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Monday, February 02, 2015
Bear Lake Fishing Report:
The Cisco run is now pretty much over. No cisco were along Cisco Beach today and it was spotty this past weekend. Anglers will likely be able to jig for Cisco through this week and then they will dissipate. When jigging for Cisco from a boat, try fishing in about 20-25’ of water off the Pump House and about 35-40’ of water off the rockpile. Bear Lake is wide open water at this point and there is no ice on the lake with clear conditions in the valley. There is no snow on ground and the east side boat ramps are clear and open for launching and the courtesy docks have been placed back into the water at First Point and Rainbow Cove. Fishing has remained very good for Cutthroat Trout, Whitefish and a few Lake Trout. Anglers targeting trout are fishing with tube jigs tipped with cisco &/or worms right on the bottom in 35-70’ of water off the rockpile near Ideal Beach, off the new rockpiles north of the marina, 2nd Point, Cisco Beach and north to the state line. Other anglers are trolling and also catching fish in these same locations using Rapalas and Flatfish trolled using downriggers. Remember, you must use lures that are legal for fishing for other types of fish while fishing for cisco, but foul-hooked (snagged) Cisco can be kept. Any other foul-hooked species must be returned immediately. Cutthroat trout without a healed fin clip must also be released.
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[quote BearLakeFishGuy]
Remember, you must use lures that are legal for fishing for other types of fish while fishing for cisco...
[/quote]
Scott, thanks for the report. Any chance you have a reference that adds more clarity to this statement?
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Thank you for the report!! [  ]
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Look at page 23 of the 2015 Utah Fishing Guidebook. You cannot possess a multi point hook with a weight permanently or rigidly attached to the hook. You also cannot have a multi point hook with a weighted dropper.
Kastmasters, spoons, jigs, rapalas, etc. are all okay. An un-weighted treble hook on more than 3 inches of dropper is also okay. Basically you can't make yourself a weighted snagging rig.
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Thank you and I was already familiar with that language. That said, I'm not sure that is all that is intended to be required under the statement, "Anglers may keep foul-hooked Bonneville cisco that are taken through normal, legal fishing activities."
For example, does the use of an unpainted banana weight, with a large treble hook below it, meet the definition of "normal, legal fishing activities"? Would one be fishing that way for any other reason than to snag cisco and if not is that "normal"?
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Kentofnsl, with your more than 12 thousand posts I assumed you are quite versed in all things fishing including the utah guidebook. I interpreted your post as a call to guide other readers on the forum to the rules governing cisco fishing on the Big Blue.
As for the unpainted banana weight...those anglers could be pursuing the rare and elusive near-sighted albino monkeyfish. The last confirmed sighting was the summer of 1998, which is crazy because that's the same summer I went skinny dipping at Bear Lake. I'm lucky I wasn't bitten by it! It sounds like a hideous creature to behold. [ ]
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[quote Hazzy_Hazbourne]
Kentofnsl, with your more than 12 thousand posts I assumed you are quite versed in all things fishing including the utah guidebook. I interpreted your post as a call to guide other readers on the forum to the rules governing cisco fishing on the Big Blue.
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That is a correct observation with the addition that I would prefer also not to get a ticket. If one has ever fished from a boat, the popular areas on Bear Lake where anglers are prone to foul hook cisco, during the cisco spawn, one has to wonder if the anglers (myself included) could be cited for not foul hooking cisco "through normal fishing activities". There are some anglers who are aggressively jigging Kastmasters and similar, but many others are aggressively jigging rigs that their sole purpose is to foul hook a cisco. Also for many years the size of treble hook one could use was defined and the rules are now silent on that subject.
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I'm all for following the rules. I'm not a lawyer or a scholar but I cannot see how your banana weight with a treble hook attached (presumably with a split ring) violates the "permanently/rigidly attached to the shank" clause or the "weighted dropper below the hook" clause. Legally you could fish for macks and cutties with that setup, though it's doubtful you'd have many takers. Besides who's to say it wasn't your favorite lucky jig that used to be painted like a cisco but caught so many fish the paint wore off? Honestly I've got a few spinners & lures that hardly have a fleck if paint left on them yet they still catch fish.
In short, fishermen should do what keeps themselves and their consciences on the right side of the law.
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I will second this report, as my wife and I went up sunday to test our luck hoping the cisco might still be around. We go there about 15 minutes after first light and waded around until 10:30 am. We only caught sight of 2 cisco, and the few people that were out in the water before us had only picked up 1 or 2 cisco each.
Over all, I still had fun 
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You are trying to read between the lines and fortunately, there is nothing there to decipher. If you read the regulations, that is exactly what it means. Hazzy Hazbourne nailed it perfectly. Don't add your feelings, thoughts, etc. Read exactly what it says and you will be fine. Banana weight and all! The reason the hook size is no longer defined is due to too many lures with large hooks on lures like muskie lures or large flatfish (U-50's+)that would be illegal to even possess. Drop shotting with a 6 oz. weight below a #5/0 treble hook is illgal. Weighted shaft treble hooks are illegal. If you follow the regs, they are crystal clear.
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[quote BearLakeFishGuy]
If you follow the regs, they are crystal clear.
[/quote]
Making a statement that "Anglers may keep foul-hooked Bonneville cisco that are taken through normal, legal fishing activities." may be crystal clear to you, but I have a hunch that you would get a lengthy list of interpretations if you asked anglers what that meant to them. The next paragraph reading, "A person may not possess a multipoint hook with a weight permanently or rigidly attached directly to the shank -- or a weight suspended below a multipoint hook -- unless the hook is on an unweighted dropper line that is at least three inches long." is crystal clear. However; it does not state that this is the definition of what is meant by the first statement. As a minimum, this could be more clearly written, and at the worst one could be ticketed by an aggressive officer applying his/her interpretation as to what is meant by "normal, legal fishing activities".
This isn't that far fetched. For at least a couple years, anglers were being ticketed at Strawberry because some officers used their own interpretation of what was a cutthroat trout. That is why the current Guidebook reads, "Any trout with cutthroat characteristics [#BF0000](not necessarily jaw slashing)[/#BF0000] is considered to be a cutthroat trout" (emphasis added).
I thank you for replying, and I accept your interpretation, because I realize you have inside knowledge of the situation.
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I found where the cisco went!
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