Bear Lake Report - Monday 2/27

[BearLakeFishGuy]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]Fishing Report and Conditions at Bear Lake[/black][/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]Monday, February 27, 2006[/black][/size][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]The ice on Bear Lake is holding up remarkably well and thicknesses vary from 2"-7" around the lake. Temperatures warmed up last week but the night temperatures are still getting down to the single digits or low teens, so overall the lake is staying frozen. The ice on the east side of the lake looks scary but there were several anglers out yesterday (Sunday) off Cisco Beach. They are catching a few fish (mainly cutthroat trout) but in general there have been few anglers off the east side due to scary looking ice. The ice I checked on Sunday afternoon was about 3.5" thick off Cisco Beach right behind the guard station. Ice on the rockpile is about 7" over 35-40 feet of water, but when you move out to approximately 90 feet of water the thickness is about 4". The shelved up ice ridges have froze over, but still be careful when crossing them since the warmer temperatures will likely melt those areas first. [/black][/size][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]Over 100 anglers were interviewed over the weekend and overall the fishing has been very good for whitefish and only fair for cutthroat trout and lake trout. The more experienced Bear Lake anglers are catching some nice cutthroat trout and lake trout using jigs tipped with cisco. Using the "superlines" such as Spiderwire make detecting light bites in deeper water much easier than regular monofilament. The inexperienced anglers are having a difficult time since they just have not mastered the technique for deep jigging for trout on Bear Lake. Use ½ to 1 oz. tube jigs tipped with cisco. Using a stinger hook on the jig is helpful with short strikes and prevents you from missing a lot of fish. Fish right on the bottom and constantly raise and lower the jig so it bounces off the bottom. This likely stirs up the sediment and may attract fish to your lure/bait. The bite is sometimes very light so when I doubt, set the hook. Using a sonar unit also helps to spot fish when they are lurking around your bait.[/black][/size][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black]Whitefish fishing right on the rockpile has been very good using vertical jigging spoons such as Swedish Pimples and castmasters tipped with nightcrawlers or wax worms. Other anglers are also doing very good using 1/32 or 1/64 jigs fished right on the bottom. Several anglers have been using their underwater cameras and it is truly amazing seeing just how many whitefish are down there. The larger whitefish (Bonnevilles) are feeding on eggs being laid by Bear Lake whitefish. Fish right on the bottom and keep changing locations until you find the fish. The most productive depths on the rockpile have been between 35-40 feet.[/black][/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3][black] [/black][/size][/font][font "Comic Sans MS"][black]When venturing on the ice in areas without other anglers make sure to use extreme caution. It is smart to have a rope to throw to someone in case they fall through. Also wear a pair of ice picks around your neck, on the outside of your clothing to help pull yourself out if you happen to fall through the ice. Make sure to check your proclamation for all the current rules and regulations. The daily and possession limit for whitefish it is 10 fish and for cutthroat and lake trout it is 2 fish, either singly or in aggregate. Remember to immediately release cutthroat trout that are not fin clipped.[/black][/font]
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[cadresults]

FishGuy,

I really appreciate your report. My 9 year old son and I will be fishing the rockpile this evening. Its nice when we can get these reports on the fish and ice conditions.

I will post our results tomorrow. Thanks again
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[BearLakeMack]

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[font "Comic Sans MS"] Using a stinger hook on the jig is helpful with short strikes and prevents you from missing a lot of fish.[/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]I hate to contradict you but a stinger can make a mess of a fish. I guess if you plan on keeping everything you catch, a stinger can help but stingers can cripple a fish good and that is a bad thing when the possibilities of hooking a native cutthroat that must be released is a possibility.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]If you think you need a stinger do not use trebles tied to the main jighead hook. These can get caught in the gills or taken deep where it is almost impossible to extract without killing a fish. They are really meant to snag a fish if the main jighead hook can't get the job done on the strike. Use a trailer hook with a bit of vinyl tubing to keep it in place on the jig. The trailer hook/vinyl tube set up are more apt to hook the fish in the roof of the mouth like a standard jighead will make it easier to extract the hook without crippling or killing the fish.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]There is really no need to use a stinger with tubes less than 4"-5" long. The chance on a short strike is remote because the fish, even smaller fish, can take the entire jig into it's mouth. Good quality hooks, like Gamakatsus in your jigheads will do a fine job of hooking fish up. I doubt there are people using the big toras out there right now. In my opinion, these are the only folks who should consider using a stinger at all. [/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]JMHO. I hate to see those fish maimed, crippled, or killed just to get the hook up.[/size][/black][/font]
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[BearLakeFishGuy]

I[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3] respectfully disagree with BLM, but hey, we all have our opinion. I always use stinger hooks on tube jigs and I would bet I catch 30-40% of the fish on the stinger. I don't run the stinger back far enough to do significant damage on every fish, I only run a piece of mono back about 1-2" beyond the point of the main hook and rarely do I injure a fish with the stinger. FYI, I typically use a #10 treble as the stinger. I do agree that you could injure more fish this way, but I keep a fair number of cutthroat that I catch. I have yet to "kill" a fish with the stinger that had to be released (i.e. not clipped). Approximately 85-90% of the cutthroat in Bear Lake are clipped fish. (I know this has always been a debatable percentage, but I literally handle hundreds of cutthroat each year and that ratio has been static for about 10 years now).

In the end, using a stinger, really depends on what your objective is. If it is to catch fish to eat, use the stinger for what I feel is a much higher hooking-to-landing ratio. If you are only catching/releasing then skip the stinger if you desire and you may save a fish or two. With a relatively lower catch rate than compared to more productive waters, I prefer to maximize my chances of landing fish.

Thanks for the comments Rich, this could be a good subject for others to jump in on!
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[bodine11]

I agree with blm, but I am strickly a catch and release person. I guess if you were out to get nothing but table fair its ok. I used to jig alot and used a stinger on a few occasions I did gill hook a few fish which made them bleed out.

Bodine
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Hey, as always, no foul intended. My comments were more directed to all for information than at you in piticular. Have a good one, Scott!
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[KJFN]

Hey BLM! You better be careful with those personal attacks, the new mods will ban you! [shocked] lol![cool]
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[Old_Coot]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 2] I used to use a stinger at Bear Lake but I don't any more. The reason I no longer use them is because I didn't see my catch rate increase. I think though, like BLM indicated, If I were to use bigger tubes I would use them again to minimize short strikes.

The stinger setup I have used in the past was a single hook conected to the J of the main hook. That provides a short 1" extentinon. See the picture.

[inline "Jigs for Macks.jpg"]

My main fishing buddy, Bait_Caster, still uses stingers about 90% of the time. I just find them more work than they are worth. [/font][/size]
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