11-02-2023, 04:09 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-02-2023, 07:26 PM by BearLakeFishGuy.)
**I updated this post to show the angler pressure, catch and harvest of cutthroat trout and lake trout from the creel survey that covered Jan-Dec 2021 (all open water) and Feb/Mar 2022 (totally frozen).
I'd like to clear up a misconception or two about Bear Lake and try to answer/respond to the original question/comment.
The fishing success for lake trout at Bear Lake has not appreciably changed in the last 7+ years (as measured in the UDWR creel surveys which have been conducted approximately every 5 years or so). This statement is backed up by the creel survey completed in 2021-22, which happened to be the last report that wrote while still working for the UDWR. The catch rate for lake trout has been stable during the last 10+ years and has increased a bit in the last survey (2021). It is less than what was happening the late 1990s and early 2000s, but that is a product of the UDWR adopting a fisheries management plan for Bear Lake where the management was more focused on native cutthroat trout than lake trout. As most people recognize, there is only so much "food" (i.e cisco, sculpin, whitefish, chubs) in Bear Lake so the lake trout (a non-native fish) stocking was reduced. During the same time, increased natural recruitment of cutthroat trout (likely due to several reason) necessitated reduced stocking of cutthroat trout, which was a pleasant surprise to the biologists. With that said, the UDWR agreed to continue stocking sterile lake trout to provide for that popular fishery.
Secondly, the comments about "overharvest" are simply unfounded! The harvest rate for lake trout (and even cutthroat trout) is VERY low. The overall annual harvest for cutthroat was a whopping 332 fish in all of calendar year 2021 (Jan-Dec) and harvest of lake trout was 316 fish during this same time. This corresponds to about 3% harvest for both cutthroat and lake trout. This means that only 3% of the total cutthroat trout that are caught are then harvested and the same percentage for lake trout. The creel survey was also conducted during a time (Feb and March of 2022) when Bear Lake was frozen so comparison to open water months (Feb and March 2021) could be made to frozen months (Feb and March 2022). As most people would expect the angler pressure during frozen years (Feb/Mar 2022) is much higher than during open water (Feb/Mar 2021). These two months in 2022 resulted in nearly the same number of angler hours (fishing pressure) that Bear Lake sees in an entire calendar year when the lake is solely open water (34,320 angler hours from Jan-Dec 2021 and 30,484 angler hours during only Feb and March of 2022!) For those keeping track, angler pressure was 1,683% higher in Feb 2022 compared to Feb 2021.... and 219% higher in Feb 2022 compared to Feb 2021. The catch and harvest of cutthroat trout and lake trout in Feb + Mar 2022 was 2,395 caught/371 harvested (cutthroat trout) and 1,655 caught/271 harvested (lake trout). So, even in years when there is significantly more angler pressure on Bear Lake, the actual catch rate (number of fish/hour fished) is much lower. Why? Probably because there are many more inexperienced anglers fishing on Bear Lake through the ice than you would see from boats during open water years. To me that is not surprising, since access to Bear Lake during frozen years allows for anyone to get on the lake; while it takes a special, dedicated (crazy?) angler to haul a boat up to Bear Lake in the middle of winter to fish out of during open water years.
Thirdly, it seems as if some anglers are simply not fishing during some of the most productive times of the year any longer. This is from late August through the end of September. The water is still quite warm but during that time, but the lake trout bite is on fire. I had a couple of days in late September this year that were some of the best lake trout "catching" I have ever experienced. I made a note that on both of those days, there were only two boats and one boat, respectively, besides myself....... and they were jigging when they should have been trolling. As most people know, some anglers are stubborn, and this seems to be especially true on Bear Lake. Some anglers refuse to jig when trolling is working significantly better....and vice-versa. I also see some people troll and they refuse to jig, when the jiggers are hammering the fish and trollers aren't catching anything! Maybe it is due to people not having downriggers or other anglers not even owning a jigging rod? Finally, tishing during the middle of the lake trout spawning period (approximately Oct 15-Nov 15) is tough and fickle. If you don't believe me, just ask Jim Williams on his impression of trying to catch lakers during the spawn on Flaming Gorge.
Fourth: I do not post nearly as much as I used to on BFT for several reasons. Mainly, because the BFT site has chosen to go in what I feel is a much different direction than in the past. Gone are the days of good-natured "arguing" (i.e. debating) since there are too many people with thin skin, so the mods just delete any controversial posts or remove pictures because they "take up too much room"? [That seems absurd, since BFT allows several ways to post pictures, yet if you do it the way a mod doesn't agree, they remove it?.....but that is another topic and I won't get into that here]. That is pretty disappointing since those debates used to be entertaining! (The old BFT guys will remember "discussions" about Cliff and his so-called state record SMB debate....as just one example!). Also, the guys who were hard core Bear Lake anglers are either not fishing the lake as much, have moved (Rich, Dan, Ralph, IFG, Rob, etc.) or simply do not post on BFT. Also, Mike pointed out, there are other social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram) that have sites dedicated to Bear Lake fishing which are arguably easier to use than BFT and posts are rarely, or not, edited by the moderators who like to control things on BFT.
Anyway, I wanted to try to stop some of the speculating about what is going on at Bear Lake. The UDWR just recently had a public meeting at Bear Lake and that was a prime opportunity to learn more about the fishery, study results, etc. It had several anglers in attendance. I just wish UDWR would have recorded that meeting for later viewing, however, I don't get to control that. Hope these comments are helpful. I'm still around BFT here and there and I'll be fishing Bear Lake just as I have the last 30+ years. However, I am now a lowly angler just like the majority of you guys. Rest assured the UDWR does have Bear Lake as a high priority water and they do listen to angler's input, not only at Bear Lake but on other Utah waters.
I'd like to clear up a misconception or two about Bear Lake and try to answer/respond to the original question/comment.
The fishing success for lake trout at Bear Lake has not appreciably changed in the last 7+ years (as measured in the UDWR creel surveys which have been conducted approximately every 5 years or so). This statement is backed up by the creel survey completed in 2021-22, which happened to be the last report that wrote while still working for the UDWR. The catch rate for lake trout has been stable during the last 10+ years and has increased a bit in the last survey (2021). It is less than what was happening the late 1990s and early 2000s, but that is a product of the UDWR adopting a fisheries management plan for Bear Lake where the management was more focused on native cutthroat trout than lake trout. As most people recognize, there is only so much "food" (i.e cisco, sculpin, whitefish, chubs) in Bear Lake so the lake trout (a non-native fish) stocking was reduced. During the same time, increased natural recruitment of cutthroat trout (likely due to several reason) necessitated reduced stocking of cutthroat trout, which was a pleasant surprise to the biologists. With that said, the UDWR agreed to continue stocking sterile lake trout to provide for that popular fishery.
Secondly, the comments about "overharvest" are simply unfounded! The harvest rate for lake trout (and even cutthroat trout) is VERY low. The overall annual harvest for cutthroat was a whopping 332 fish in all of calendar year 2021 (Jan-Dec) and harvest of lake trout was 316 fish during this same time. This corresponds to about 3% harvest for both cutthroat and lake trout. This means that only 3% of the total cutthroat trout that are caught are then harvested and the same percentage for lake trout. The creel survey was also conducted during a time (Feb and March of 2022) when Bear Lake was frozen so comparison to open water months (Feb and March 2021) could be made to frozen months (Feb and March 2022). As most people would expect the angler pressure during frozen years (Feb/Mar 2022) is much higher than during open water (Feb/Mar 2021). These two months in 2022 resulted in nearly the same number of angler hours (fishing pressure) that Bear Lake sees in an entire calendar year when the lake is solely open water (34,320 angler hours from Jan-Dec 2021 and 30,484 angler hours during only Feb and March of 2022!) For those keeping track, angler pressure was 1,683% higher in Feb 2022 compared to Feb 2021.... and 219% higher in Feb 2022 compared to Feb 2021. The catch and harvest of cutthroat trout and lake trout in Feb + Mar 2022 was 2,395 caught/371 harvested (cutthroat trout) and 1,655 caught/271 harvested (lake trout). So, even in years when there is significantly more angler pressure on Bear Lake, the actual catch rate (number of fish/hour fished) is much lower. Why? Probably because there are many more inexperienced anglers fishing on Bear Lake through the ice than you would see from boats during open water years. To me that is not surprising, since access to Bear Lake during frozen years allows for anyone to get on the lake; while it takes a special, dedicated (crazy?) angler to haul a boat up to Bear Lake in the middle of winter to fish out of during open water years.
Thirdly, it seems as if some anglers are simply not fishing during some of the most productive times of the year any longer. This is from late August through the end of September. The water is still quite warm but during that time, but the lake trout bite is on fire. I had a couple of days in late September this year that were some of the best lake trout "catching" I have ever experienced. I made a note that on both of those days, there were only two boats and one boat, respectively, besides myself....... and they were jigging when they should have been trolling. As most people know, some anglers are stubborn, and this seems to be especially true on Bear Lake. Some anglers refuse to jig when trolling is working significantly better....and vice-versa. I also see some people troll and they refuse to jig, when the jiggers are hammering the fish and trollers aren't catching anything! Maybe it is due to people not having downriggers or other anglers not even owning a jigging rod? Finally, tishing during the middle of the lake trout spawning period (approximately Oct 15-Nov 15) is tough and fickle. If you don't believe me, just ask Jim Williams on his impression of trying to catch lakers during the spawn on Flaming Gorge.
Fourth: I do not post nearly as much as I used to on BFT for several reasons. Mainly, because the BFT site has chosen to go in what I feel is a much different direction than in the past. Gone are the days of good-natured "arguing" (i.e. debating) since there are too many people with thin skin, so the mods just delete any controversial posts or remove pictures because they "take up too much room"? [That seems absurd, since BFT allows several ways to post pictures, yet if you do it the way a mod doesn't agree, they remove it?.....but that is another topic and I won't get into that here]. That is pretty disappointing since those debates used to be entertaining! (The old BFT guys will remember "discussions" about Cliff and his so-called state record SMB debate....as just one example!). Also, the guys who were hard core Bear Lake anglers are either not fishing the lake as much, have moved (Rich, Dan, Ralph, IFG, Rob, etc.) or simply do not post on BFT. Also, Mike pointed out, there are other social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram) that have sites dedicated to Bear Lake fishing which are arguably easier to use than BFT and posts are rarely, or not, edited by the moderators who like to control things on BFT.
Anyway, I wanted to try to stop some of the speculating about what is going on at Bear Lake. The UDWR just recently had a public meeting at Bear Lake and that was a prime opportunity to learn more about the fishery, study results, etc. It had several anglers in attendance. I just wish UDWR would have recorded that meeting for later viewing, however, I don't get to control that. Hope these comments are helpful. I'm still around BFT here and there and I'll be fishing Bear Lake just as I have the last 30+ years. However, I am now a lowly angler just like the majority of you guys. Rest assured the UDWR does have Bear Lake as a high priority water and they do listen to angler's input, not only at Bear Lake but on other Utah waters.
![[Image: Scott-cisco-with-TDs-lure.jpg]](https://i.ibb.co/Sc0QLy5/Scott-cisco-with-TDs-lure.jpg)