01-04-2004, 04:22 AM
Fished the berry yesterday with a fishing buddy. We thought of dumping the trip in the morning when we saw all the snow. One other member of the group did. On the way up, we averaged about 40 mph from SLC to Heber. Snow was bad at Park city, good in Heber, and bad again up Daniels. When we hit the road to the Berry off hwy 40, it was white out conditions. We used the flags to guide us toward the marina, but misread one thinking it was a left when it was a right, and plowed into a snow bank at 10mph. After digging in 5 feet of snow for a while, and failing with a 4-wheeler, truck and chains to get out, the nice snow plow dude jerked us out of the bank.
Once on the lake, we didn't dare take the 4wheeler too far from the marina due to the slush, so we just went about 150 yards out from the farthest ice hut. There was a snowmobile on its side with two others around it, they looked like they were digging ice or slush out of the track. On the first drop, I hit a nice little fish that I lost at the hole. Action was good from 10:30 (when we finally got settled) to 1:30, then somebody stopped ringing the dinner bell. All in all it was a decent day, with 21 between the two of us on curlytailed jigs in yellow or white at various depths. We fished in about 25 feet of water. Biggest was 22 inches with most in the fun 16-19 inch range. On the way back, got the wheeler through the slush to the boat ramp, where it got stuck axle deep in snow. There haven't been enough people packing down that ramp to get a wheeler up it (down was fine). Took 4 guys and about 10 minutes to get it up the ramp close enough to hook my tow chain, tow rope, and the winch to pull it up the rest of the way.
All in all, it was a decent trip, lots of snow, lots of digging, but at least we didn't get skunked. A hut was the only way we could have stayed as long as we did with the wind howling and periodic blizzards. There was about 4 inches of good solid ice, with a layer of water/slush about 1 to 2 inches, then about 3 inches of frozen slush (maybe 8-10 inches of the ice/frozen slush sandwich), capped with about 4-5 inches of snow that had more slush on the bottom of it. The snow was getting blown off by the high winds, and we could see the slush patches freezing in front of us. Be careful with your machines on that ice right now. Snow shoes or X-country skis may be the call for the next week or so. Good luck.
Fisch R. Mann
[signature]
Once on the lake, we didn't dare take the 4wheeler too far from the marina due to the slush, so we just went about 150 yards out from the farthest ice hut. There was a snowmobile on its side with two others around it, they looked like they were digging ice or slush out of the track. On the first drop, I hit a nice little fish that I lost at the hole. Action was good from 10:30 (when we finally got settled) to 1:30, then somebody stopped ringing the dinner bell. All in all it was a decent day, with 21 between the two of us on curlytailed jigs in yellow or white at various depths. We fished in about 25 feet of water. Biggest was 22 inches with most in the fun 16-19 inch range. On the way back, got the wheeler through the slush to the boat ramp, where it got stuck axle deep in snow. There haven't been enough people packing down that ramp to get a wheeler up it (down was fine). Took 4 guys and about 10 minutes to get it up the ramp close enough to hook my tow chain, tow rope, and the winch to pull it up the rest of the way.
All in all, it was a decent trip, lots of snow, lots of digging, but at least we didn't get skunked. A hut was the only way we could have stayed as long as we did with the wind howling and periodic blizzards. There was about 4 inches of good solid ice, with a layer of water/slush about 1 to 2 inches, then about 3 inches of frozen slush (maybe 8-10 inches of the ice/frozen slush sandwich), capped with about 4-5 inches of snow that had more slush on the bottom of it. The snow was getting blown off by the high winds, and we could see the slush patches freezing in front of us. Be careful with your machines on that ice right now. Snow shoes or X-country skis may be the call for the next week or so. Good luck.
Fisch R. Mann
[signature]