Bear Lake Whitefish

[BigCountryUT]

I may find myself up at Bear Lake this weekend. With the whitefish run going on I thought I might see if I could hook some up on the fly. I have never done this before and was wondering if anyone had some advice on fly choice and what type of line to use (floating or sinking). Thanks for any advice you can pass along.
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]The active fish are generally less than 10-12 feet deep...and usually less. This past week they have been caught by casting in toward shore and working out deeper until the right depth was found and then fishing parallel to shore at that depth. Most days around 7-9 feet is a good depth to work.

Whitefish are not like trout...and will not come up in the water column very far to take a fly. You need to keep it within a few inches of the bottom. That requires either a medium sink line or at least a good sink tip. Also might help to take some flies with a bit of weight added...to keep them down during a retrieve.

Early in the morning (low light) or when it is cloudy you will often do better with dark patterns...black, purple, etc...especially with a bit of silver glitter in them. During brighter light conditions go with white patterns...again with some sparkly stuff.

These fish seem to be motivated by their olfactory senses and respond best to lures with a piece of worm. Makes it harder to catch them on plain jigs or flies. But with the right slow twitch retrieve you can get bit on flies.

Best spot to work a fly would probably be off second point. The bottom contour is less severe there and you can work a larger area without being out of range. Off Cisco beach the bottom drops sharply into deeper water. At second point you can find some relatively flat areas with the cobble bottom the whitefish prefer.

Weather forecast for the weekend looks like some wind. Tough to throw a line well in the wind, but if you make it out try fishing shallow where the waves are washing the shoreline. Sometimes the whitefish move in shallower in sloppy water.
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[GSP]

I have seen flyfishermen catch whities on small tube jigs with their fly rods. Pat's advice is good. I have contemplated throwing flies on my flyrod, but many times it's so cold that stripping every cast gives me the shakes considering your hands / gloves would be soaked from the get go and the rest of the day following. Not to mention guides icing up pretty much immediately.
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[BigCountryUT]

Thanks for the advice guys! Hopefully I will be able to get out and see how it goes. I will let you know how it goes.
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[GSP]

Big Country: As I was driving home from BL today I had another thought regarding fly fishing for the whities. Although they're in the spawn, I wonder about indicator fishing for them. That way, not so much stripping, casting, getting the hands wet etc. Maybe a blood worm and a small white/black/or olive bugger. Let us know how it goes.

GSP
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[BigCountryUT]

Thanks for the thought GSP. I was actually thinking the same thing. If I get out I will try a few techniques and see what works. I will report back. Thanks again.
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[sagedave]

On Hegben Lake in MT, chrinomids under an indicator killed the white fish. Not sure how it would do at Bear Lake.
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[GSP]

Man I hope you do make it out (weather isn't looking great) as I have wondered about this for years, just didn't want to try it due to cold /wet conditions I have experienced during the whitefish run. I'm pretty sure Scott Tolentino had spoken to me about the bloodworm thing and Bear Lake whitefish as a food source. We have chatted about why no one catches them except this time of year, i.e. Spring, Summer, Fall. The time I saw them caught on a fly rod was from a boat on Dec 9, 2000. Darin Pugmire was throwing a new St. Croix rod and was using 1/32 or 1/16 oz jigs. If I recall correctly it was either a red or orange microtube type body.

GSP
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[TubeDude]

[quote sagedave]On Hegben Lake in MT, chrinomids under an indicator killed the white fish. Not sure how it would do at Bear Lake.[/quote]

[#0000FF]Totally different species...and totally different diets. The mountain whitefish is found throughout the west, mostly in moving water but also in some lakes. It is primarily insectivorous throughout its life cycle. The Bonneville whitefish lives largely on invertebrates until it reaches about 12 to 13 inches. After that time it is mostly piscivorous. But it will still smack a variety of food items. It is reasonable to assume it would accept buggy imitations but not sure about something as small as 'mids.[/#0000FF]
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[BigCountryUT]

So my plans fell through and I didn't make it up. I appreciate all the great advice. I will definitely make it a point to get up there next year.
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[GSP]

Dang! Don't give up, they will still be going this Saturday. I will be up there Thu thru Sat. If you're going to come up, shoot me a pm.

GSP
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