Gorge ice update.

[WYLINGIT]

Finally remembered my friggen password Hello to all. Was out last tues night GR side four of us caught 21 ling and one small mac. Been slayin bows LNR. The truck is just south of firehole before the dugway.

[WYLINGIT]

OH Yeah heard a 27lber was caught @ confluence today. But anvil is producing 35+ if you are keeping your hand warmers deep in your pockets. -6 this morn when I got off the bus saw a starcraft @mr. Al's BRR.

[Lady_Icer]

Hey all...Can anyone tell me how the ice is on Anvil Draw?

[Moose-51]

I fished firehole last night for 3-4 hours.  Was targeting burbot, but started out too deep I think.  (35 ft).  We moved in closer and fished about 20 ft. Caught just 2 burbot, one 20" the other quite a bit smaller.  Lost one big one at the hole.  Had lots of bites but I think we were using hooks that were too big.  I was surprised at how light they bit.

This was my first experience with the ling and to say i was impressed with the taste of them is an understatement! Wow are those buggers tasty or what!?

So now I'm hooked and plan to head back in a day or two.  Have a few questions, would appreciate some input.

I really like the firehole area and will probably head there again next time.  I fished the small point just to the right of the ramp at firehole, (the small cove near the ramp basically).  There were tons of holes punched.  My question is, has anyone done any good near the firehole ramp?  There are some cliffs straight out from the ramp across the lake that I would like to try.  Just wasn't sure if the ice was good all the way across.

[MountainMan]

Hey all...Can anyone tell me how the ice is on Anvil Draw?

I would guess ice is nonexistent at Anvil. The main lake at Buckboard isn't even frozen as of Saturday.

MJ, I would feel comfortable walking anywhere on Firehole now.

Here's a thug a got up the Confluence arm last weekend. Was more or less pleased to see she was full of carp minnows instead of smallies or crayfish. (5-12 feet deep, sucker meat on tip-ups and jigging twisters)

[WYIfish]

I really like the firehole area and will probably head there again next time.  I fished the small point just to the right of the ramp at firehole, (the small cove near the ramp basically).  There were tons of holes punched.  My question is, has anyone done any good near the firehole ramp?  There are some cliffs straight out from the ramp across the lake that I would like to try.  Just wasn't sure if the ice was good all the way across.

Rainbows near the concrete ramp. Sharp drop offs to the left and right hold fish, also steep bank due north of boat ramp. Also around frozen in floating dock is good. Where other's have fished is a great place to start. Look for fish blood on the ice from other lucky fishermen.  Trick is to fish the bottom and keep an eye on the nibbles.

[WYIfish]

I would guess ice is nonexistent at Anvil. The main lake at Buckboard isn't even frozen as of Saturday.

MJ, I would feel comfortable walking anywhere on Firehole now.

Here's a thug (snip)...

THUG is a good one.  The little ones might be "rabbles" or "the hoard"....options?
Thug is very good.

[Lady_Icer]

Thanks Mountainman!!
I am a good 4 hours from the Gorge and can't wait to hit the ice there at Anvil Draw.  So, if anyone has info. in the near future please post...I'll be watching for updates. 

[Moose-51]

Thanks for the info.  Will post how I do on the next trip.

I haven't fished the Gorge since I was a lot younger. . . Are the carp very numerous in there?  All the lakes I fish in Utah are full of them.  People think Burbot are bad, carp are a lot worse.  At least you can eat burbs.

[Bigred1]

We were at the Gorge Monday.  Ice is past Squaw Hollow (didn't go out on it, but was snow covered) and we saw one fisherman in the first cove south of the squaw boat ramp.  The ice looked as though it was down to anvil, but we didn`t go there.  We fished the confluence and caught mostly dink stockers, a good time was had by all.

[fshhed]

MountainMan,
The small fish that were in the Ling....did they have terminal mouths or the mouth is not pointing down? Almost look like they are chubs. NEWay nice ling and thanks for update on the ice. Tight lines!

[Dorado]

I thought they looked like chubs too...

Ever notice that you never catch or see juvenile carp?  The only ones I have ever seen were captured with electrofishing gear, they looked exactly like goldfish.....

MountainMan,
The small fish that were in the Ling....did they have terminal mouths or the mouth is not pointing down? Almost look like they are chubs. NEWay nice ling and thanks for update on the ice. Tight lines!

[MountainMan]

MountainMan,
The small fish that were in the Ling....did they have terminal mouths or the mouth is not pointing down? Almost look like they are chubs. NEWay nice ling and thanks for update on the ice. Tight lines!

I pulled the mouth out with the tip of my knife and it came out and down..... Either way they aren't smallmouth, which made me happy.

When I was standing at the cliffs at Buckboard Saturday morning the main lake was 40% skim ice that would ripple in the breeze, and 60% open water, so I advise using cation walking out on it anywhere south of there, especially if it's snow covered. The bays were froze up solid and people were fishing in them. Again, that was Saturday, the 26th.

[Moose-51]

Fished Firehole again last night.  Found a decent location to the left of the ramp a long the cliffs... Ice looked about 2' thick.  Wore myself out drilling two holes with my hand auger.  Was getting consistent bites @ 20' and landed a few, not the numbers I was looking for though .  So I decided to move further south along the clfifs to the first point, wanted to try shallow (less than 10')... Wore myself silly again drilling 2 holes and then the heater quit working on me.  So I tried to brave the cold for awhile but didn't get any bites so decided to head home. 

Haven't quite figured em out yet but I've learned something on each trip.  For those of you who have never targeted them before and want to give it a try:  they are very light biters, keep an eye on your rod tip and stay in contact with your line.  If you try to set the hook too early you'll miss them.  Let them tap tap a few times until you feel like they have it and are trying to swim away. 

I've also found that jigging too fast/much doesn't seem to help.

Looking forward to some more reports, hope this helps anyone interested in slaying some burbs!

[wyo700]

were you using glow jigs.  they seem to work really well for the ling.  i haved use blue and green and they both worked for me.

[Moose-51]

Yep.  I was only using glow lures/jigs.

[mallardmuncher]

I learned real fast 2 feet of ice and a hang auger soon spell out GAS AUGER!

[wyo700]

took the wife out today went down by the confluece.  i got two smaller lakers up through, my wife and i mised about ten between the both us.  she lost one right at the hole.  marked a lot of fish some a little more picky than others.  but at least we didnt get skunked.

[Moose-51]

Gonna head back either later tonight or tomorrow night.  Will post a detailed report as usual.

I've been thinking about the burbot in the Gorge and wanted to spark some conversation.  It seems to me like a lot of people believe that these fish can be removed from angling?  I really do not think this is feasible.  There are simply way too many established and the Gorge is too large.  We might be able to keep their numbers down a little by fishing - but i doubt we have as big of an impact as we would like to think.

With that said, after my first few trips targeting them - I can't believe how fun they are too fish for.  Not to mention how great they taste!  I'm used to targeting walleye, perch, crappie, ect.  Yes those fish are tastey, but honestly i think that burbot taste better.  Not only do they taste better, but they are way easier to catch and put up a decent fight.  Plus there is no limit, which is a huge plus;)  How often can you go out and catch a mess of walleye? Even when you do it's not like you can keep 40-50 of them.  I can understand the destruction they are causing to the bass/salmon/ laker fishing is upsetting to those of you who have fished the gorge for years.  But I can't help but think that the burbot are a good thing. . . I don't wanna get shot or anything haha but I must say I'm glad that they are in there.  They aren't that bad. 

It's nice that people can go out and catch 40-50 fish and get a mess of tastey fillets.  Makes the gas and other expenses more than worth their cost. 

What are your opinions?

[WYIfish]

GORGE ICE UPDATE;
For you big laker fans, there's some ice below Jap island in the middle.  How much, maybe two inches but there will be more in another week.
It's froze over in the main channel down to Brennigars but most of it is not safe yet, maybe some of the  bays have better ice.

[Toratube]

Thanks for the update WY!!! 

[appleye]

Thanks for the posts. Wife and I are heading that way next weekend 1/8-11 and are getting pumped up! Thanks for the updates and photo!

[ABIGGUN]

we are headed up this weekend, anybody willing to share a hotspot for the burbs?

[WYIfish]

we are headed up this weekend, anybody willing to share a hotspot for the burbs?

Try pre fishing the bays around Buckboard Marina, all have ling.  Watch the ice.
This afternoon/evening,
I caught ten ling and lost five at the hole, and had another 20 bites on a 3" glow in the dark jig with a 1/4 ounce jig head.  Tipped the hook with a bit of sucker meat, 15-40 feet of water.  Besides ling, I got three rainbow, and five lake trout, all out of three very lucky holes! Nothing over 20 inches except the lings. They smell like deteoriated seaweed, or old socks.

I fished across from Buckboard on the east side of the gorge.

There were guys out on the main channel down from buckboard this afternoon.  I bet there's not much ice though, not yet.

[Pokefishin66]

fished the gorge last night just north of the buckboard marina in the second big bay. we ended up with 18 ling with the biggest around 3 #. Probably missed as many as we caught. also caught 15 lakers all around 2-3 #. caught most of the fish at 18-35 ft. had about the same success last week at the confluence with 18 ling. didn't seem to catch as many dinks at buckboard.  used mostly glow tubes tipped w/ sucker meat but tried a jigging spoon with about the same success. dont know how much the glow actually helps.. anyway good luck to anyone headed out there!

[Z.L.BRAWLEE]

i was down by big bend today, saw a few people fishing way out on the ice. looked sketchy! can any one tell me how thick the ice is out there?

[ABIGGUN]

Thanks for the tips!

[wyo700]

was anyone else out there today between lost dog and current creek about 11 am when the ice rumbled so hard and about shook ya out of your boots wonder wear it came from it was crazy

[minnowguy]

was anyone else out there today between lost dog and current creek about 11 am when the ice rumbled so hard and about shook ya out of your boots wonder wear it came from it was crazy

Had that happen on Buffalo Bill this season, that just aint right.

[WYIfish]

was anyone else out there today between lost dog and current creek about 11 am when the ice rumbled so hard and about shook ya out of your boots wonder wear it came from it was crazy

It's making ice!  Friday night it was booming all over the gorge in  one continious roar.

Good news, I now have the last "for sale" new fish finder in Rock Springs.  A very late santa brought me a new Penn 320 reel too!

FYI, Rock Springs Ace Hwd. has new jiffiy's in after five weeks waiting.

I did a poll of stores today.  Wallyworld will have no ice fishing stuff, kmart same, Gart/sports authority, nope.

Get what you can when you see it where ever you are for tackle. 
Stiff ice,