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We are taking a group of scouts up to Bear Lake this week for a 4-day camp. Around half of them have expressed interest in fishing while we are there.
We will have a bass boat and a small fishing boat with downriggers. I'm not looking for secret spots etc, but wondering if anyone who fishes there has advice to put the boys on some fish.
I have been looking online and haven't found much info on it.
Thanks in advance to anyone who offers advice.
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Thanks Wiperhunter2.
Looking through the archives shows a trend of very few posts between March and September each year.
If anyone has info they feel is helpful for summer fishing Bear Lake it is still appreciated.
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Yea, not many members fish there this time of the year, partly because of all the power squad folks but also it just isn't the best catching now. I have fished there during the Summer a few times and your best time to catch anything will be early in the morning and late in the evening. You can use the same things you do while trolling for kokanee and any trout, like dodgers and squids or spinner type lures that KKT and RMT sell. I have also done ok with bigger spoons and repala's too. Good luck
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Ok, here's what you do....
Summer can offer some good fishing, but it's a good thing you have down riggers! The best place you can fish right now is to start on the rockpile (1/2 mile straight out from ideal beach resort in 40-60 feet of water) and set your down riggers to 5' off of the bottom on one and 40' on the other. This may be the same depth at first, but as you go deeper set the one rigger at 5' off the bottom. Start a trolling run that takes you over 80' of water and runs from just to the east of the rockpile in a southward or southeast direction and staying in that depth troll south around the point and past Gus Rich point for about a mile or so and then turn around and head back to where you started.
Running two different depths will up your odds. We catch a lot of nice cutthroats in the 40' range and then a mix of Cutts and lakers just above the bottom. Perch colored floating Rapalas and flashy spoons in golds or chrome with blue work very well also. You will need to get on the water at about 6am and plan to fish until about 9-10 am. The recreational boaters seem to come out at about 10, so that is usually when we call it a day. Evenings are not as good for some reason. Also, traditional trolling rigs like mini pop gear and wedding rings and those sort of things work also.
Watch your depth finder and if you see a zone that you are marking fish in then run a down riggers at that depth. 40' is just usually a good starting point and you should adjust depth as needed.
If trolling isn't paying off or the kids get sick of it you can always try vertically jigging with a 1 ounce white tube jig tipped with a gulp minnow right on top of the rock pile and there will usually be some kind of fish willing to hit.
If you don't understand the directions I gave you or don't know where the rockpile is when you get up here then just head over to the fire station in Garden City and if I'm not there then on the front door is my name and number. I'm the Chief and will be more than happy to point you in the right direction if you need it.
Mike
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Listen when the local tell ya where to eat, they say. I expect in this case the same can be said about the rock pile.
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