Ice fishing report

    On Jan. 15th ice fishing opened on several lakes in the Fish River Region. Anglers fishing Long Lake had a good opening day; biologists measured nearly 70 game fish. One salmon tipped the scale at 9-pounds. Travel conditions were excellent and ice measured 12- to 14-inches around Long Lake. While there is obviously a healthy smelt population, the fish are not feeding aggressively.  One only needs to look at the shape of the salmon to know there are a lot of smelt in the lake. The 2-year-old salmon, stocked in June, are the largest they have been in a long time. Typically, newly stocked salmon are 6- to 7-inches long; these fish are currently 14- to 16-inches and average nearly 1.5-pounds.