Ice Fishing Season A Disaster So Far As Boysen Reservoir Still Isn’t Frozen

BOYSEN RESERVOIR — Things were quiet inside the café at the Boysen Marina on Wednesday, as co-owner Georgia Epperson pointed to a calendar on the wall behind the counter.

“The ice fishing derby is scheduled for sometime right around here,” she said, indicating the middle of January. “I don’t think it’s even going to happen this year."

Outside, Boysen Reservoir, Fremont County’s crown jewel of ice fishing, was still nearly completely open.

What little ice had formed was tucked away in the isolated corners of small inlets. And it was still too thin to even walk on, much less good for ice fishing.

‘It Sucks, And It’s Weird’

The kickoff of ice fishing season is at least a month late, Epperson said.

“Usually by New Year’s Day, the ice is completely covering the lake and is thick enough for it to be safe to go ice fishing everywhere,” she said. "But not this time."

Speaking with Cowboy State Daily earlier Wednesday at Rocky Mountain Discount Sports in Riverton, store manager Richard Biby said he hasn’t been selling any ice fishing tackle or equipment.

“It sucks, and it’s weird” for Boysen to still be wide open in January, he said.

Although apparently, some have been making the most of it, he added.

“The other day a friend of mine went jet-skiing out there just because he could,” Biby said.

He’s an avid ice angler, and said there have been years he’s been able to start going out around Thanksgiving.

Usually by Christmas, there’s enough ice to venture out on parts of Boysen, as well as other popular waters in Fremont County — including Ocean Lake and Lake Cameahwait, which locals call Bass Lake.

Those lakes were both frozen over by last week, but “not thick enough to go ice fishing yet,” Biby said, adding that the lack of ice has hurt business.

“I usually do really well with ice fishing gear this time of year, but I haven’t sold anything,” he said.

Open Water Fishing On New Year’s Day

Colter Guthrie of Riverton said he was ice fishing on parts of Boysen reservoir by Christmas last winter.

This year it was a different story.

Not to be deterred by the lack of ice, he decided to fish from his boat on Boysen on New Year’s Day.

Along with his Dachshund named Pumpkin, he had a great time on the open water, catching a 23-inch brown trout and eight rainbow trout.

He wasn’t the only one who had that idea.

“There were several other boats out on the water,” he said. "By the time I got back to the boat ramp, I had to wait behind four other guys."

Epperson said she’s seen a steady flow of people still open-water fishing on Boysen, and her shop is still selling bait.

So, business hasn’t slumped too much, although she said she misses the crowds of ice anglers “who like to come in here and get a hot lunch.”

Surreal Scene

On Sunday, the scene at Boysen was surreal.

With no wind, the surface of the reservoir in Boysen State Park looked like a vast mirror as temperatures soared to nearly 50 degrees.

A single boat with three anglers aboard trolled around, while a few straggling ducks and geese showed no interest in a hunter’s spread of decoys.

It might not be long before scenes like that disappear as winter finally catches up with Boysen and the rest of Wyoming, meteorologist Don Day told Cowboy State Daily.

Freezing weather and snow might start to descend from the north by the middle of the month, he said.  

Meanwhile, water levels at Boysen are low, according to the Bureau of Reclamation, which controls the Boysen dam and reservoir.

As of Tuesday, the reservoir contained 523,417 acre-feet of water, which is 92% of average. The reservoir is 71% full, according to a statement sent to Cowboy State Daily.

Boysen Reservoir is 13 feet below full pool. It remains “lower than normal, about 8 inches lower than this time last year, and the lowest it has been since 2013,” according to the Bureau of Reclamation.

Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.