Ryan Mosley, director of the UDWR's Flaming Gorge Project sent is this report.
With as cold as it's been, it's no surprise that ice is quickly growing and spreading downlake. There's safe ice down to the Confluence now, but that's where the open water/skim ice begins (see pic). We checked the ice on the eastside of the Confluence and it was about 4-5 inches clear. Ice about 2-miles uplake at Sage Creek Bay was 6-inches clear. I suspect the ice at Firehole is almost double that, being it formed sometime around Thanksgiving. If it stays as cold as it's been and the wind doesn't blow, ice will form quickly and new ice could be available almost daily.
After talking with some anglers, it appears the burbot fishing has been spotty through the ice, with some anglers doing well and others struggling. I would expect burbot fishing to get better as more ice becomes available further downlake. Lake trout fishing has been good along the main channel, along with good rainbow fishing in the shallows.
