09-21-2003, 03:37 PM
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Fished the west side of Bear Lake on Saturday and the fishing was pretty slow. We jigged and trolled from daylight til about 1:00pm and got only two strikes on the troll. The jigs got lots of lookers but no takers. [/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Had the VHF radio on scan mode and the story was about the same throughout the lake. Heard about one 10lb mack caught and a few cutts but not much else. I can verify that the macks are not spawning on Bear Lake. The macks will start staging on the rockpile first before going to shallow gravel areas on the lake and there were very few fish on the rockpile. The concentrations of fish were in the 65 - 75ft area. The fish were thick from the bottom to about 15ft above the bottom suspended.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Heard some interesting news and thought I'd pass it on. Utah has not planted mackinaw since 1998. Idaho has quit planting macks until they can come up with a proven method to sterilize macks before planting. From what I've heard, the sterilization process is spotty at best. Also the successful natural spawning of lake trout in the lake is supposedly minimal[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I don't know about you but the big macks are the draw to BL for me and many others but the continual harvest of the larger macks will soon take it's toll. With the slow growth rates of fish in BL, it takes a stocking program to keep the resource flourishing.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I've been told that there is some interest in the DWR to restart a Utah stocking program. I was told to spread the word and to contact Craig Schaugaard, 435 476-2770, or [/size][/font][url "mailto:craigschaugaard@utah.gov"][font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff][size 3]craigschaugaard@utah.gov[/size][/#0000ff][/font][/url][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3] to show your support for this project. Thanks.[/size][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Had the VHF radio on scan mode and the story was about the same throughout the lake. Heard about one 10lb mack caught and a few cutts but not much else. I can verify that the macks are not spawning on Bear Lake. The macks will start staging on the rockpile first before going to shallow gravel areas on the lake and there were very few fish on the rockpile. The concentrations of fish were in the 65 - 75ft area. The fish were thick from the bottom to about 15ft above the bottom suspended.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Heard some interesting news and thought I'd pass it on. Utah has not planted mackinaw since 1998. Idaho has quit planting macks until they can come up with a proven method to sterilize macks before planting. From what I've heard, the sterilization process is spotty at best. Also the successful natural spawning of lake trout in the lake is supposedly minimal[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I don't know about you but the big macks are the draw to BL for me and many others but the continual harvest of the larger macks will soon take it's toll. With the slow growth rates of fish in BL, it takes a stocking program to keep the resource flourishing.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I've been told that there is some interest in the DWR to restart a Utah stocking program. I was told to spread the word and to contact Craig Schaugaard, 435 476-2770, or [/size][/font][url "mailto:craigschaugaard@utah.gov"][font "Comic Sans MS"][#0000ff][size 3]craigschaugaard@utah.gov[/size][/#0000ff][/font][/url][font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3] to show your support for this project. Thanks.[/size][/font]
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