The ice fishermen are out on Joe’s Valley. The lake is frozen over and the weather has been clear and cold. On this day the weather was clear with the sun glaring off the snow. The five-10 mile per hour Northwest wind was blowing snow and making small drifts across the lake which made the bright sunshine of the day much colder than it appeared. The lake ice was reported to be about four inches thick.
Three groups of ice fishermen were observed on the lake. Some of those fishermen were bundled up in snow mobile suits standing over their ice fishing hole, some sitting in lawn chairs by their ice fishing hole, while others were using light weight canvas ice fishing houses to protect them from the wind.
Clayton Ward from Huntington was one of the ice fishermen guarding his ice fishing hole. He said he caught one small Splake fish.
Clayton was with Ryan Cowley and Ryan’s two boys Nathan and Jamie also from Huntington. They had not caught a fish yet. This group of fishermen had been fishing for five hours and were only rewarded by catching the one fish caught by Clayton.
Clayton said this was the first time he had fished at Joe’s Valley since 1992 when he stepped into an ice fishing hole. At that time he fell in up to his shoulders. He has ice fished in several of the other lakes over the years in and around Emery County.
They were enjoying the last days of the Christmas vacation by fishing at Joe’s Valley.
The Ole’ Fishin Hole: Ice fishing at Joe’s Valley only for the brave
"Nathan and Jamie Cowley along with their father Ryan and friend Clayton Ward spent the day fishing at Joe's Valley."