# Forsyth and Mill Meadow 12-10-2009



## TopH2O (Mar 18, 2009)

A friend and I went over to Forsyth and Mill Meadow yesterday to check out the early season ice fishing. I had been told there was some ice, but we didn't know just how safe the ice would be. We arrived at Forsyth and were able to drive into the boat ramp area without the use of 4 wheel drive. Forsyth is low and the water appears at least 15 feet below fullpool. We drilled two holes just off the boat ramp area in 7 to 12 feet of water. We fished for over an hour and had zero hits. The ice was about five inches thick and looked solid. I don't know what the ice conditions may be over the rest of the lake. This was my first time fishing at Forsyth, so we may have simply been in the wrong area. I only saw one fish on my Showdown depth finder during the time we fished.
We drove the short distance to Mill Meadow and found that lake also very low. We drove to the end of the boat ramp and parked there. We walked out and checked the ice and found about 5 inches of solid ice with a scattered snow cover.








We were fishing in about 12 feet of water. Last winter at this time the water was 21-23 feet deep in the same location. We were soon experiencing very fast fishing for yellow perch with an occasional brown trout and I caught one 16 inch splake. Most of the perch were in the 6 to 10 inch range. My partner did get one that was over 11 inches. We fished from about 1030 to 1500 and we ended the day with two 20 fish perch limits and we retained a few of the browns and the one splake. Most of the perch we kept were around 9 inches long. We call them "potato chip" fillets....very tasty.








It was cold and sunny. We didn't use the shelter because the winds were light most of the day. The ice conditions should improve quickly with this current cold spell. I checked the temps at Loa on Weather.com Thursday morning and it was minus 14 when we left Price. Mill Meadow is quite a bit higher than Loa, so I assume the temperature was even lower.
Remember to always use caution while on the ice. I strongly urge everyone to carry a pair of ice picks (grippers) to that you can pull yourself out if you were to fall through the ice. I always also carry a boat throw cushion attached to 100 feet of 3/8 inch braided nylon rope that can be used to help someone else out of the water. It's also a good idea to never venture onto the ice alone. Be careful and have fun this winter. We will probalby head back over there next week. I love to eat perch and Mill Meadow can only be helped by the removal of some of the perch. I'm sure the lake will benefit from the increased perch limit coming next year.
I forgot to mention the methods. We were using a small Stinger spoon as an attractor and then an 8 inch leader to a small glow in the dark ice fly. We started with a piece of nightcrawler and then switched to a piece of perch once we caught the first sacrificial dink. The piece of white belly meat works wonders and stays on the hook for a long time. I don't think I used more than three or four pieces all day and I caught over 100 perch. This will also give you an idea of the fish sizes. 100 caught, 20 retained.
Mike


----------



## cfarnwide (Sep 10, 2007)

Thanks for the report!


----------



## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

Thanks for the report! Good work.

Few things make my mouth water more than a pile of nice perch. (after they have been filleted, and cooked) |-O-| |-O-| |-O-|


----------



## troutgass (May 5, 2009)

Thanks for the report. I am glad that you got into a few brownies as well.


----------



## TopH2O (Mar 18, 2009)

I think if anyone wanted to specifically target the browns at Mill Meadow, you could catch about a 100 of them a day as well. There seems to be loads of them in the lake but most are a little snaky and about 16 to 18 inches. I may give the jigging Rapala a try next week to see what could happen.
Mike


----------



## orvis1 (Sep 7, 2007)

Timely report! My trip for Saturday canceled, my brother came in for out of the country and I now have a free weekend. Heading down at 3am hoping to get some brownies! Thanks for the report on the ice.


----------



## TopH2O (Mar 18, 2009)

Some friends and I went back to MM today and did just as well as last week. The ice has increased to about 6 inches of good solid ice. We used the same methods and fished in the same general area. We ended the day with near limits on perch for the 5 of us and we caught about 12-14 trout of various species. My best trout as an 18 inch splake that probably weighed 2 pounds.
Nor-tah.....I returned your PM. Good luck on Friday.
Mike "Topwater"


----------



## Nor-tah (Dec 16, 2007)

Thank you sir, hopefully we will see you up there.


----------



## Tigru (Oct 15, 2007)

Well done! Good report


----------

