Been doing a little ice fishing on a local lake and noticed quite a few muskrat huts. Since I've never trapped muskrats on ice I decided I needed to try it even though the market is down.
So night before last I made 25 foothold sets in huts. A friend and I checked them yesterday and did a little fishing afterwards. Pretty fun. If they were worth more i would catch a bunch.


Fishing was slow for bass but quality is pretty good.
Caught a few bullheads.

And lots of little bluegills. All small and challenging to hook because they are so small, but still fun.

I set 25 1-1/2 or 2 coils in huts anchored to a lath with enough wire they could dive in and drown.

Caught 16 rats. The huts were good but the few I set in pushups did poorly. If I do it agian I will only set the bigger huts and bypass the pushups.
And we caught many more little bluegill and some more good bass.




It's good to get out of the recliner and enjoy God's creations.

Nice catches and pics!!

Nice catches of fish and muskrats.Congrats

Nice size Bass through the ice
Did you ever use the small sunfish for Bass bait?
Hook them behind the dorsal fin and add enough weight to keep them down near the bottom
And break the tail so they swim crippled

Surf and turf!

I would but it's not legal to use game fish for bait and it's also not legal to use any live fish for bait in Utah.

Seems like I remember bluegill are good eating! We're any keepers?

That's strange to me. My biggest Bass have all been caught on sunfish
So your not allowed to use minnows for trout?

They were all too small to mess with. But they are very good eating. If I want some bluegill to eat I go to a different lake 15 minutes from my house.


Piece of hotdog on a drop shot rig was killing them last summer. Every cast when you were on em.

Wedog we can use dead minnows but it's illegal to transport or use live fish in Utah. People have moved chubs and perch and walleye and goldfish and whatever that has messed up the management of different fisheries here. The state has spent millions of dollars on rotenone treatments to kill everything and start over in may waters.

I know live bait fish taken from the same water would not hurt anything and would be very effective but we can't legally do it. When I was a game warden I caught some kids using live green sunfish and catching big bass. I talked to them and explained why they couldn't do it. Caught them doing it a second time and gave them written warnings and told them if I caught them again I would have to write tickets and they would have to pay fines. I caught them again, but not a forth time.

Looking good men

That is a big bullhead. And those summer bluegill pics would make some fine eating. And great catch on the rats

Dang thats some nice bluegill. I haven't gone panfishing in forever I need to get down to the lower 48 and do some touring.

Bullheads are my second favorite fish to eat.

I've only fished them but never got a chance to eat them. Are they that good or is it nostalgia?

they are good

You've been nailing them! Best of both worlds, surf and turf. LOL

Those are some healthy bass.

Nice job on having wintertime fun.

If I ever get kicked out of Alaska I'll move to Utah?

Very noice…….!