Henrys Lake producing large fish through the ice

“Got another big one,” awakened me as I had drifted into a catnap in the warm sun Wednesday morning on the three- to four-inch ice on Henrys Lake.

My friend, Gary Owens, was fighting his second hybrid over five pounds as I finally got over to help him land it. He and I had each landed twin 5.59 pounders earlier and this one was 5.2 pounds.

“Moose and I iced seven fish with six of them around five pounds,” Gary told me Tuesday evening as we discussed going Wednesday. “We did not have a hit until after ten, but from then until two, it remained slow but consistent.”

On Wednesday, we did find some cutthroats from 14 to 18 inches, which was encouraging to me as fishing this summer was slow with mostly large fish being caught. A lot of rumors swirled around about Henrys Lake not having many fish in it, but on the west side of the lake each day this week we missed bites and saw fish swimming by on the fish finder.

On both days the ice was “talking” all day as the ice is thickening from the three to four inch base along the sides. We heard reports that the ice in the Outlet Arm is six or seven inches thick.

As ice thickens and expands, pressure ridges form throughout the lake and several times we had pucker moments as cracks passed under our chairs. The ice-free spots in the center of the lake on Tuesday were capped over by Wednesday morning.

There were fishermen in the Outlet, along the west side in water from six to 11 feet deep. There were a few along the Cliffs, too, but only very close to the shore. We didn’t see anyone fishing the north side of the lake at the Hatchery, Pintail Point or around Wild Rose Ranch.

We did not venture out more than 100 yards from the shore because of the cracking and the building of pressure ridges.

Most of the fish were taken in water seven to 11 feet deep on white lead-headed jigs tipped with minnows, sucker meat or raw pieces of shrimp. We heard reports of limits being caught on meal worms, corn and a mixture of corn and worms. At times, jigging increased the bite, while other times, dead-sticking (just letting the bait set near the bottom) was the most effective. We caught several using “Jaw-jackers” to set the hook.

There is very little snow on the ground and on the ice, making the ice very slick, so some kind of grippers on your boots will save you from a lot of falls. Also, take something like an “ice spud” to test the thickness of the ice.

As we drove by Pintail Point, we noticed someone had tested the thickness of the ice by throwing rocks on it. That would cause a lot of future problems, as the snow will cover them up creating damage to ice augers later. Another problem is that the wind can expose the rock, which will allow the sun to melt the ice around the rock and create weak spots in the ice. Taking a bar to test the ice is a lot better activity.

With the predicted snow storm this weekend, a lot of dangerous area may be hidden, and care will need to be taken while trying to find a place to fish on Henrys Lake.

Usually, three or four weeks after the lake freezes over, fishing gets slower and slower due to the weeds breaking down and depleting the oxygen from the water. As the oxygen gets lower, the fish go into a hibernation stage and quit feeding, swimming past bait without attempting to eat. So, the next two or three weeks will be the best fishing until next spring.

As of Wednesday, there were plenty of places to park on public property and be respectful of the private property around the shoreline.

On the way home on Wednesday, we stopped by the Island Park Reservoir and found the area near the dam had frozen over, but the ice was too thin to even test. By the time Henrys Lake starts to slow down, Island Park’s ice should be thick enough to fish.

Fishing through the ice is always risky, so be safe and enjoy the experience being a “cold-footer.”