By Dave Webb 

We had great success ice fishing at Fish Lake on January 19, 2024. We caught many nice fat rainbows (14-15 inches), pulse several splake, yellow perch, and one cutthroat.

Fish Lake also offers lake trout, kokanee salmon, and a few brown trout. We did not catch any of those species.

Fish Lake is one of Utah’s most popular fisheries because it offers consistently good action summer, fall, and winter. Ice fishing is productive but can be challenging because the lake often has thick ice and cold temperatures.

On this trip, the ice was not thick, and daytime temps were warm. It was delightful. We watched the weather and chose a day when the forecast called for mild temps between snowstorms. That was a good decision.

Fish Lake Ice Fishing

Because Fish Lake is deep, it freezes more slowly than other high-elevation waters. It is usually about Jan 1 when the main lake develops an ice cap and then the ice quickly becomes thick and safe. At this writing the main lake had not yet developed safe ice. On the southwest side, along the access road, a shallow shelf extends out into the water and that area was covered with ice and a skiff of snow. That thick ice ended abruptly where the shelf ended and deep water began.

There were a number of parties on the ice and so we felt confident venturing out, cautiously drilling test holes, and starting to fish. We found the ice was 6-7 inches thick over water 8-9 feet deep. (My fish finder showed the water depth to be 8-9 feet but it could have been seeing the top of very dense weeds.)

A good ice fishing strategy is to start shallow and then move to progressively deeper water until you find the fish. In this case, we found the water depth to be a consistent 8-9 feet, even as we went farther from shore toward the deep-water drop-off.

We caught fish out of every hole we drilled. Almost all fish were caught within 6 inches of the bottom (top of weeds). We used small jigs or ice flies tipped with bait. We dropped them down until they hit bottom, then reeled up one or two turns. We’d let the line come to a full stop, then jig a time or two, then let the line come to a stop. The jigging action seemed to entice bites.

Our most productive bait was a little chunk of shrimp meat. (We bought the smallest pre-cooked shrimp we could find at Smiths – just normal shrimp intended for human consumption.) We’d tear each shrimp into three pieces and use a chunk for the bait. As the day progressed and the shrimp warmed up they started to get a fishy smell. That seemed to make them work better.

We also caught fish on small jigs tipped with wax worms and red worms.

We used an old Fishin’ Buddy fish finder and it helped, but wasn’t really necessary. Apparently, I need to get new blades for my ancient hand auger because it proved to be useless in cutting into the ice. I had a drywall hammer with a sharp blade in my truck and we used it to chop holes into the ice. That would have been difficult had the ice been thicker. I should know enough to test equipment before heading out. I’ll get the auger fixed or upgraded. Power augers are nice.

Daytime Conditions

We purposely chose a day when temps would be mild. We started fishing at about 12:30 and the thermometer in my truck showed 35 degrees. It was partly cloudy with no breeze. When the sun poked out from between clouds it felt downright warm and we shed jackets. (Dress in layers.) Later in the afternoon a light breeze developed. When the sun was behind a cloud and it was breezy it felt cooler but never cold. We put gloves back on when the breeze picked up.

Often, daytime temps in January will be in the 20s and it can be much colder.

Nighttime temps are usually very cold. It can be well below 0 F.

State Road 25 to the lake is paved and plowed. It can be icy and snow-packed during and immediately after storms.

The parking area at the south end of the lake was open and clear. It allowed easy access to the ice and we didn’t have to walk far before we started fishing.

Overall, it was a great day.

We actually got up early and tried fishing at Otter Creek. Action there was dead slow. Nobody was catching fish and nothing was showing on the graph so we packed up and drove up the mountain.