, and I am no different. When ice fishing was a new concept here in Utah, I was “Donnie on the spot,” excited be able to fish in the wintertime, and spent a lot of time learning the sport. Then, when I began writing about fishing, and had many opportunities to ice fish with some of the sport’s best anglers, I admittedly became a little spoiled. If I wasn’t catching five or six trout an hour, I quickly lost interest. Now, having passed through the “excited” phase and although I still love to catch fish through the ice, the commitment necessary to actually gather the gear, load the truck, head to the lake, unload the gear, haul it out on the ice, drill the holes, locate the fish, and then catch a few, for me translates into fewer and fewer trips each year.
A reader recently asked me my advice on where take some boy scouts ice fishing. Happy to share the most current information I had, I directed him to Deer Creek. He emailed me a week or so later telling me he and his scouts had a great time and the group caught several nice fish. Last Saturday, after having passed by Deer Creek Reservoir several times this month, my curiosity got the best of me and I just had to stop and get a first-hand ice fishing report.
The day was beautiful, with temperatures close to or just above freezing. I encountered a little slush as I stepped onto the ice from the shore, and as my feet broke through the ice in about six inches of water, I wished I had brought a board to put down as a bridge across the slush. Once on the ice I located a group of anglers about 200 yards off shore. “No, we haven’t caught a thing,” said Brian McKane of West Valley, in response to the age old question, “Having any luck?” “We haven’t even seen a fish on our fish finders or our fish camera,” he continued. “We’re wondering if there are any fish at all in the lake.”
“Wait a second,” said Leslie Glabraith of Mapleton, from the comfort of her a lawn chair, “isn’t this just about perfect? What a great day to be here!” And, she was right. Being on a frozen lake on a warm day and spending time with family and friends – that’s my idea of fun too. “And,” she continued, “I can’t think of a better place to be today.”
I explained to the group that the trout usually school during this time of the winter and that they usually make the rounds in water from around six feet deep all the way down to 30 feet. I told them to be patient and I moved on.
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