As of Thursday, March 17, Illipah was mostly covered in very unsafe ice with open water starting to appear along the shorelines.  Anglers should stay off the ice.  With the warmer weather predicted expect open water for fishing sometime in the next week to 10 days. For bait anglers nightcrawlers and PowerBait are the best bet. Small spinners, spoons and Kastmasters in gold for those throwing hardware should work.  For fly rodders, this time of year chironomid patterns are recommended as they can make up as much as 80% of the trout’s diet in the spring in our high desert reservoirs.  Black or olive wooly buggers and black, olive or wine-colored leech patterns may also entice trout.