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Well it was my understanding that some BFT'ers were going to hit Bear Lake this morning, so I thought I'd join in on the fun. (In hind-sight I saw a couple of people out on the lake but where did everyone go? CHICKENS!) After spending my birthday going to my daughter's prom last night, I figured I was going fishing regardless of the time I arrived home. Anyway, I launched at 7:00am and was fishing on the rockpile by 7:15. I wanted to troll today and that is what I did for 1.5 hrs before I found the fish and figured out what they wanted to eat. I started off in 55-65' feet but tat wasn't happening.
Looking east at the BL sunrise:
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Looking West at Swan Peak with the sunrise hitting the snow:
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Looking North towards Idaho:
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After 1.5 hrs of sight-seeing and not one fish, I moved out a little deeper (72-80') and started marking fish. But I had to change lures a few times to figure out what they wanted. Then it was "fish-on" until 10:30am when I called it a morning. Glad I did too, because when I got home about 11am the wind started blowing and I bet it was 40-50 mph constant wind until 5pm when it went dead calm once again. Not sure where or why that wind came up, but boy did it blow.
First fish on board:
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This was my "pig" of the day. Was between 7-8 lbs and fat. What a brute.
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Great report, thanks for sharing. Crazy wind that stuff!
Don't suppose the hot ticket today was what will work tomorrow or the next? Seems like Yellow was a happy color from the pix. Nice to have your options.
Were you tipping your rigs? Do you use the ones with those pro-troll HOT attractors - always wondered if they work for catching fish, or just catching fisherman?
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Fantastic report and great pictures. Those are thick fishies!
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Nice cutt! Me an my family camped at bear lake for the first time last june. I brought my tackle box an a couple poles.(of course). We stayed at rondieview beach on the south. I was the only one out there trying to fish. There were fish jumping . I don't know what kind because I never reeled anything in. Had bites off of a curlytail an bobber. A lot of people would tell me u can't catch any fish. Or one guy pulled his boat up right where I was casting and said I was wasting my time. Outsider? Or just waisting my time. Seems like a lot of locals don't want anyone around( fishing) there glad to except a lot of money to rent jet skis.I know I was in the wannabe cali area . But I know there was fishing to be had there whatever the fish. Hell if they were carp I just wanted catch whatever it was. I loved bear lake. We all had a great time. Seems like a lot of yuppies though. Anyway. My question is what kind of fish were available from that beach? Out of curiosity. In june of course
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Well, as you seen Scott, we were not chickens! We hit hard, got one nice 7lb cutt and then the wind hit so fast. We gave it another 30 minutes and then then called it. It was pretty rough out there. I've been through some good storms on that lake but this was a good one. I could not believe how fast it hit to. Calm to Gail force within two minutes. Absolutley crazy. But up till the wind came up, it was nice. Lots of folks on the water.
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If you were fishing from rendezvous beach, then carp would be what you would catch. The water is too warm where its shallow. The people who told you that you wouldn't catch fish there were actually most likely trying to help you save time by not fishing where there are no trout (even though any fish is worth catching, carp fight well).
If fishing from shore, Cisco beach and long lining are the best chance in summer. Early spring and fall can be ok from the marina and also from Cisco beach just casting lures though.
We Bear Lake fisherman, for the most part, don't look at others as "outsiders" and are not worried about additional pressure. This lake doesn't get too much pressure anyway. A kayak, float tube, or a 'toon' are just great for fishing on the east side in the summer. Paddle or kick out to 40-65' and drop a jig sweetend with carp, sucker or Cisco to the bottom and you have just as good a chance as the high dollar boats with all their electronics to catch big fish and in decent numbers.
I'll have to agree with the yuppie crowd being well represented in summer. My wife works for DNR up here and would get chewed out by these folks because of the Mosquitos, skunks, and sound of frogs at night!
It's not the city! People can't seem to wrap their head around that and our numbers swell by about 20,000 of them every weekend. Oh well, they are just looking for a fun time and bring much needed cash into our local economy, so I'm grateful for them.
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Thanks for your reply gmwahl. We were there to enjoy the beauty of bear lake first of all. It wasn't a fishing trip. But I thought id take my gear, you know fishing just has to be done if your by the water. I knew the trout would be deep that time of year. I was actually hoping to maybe catch whitefish. Are they in deep water in the summer too? The guy that pulled an anchor right where I was fishing had a south african accent. Acted like it was his lake though. Most people were just curious why I was fishing I guess. But hey if I see fish jumping I'm down to throw a line an see what happens. I even thought about taking the jet ski out a little deeper with pole in hand. Glad I didn't. Kids wouldn't have been happy. Ha ha. It cost an arm an a leg just to rent those skis for a couple hours.
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I was out there Friday & Saturday. I got a call on the radio from some of the guys at the Rockpile that the winds have kicked up and heady my way to the east side. At 11am we started in and got about half way across heading back to the state park. We were cruising at 30mph and shut down to snails pace going against 3-5' swells. Winds got to 40+mph. It was a rough one. Was up there with a small group of boats. All boats appear to have gotten of the lake safely.
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Scott, sorry I didn't make it. When i saw the forecast that it was supposed to be windy I chickened out and headed to Strawberry. Only a light breeze in the afternoon at Strawberry. I would have been out on Bear Lake when that gale-force wind hit, so I think I made the right choice.
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The flat fish I was using was one I ordered from Deadliest Katch lures. My friend Ed Mroz runs that place and does a great job. The flatfish are the only ones I have ever found with rattles in them. Plus I order custom painted flatfish. Its worth the extra money since they are glow + glitter. His webpage is [url "http://www.deadliestkatch.com"]www.deadliestkatch.com[/url] The site was down for maintenance on Sunday (tonight) but should be back up this week. He calls his flatfish "fast fish". He has some regular colors, but if your order enough he will custom paint them too. Can't remember what the minimum order for the custom painting is but if you're interested you can ask.
Scott
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great report as usual Mr. T
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I'm glad we went Friday instead of Saturday. I could have gone either day, but chose Friday, one of the few times I chose right. It was nice meeting you. Sorry to hear mother nature got the best of you, but you can't complain with a 7 lber. That was bigger than anything we boated.
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Yea, Friday was for sure the better day, oh well that's the way it goes,
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