Ice fishing has started on Hyrum Reservoir

Willard resident Steve Boulton came to Hyrum reservoir on Thursday. He caught three perch but let them go.

HYRUM – Steve Boulton from Willard came to Hyrum reservoir on Thursday to ice fish. He said the ice was about five inches thick. He knows some people fish on two inches, but he likes it thicker. He was fishing about 100 yards from the beach in about 30 feet of water, according to his fish finder. The ice was mushy but plenty thick to walk out on. He likes that fishing spot because it’s easy access.

Steve Boulton drove from Willard to ice fish on  Hyrum reservoir Thursday.

“I’ve caught three perch since I’ve been here, but they weren’t big enough so I let them go,” the retired plumber said. “I like to filet the fish before I cook them. I like the white meat fish, like perch, walleye and crappie,” he said. “They don’t taste fishy like trout.”

Even though the wind was blowing off the ice, he was bundled up and appeared to be staying warm.

The Division of Wildlife Resources website reports several fish species – including Bluegill, Brown Trout, Channel Cat, Largemouth Bass, Rainbow Trout and Yellow Perch – live in Hyrum Dam.

“I don’t care what I catch, but I prefer perch,” Boulton said. “This is my first time on Hyrum this winter.”

Tianbiao (Leo) Liu a Utah State University chemistry professor from China brought his electronic fish finder.

His fish finder showed there were fish around his jig, but they weren’t biting.

Boulton was not the only fisherman on the reservoir. There were over a dozen people fishing on the ice. Some had red shelters and some were braving the elements.

Next to Boulton was Tianbiao (Leo) Liu, a Utah State University chemistry professor from China.

With his usual tackle, a shelter and a fish finder, he was hard at it. He had a grocery store bag with about six yellow perch he had caught.

“I like to fish when I have time off from the university on holidays and vacation days,” he said.

Pearch caught on Hyrum Reservoir by Tianbiao (Leo) Liu from China Thursday.

Utah Department of Wildlife Resources said as of December 27, the fishing was reported as fair. A small group of anglers fishing near the boat ramp caught a few yellow perch. However, a group fishing down by the beach area were not able to catch any fish when they checked. Ice cleats were recommended, when the ice gets slippery.

DWR officials would like people to use extreme caution as ice conditions could change.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

I agree to these terms.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.