Fished Bear lake on Friday with Bearclaw, we had a great day tried Jigging at the rockpile with no takers. Decided to try trolling on the east side , had a better time there. This was Bearclaws first time in my boat and he caught his very first Mack, a very nice fat 12 pounder. After a few more passes I hooked up with a very fat 10-pound Cutthrout , my biggest cut ever. Water temp was 55 degrees.
Good sday and great company. Thanks Chad for a good day.
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Congrats! Nice report. We're the fish shallow or deep? I've been getting them shallow lately off of first point.
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Way to go Dan and Chad, did you catch them after we talked to you? How late did you stay?
We launched at the Cisco beach launch and boy is that a poor launch, it could stand a little more concrete to cover those rocks before you get to the launch. Next time I'm going to launch at Rainbow cove.
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We started out deep about 70 ft. marked lots of fish but all were hugging the bottom pretty tight. So we moved in shallow varied 30-50 ft. in the same area. There were lots of fish in the area.
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Hi Curt , yeah we got both of them right after we talked with you. We launched at the State marina , I caught mine just before we saw you driving by.
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That's an awesome cutthroat !!!! Good thing you got a pic before you released it
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Thanks , and just to let all know . Both fish swam away to fight another day.
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Thanks for a great day Dan. Sure was a beautiful day to be on the water.
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That figures, I guess we should have stayed a little later. How late did you guys stay?
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We headed back to the marina around 4pm.
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Wow, only a hour longer than we stayed. After we passed you guys we jigged for a while and got a few bites but no more fish made it to the boat.
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I'm not done up there yet Curt , I hope to get back up there soon for some more action.
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Hey Dan, an interesting note about the first lake trout in your pictures. It is missing a right pelvic fin AND the adipose fin. This indicates it is one of the sterile lake trout that have been planted sometime from 2002 on. If it was 10lbs, it would likely have been a fish from 2002-2003-ish. There is no fin clip regulation on lakers, we just clip them so we can track the survival of the triploid (sterile) fish and also their growth. Glad you made it up. The weather the last week was exceptional for this time of October.
FYI, the lake trout run has peaked and they should be around for another couple of weeks. They will be completely finished spawning by about mid-November. Then the Bonneville whitefish will start right around Thanksgiving.
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Wiperhunter2,
FYI, the Cisco Beach ramp is intended and will only be a "low water only" ramp. What that means is the ramp's concrete will only be exposed when the water level in the lake is low enough to de-water the Rainbow Cove and First Point ramps. Right now there is plenty of water at Rainbow Cove and First Points to launch any sized boat. Since Rocky Mountain Power is done pumping water for the year, the water level will be rising between now and next spring. We get a lot of questions as to why we don't extend the concrete higher up onto the shore. Well, there are several reasons. One, to encourage use of established ramps (1st Point and Rainbow) which already have nice ramps. Rainbow Cove is now paved all the way from the county road down to the boat ramp including the parking areas, so no more rough road or muddy parking areas!! It was done this fall. Secondly, the UDWR wants to maintain as much spawning area along Cisco Beach as possible. Thirdly, this paving was bargained with the Corps of Engineers in the original permit to only go to a particular level up the beach which corresponded to the same level at which Rainbow Cove and 1st Points would be no longer useable. Fourth, the Utah Division of Forest, Fire and State Lands has a comprehensive plan for all the sovereign land (below the high water mark) on Bear Lake which also is designed to protect critical spawning areas along the lake shore which includes Cisco Beach. Finally, the Rainbow Cove ramp has the additional parking that is really needed during busy parts of the summer and fall fishing seasons AND it only about a 1/2 mile north of Cisco Beach.
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Once I got over the rocks before the ramp, the launching was fine, the concrete is right at the waters edge, so there is no problem using it once you get to the water but those rocks getting to the concrete are the worse I have ever seen while getting to a good concrete ramp[unimpressed]. I will not use that ramp again ever, unless it is finished from the top down. I'd rather drive my boat across from the other side, that Cisco ramp is way too rough on my boat and trailer. Until the water level drops where it makes Rainbow cove unusable, that is a very good launch and well worth the extra 1/2 drive up the lake. I just decided to try the Cisco ramp once to see how it was, my mistake. Although not as impressive as Dan and Chad's fish, here are the pics of the fish we caught.
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pretty cool how we are seeing more and more wild Cutts show up. I have only caught 10 BL cutts this year but only one had the adipose fin clipped. Both in these pictures have the adipose in tact as well. The cutts must be doing better at holding their own. Maybe the high water is helping or maybe all the improvements on the spawning streams.
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