Bear Lake Mac Derby

[MACMAN]

Pugstones in Garden City is putting on a lake trout catch and release derby on November 3 & 4. I have attached the derby flier for anyone that is interested. Darin does a good job putting on these derbies and it is 100% payout. I know there is a bunch of guys on here that fish big blue, I just wanted to make sure this got out.
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[SBennett]

I have never fished Bear Lake before but have always been wanting too.
Care to share any tactics, or even if you think the fishing will be decent enough a newbie even has a chance of catching a fish?
I have the gear, just no experience.....
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[MACMAN]

I do pretty good there this time of year. I prefer to Jig tube jigs right on the bottom. I know a lot of guys troll with downriggers in deep water and do well. I would think if you have boat and can get to the rock pile or off one of the east side points, you’ll get into fish with either method. Guys even catch fish off the marina dikes this time of year, especially at night- although I have not done this. This derby Darin puts on is pretty low key and he along with the others that fish in it are pretty willing to help. Hopefully we see you there. My son thinks he has macs figured out...he got six on this outing last year and thinks it’s easy now- ha ha. He’s not letting me miss this derby for anything. PM me if you decide to go and need more help.
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[doitall5000]

I think he does have it figured out. But Bear Lake can humble you. Give him a great lesson about fishing.
But most of all he will learn to love his dad.
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[SBennett]

Not sure if I will make it or not. Extremely tempting but weather has me concerned.
Instead of putting the camper on my truck is there a decently priced hotel near the State Park?
I had to put my pointing lab down 3 weeks ago so pheasant hunting is out and I am trying to find something to occupy my time this particular weekend.
Any recent fishing reports?
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[MACMAN]

Yeah, the weather is looking a little sketchy. We are still going- hopefully they are wrong and we can get some time on the water. We are taking our guns and decoys up for a plan “b” goose hunt just in case. I know there are hotels there, but I have no idea of the cost. We fortunately have a family cabin there. Sorry about your dog, that’s brutal. We had to give our lab up due to allergies for both kids. That wasn’t fun at all.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey do you know what the entry fee is? Just in case... weather looks scary, but not very good for pheasants either ... Thanks J
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[MACMAN]

Yeah, it’s $35 for a single, $65 for 2 and $100 for a 4 man team. He gives it all back to the kitty, and usually has a few door prizes.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Great thanks, prizes go to biggest fish I assume, is that a picture on a measuring device so you can release them? Sorry for all the questions. J
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[MACMAN]

No problem. He gives you a yard stick and a laminated decal of some sort to include in the pic. It’s kind of like our contests run. You shoot him the pic and turn the fish loose. He keeps a running tally as you cull up. Saturday night he has a quick awards and draws some door prizes. It’s really well run. We are up here now and it’s dead calm and stars are out. Hopefully it’s that way tomorrow. Fingers crossed.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Good luck today, we're a little breezy here in Cache Valley, but I think it's calming down now. Hope you have a good fishable day. I didn't pay attention to this far enough ahead of time to do it, but it would have been fun. Thanks for telling us about it. Later J
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[MACMAN]

We ended up being able to fish for about half the day. The morning was tough with the wind and waves, but the fishing was good. The evening gave us 2 calm hours. We ended the day with some really quality fish. Tomorrow looks brutal. I bet we are on land for most the day.
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[SBennett]

Nice fish! Jigging or trolling?
That water looks amazing.
I'm so dissapointed in myself for not going......
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[SkunkedAgain]

Holy cow that one ought to put you in contention for the title. Nice fish. Good luck!!! J
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[crestliner]

We fished next to these guys yesterday and today. We watched them put a hurt on some nice fish before coming off in the dark. Weather today was tough to say the least but we managed six nice lake trout today. Our biggest was 35 inches long which got us first place. We landed it shortly after all the other boats bailed from the wind and rain. Looked like macman had to tow a boat in during the roughest water of the day. Another great derby held by pugstones. Can’t wait for the next one

[SkunkedAgain]

Wow that's a great fish for Bear Lake did you happen to get a weight on it? Amazing both of you guys could nail such nice fish under such tough conditions. My hats off to you and congratulations. Later J
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[MACMAN]

Man, you guys are tough. Good on you for sticking it out and catching the winning fish! For sure you deserved it. We only got 1 fish today by my son and broke a hook on another (I’m sure it was a 36”er). That boat we towed off almost sunk. It took three good waves over the bow in a row and they were knee deep in water. It got really intense for a few minutes. Luckily we got enough time between rollers they could bail enough to keep afloat. Congrats on the win. Darin does a really good job on these derby’s. He will be doing a whitefish tourney around the first of December. I’ll post it up here.
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[sliverslinger]

Thanks for the reports guys! I’m hoping that I can make the next tourney! Darin is a great guy!
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[setthehook]

We had a great time in the bad weather on Saturday.
Anyone on here win my custom tubes???? I donated a few packs for the derby participants SEND IT OUTDOORS???
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[MACMAN]

Yeah, I got the light olive/sparkles pack. Thanks for adding it to the mix. Looking forward to giving them a go. They look like a great Gorge tube. What is the scent they are infused with? There wasn’t a lot of people at the drawing. I think everyone was pretty beaten up and ready for a hot bath. That was some gnarly fishing weather.
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