# Mantua...Yes we are NUTS!!!



## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

Well after we spent an hour and a half shoveling the driveway and the 'huge' windrow from the plow trucks decided to give Mantua a try. 

Put the SUV in 4WH and got onto I-15 and it was snowpacked with ice ...semis screaming by :shock: so I said that's enough and got off at 2700 in Plain City and took the old highway...it to was also snowpacked and ice but 300% less traffic. All roads are snowpacked with ice.

Got to Mantua at about 1130. Parking lots are not plowed and theres close to a foot and a half of snow in the parking lots...folks with trucks parked in the lot but not many. We parked alongside the Pavillion with the restrooms. I was hoping we wouldn't get a ticket...but I wasn't about to park the SUV in the parking lot and possibly get blocked in.  

Walked out from the ramp and we were greeted with 3-4" of slush once out about 50-75 feet it's packed slush with soft spots. We went out about 125-150 yards. Managed 4 Perch largest was 11" and one Rainbow about 12". Fished until 3:30...the bite fell off. A few folks were way out on the lake probably 400 plus yards. We were using ratso's/atomic ants tiped with wax worms/crawler/ and minnows the Perch burped up. and glow ice-cut'ers on a jig. Got the Rainbow on the ice cut'er with a little minnow thanks to one Perch.

There's about 3-4" of frozen slush/snow on top of 4 and a real maybe 5" of clear ice. Still a little bit of a pucker factor for me to be honest... :shock: 

The drive home wasn't any better the roads are all still snowpacked with ice...again we took the old highway as I didn't want to deal with the drivers and semis on I-15.

If you're planning on Mantua tomorrow...I-15 unless they do massive plowing/salting will still be snowpacked with ice. I'd recommend taking the old highway...also unless they plow the parking lots at Mantua...parking may be at a premium bring a shovel. :wink: :wink:


----------



## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

Thanks for the report, K2.
From your report, sounds like the ice should be good enough for me to give it a try in the morning.

I would love to get into some big Perch tomorrow.

Mantua was stocked several times this fall with Rainbow Trout.
The Trout should keep a lot of folks busy up there this winter.


----------



## DIPPER (Jun 21, 2008)

Thanks! Ill be there tomorrow cheatin' with the aqua-view! :twisted: 
Hopefully its safe on the east!


----------



## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

Grandpa D said:


> Thanks for the report, K2.
> From your report, sounds like the ice should be good enough for me to give it a try in the morning.
> 
> I would love to get into some big Perch tomorrow.
> ...


Good luck Grandpa D...Drive safely...the roads were 'nasty'.

Some of the guys walking past us going in for the day...indicated the large Perch were out in deeper water...one group stated they caught 16 Perch in the 10-11" range... I'm think'n those are the guys who were way out there. I didn't quite have the nerve to venture 'way-out-there' on our first trip... -)O(-

Get up there early as who knows if the parking lots will be plowed...and a few vehicles in the lot parked every which way...Again good luck and let us know how you do.



fatbass said:


> You got bigger huevos than I.  :lol: I decided to wait for a solid 6" of ice. At least you caught some fish! Good on ya.


Well I had the pucker factor -)O(- a couple of times when I stepped on some soft areas :shock: ...Oh and I had my ice hole radar up as I wasn't about to repeat last years first trip on the ice. :mrgreen: _(O)_

:wink: :wink:


----------



## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

> Mantua...Yes we are NUTS!!!


Well....you said it K2 !!!

Personally, I think you and your's are wacky !! :mrgreen:


----------



## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

.45 said:


> > Mantua...Yes we are NUTS!!!
> 
> 
> Well....you said it K2 !!!
> ...


.45 thanks I knew there was something about us -Ov- couldn't quite put a finger on it but thank you as now I know... 'wacky' it is.... *(u)* .

...be very careful .45 -)O(- I do believe 'wackyism' is contagious... 8) soon we'll hear reports of .45 ice fish'n.... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


----------



## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

k2muskie said:


> ...be very careful .45 -)O(- I do believe 'wackyism' is contagious... 8) soon we'll hear reports of .45 ice fish'n.... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


Ha ha.....funny you say that....I _might_ have a report coming in around the New Year...my wacky friend !! :wink:


----------



## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

.45 said:


> k2muskie said:
> 
> 
> > ...be very careful .45 -)O(- I do believe 'wackyism' is contagious... 8) soon we'll hear reports of .45 ice fish'n.... :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
> ...


See I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT ...a hard core 'soft water fisherman' now becomes a convert to the hard deck as an ice fish'n 'virgin'...oh-boy, oh-boy I can hardly wait for the report...just be mindful of them-thar...ICE HOLES :shock:...

:wink: :wink:


----------



## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

k2muskie said:


> See I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT ...a hard core 'soft water fisherman' now becomes a convert to the hard deck as an ice fish'n *'virgin'*...oh-boy, oh-boy I can hardly wait for the report...just be mindful of them-thar...ICE HOLES :shock:...
> :wink: :wink:


Not a 'virgin' at all, my friend, I've just waited all these years to find the bigger fish !! I'm just wondering if I'll be able to pull them out of an 8" hole.... :?


----------



## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

I fished Mantua today with a buddy of mine.
We did very well for Trout but only iced 3 Perch. They were 9" to 10" and I sure wish that we would have iced more.
The Trout were between 10" and 14" and very healthy.
Between the 2 of us we iced at least 24 Trout.

It was a hard walk out on slush on top of 5" of clear ice.
We would break through the crust and drop about 5" down before stopping on the lower layer of ice.
It stopped my heart the first couple of times that happened.

We fished in 2 areas, both about 1/4 mile North of the boat ramp.
We found Trout in both areas and fished till about 4:00pm.

It was a great way to start the new ice season.


----------



## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

.45 said:


> k2muskie said:
> 
> 
> > See I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT ...a hard core 'soft water fisherman' now becomes a convert to the hard deck as an ice fish'n *'virgin'*...oh-boy, oh-boy I can hardly wait for the report...just be mindful of them-thar...ICE HOLES :shock:...
> ...


.45,
Come up to Echo on January 24th for the UWF Ice Party, and I will drill you all the 10" holes that you want.
I'll even cook lunch for you! :lol:


----------



## Skullanchor (Jul 29, 2008)

Grandpa D said:


> I fished Mantua today with a buddy of mine.
> We did very well for Trout but only iced 3 Perch. They were 9" to 10" and I sure wish that we would have iced more.
> The Trout were between 10" and 14" and very healthy.
> Between the 2 of us we iced at least 24 Trout.
> ...


I went there too with a couple friends and one of their kids. I know exactly how you feel about the breaking through the ice haha, i had the rope in my hand a few times just in case and it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up every time. Although in the end i dont think there was anything to worry about with that first layer being nice and clear. The strong layer of ice was between 4-6 inches in the areas i was with 2 inches being clear

I was going to go to causey but the ice seemed a little more promising from k2muskie's report(thank you for that by the way)

Between the four of us we caught two fish and i caught the whale at about 10 inches of rainbow. we didnt get there till 0900 or so. I dont know much about mantua, I mostly fish between causey, east canyon, lost creek, southfork and ogden. I was just a little anxious for some fishing. We all caught the two on plain-ole-earthworms. I also missed one and it seemed that the trout were just under the ice and not too anxious, i let the one i landed play with the bait a good 15 seconds before i set the hook.

take care


----------



## Skullanchor (Jul 29, 2008)

I forgot to mention, you can leave the snow shovel at home if you go before the next snow , there was one or two people ice skating out there


----------



## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

Grandpa D said:


> I fished Mantua today with a buddy of mine.
> We did very well for Trout but only iced 3 Perch. They were 9" to 10" and I sure wish that we would have iced more.
> The Trout were between 10" and 14" and very healthy.
> Between the 2 of us we iced at least 24 Trout.
> ...


Glad you had a good first outing...sorry you didn't into the Perch like you wanted. How was the drive up there...I noticed you said a 1/4 mile from the ramp did you park in the first lot? Were the lots plowed today?


----------



## Grandpa D (Sep 7, 2007)

K2,
the snow conditions were very close to the way you said that they were yesterday.

We took your advice and drove on the old highway.
No snow removal in the parking lots yet.

We parked in the lot by the restrooms because the north lot was snowed in and snow drifts were too deep to walk through.

Looks like the wind blew a lot durring the night and there were some very slick places on the ice.


----------



## Riverlution (Sep 23, 2008)

We went up in the afternoon. The wind almost blew us off the lake. We stayed until dark. I took my twin boys and my dad. It was his first time on the ice. He froze as soon as he broke through the slush. I don't care how many times you have been on the ice you always feel like you are going through it. We of course missed more than we caught. but had a great time. looking forward to doing it again on news years.


----------



## livdawg (Mar 10, 2008)

Me and Ctnelson23 and went up yesterday as well. That first layer of slush will defintly get ya lol. What gotus even more was encountering a hole in the lake with water that was circulating lol a warm spring. We fished more towards the middle and didnt mark alot of fish on the finder. We managed to ice 4 trout a bluegill and 1 perch. The bite seemed pretty soft and they would only hit one time and be gone so you had to be ready. It was good to get out. We were going to try causey as well but the report by K2 was abit less puckering sounding so hit the mantua


----------



## dubob (Sep 8, 2007)

Went also on Saturday. Caught 2 trout - both at 16 1/2 to 17 inches. 8) Really! Friend has a picture on his cell phone and said he would email it to me. I'll post it up when he does. Put the first one back and kept the second for dinner. The slush was a b%@#h. :evil:


----------



## moabrocks (Nov 11, 2007)

*Mantua 1/02/2008*

Hello all -

I took a group up yesterday to Mantua and we did ok. We caught 7 trout and 1 perch. Fish were all over the finder but getting them to bite was a little more difficult and when they did bite it was pretty soft. We probably had 3 times as many hits that we missed than catches. We did best with pink sparkle powerbait and ice flies tipped with wax worms. We started out about 50 yards from the shore on the west side but move in to about 7 feet of water about 15 yards off the shore where we caught the most. The top of the lake is slick and had a layer of water that made it more so. The ice was solid and about 6 or 7 inches thick. The wind before the storm was a mess and blew our stuff all over. For the most part it was a very successful trip.

My buddy took some pics &#8230; I'll post them when he sends them to me.

- Bryant


----------



## k2muskie (Oct 6, 2007)

*Re: Mantua 1/02/2008*



moabrocks said:


> Hello all -
> 
> I took a group up yesterday to Mantua and we did ok. We caught 7 trout and 1 perch. Fish were all over the finder but getting them to bite was a little more difficult and when they did bite it was pretty soft. We probably had 3 times as many hits that we missed than catches. We did best with pink sparkle powerbait and ice flies tipped with wax worms. We started out about 50 yards from the shore on the west side but move in to about 7 feet of water about 15 yards off the shore where we caught the most. The top of the lake is slick and had a layer of water that made it more so. The ice was solid and about 6 or 7 inches thick. The wind before the storm was a mess and blew our stuff all over. For the most part it was a very successful trip.
> 
> ...


First of all a great big *welcome* to the UWN this place has a lot of great info from very knowledgeable folks...Glad to hear you had a good outing on Mantua all except for the wind and water...look'n forward to seeing the photos...we all love seeing fish'n photos...again a hearty welcome and look'n forward to seeing your future posts...

:wink: :wink:


----------



## summit72 (Oct 4, 2008)

Fished mantua today from around 11:00 to around 1pm and iced 3 trout between two of us. It was a bit slow. Caught all of them on a little ice jig with a worm. No luck using the grubs. We were about a 1/4 mile north of the boat ramp and around 80 yards out. The trout were 11 in. to 14 in. Used our ice tent today for the first time and it made all the difference in the world!


----------



## moabrocks (Nov 11, 2007)

Here is a pic of the fish we caught on Mantua Friday. There was one more that didn't make it into the shot as we caught it while cleaning up.

- Bryant


----------

