Bonneville whitefish and other Bear Lake fishing is hot!

[K18]

Congrats on your first BL whitefish, thanks for the report and pics. Were there a lot of other folks fishing near you?

Is the smaller fish a "bear lake' (BL) whitefish, as opposed to a bonneville?  From what I read they are pretty much indistingquishable when they are 10" or less.    

There was a gentleman from the Salt Lake area that helped get me started when I showed up, and even gave me his worms which was generous.  If he ever finds himself reading this, I would like to tell him thanks again.  He was on his way out when I arrived at about 11am.  There were a few boats making drift passes, and there was one other shore angler that was there for a just a bit, who said he had caught a cutthroat and hooked a whitefish but didn't land it.   But mostly I had the area to myself.  It was a little snowy and slick, I fell over once or twice on the rocks and slipped a foot into the water on accident while trying to land a fish as well.  

This all took place on Saturday, Dec 11th.   I'm surprised at how small their mouths are, even the 17" fish looked liked it could only take a hook/bait the diameter of a penny /dime or smaller.  

I would love to get back up there again this week, but not sure if it'll be all over before I have the chance or not, if anyone knows?