Ling advice ~ Boysen

[Husker95]

Hey all,
     I am looking for some general rules of thumb for catching Ling at Boysen reservoir.  I am taking my dad and a couple friends to Boysen in Jan for an ice fishing trip and since I have never seen, much less caught a Ling, would like some advice on how best to get on them.

    I have researched quite a few posts on here and know the basics:  fish at night and focus on 20 to 40 foot depths off of rocky points with jig heads and cut bait fished close to the bottom.  Please let me know if there is anything to add or something I am missing.  I did buy a Fish n Map for Boysen so am doing my early map recon as well.

    Thanks for anything you can give me!

Husker95

[gemcityslayer]

Hey all,
     I am looking for some general rules of thumb for catching Ling at Boysen reservoir.  I am taking my dad and a couple friends to Boysen in Jan for an ice fishing trip and since I have never seen, much less caught a Ling, would like some advice on how best to get on them.

    I have researched quite a few posts on here and know the basics:  fish at night and focus on 20 to 40 foot depths off of rocky points with jig heads and cut bait fished close to the bottom.  Please let me know if there is anything to add or something I am missing.  I did buy a Fish n Map for Boysen so am doing my early map recon as well.

    Thanks for anything you can give me!

Husker95

Always did really well at the Gorge with a buckshot glow rattle spoon.  Thump the bottom.

[POk3s]

If ling is all you want I’d fish the gorge instead. A lot better chance you’ll catch one there. Now if you’re looking for a night time by-catch then by all means give er hell!

[WYIfish]

Troy is right, the gorge is pretty hard to beat for ling. And there's no limit...A bonus is a limit of 12 pup lake trout.

[Gunflint]

12??

Limit on Lakers in MN is 2. 

[Husker95]

The Gorge is definitely on my list, but will be in the Riverton area to see friends and family for the holidays.  Getting to ice fish Boysen for a couple days is a bonus.  So, just trying to get the layout of the place.  Ill be fishing for anything/everything but we don't have Ling in So CO where I live so that's at the top of the list.

[Lets fish]

Trent is correct on gorge i fish shallow like 3 ft to 20 pound bottom

[fish/hunt4ever]

For finding Ling in Boysen depends on when you are going to fish for them, In the next few weeks they will start to spawn and head up the rivers, so fishing near some of the rivers in boysen is always a good bet.  We have fished Muddy bay up towards the river and done well with minnows from 5 to 15 foot as the ling run up the river and then come back down to the lake at night.  But I also have fished down by the dam around the rocks and done pretty good on ling any time throughout the winter.  Usually set some lines from 5 foot all the way out to the 65 foot depth where the lake starts to smooth out and catch them out deep in the afternoon as they move up to the shallows to feed in the rocks at night. Hope this helps some, just the Ling population in boysen is still down so it is pretty rare to catch them now, 15 years ago the fishing for the ling was a lot better, hence the fishing muddy bay two nights over 30 ling from 6 inches long to 5 foot long, my cousins just wanted to go back to bend and leave the lines out of the water because they were tired of catching fish and after 2 hours the fishing died and then 6 hours later the fish came back through and non stop for 2 more hours.

[Hellraiser]

If you're in the Riverton area you should also try Morton as us locals call it or Pilot Butte Reservoir my son and I have done great there if you're willing to spend the extra money bull Lake on the reservation is well worth it at night the trick to both of them is Big minnows don't even mess with a mental unless it's at least six the 7in long at about 8 inches off the bottom try to find some points where it drops off fast on bull Lake also be a glow-in-the-dark jigs with a fresh dead minnow. I'll set up several tip ups and then pound the bottom with jigs about 10 feet from the tip ups usually works good also don't forget about Big Sandy Reservoir there's pretty good Ling in there and nighttime is the way to go get everything set up the first run of laying usually hits around 7 to 8 and then around 2 to 3 good luck

[Hellraiser]

Forgot to mention to ice fish on the reservation you do have to get a reservation tag and you legally can't fish it until January 1st until the end of February

[Husker95]

Forgot to mention to ice fish on the reservation you do have to get a reservation tag and you legally can't fish it until January 1st until the end of February

Ok, so Bull Lake is off limits 1 Jan through end of Feb?

[Husker95]

Ok, so I guess it does pay to do your homework!  That is the first I've heard that Ling populations are down at Boysen.  We may have to do a day up at Pilot Butte.  Are the other populations at Boysen healthy:  Walleye, perch, rainbows, etc? 

If im staying with friends in Riverton area, would I be better off at Ocean or Pilot Butte than Boysen?  Thanks guys - appreciate the help to an out of towner.

Husker

[POk3s]

yea not many people catching ling at boysen. Other populations are very strong. Eater walleye are up, perch are down a tick from a very high level, and if you're in the right spot you can't keep those trout off. If I were you, I'd set minnows on a rocky point targetting some nighttime walleye, and hoping for a ling hahaha.

[fish/hunt4ever]

Ocean lake can be good or bad have been out and only had a couple flags all weekend other times non stop action. Morton the last couple years they have drained it down and I have not done very well the couple of times I have been out there actually have not caught a ling out of there at all last year but only fished it one night. I know they are in there but seems like the draining of the lake has impacted that population as well. I hear the sauger bite is good right now. But also what weekend you are fishing might be a factor as well the ocean lake Derby is usually one of the first weekends of the year. Last year I think it was the 11th through the 13th and the boysen derby is usually the third weekend of January so have more people out and about usually so if you do not want to deal with tourney crowds might see what weekend the tournaments are and go from there. Might check the report and conditions board and see what people are talking about but it gets really quite just before the tournaments for each lake. Good luck

[Hellraiser]

Yes cannot ice fish the rez untill Jan 1. Ocean also has ling just watch out for the springs out on ocean.

[Lucky5]

If ling is all you want I’d fish the gorge instead. A lot better chance you’ll catch one there. Now if you’re looking for a night time by-catch then by all means give er hell!

Have yet to fish the Gorge.  Ant tips on where on the lake to try for ling?

[POk3s]

Well...no hahaha. I think I’ve tried ling fishing 6 nights or so, and my best night is 8 while others guys were catching 200. I’m far from an expert.

[WYIfish]

Well...no hahaha. I think I’ve tried ling fishing 6 nights or so, and my best night is 8 while others guys were catching 200. I’m far from an expert.

Go to gorge, make a hole. drop in line, catch ling.  Can't keep then off your hook. vermin.

[wyowildone]

Ok, so I guess it does pay to do your homework!  That is the first I've heard that Ling populations are down at Boysen.  We may have to do a day up at Pilot Butte.  Are the other populations at Boysen healthy:  Walleye, perch, rainbows, etc? 

If im staying with friends in Riverton area, would I be better off at Ocean or Pilot Butte than Boysen?  Thanks guys - appreciate the help to an out of towner.

Husker

Had a few friends go up to Ocean about a week ago, said the fishing was slow. Only caught two perch all day and were moving around quite a bit. Someone else might have some recent news on it though