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These are my favorite fish to catch from Bear Lake! Timing is everything. I have fished the first Saturday in December for the last 15 years and have always limited out. Even in bad weather. However, the Thanksgiving Day weekend can be good too.
Try along any rocky shoreline. I like the area right around the ramp at Cisco Beach and also off the Utah State Park Marina. If you are fishing on the weekend, then you might have to contend with shore anglers, whereas along Cisco Beach there is more area to spread out.
I use a light or ultra light spinning rod with about 4-6 lb line. I like 1/16 to 1/8 oz. jigs. Road runner style jigs work great! Sometimes it helps to tip the jig with worm, but it is NOT necessary and sometimes the bite is actually better without anything extra attached. My go-to colors are black then a sparkly, glowy white. But I have used blue, pink and yellow with great success. I anchor in about 12-15 feet of water and like to cast towards shore. I let the jig hit bottom and then bounce it back towards the boat. You will get a few snags but with a boat you can move slightly and dislodge the lure most of the time. The majority of the time you have to be very alert to detect the bite. They like to hit on the drop so it is important to CONCENTRATE on your line. Try to keep it as tight as possible to detect the hit. The hit is a short "pop" and if you don't set the hook immediately, you can miss the fish. Don't reel in if you miss one, the fish will typically give you several chances to hook them once they start attacking your jig. I also like to cast the smallest Little Cleo spoons and retrieve them slowly so they run close to the bottom. If you are not on or near the bottom, you will not get bit. You can also vertical jig directly under the boat for them which makes it slightly easier to detect the bite. Trying to finese these fish when the wind is blowing is difficult, so try to hit a calm day.
I wish more people would take advantage of this phenominal winter fishery. Most people have put their boats away for the winter so there is not a whole lot of competition and the fishing is typically very good. Cutthroat and lake trout will follow the Bonneville whitefish in close to shore and it is not uncommon to catch the cuts or lakers as a bonus. Its fun fighting a large cutt or laker on 4lb line.
The Bonneville whitefish are excellent to eat. They do not have as well developed intramuscular bone (Y-bone) as their cousins the mountain whitefish. They also have a much larger mouth and are very picivorous when they are over 12" long. The meat is white and firm. You can fry them, bake them, broil them or grill them. Smoking is another very popular method used too. The typical size you catch in Nov/Dec is about 16-18", but they do get larger.
Hope that helps answer your questions and fires up all you winter fishing enthusists!
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I have fished Bear Lake for many years but have never gone after the whitefish. But i have decided this year to give it a try. I usually dont eat fish but am anxious to try this one out. So maybe I will see you out there.
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Oh yea, I do plan to make several trips up there for the whites. I have my smoker ready and waiting for a couple limits of those Bear Lake bone fish. Even Mamma Coot plans to go up on one of those cold early morning trips with me.
Here is a post from last year's trip up there:
[url "http://www.bigfishtackle.com/cgi-bin/gforum/gforum.cgi?post=546062;#546062"]http://www.bigfishtackle.com/...?post=546062;#546062[/url]
Fishing for whitefish on Bear Lake is kind of a unique event for me. It is hard to put my finger on it but it is a nice change from all the other fishing we do during the year. The location is a little different. The time of day is a little different. Battling the cold environment is actually enjoyable. The tackle I use is a bit uinque for me. The very different retrieval technique is fun. Bringing home a limit of fish is easy for a change. Bringing home fish (as opposed to C & R) in itself is an interesting change. Being able to go out a little ways from the spawning beds and finish off the day with some mack and cut fishing is great too. All in all, I really look forward to fishing the whitefish run.
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My fishing partner (my 8 year old boy) and I have been planning to take on the elements and try our luck at catching some whitefish and a trout or two this Friday and Saturday. He has worked very hard (scrubbing floors, etc.) to convince his mother to allow us to fish both days. Its amazing how motivating thoughts of a 10lb mac can be to an 8 year old.
It looks like it is going to be cold but not storming. However, I'm wondering if we will be able to launch at Cisco Beach with all the snow?
Assuming we can launch our 16' tin tub I'm also wondering how I might minimize my partners snags on the rocks? We spend most of our time trolling, as casting usually leaves he and I both frustrated with a lot of lost tackle.
I was thinking that vertical jigging might be the answer but then I remembered that he has had a hard time hooking fish when jigging in the past. Any suggestions? Would a road runner be the best option?
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[quote lovetotroll]
Its amazing how motivating thoughts of a 10lb mac can be to an 8 year old. [/quote]
Geeze man! It's amazing how motivating thoughts of a 10 lb. mack can be to a 58 year old!!!
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And a 32 year old!
I myself like to anchor in 12 feet of water and make short casts letting it sink to or near the bottom and begin a slow retrieve with lots of little hops. I like to hop my jig so that i can detect and feel the lite bites of the tastiest fish in Bear Lake! Plus it seems to help me keep it near the bottom in the zone without snagging.
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[#0000bf]"I myself like to anchor in 12 feet of water and make short casts letting it sink to or near the bottom and begin a slow retrieve with lots of little hops. I like to hop my jig so that i can detect and feel the lite bites of the tastiest fish in Bear Lake! Plus it seems to help me keep it near the bottom in the zone without snagging."[/#0000bf]
Bingo!!
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]. Thanks
