Though it’s the second week of December, many Wyoming anglers are still fishing open water; it might be after Christmas before ice fishing season really kicks off.
“Every year, somebody has been fishing at Boysen Creek by Thanksgiving, except for this year,” Boysen State Park Superintendent John Bass told Cowboy State Daily.
There are some people ice fishing “at the very south end of the reservoir” in Fremont County, pulling in walleye, crappie, perch and maybe a sauger or two, he said.
But the vast majority of the water is still open, and probably will be for a while yet, Bass added.
Flaming Gorge Reservoir — which straddles the Wyoming-Utah state line in southwest Wyoming — is an ice fishing destination for anglers in both states.
But they’ll have to be patient about cracking out their ice augers and setting up their fishing huts this year, Tony Valdez, owner of Buckboard Marina, told Cowboy State Daily.
The water “skimmed up” with ice in some sections recently, but the reservoir is open again, he said.
Relatively warm and windy weather is forecast for about the next 10 days, making it highly unlikely that the reservoir will ice up during that timeframe, he added.
“I think we’re about a month behind” on the Flaming Gorge freezing up solid, he said.
Bass and Valdez said they’re confident there will be ample freeze-up in time for major ice fishing derbies, scheduled in late January and February.
And even if some parts of Flaming Gorge remain open, it won’t ruin the derbies, Valdez said.
“We’ve had people who have fished from boats in patches of open water during our derbies for the last three years,” he said.
Christmas Season Should Bring Ice
Temperatures have plunged enough to freeze up some smaller lakes and ponds in southeast Wyoming, providing at least some ice fishing opportunity, meteorologist Don Day of Cheyenne told Cowboy State Daily.
For instance, it recently hit 11 degrees below zero in Laramie.
Even so, there will warm periods across most of Wyoming until the end of December, Day said.
“We will be vacillating back and forth between cold and warm temperatures, and not persistently cold enough, long enough” to lock up major bodies of water such as Boysen and Flaming Gorge, he said.
“I don’t think that it’s going to be until Christmas week, and the first week of the new year before it gets consistently cold enough to go ice fishing,” he added.
And it looks as if conditions will be good for the January and February ice fishing derby season.
“There’s no indication that they won’t have ice for those derbies,” Day said.
Flaming Gorge Reservoir is one of Wyoming’s premiere ice fishing destinations. However, anglers will have to wait awhile to enjoy scenes like this one; most of the reservoir has yet to freeze over. (Courtesy Tony Valdez/Buckboard Marina) 
Flaming Gorge Reservoir is one of Wyoming’s premiere ice fishing destinations. However, anglers will have to wait awhile to enjoy scenes like this one; most of the reservoir has yet to freeze over. (Courtesy Tony Valdez/Buckboard Marina)
The Fishing Is Still Good
While die-hard ice anglers might be bummed about having to wait a while, early winter open water fishing can still be a blast, Valdez said.
“The fishing is really good” at Flaming Gorge right now, he said.
Smaller lake trout, or “pups," as he calls them, are biting, he said.
Wildlife agencies in Wyoming and Utah recently eliminated creel limits on “non-trophy-sized” lake trout; meaning, fish 28 inches and under.
There’s also no catch limit on burbot in the reservoir. The limits were lifted on smaller lake trout and burbot, because those species have been gobbling up Flaming Gorge’s prized kokanee salmon.
The “pups,” lake trout in the 25-inch-and-under class, are the best target demographic, Valdez said. And they make great table fare.
Burbot are also good eating, he said.
“They call them the poor man’s lobster,” Valdez said.
Although smaller burbot can be a lot of work, for not much meat, he added.
“A 16-inch burbot is like a snake. Like an eel; there’s not much meat on them,” he said.
Cautions
When feasting on lake trout and burbot, people should be mindful that many of the fish contain mercury, a by-product of some energy operations in the region, Valdez said.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s fishing regulations have information about mercury, and how much fish is safe to consume, he said.
Certain demographics, such as the elderly, or women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, should avoid eating fish that might have mercury in it, Valdez said.
Bass said that people should be keenly aware of the thickness of ice.
“Everybody needs to be aware, don’t take for granted thickness of the ice in a certain area, just because it’s a certain time of year,” he said.
Ice thickness can vary year-to-year.
“And this has been an unusual year, with a warm fall and early winter,” he said.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
