Bear Lake

[SkunkedAgain]

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 (21-22).  It is less than what was happening the late 1990s and early 2000s, but that is a product of the UDWR adopting a fishies 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.  I don't have access to the exact numbers anymore, but I seem to recall the overall annual harvest was less than 1 or 2 thousand lakers and about 6K cutthroat.  This creel survey was conducted during a time (2022) when Bear Lake was frozen and there was 3-4+ times the angler pressure, due to ice cover.  It was very informative to learn that even with ice cover, the harvest of lake trout was VERY low.  

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.  

Hey Scott, been a while since I've been a mod on this part of the forum, but I do know the mods don't really remove many posts.  In the 8-10 years I've been involved I only remember 2-3 posts that needed to be edited and softened.. Most of the time we just locked the thread was the most modifying I remember being involved with so I don't think that is a good reason, but you are entitled to your perspective.. 

I do recognize that BFT has lost a lot of it's viewership, which I'm not completely sure why since I think the forum is by far a better spot to learn and grow and develop as a fisherman... If you want to show off your catch then FB is a lot easier place to put your pictures and brag about your catch, but try to ask a question about where they caught it or what they were using and you tend to get ridiculed to no end.. maybe most of the new anglers are too proud to help another learn to fish, they just like the praise of their mighty catch... Maybe I'm off base since I got a bad taste of FB early on and I don't return much other than to see where the first ice is or what's being caught... but then I might need more help than others when it comes to learning how to fish...

Great perspective on the lake and liked the fall report, always seems like it's a tough time for me to get away, so I end up fishing the cold season, when I have time... What boat are you fishing out of these days since you're not in the state boat?  Probably the same one as before, but I only recognized you when you were in the state boat... Hope to see you on the lake this fall/winter...  Later Jeff

PS... I think the picture thing on the forum is one of its biggest problems that has chased folks away, they are hard to post and even harder to open and look at up close, especially from my computer... At least that is my biggest grip since the relaunch of the forum..