The road to Angel Lake is closed for the winter and the lake is ice covered and there will be no more fishing reports until late spring or early summer depending upon snowfall this winter.

CAVE LAKE

The water levels continue to drop at Cave Lake in an anticipation of renovation efforts on the dam in 2022. The lake is closed to fishing at this time.  NDOW conducted a fish salvage in December and moved some very nice brown trout ranging in size from eight to 25 inches into Comins Lake. A few of the larger brown trout were pushing seven pounds. Cave Lake is closed to fishing due to shorelines that are very soft and dangerous due to the complete saturation of the soil as the lake is drained.  By draining the lake, it should shave a couple of years off the re-building of the dam and cut costs tremendously.  It will also make the project much safer for those performing the work.

COLD CREEK RESERVOIR

Cold Creek Reservoir was salvaged so that water control structure could be fixed to prevent leaking.  When the control structure is fixed, the reservoir will be filled and NDOW will begin rebuilding the fishery in spring or summer of 2022 depending upon water conditions.

COMINS LAKE

The ice at Comins is ranging between 10 and 15 inches of good hard ice  there are some slick spots with the warm afternoons melting the surface and then refreezing overnight. Traction devices on boots are recommended.  Anglers continue to report good fishing for 14 to 18-inch rainbows on night crawlers.  A few anglers also appeared to be doing well using PowerBait.  Soft plastic jigs tipped with a worm should also be effective.  Pike anglers have had some success using artificial minnows or spoons jigged through the ice for 12-to-18-inch fish with one angler reporting a five pound pike.   Anglers, please note that NDOW has placed radio tags in several Northern Pike.  These pike will have an orange Floy tag near their dorsal fin and a small antenna (~ 7 inches long) coming from their stomach.  Please return these fish to the water for research purposes.  All other pike should be humanely dispatched. There is no limit on the pike..

ILLIPAH

The road into the lake has been plowed and in good shape.  There is eight to 13 inches of good ice with some slick ice.  Traction devices on boots is recommended  No recent report from anglers but expect good fishing for trout in the 12 to 15 inch range.  The usual nightcrawlers or PowerBait should work here as well as dark colored soft plastic jigs tipped with a worm.

JAKE'S / BOIES RESERVOIR

JIGGS / ZUNINO RESERVOIR

Almost dry and no fish.

MOUNTAIN STREAMS

Not much change here as many streams are still mostly covered in ice with open water where flows are faster. Shorelines are snow and ice covered and very slippery. If fishing these streams, fish the ice edges. Access is iffy to many of these waters so leave a trip plan and be prepared to spend the night. With colder water temperatures expect stream fishing to be slow. Fish the deeper pools and slower water (if open) where the fish hang out this time of year to conserve energy. The road to Lamoille Canyon is closed near the PowerHouse Picnic Ground. Foot travel or snowmobiles into the canyon.

 

RUBY LAKE NWR

Harrison Pass is closed so anglers will need to access the Refuge through Secret Pass. There is ice at the north end of the ditch though open water where there are springs. However, there is plenty of open water for fishing in the rest of the collection ditch and fishing has been fair to good depending upon the day.  With the cold-water conditions fish deeper areas and springheads where the water is a bit warmer. Chironomid patterns such as zebra midges, Yankee buzzers, chromies and ice cream cones should work. Other flies such as Leech patterns, balanced leeches, crystal buggers, #14-16 hare’s ears, and #16-18 PT nymphs and chironomids under an indicator are recommended.  Egg patterns can be effective this time of year here.  Spin anglers should be using small spinners in black or olive with contrasting yellow or red colors.  There is three inches of unsafe gray ice at the boat ramp.  Not worth going on especially with all the springs there will be weak spots.

SOUTH FORK RESERVOIR

On Thursday, January 27, the lake was ice covered with ice that is still four to five inches of ice with little to no snow on top making it very slick. There were a few spots where the ice was pushing eight inches but South Fork is notorious for variable thickness of ice and should use extreme caution and drill test holes as you venture onto the ice.  Please carry safety gear including ice claws and PFD’s.  The few anglers daring to walk on the ice have been catching fish ranging from 15 to 20 inches but report being nervous due to ice conditions.

WILDHORSE RESERVOIR

As of Thursday, January 27, Wildhorse had nine to 15 inches of ice near the state park boat ramp but was averaging 12 inches in most places.  There is enough snow on top of the ice to make walking safer but not so much to make it harder.  The contrast between very warm afternoons and very cold nighttime temperatures is continuing to build pressure ridges but most are still not too bad.  There is one on the west side of the lake anglers should stay away from.  Fishing for trout has been good using PowerBait or worms fished about four to six feet below the ice though a few are being caught throughout the depths. Trout have been averaging 15 to 20 inches with a few in the 20+ range.  Perch fishing has been good for numbers but it takes a lot of catching to get a few keepers.  The larger perch generally are deeper in the water column, often 25 to 35 feet deep, the best fishing for the larger fish is further from shore so anglers do need to head out from shore into deeper water.  For perch fish within a foot of the bottom in 25 to 35 feet of water using small plastic jigs tipped with a piece of worm.  A slight jigging action occasionally helps.  If you are catching mostly small ones, move as they generally school by size.  Those anglers willing to move and punch a lot of holes in the ice eventually start catching keepers.  The ice skating rink by the state park boat ramp is in great shape so bring your skates. The State Park Campground is open on a first come first served, with the loop closest to the boat ramp open for campers.

WILLOW CREEK RESERVOIR

No fish

WILSON RESERVOIR

No recent report but expect similar conditions as at South Fork. The road to Wilson is more than likely 4WD only with the snow and mud.