01-27-2019, 04:45 PM
Bear Lake Fishing Report – Sunday, January 27, 2019 9:30am
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 now running along the shore at Cisco Beach...finally!! Dipnetting for cisco will be dependent on weather conditions. On Sunday morning some anglers were not able to dipnet cisco yet others were able to limit out in 15 minutes. A helpful tip is to wear waders and DO NOT walk out into the water. Kneel down in the rocks right along the shore and then bend over to keep a very low profile. Put your net into the water (18-24” of water at the most) and then let the cisco swim over your net and simply lift the net up to net the fish. The anglers who were standing in the water knee deep or deeper were not have nearly the luck since the cisco can see them and will swim around them. It can also be helpful to have another angler use a jig or spoon with the hooks removed to "lure" cisco into the dip net. If it is calm, the cisco typically come in close to the shore but if the wind picks up, the cisco will move off shore and will not be able to be dipnetted. The UDWR will continue to monitor the lake at Cisco Beach and the state park marina for signs of cisco about every-other-day. Anglers have bee catching limits of cisco from boats by jigging off the “rockpile” area for several days using jigging spoons such as Kastmaster and Swedish pimples. Remember, weight shank treble hooks are illegal to use!
Fishing for cutthroat trout and whitefish has also been very good. Anglers are picking up 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 smaller (1/4 oz) 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 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 now running along the shore at Cisco Beach...finally!! Dipnetting for cisco will be dependent on weather conditions. On Sunday morning some anglers were not able to dipnet cisco yet others were able to limit out in 15 minutes. A helpful tip is to wear waders and DO NOT walk out into the water. Kneel down in the rocks right along the shore and then bend over to keep a very low profile. Put your net into the water (18-24” of water at the most) and then let the cisco swim over your net and simply lift the net up to net the fish. The anglers who were standing in the water knee deep or deeper were not have nearly the luck since the cisco can see them and will swim around them. It can also be helpful to have another angler use a jig or spoon with the hooks removed to "lure" cisco into the dip net. If it is calm, the cisco typically come in close to the shore but if the wind picks up, the cisco will move off shore and will not be able to be dipnetted. The UDWR will continue to monitor the lake at Cisco Beach and the state park marina for signs of cisco about every-other-day. Anglers have bee catching limits of cisco from boats by jigging off the “rockpile” area for several days using jigging spoons such as Kastmaster and Swedish pimples. Remember, weight shank treble hooks are illegal to use!
Fishing for cutthroat trout and whitefish has also been very good. Anglers are picking up 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 smaller (1/4 oz) 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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