Ice fishing Pineview, and why this winter is a question.

What the ice has done before

The DWR's anglers logged two full winters on Pineview. In 2019 to 20 there was no ice on December 13, five to six inches by December 27, eight to ten by the end of January, twelve by Valentine's Day, sixteen by the end of February, and the reservoir was ice free on April 3. In 2020 to 21 it still hadn't capped on December 11, had eight inches by January 8 and thirteen by February 19 with thin edges, and was open water by April 8. That's the pattern: fishable from around the turn of the year, best in February, gone by early April, with the edges going soft in the middle of March.

Why this winter is different

Pineview is being drawn down so Ogden City can lay a new water pipeline across the reservoir bed. On September 28 it held 1,072 acre-feet at 4,829 feet of elevation, against 24,505 acre-feet on August 20, and that is the lowest reading in Reclamation's daily record, which starts in 1977. The crossing from Port Ramp Marina toward Browning Point began on September 14, the city says refill is to begin by January 2027, and restoration runs to February 1.

So the water that freezes this winter will be a shallow, refilling pool, not the reservoir the logs above describe. The DWR's July report also says the perch are in a down cycle. Nobody has published an ice outlook for a winter like this, so we won't either. Drill and measure.

Where people go

Last winter the DWR listed the open winter access as Anderson Cove, the Reclamation lot the DWR calls BOR or Salamander, Old Highway, Pelican Beach, Browning Point and the pullouts along SR-39, with only a few spots at Cemetery Point. Anderson Cove charges a $13 winter day-use fee. The no-parking zones are enforced with tickets and tows, and the DWR's note from 2021 still stands: a full lot means the next spot, not the highway shoulder.

Through the ice, the DWR's December 2025 report had perch one to two feet off the bottom in 10 to 45 feet of water and crappie suspended in 20 to 50 feet. The panfish were doing very well then; the perch had slipped by summer.

The rules

• No whole-fish bait, a hole no wider than 12 inches, and two poles.
• Tiger muskie are catch and release. The emergency change in force through December 31, 2026 allows one over 40 inches, and the same change lifts the limits on other species while the water is low. Read the change before you keep anything.
• Utah State Parks' ice guidance: at least four inches of good clear ice before you walk out, six or more for a snowmobile or ATV, and no cars, trucks or SUVs on the ice, ever. Clear ice holds; cloudy ice doesn't. March and April are the dangerous months as it rots.