Cisco is on!!!

[SkunkedAgain]

Repeat of Facebook post, but sounds like they caught Cisco today. They didn’t say if it was on the Rock pile or a beach but said they caught some today. Later Jeff

[wiperhunter2]

Repeat of Facebook post, but sounds like they caught Cisco today. They didn’t say if it was on the Rock pile or a beach but said they caught some today. Later Jeff

Thanks for the info Jeff

[BearLakeFishGuy]

Rockpile only so far. LOTS of ice and people are using boats to break through it 3/4"-1". Fiberglass boats NOT recommended. Launch at Rainbow Cove or 1st Point Marina is totally locked in on the outside lake with several inches of ice.

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Scott, do you think there will be enough ice to get on and dip net cisco? If there is an inch another night could put us at 2" and that will hold on shallow water... Just curious that might be fun Later J

[BearLakeFishGuy]

Hey Scott, do you think there will be enough ice to get on and dip net cisco? If there is an inch another night could put us at 2" and that will hold on shallow water... Just curious that might be fun Later J

HIGHLY doubt it.  There is just too much open water and its supposed to be 55F on Sunday and Monday.  Plus the storm on Fri/Sat will likely have wind which will make short-order of the existing ice.

[SkunkedAgain]

Talked to Mike tonight and he said it was pretty windy up there tonight, so likely no ice there tomorrow, plus noone has seen any fish into the beach yet... My family decided against making the trip tomorrow... Thanks for your thoughts Scott... later Jeff

[gmwahl]

The Cisco run up here has been a real bust so far. Nothing at the beaches, and a few on the rockpile.

Another intersting thing...many of ciscos that I have seen harvested are huge! I'm not talking about mistaken Bear Lake Whitefish either, I'm talking honest ciscos. It has really seemed to be exponentially tapering off the last few years for many of us. I'm wondering if we have a food chain issue playing out. Fewer and bigger ciscos, crappy whitefish runs, more skinny Cutthroats than usual, and an explosion of visible perch fingerlings HAS to mean something.

Hopefully the DWR is recognizing this and looking at the whole picture. I'm definitely no biologist and don't pretend to know their job, but something is definitely happening here at Bear Lake, and those of us who fish it all the time are ALL noticing it happening a little bit each year.

Mike

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Mike I was thinking the same thing on size of cisco I've seen this year, they were way bigger than usual, glad you mentioned that, because I was thinking the same thing.... I trust your judgement on your thoughts otherwise and have noticed the same trend the last 4-5 years of later spawns and unexpected lack of fish, especially on the beaches... I remember years ago seeing someone catch a big perch out of Bear Lake and that was the first I ever knew of perch being in Bear Lake, but they told me then that I guess they had been there for years, but their numbers had never gotten very thick up to that point... With all the new plant growth submerged in the last couple years, I'll bet they have had great spawning areas, so maybe we'll be looking at Bear Lake as a perch lake someday... If we do, I hope it doesn't hurt the trout... Later J

[gmwahl]

We've seen clouds of perch this fall off of Cisco beach and now in the marina. They are all about 2-3", so there must have been some kind of explosion over the last year or two. They were always in the brush around swan creek as long as I can remember, and up until about 15 years ago, they were pretty common in the marina. I had never seen them on the east side until this year, and the size of the schools was insane.

Mike