Ice fishing Utah and Colorado…..1/2-17/2019….. part one:

[Mahigeer]

Ice fishing Utah and Colorado…..1/2-17/2019….. part one:



Here is a report of a recent ice fishing trip in Utah and Colorado. If you have read my past reports, you know by now that they are more of a “travel log” than see what I caught reports.
My intention is for the reader to be in my seat if you will. Therefore, there will be some details and even some pictures!

I hope you like it.






Wednesday January 2nd, 2019




This would be the second year that I am trying my hand in ice fishing. Particular for this year was to go to Colorado for two reasons.
The second reason was to catch northern pike. More on first reason later.

I left home in early afternoon toward Las Vegas. The final destination for the first leg of the journey was the Strawberry Reservoir in Utah.
I had been there last year fishing with some locals. More on that later as well.

Overnight stay in Las Vegas also cut the driving hours next day.



1-Your Tax Dollars at work. Very useful and well-built restrooms on the way to and from Las Vegas.




2-The east/west roads like the one to Las Vegas, can present a dangerous condition of blinding the driver with direct and in this picture with indirect sun rays. Even the rearview mirror can reflect a glaring sun rays from the sun in the back.
From the distance it looked like the truck was on fire.




3-Never found the reason why, but the west/south bond CA Interstate (15) was very crowded all the way to Las Vegas.
It was a good thing and luckily for me; if I may say so, that I was on the opposite side.


Perhaps leftover crowd from the New Year celebration in the sin city.

I spend the night at a hotel next to the Las Vegas location of Bass Pro Shops. The hotel had sent me an offer that I could not refuse.
Free room for one night. Free buffet dinner, valued at $24.99. As well as $40.00 free slot play.
When I won $90.00 in Black Jack that night in addition, all was well with the world.
I liked the fact that there was also free valet and self-parking. The fact that hotel was not on the main strip did not bother me at all.





Thursday January 3rd




The next day I was on my way to the Strawberry Reservoir in Utah.



4-The first sighting of snow on the road………




5-…….and later at the Sportsman’s warehouse parking lot.




6-Let’s enjoy some snow.






7-This beautiful building is Provo City Center temple, not far from the local university.




8-In Provo, Utah, the busses run at the center island which is between the opposite lanes. This way the bus stop is not on the right hand side, and no car has to wait for the bus to move. There were parking lanes too. Thus, there are always two lanes of traffic clear for the vehicles to travel.




9-A check of the temperature.




Arrived at the Reservoir in dark, but since I had been there before and had GPS, finding the lodge was not hard.
Just careful driving in dark with road covered with snow.


While transporting my gear to the room, I had a bad fall. My left knee went under me over stretching. Fortunately, nothing was broken and after a night’s somewhat restful sleep, I was able to continue with my trip and adventure.






Friday January 4th




After breakfast at the restaurant, I met Jim and his friend already catching fish.



10-This makes year two that I was able to fish with these anglers. Jim (LandlockedinUT)on the far right is a member of SC Surf fishing website.
He and his friend live in Utah about 1.5 hrs. away and fish the (as locals call it “berry”) often.




11-The only way to fly!
Jim’s friend brings this huge shelter and heater to make it very comfortable while fishing.




12-Two handed angler fishes two holes at the same time. He hooked one decent size fish and then hand-lined the second rod. Landed both fish.




13-The provider of the large shelter was no slouch either. Between the two they caught many fish.




14-I was lucky too. I could say that my flasher was not set correctly by me. It had been a year since I used it last time.
I could say that wax worms were not as good as meal worms………


…….but the fact was that they were/are better anglers when it comes to ice fishing.



15-Once again, I rented a snowmobile for the duration. It was well worth the cost.
I just wish I had taken a picture of us three riding the snowmobile while towing three sleds.
Next time for sure.




16-Rub it in Jim, wont’ you? A nice cutthroat, yet not a keeper.




17-This gadget is called “jigging Jawjaker”.
The mat keeps me from getting too wet, when I bend to setup the rod from the side.
You do not want to stand behind the rod and get hit in the face with it during setup.


It has a motor and a wheel that makes the upper unit (the first production Jawjacker) to move up and down. Thus, producing a jigging action for the bait/lure. When the fish grabs the bait and pulls on the line, the mechanism trips and the releases the bent rod tip. The tension of the bent rod when released sets the hook.
The black insulated cover helps the hole not to ice up (freeze) too fast. The yellow and red tool is for scooping out the slush from the hole.




Jim’s friend had brought his camper to stay overnight. They joined me for a while in my room and we shared Jim’s Asian cooking.

We went to bed early to be ready by 7:00 AM next day for the last day of fishing with them.






Saturday January 5th




At 6:00 AM next day it was still dark and cold. It was not easy to leave the warm bed to get ready to go out.

I drove the snowmobile to their camper and saw them almost ready.
We used the snowmobile to tow our three sleds as well as riding triple! I was really glad to rent the unit, since I had to go to the room several times. It was a life saver for me.



18-Smilling Jim (LandlockedinUT) with one of the many cutthroat trout that he landed during our two days of fishing.




19-From left to right; restaurant, the tackle shop and the lodge in the distance.
The Eskimo brand (in red) shelters are very popular. I even bought one, but later returned it.




20-Lots of anglers on the ice.




21-One more beauty fell for the charm of Jim.





We stopped fishing around 4:30 PM, when the wind picked up and the bite had been slow.

The snowmobile one more time saved a lot of effort to get back to the camper and my room.

We parted our ways and hoped to see each other in Wyoming at Flaming Gorge in February.






Sunday January 6th




On Sunday, I woke up to a sort of a surprise, since there was no prediction of snow on TV.


22-It had been snowing all night.
You see, with snow you don’t hear anything. Unlike rain, there is no noise to let you know what is happening. Just quite.






The wind was blowing snow all day.


23-The wind was strong enough to send the snowflakes over the short wall in the hallway.




24-Fortunetly there was TV to watch football all day.


The term cabin fever, really hits home, when there is nothing to do all day, but to eat and watch TV in bed in a small room.






Monday January 7th




It was time to leave Strawberry Reservoir for the next destination. Heber City, Utah.



25-Leaving Strawberry Reservoir in the morning. Not easy to see the road out of the Marina.
The vertical markers on each side of the roads were the only way to keep from going off-road.






26-I saw many trucks plowing the roads constantly. These two turned around halfway down the mountain, where the roads were already clear.




27-So much beauty in the nature. Looks like someone shook a large salt shaker over the trees.








28-That afternoon I drove around the Heber City aimlessly sightseeing. There were so many newly built housing communities that it was impressive.
There were vast empty areas too.






29-Good use of old skies. Wouldn’t you say??




30-I was staying next door to this fast food restaurant. The interior theme was train related.


Delicious soups were served there.


To be continued……….