01-25-2019, 01:23 PM
Well I wanted to send out an invite to everyone to the annual Cisco Disco at Bear Lake which will happen this Saturday no matter the weather and/or conditions. Myself and some friends will be over at Cisco Beach right at daybreak and we will be cooking up cisco, fries & homemade scones. Bring your waders, bring your cisco net (or use one of the ones we will have available), and more important......come on up and get out of that dang inversion and breath some clean air. This year the Cisco Disco has been expanded to begin on Friday evening with ice skating & a hot chocolate bar and board games all FREE. Then on Saturday will be the Cisco Disco until about 9:30am, then back over the to State Park marina for a chili cook off, cisco tournament (free to enter and some awesome prizes) and a famous chili cookoff (again with awesome prizes). If you haven't been up for a Cisco Disco you owe it to yourself and your family. Its a great time. With some luck and good weather, the cisco should be running too. They are already catching lots of cisco from boats. Also, the whitefish fishing and cutthroat fishing have been great too (see fishing report below). I hope to see you up here and don't forget to stop by where we are cooking and say hi and grab a bite.
Bear Lake Fishing Report – Thursday, January 24, 2019
Bear Lake still has open water, however, depending on wind conditions, sheets of ice are still present on the lake. Launching access is available at the Utah State Park marina where the ramp is plowed and docks are in the water. You can also launch boats at 1st Point, Cisco Beach and Rainbow Cove boat ramps but the courtesy docks have been pulled from these locations. There is about 6” of snow on the ground at Bear Lake.
The Bonneville cisco are still not running along the shore as of 1/23/2019, but are expected any day. Anglers are now catching some limits of cisco from boats by jigging off the “rockpile” area. The UDWR will continue to monitor the lake at Cisco Beach and the state park marina for signs of cisco about every-other-day. Dipnetting for cisco this year will likely be in open water and therefore will be dependent on weather conditions. If the wind picks up, the cisco will move off shore and will not be able to be dipnetted. However, if it is calm, the cisco typically come in close to the shore. Wear waders to help with netting along the shore.
The good news is fishing for cutthroat trout and whitefish has been very good. Anglers are also catching a few lake trout too. Anglers who are jigging are doing the best. Try targeting depths of 20-70’ depending on location. Best spots for jigging have been off the “rockpile” and off the pumphouse, state park marina, and 2nd Point. When jigging for trout, use tube jigs or swim baits in ½ to 1 ounce sizes and 3-6” long tipped with cisco, sucker meat or Gulp minnows. Reliable colors are white, green and chartreuse. When jigging for whitefish use jigging spoons such as Swedish Pimples, Kastmasters, etc. tipped with meal worms, crawlers, or salmon eggs. Anglers who choose to troll are picking up some fish, but not nearly as well as those anglers who are jigging. Use downriggers with minnow type lures and flatfish lures. . The best spots for trolling have been off the “rockpile”, state park marina, Cisco Beach and 2nd Point. Shore fishing has been picking up for cutthroat trout casting large spinners and spoons off the Utah State Park marina and off the Cisco Beach, if there is open water. You can also catch trout using bait (cisco, sucker meat) in these same areas.
Remember the trout limit is two fish. Cutthroat trout with a healed fin clip may be kept; cutthroat trout with all fins intact must be immediately released. If you snag (foul hook) any fish other than cisco, they need to be released immediately. This will strictly be enforced!! Large Lake Trout 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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Bear Lake Fishing Report – Thursday, January 24, 2019
Bear Lake still has open water, however, depending on wind conditions, sheets of ice are still present on the lake. Launching access is available at the Utah State Park marina where the ramp is plowed and docks are in the water. You can also launch boats at 1st Point, Cisco Beach and Rainbow Cove boat ramps but the courtesy docks have been pulled from these locations. There is about 6” of snow on the ground at Bear Lake.
The Bonneville cisco are still not running along the shore as of 1/23/2019, but are expected any day. Anglers are now catching some limits of cisco from boats by jigging off the “rockpile” area. The UDWR will continue to monitor the lake at Cisco Beach and the state park marina for signs of cisco about every-other-day. Dipnetting for cisco this year will likely be in open water and therefore will be dependent on weather conditions. If the wind picks up, the cisco will move off shore and will not be able to be dipnetted. However, if it is calm, the cisco typically come in close to the shore. Wear waders to help with netting along the shore.
The good news is fishing for cutthroat trout and whitefish has been very good. Anglers are also catching a few lake trout too. Anglers who are jigging are doing the best. Try targeting depths of 20-70’ depending on location. Best spots for jigging have been off the “rockpile” and off the pumphouse, state park marina, and 2nd Point. When jigging for trout, use tube jigs or swim baits in ½ to 1 ounce sizes and 3-6” long tipped with cisco, sucker meat or Gulp minnows. Reliable colors are white, green and chartreuse. When jigging for whitefish use jigging spoons such as Swedish Pimples, Kastmasters, etc. tipped with meal worms, crawlers, or salmon eggs. Anglers who choose to troll are picking up some fish, but not nearly as well as those anglers who are jigging. Use downriggers with minnow type lures and flatfish lures. . The best spots for trolling have been off the “rockpile”, state park marina, Cisco Beach and 2nd Point. Shore fishing has been picking up for cutthroat trout casting large spinners and spoons off the Utah State Park marina and off the Cisco Beach, if there is open water. You can also catch trout using bait (cisco, sucker meat) in these same areas.
Remember the trout limit is two fish. Cutthroat trout with a healed fin clip may be kept; cutthroat trout with all fins intact must be immediately released. If you snag (foul hook) any fish other than cisco, they need to be released immediately. This will strictly be enforced!! Large Lake Trout 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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