Sierra_Smitty
04-27-2008, 01:06 PM
Well since I live here, I usually don't consider the trout opener to be a big deal and usually wait until everyone leaves to wet a line. Somehow though, I got caught up in the madness and there I was, fishing on opening day. I'm glad I did though.
First stop was Sabrina...we got there about 7:45am intending just to eat breakfast. There was probably 100 or so people out on the ice at that time and according to Rick & Patti at Sabrina Boat Landing the crowd hadn't really materialized yet. I walked out on the ice to get a few pictures and chat with some anglers and according to those I spoke with, fishing was very good. Worms and Thomas Bouyants seemed to be the ticket.....
Lake Sabrina just before the sun hit the ice...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/lakesabrina4-26-08.jpg
Family Fishing...I love to see this!!!! The young girl was outfishing everyone!
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/familyonsabrina4-27-08.jpg
Another Lake Sabrina Picture
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/lakesabrina24-26-08.jpg
After breakfast we decided to fish South Lake.....we'd never ice fished before and it sounded like an adventure. We borrowed an auger from Rick over at Sabrina and off we went. The auger we borrowed was dull and it probably took 45 minutes to get through the 2ft thick ice. Luckily a lot of people had already limited out by the time we got out there at 9am so we just started fishing abandoned holes.
First fish was on a mini-jig and was caught by my brother. As with most of the fish caught, it was a typical stocker sized rainbow trout....although all the fish looked beautiful and were very healthy after being in the water since last year.
Evan's first ice-fishing trout...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/icefish4-26-08.jpg
My brother lane was next to connect and he nailed a pan sized rainbow using a kastmaster. Overall though, fishing from the ice near the inlet area was a bit slow so I parted ways with my brothers and went out on my own in search of better spots.
I set up in boiler cove and tried jigs and powerworms for 1 fish in about an hour. I was getting a little frustrated with the ice fishing thing. Out of desperation I tied on a gold kastmaster and that was all she wrote......I was stylin after that. I caught and released at least a dozen fish over the next couple hours and missed so many bites I lost count. I was probably the worst ice fisherman out there but after a while I figured it out enough to keep up with most of the other folks out there.
My first fish on the Kastmaster
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/jaredbrooder4-26-08.jpg
Part of the reason I was out there was to document the ice fishing on opening day and get some pictures for my website....here are a few lunkers that were caught.
This fish weighed 4lbs 14oz
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/alpers4-26-084lbs14oz.jpg
This weighed 5lbs even on the digi
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/mikewilliamscanyoncountry5lbs4-26-0.jpg
I stopped at one more hole on my way back to my car and scored big-time....Alper that weighed in at 4lbs even. Getting that fish through the ice was a challenge but a fun, adrenaline filled experience! I decided that I like ice fishing!!!
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/jaredalper24-26-08.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/jaredalper4-26-08.jpg
Other quick reports from the canyon.....
North Lake - About half of the lake is open water now and the fishing was very good on fish to 2lbs.
Middle Fork - OK fishing, nothing to write home about.
South Fork - My uncle caught and released aproximately 50 fish using a Natural Colored Powerworm....I take that to mean fishing was wide open if you were using the right thing.
Sabrina - Fishing was very good on pan sized rainbows. Big fish of the day was a Brown that weighed just over 2.5lbs....that would have made my day!!!!
Intake II - Fishing was reported to be steady....good but not on fire.
South Lake - Very good for those using the right baits. A total of 4 Alpers came through the ice.....smallest was 4lbs and the largest was 5lbs. Best Bait - Crawlers, Best Lure - Kastmaster, Jigs & Powerworms were absolutely killing it at the open water near the inlet.
Take Care
Smitty
First stop was Sabrina...we got there about 7:45am intending just to eat breakfast. There was probably 100 or so people out on the ice at that time and according to Rick & Patti at Sabrina Boat Landing the crowd hadn't really materialized yet. I walked out on the ice to get a few pictures and chat with some anglers and according to those I spoke with, fishing was very good. Worms and Thomas Bouyants seemed to be the ticket.....
Lake Sabrina just before the sun hit the ice...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/lakesabrina4-26-08.jpg
Family Fishing...I love to see this!!!! The young girl was outfishing everyone!
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/familyonsabrina4-27-08.jpg
Another Lake Sabrina Picture
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/lakesabrina24-26-08.jpg
After breakfast we decided to fish South Lake.....we'd never ice fished before and it sounded like an adventure. We borrowed an auger from Rick over at Sabrina and off we went. The auger we borrowed was dull and it probably took 45 minutes to get through the 2ft thick ice. Luckily a lot of people had already limited out by the time we got out there at 9am so we just started fishing abandoned holes.
First fish was on a mini-jig and was caught by my brother. As with most of the fish caught, it was a typical stocker sized rainbow trout....although all the fish looked beautiful and were very healthy after being in the water since last year.
Evan's first ice-fishing trout...
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/icefish4-26-08.jpg
My brother lane was next to connect and he nailed a pan sized rainbow using a kastmaster. Overall though, fishing from the ice near the inlet area was a bit slow so I parted ways with my brothers and went out on my own in search of better spots.
I set up in boiler cove and tried jigs and powerworms for 1 fish in about an hour. I was getting a little frustrated with the ice fishing thing. Out of desperation I tied on a gold kastmaster and that was all she wrote......I was stylin after that. I caught and released at least a dozen fish over the next couple hours and missed so many bites I lost count. I was probably the worst ice fisherman out there but after a while I figured it out enough to keep up with most of the other folks out there.
My first fish on the Kastmaster
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/jaredbrooder4-26-08.jpg
Part of the reason I was out there was to document the ice fishing on opening day and get some pictures for my website....here are a few lunkers that were caught.
This fish weighed 4lbs 14oz
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/alpers4-26-084lbs14oz.jpg
This weighed 5lbs even on the digi
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/mikewilliamscanyoncountry5lbs4-26-0.jpg
I stopped at one more hole on my way back to my car and scored big-time....Alper that weighed in at 4lbs even. Getting that fish through the ice was a challenge but a fun, adrenaline filled experience! I decided that I like ice fishing!!!
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/jaredalper24-26-08.jpg
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o181/sierrasmitty/jaredalper4-26-08.jpg
Other quick reports from the canyon.....
North Lake - About half of the lake is open water now and the fishing was very good on fish to 2lbs.
Middle Fork - OK fishing, nothing to write home about.
South Fork - My uncle caught and released aproximately 50 fish using a Natural Colored Powerworm....I take that to mean fishing was wide open if you were using the right thing.
Sabrina - Fishing was very good on pan sized rainbows. Big fish of the day was a Brown that weighed just over 2.5lbs....that would have made my day!!!!
Intake II - Fishing was reported to be steady....good but not on fire.
South Lake - Very good for those using the right baits. A total of 4 Alpers came through the ice.....smallest was 4lbs and the largest was 5lbs. Best Bait - Crawlers, Best Lure - Kastmaster, Jigs & Powerworms were absolutely killing it at the open water near the inlet.
Take Care
Smitty