Ice Fishing Mantua Reservoir - Utah Outdoor Activities

Mantua reservoir is located in Sardine Canyon out of Bingham City, next to the small town of Mantua. This reservoir is well known for its summer activities such as boating, water skiing and fishing. Each year usually around the end of December the lake freezes over and offers fantastic ice-fishing opportunities. If you think this sounds cold you are absolutely right, but boy its well worth it. Dec. 29, 2006 a group of us, friends and family headed to Mantua to enjoy a day of ice fishing. The reservoir was ice capped with 5" of good ice. We ventured out from the boat ramp approx 100 yards and drilled the first holes of the day. The fishing started out slow for Trout but we had no problem reeling in the Perch. It seems I couldn't keep those little buggers off my line. Most of the time we had a Perch on the line before our jigs would even hit the bottom. It was obvious the reason the Fish & Game increased the Perch limit to 50 fish in 2005. Perch were illegally stocked in this reservoir, and they may one day soon take over the reservoir possibly killing the thriving Largemouth Bass and Bluegill populations.

After catching an abundance of Perch we decided to move towards the middle of the reservoir to see if we could locate some Trout, or maybe hook into a Largemouth Bass. Of course in this location we still had no problem reeling in the Perch, which were lots of fun however most were to small to keep. We then decided to experiment fishing at different depths and it wasn't long before the first Trout of the day was landed. What made this even more exciting is Ford was fishing just below the ice and he saw the Trout take his jig. Soon we were all watching our jigs waiting for the next fish to strike. It was amazing to see the Trout swimming right under our feet and even more amazing to see them strike our jigs. After a nice day on the reservoir our group landed eight Trout and an unknown number of Perch. If you want to experience ice fishing or you want to get your kids out for the day, head up to Mantua, there are plenty of Perch just waiting for you. The kids will have a great time, and by harvesting these little buggers you will assist in decreasing population and hopefully saving the Largemouth Bass and Trout populations.

The tackle we used on our trip was small jigs tipped with mealworm. The green or off white seemed to work the best with smaller ones being preferred over larger ones. In talking with everyone who went we would have to rate this as one of our top ten trips. It was pretty cold but we had a great time anyway. Come on, do you think ice fishing is going to be warm? If your planning on ice fishing this season be sure to always check the ice conditions before venturing out. Always carry rope, ice picks and a cell phone is case of an emergency.

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