Cold day at the mile

[arkansas angler]

Frigid temps today (-28*) but no "W" so it wasn't too bad. Fished cross creek and Howbart point. pretty slow fishing in both areas for us. Got a couple From cc but didn't even see a fish at Howbart. Fished from 5' to 22'.

[mtnhillbilly]

Eeeek! These reports are discouraging!

[madtrappa]

Fished coyote trail and rocks just passed the marina 11 to 3. Not a bite. Marked one fish. Probably hitting Terrell next to break the stink streak and actually catch something

[mtnhillbilly]

Last time I was there I caught 2 around 18" pumped stomachs and found scuds and something similar to a hellgrammite? They were still alive and crawled back into the hole! I was using pink plastics with meal worm but scuds were olive and the unknown bug was more gray than anything!

[arkansas angler]

I thought about switching over to a green scud. That was my go to fly at Antero. But there were no fish to change it for.

[A10FLYR]

The guy on the south side of Howbert with the broken down eskimo got a very nice 21" brown. I only saw three fish on the sonar. Damn, it was cold!!!

[SLAYERFISH]

-28F, Thats just stupid!    Nothing personal.

I'm done with south park till ice off.   Too friggin cold-

[arkansas angler]

It warmed up to -24 by 11:30. What was crazy is all of the people out there without shacks and heaters. They may be stil be frozen to their buckets today.

[Bigassbassman]

And just think, you can sit in that for eight hours with a chance of frostbite and even death, including an even more remote chance at seeing a fish on your flasher.  If you're REALLY lucky,  you might even get a couple of nudges on your jig all day.  And if you manage to actually land a fish, you'll be blessed with a slimy trout. 

All the best to you, if that's your cup of tea.  No thanks.   

[_colorado]

I think I have to remind you guys this is the "ICE SHANTY".  Cold is part of the game.

My buddy and I fished Lazy Boy yesterday and it was -32 when we drove over the Dream Stream.  He took a photo of the temperature with his cell phone but hasn't sent it to me yet.  It was -28 when we parked at Lazy Boy.  Another one of my friends was up there the day before us and he has a photo of the temperature as -40. It was -3 when we left the south shore and -18 when we got past the Dream Stream.

I got an 18" trout as soon as I dropped my pink Radical Glow in 10 FOW then got a 21" cuttbow about thirty minutes later on a deadsticked dead shiner.  An hour later I got a 19" bow and that was it.  I saw one more trout all day.  My buddy only saw one trout but caught two decent eater pike in the 20-24" range.

The funny thing about the cold weather is the ice isn't growing much because of the snow.  What a pain.  I think it has grown about two inches in two weeks and may be approaching a foot.

[SLAYERFISH]

I think I have to remind you guys this is the "ICE SHANTY".  Cold is part of the game.

  Oh Contrare!  Ice fished yesterday caught bass and perch all day didnt need gloves after the 1st hour.  It was actually warm out!  My kinda ice fishing !

[Bigassbassman]

X2, Slayer.  I've been fishing the past few days in temps where I haven't needed a coat after early morning, catching bass, perch, crappie, bluegill and pike all day.  You guys can have your frostbite "fishing", and I'll keep my front range "catching".   

[SLAYERFISH]

I like ice fishing the Mile, lots of big fish in there.  Just not when its that brutal cold.

[_colorado]

Seeing -34 on the mirror thermometer was certainly a bit of a surprise to me since it was +21 in Woodland Park.

[SLAYERFISH]

I think it was better back in the day when most vehicles did not have thermometers!

[_colorado]

Yeah, I agree.  It was a lot warmer then.  Global warming.... 

[stinkyfingers]

Holy Moly guys, 28° below is for the penguins. Seems a little dangerous to me not to mention miserable. The Mile is my home ice but I'm backing off until we get a break in this cold snap and also when the fish decide that they wouldn't mind so much being caught. We went through this last year. Our Denver brothers are having enviable success with some warmwater species and not killing themselves to do it either. Closely guarded locations, of course, which is correct. Credit where due.

[lvrider]

one time last year at the mile it was neg 30!!! it was eye lid freezing cold. so cold the damn heater took like an half hour to get started. i had to put the freezing propane tank in my jacket when i was pretty cold myself. we also were lucky and had a torch lighter with us. so i torched the pilot light sensor on the buddy to make it think it was lit which it was but it was too cold to warm the sensor up or something. that was one of the first trips ive ever been skunked but we sat up in between those island looking for pike to no avail. im never fishing the mile again unless i see weeds in my hole. i even bought an aqua vu so we wouldnt waste another day with the hut set up without weeds. now i dont pop the hut without poking a few holes to find weed lines.

[COlipripper]

^^^ We had the same thing happen with our heaters out there on Sunday. And I agree on not setting up until you see/find a weedline out there.
I've had great days and then skunk days...
It's all about paying your dues then getting wise and not going when the overnight temps show negative. I'm right past paying dues but still learning NOT TO GO!!! 

[Beerslushy]

It seems like nothing works when it's that cold out.  You spend so much time messing with your frozen equipment.  I don't cancel my trip over it but I agree, it is no fun th fish in that.  The first time I ever went ice fishing as a kid it was around -20 and my minnow bucket froze solid.  I couldn't even get the minnows out.