Ice Fishing Strawberry, Scofield and Yuba: Which Lake Freezes First, and What Changed This Winter

JoAnn Giordano Editor-in-Chief, Provo.com How we make Provo.com

Of the three big ice-fishing lakes within about 80 minutes of Provo, Scofield usually freezes first, Strawberry is the most famous and has the most access questions this year, and Yuba is the long shot: its water is at 18 percent and its ice, in the Division of Wildlife Resources' words, is "extremely varied."

It is late October, so none of them has ice yet. This page is for planning. Our general ice fishing guide covers gear, shelters and how to read an ice report; here we compare the three lakes on the questions that decide a trip: when, how to get there, what you may keep, and what is different this winter.

The three lakes at a glance

Drive times are OpenStreetMap routing (OSRM) from Center Street and University Avenue, without traffic or snow. Add time for both.

First, the ice itself

Two state agencies publish the same core advice.

The DWR's winter release from December 2025 gives the general rule: do not go onto ice less than 4 inches thick, and do not assume 4 inches in one spot means 4 inches across the lake, "especially in larger reservoirs or areas of inflow." Drill test holes as you go, or carry a spud bar early in the season. Spread out groups and gear. The DWR's sportfish coordinator, Trina Hedrick, adds three items to bring every time: ice picks worn where you can reach them, a throw rope, and another person.

Utah's Division of Outdoor Recreation fills in the details:

• 4 inches of good clear ice to walk on, and 6 inches or more for a snowmobile or ATV. Clear ice holds more than cloudy ice.
• Ice can change "within a few feet and throughout the day," especially when highs and lows are above freezing.
• Stay off partly frozen water, and away from stream mouths and underwater springs.
• Late season, March and April, is "particularly dangerous" as ice deteriorates.
• To help someone who has gone through, use a rope or a long pole, and do not go near the hole.

Hold that list against the three lakes below. All three are big, all three have inflows, and one of them is far below normal level.

Strawberry: the famous one, with a road problem

Strawberry Reservoir sits about an hour east of Provo past Heber. The Bureau of Reclamation describes the enlarged reservoir behind Soldier Creek Dam at about 17,000 surface acres, and notes that it has long been the main source of eggs for the native cutthroat raised in Utah's hatcheries. Our Strawberry guide covers the open-water season.

When. The DWR's September 2026 report says kokanee fishing "will typically start to pick up after ice-on in January." Its spring 2026 forecast says ice-off can come anytime between mid-March and mid-May.

Getting in this winter. In January 2026, the DWR posted a warning that West Strawberry Road (Forest Road 131) might not be plowed, from the US-40 turnoff to the Strawberry Bay Marina access road. The DWR does not maintain that road. Once snow falls, it said, vehicle access to the west side, including the Mud Creek day-use area and Strawberry Bay Marina, would be "extremely limited." The Deseret News reported that Wasatch County took control of the marina road from the Forest Service in 2023 and had considered a winter gate, which drew objections from anglers. No 2026-27 decision has been posted that we could find, so check before you drive to the west side.

The east side. The Forest Service now charges a year-round recreation fee at Chicken Creek East, which it describes as "a popular year-round fishing site." The site honors America the Beautiful passes and Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest passes, and the pass must be displayed while you are parked. The DWR's notice points to the forest's Facebook page for rates; we could not find a posted price, so carry a pass or plan to buy a digital day pass on site. Soldier Creek, farther east, is a Forest Service campground and marina area whose listing names ice fishing among its fishing types.

The rules. From the 2026 Utah Fishing Guidebook:

• 4 trout or kokanee combined.
• No more than 2 cutthroat under 15 inches, and no more than 1 cutthroat over 22 inches. Every cutthroat from 15 to 22 inches goes back immediately. The DWR encourages releasing all cutthroat.
• Any trout with cutthroat characteristics counts as a cutthroat, slash or no slash.
• No filleting, and no removing heads or tails, in the field or in transit.
• Kokanee may not be kept anywhere in Utah until November 30 passes.

The no-fillet rule exists so an officer can measure and identify your fish. Bring a cooler big enough for whole trout.

Scofield: first ice, and a state park that stays open

Scofield Reservoir sits at 7,616 feet on the Wasatch Plateau, past Soldier Summit on US-6 and SR-96. Utah State Parks keeps Scofield State Park open in winter, with winter hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and calls Scofield "one of the best places to ice fish for rainbow and cutthroat trout." All docks have been pulled for the season. For help in winter, the park lists 435-687-2491. Our Scofield and Skyline Drive guide covers the park and its fees.

When. The DWR's winter forecast says ice "typically forms on the reservoir around the end of November." That makes Scofield the most likely of the three to have ice over the holidays, and the most likely place to find people testing early, thin ice. Be the one with the spud bar.

What bites. The same DWR forecast describes the reservoir's food chain plainly: Utah chub are the most abundant prey, so "follow the chubs to find big fish." Tiger trout cruise the shallow shoreline eating chubs, and the DWR suggests a 1-by-1-inch piece of dead chub on a small jig head, or silver-and-white or black-and-white spoons. Target cutthroat the same way. Rainbows, last stocked in October, take worms, PowerBait, ice flies and spoons. Tiger muskie and wipers show up occasionally while anglers fish for trout. Dead Utah chub is legal bait anywhere bait is allowed in Utah.

The rules. 4 trout combined, with no more than 2 cutthroat or tiger trout under 15 inches and no more than 1 over 22. Every cutthroat or tiger trout from 15 to 22 inches must be released. Trout may not be filleted and heads or tails may not be removed in the field or in transit. The guidebook uses Scofield as its example of a lake where fish legally caught elsewhere can still get you a ticket: if your cooler holds a fish from another lake that breaks Scofield's size rules, you may not fish Scofield with it.

Yuba: possible, not promised

Yuba is the warm-water lake an hour and a quarter south on I-15. Our Yuba State Park guide explains the low water in detail. The winter version:

The water. In October 2026 Utah State Parks showed the reservoir at 18 percent, with the Oasis and Painted Rocks boat ramps both closed because low water left them inaccessible.

When. The DWR's December forecast for Yuba says the reservoir is "typically open water during December." Ice "normally begins forming throughout the reservoir in January," and there "may" be fishable ice of at least 4 inches "in areas the latter half of January." As the reservoir starts refilling in late January and February, the DWR says it is usually a mix of ice up the lake, from the Painted Rocks area east to the Sevier River inlet, and open water near the dam. By March it is mostly open.

That is a narrow and unreliable window, and the DWR's own language is the strongest in any of these forecasts: ice thickness is "extremely varied," conditions "change quickly," use "extreme caution," and check with Yuba State Park for current conditions before you go.

The rules. Yuba has some of the most generous limits in the state. The guidebook doubles the statewide limits for every species except tiger muskie, so the statewide yellow perch limit of 50 becomes 100. For tiger muskie the limit is 1 over 40 inches, and all smaller ones must be released. Dead yellow perch may be used as bait at Yuba, one of a short list of waters where that is allowed.

Rules that apply on all three

From the 2026 guidebook:

• Hole size: no wider than 12 inches. Only Bear Lake, Flaming Gorge and Fish Lake are exceptions.
• Two poles: allowed with a valid license (or under age 12), but you keep one daily limit.
• License: a current Utah fishing license. Our license guide explains the options, including the 365-day term.

The DWR says the two violations its officers find most often on the ice are fishing without a valid license and keeping more than the daily limit. "Quite often, ice fishing is so good that people can forget about the regulations and take too many fish," DNR Lt. Casey Mickelsen said in the agency's winter release.

If you plan to release fish

The DWR's advice is specific to winter. Fish come up from water that is warmer than the air, and water on gills and eyes can freeze, so keep air exposure short. Keep pliers on a lanyard or in a bucket, not buried under layers, so you are not hunting for them with a fish on the ice. And take your gloves off before handling a fish you mean to release: absorbent winter gloves strip the slime coat that protects fish from fungal infections.

Picking one

• Earliest ice and an open state park: Scofield.
• Biggest lake, most options, January onward: Strawberry, ideally from the east side unless you have confirmed the west-side road is plowed.
• A warm-water species mix, and a lot of uncertainty: Yuba, only after calling the park.

If none of them has safe ice yet, the reservoir guide lists every other lake within two hours, and our winter activities guide has plenty that does not involve standing on a frozen lake.

Ice timing is from DWR fishing forecasts and reports from 2024 to 2026; actual ice varies every year. Rules are from the 2026 Utah Fishing Guidebook. Lake status is as posted by Utah State Parks in October 2026.

JoAnn Giordano

Editor-in-Chief

JoAnn Giordano is the editor-in-chief of Provo.com. Having lived in and around Utah Valley for years, she leads the site's editorial direction with a focus on the comprehensive, honest local coverage that helps residents, students, and newcomers feel at home. When she's not shaping Provo.com's restaurant and neighborhood coverage, she's exploring the valley's trails and tracking down the best new spots on Center Street.

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