Strawberry Ice Off

[bkastel]

I've never fished Strawberry at ice off but I want to do it this year. The DWR report currently is dated March 15th with about 20" of ice. Does anyone know the ice condition as of now? Also when can I expect to be able to get my float tube in the water this year at Strawberry?

[Curtis Fry]

Last I heard it's solid 20 to 30 inches with little slush. That's not the same on the whole body of water, but it will be a while before you see open water.

Do a search in the archives here and you'll find some more information on the timing...

[Jason]

Ice off, in my opinion, is overrated. It's so hit and miss it's like finding a pair of....oh nevermind. I bet ice off doesn't occur until the the beginning of May.

[Davey]

I've never fished Strawberry at ice off but I want to do it this year. The DWR report currently is dated March 15th with about 20" of ice. Does anyone know the ice condition as of now? Also when can I expect to be able to get my float tube in the water this year at Strawberry?

I ice fished there on Sat 3/26(i know,i know,...low life ice fisherman...whatever...) no, I didn't catch any ice. This report applies to the mosquito bay area. Anyway, The ice conditions were F***ing Thick. 32"-34" of ice no slush on top and no sign of weakness anywhere. My best guess is around the first weekend in may this year and that's only if the weather warms up soon. I start calling the marina store about the last week of april to check on ice status. I'll report it here...

Later.

[Trout4x]

Sounds like you will have plenty of time to hit other open waters while you are waiting.

[MWSpearo]

We I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

I live at 8,000 feet and got about 20 inches of snow in the last 12 hours and it was still snowing when I left.

I think it will be a while unless it gets hot soon!

[cheech]

We I don't think it will happen anytime soon.

I live at 8,000 feet and got about 20 inches of snow in the last 12 hours and it was still snowing when I left.

I think it will be a while unless it gets hot soon!


Get your butt to work and clear off that snow!!

[Sumner Newman]

Ice off, in my opinion, is overrated. It's so hit and miss it's like finding a pair of....oh nevermind.

Vagimatics, Jason?? We're you going to say 'vagimatics'?

Couldn't agree more, Jason, especially on the 'berry. I've hardly ever done very well at the 'berry at ice out. Very, very overated at Strawberry. Fall is the time to fish Strawberry.

That is not the case, however, at 3 or 4 other still waters that I frequent. (Three of the four, however, are not located in Utah.) At these other waters, I have had very, very few days where the fishing around ice out hasn't been very good to just plain hot.

My current thinking is that ice out fishing depends a lot on the particular water. And I'm not sure of all the factors that make one lake consistently great at ice out and others very, very hit and miss or pretty consistently slow.

[JBinUTAH]

If you can hit Schofield at ice off when the ice is about 80' - 100' from shore its hot! Schofield doesn't fish better any other time of year and they are big. Timing is everything and it lasts less than a week usually. I have hit it right 2 of the last 4 years. Its the best time to bring my 9 year old son. Can't go wrong there. And it usually happens weeks before Strawberry.