Bear Lake is now FROZEN! Update Fri, Jan 27th

[BearLakeFishGuy]

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UDWR Bear Lake Fishing Report: updated for January 27-29, 2017
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There is about 30-36” of snow on the ground on the west side of Bear Lake and 18” or more at Cisco Beach. The State Park has plowed along Cisco Beach and access good. The lake froze over completely last night. The ice along Cisco Beach is about ½” thick and is not strong enough to stand on, so you still need waders to dipnet cisco, but it is supposed to be very cold throughout the weekend, so it may be strong enough to stand on in the next day or so. Ice anglers are fishing off the “pump house”, off the State Park marina and in the weedbed-areas south of Gus Rich Point. The ice is 2-4”, but there are many spots with thinner ice so be extremely cautious if you venture out onto the lake!
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Anglers were able to dip net limits of cisco at Cisco Beach this morning, but the run did not begin until about 9:00am and many anglers left before the run got started. It was -12 degrees this morning at 7am. It really helps if you dip net in pairs of people where one person uses a fishing rod with a lure to attract the cisco into the hole and then the person with the net dips the fish. Waders or hip boots recommended. It is important to make sure you only dip net your fish and not other anglers. The run will continue to improve over the coming week and likely peak on the weekend.
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Those anglers who have been ice fishing are doing good for cisco at the marina, but also picking up some whitefish and trout. Spoons such as Kastmasters and Swedish Pimples are working the best. You can also try running a 6-8” dropper line below the spoons with an ice fly for the whitefish. You may keep foul-hooked (snagged) cisco, but any other foul-hooked species must be immediately released.
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Please remember, all Cutthroat Trout that are caught and don’t have a healed fin clip must be released. Large Lake Trout are not very good eating and take a long time to reach large sizes, and while they are legal to keep, many anglers are encouraging other anglers to release them.
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The UDWR will update the Bear Lake office answering machine with lake conditions, status of the Cisco run, and other fishing opportunities every other day until the end of the Cisco run, but please call after 5pm in order to keep the line open during business hours (7am – 5pm). The number is 435-946-8501. The annual "Cisco Disco" , Polar Plunge, and Bear Lake Winterfest will be held on Saturday, January 28th. More info is available at: [url "https://bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com/"]https://bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com/[/url]
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[setthehook]

thanks for the update Scott! see you tomorrow!!! you gonna be frying Cisco this year?
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[Flyfishinglover]

Thanks for the updates.

Hopefully it's thick next week so I can some lakers
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[Cowboy_43]

Thanks for the updates Scott.
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[Troutaddict]

Thanks for the update Scott! I'm new to the board. Going to hit either the Marina or Pump house through the ice tomorrow....hope to find a different type of bear lake monster than the one off ideal beach today.
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[BearLakeFishGuy]

Yes, I will be cooking cisco, fries and scones. Lots of prep work today, but its all worth it. We'll have fun, but its gonna be a cold one for a change compared to the last few years.
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[BearLakeFishGuy]

The Town of Garden City has now plowed out a beach access point at 150 South Street in Garden City. There were several groups out there fishing this afternoon. I also saw several groups on the rockpile this afternoon. However, that ice is pretty scary. The GCFD along with some sportsmen and our UDWR people rescued a moose that fell through the ice about 150 feet off shore near Ideal Beach today. HOWEVER>>>>> it is already below zero on Friday night and I'm sure the ice is building quickly. Today's high was only about 12 above and that was in the sun!
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[Hazzy_Hazbourne]

Best news I've heard all week!!! Thanks!
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[Kent]

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[font "Times New Roman"] [/font] Anglers were able to dip net limits of cisco at Cisco Beach this morning, but the run did not begin until about 9:00am and many anglers left before the run got started.

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Scott, as you know Dave and I were just leaving about 9:00 AM. If we would have stayed in that water any longer we would have turned into ice cycles. We were in it for about 2 hours and managed to net two cisco.[frown] Frustrating that the cisco didn't follow the rules today by being around before sunrise. We ended up at the Utah State Park and came within less than 10 of getting our limits. I also had on something much larger than a cisco but lost it just before I saw what it was. I also snagged one whitefish, which I immediately released. Fun day with Dave.
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[oldfarley]

Thank you Kent for taking me Cisco fishing. It was a spectacularly beautiful day to fish: blue sky and sparkling snow. And the -5 temperature we experienced as we waded into the water seemed almost balmy after the -24 reading on the vehicle thermometer which registered enroute to Cisco Beach. I especially enjoyed the little guys fishing with their dad and grandpa; they appreciated the help catching Cisco.
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