Saturday, January 21, 2017
UDWR Bear Lake Fishing Report:
There is about 24” of snow on the ground at Bear Lake and the lake has both open water and some ice at this time. Deicers have been used to keep the marina open but the lake is frozen on the west side so there is no boat access from the marina at this time. There were some anglers ice fishing off the “pump house” on Saturday, but we do not recommend ice fishing due to unsafe ice and open water on a lot of the lake. All it would take is one wind storm and that ice could be broken up. You can still launch boats at Cisco Beach and the Rainbow Cove boat ramps on the east side. There are no courtesy docks at any of the east side ramps. If you are launching a larger boat at Rainbow Cove, be careful about not backing in your trailer so far that it will go off the end of the concrete. There is a large drop off at the end of the ramp and this could ruin a trailer axle.
This morning was the first day that a few Bonneville Cisco came into shore along Cisco Beach. it is totally open water at this time. Some anglers were able to dip net a few fish. The run will only improve over the coming week and likely peak next weekend. Anglers were catch a few Cisco off the rockpile, but that area is not accessible by boat or by ice at this time due to unsafe ice conditions. Fishing for Cutthroat Trout should be good off the Cisco Beach area during the beginning of the cisco run. Try larger spoons or large spinners (#5 or #6) when casting or use streamers/leaches on fly rods. Fishing for Whitefish should also be good either from boats or from the ice, depending on the weather conditions. Use smaller vertical jigging spoons such as Kastmasters and Swedish Pimples. You can also try running a 6-8” dropper line below the spoons with an ice fly for the Whitefish.
Please remember, all Cutthroat Trout that are caught and don’t have a healed fin clip must be released. Large Lake Trout are not very good eating and take a long time to reach large sizes, and while they are legal to keep, many anglers are encouraging other anglers to release them.
The UDWR will update the Bear Lake office answering machine with lake conditions, status of the Cisco run, and other fishing opportunities every other day until the end of the Cisco run, but please call after 5pm in order to keep the line open during business hours (7am – 5pm). The number is 435-946-8501. The annual “Cisco Disco” , Polar Plunge, and Bear Lake Winterfest will be held on Saturday, January 28th. More info is available at: https://bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com/