Bear Lake - Disco No Cisco

[Fishdude]

Seriously, where were the fish? Arrived at Cisco Beach at about 7:30ish and stayed until about 11:30. Two of us netted a grand total of 7 Cisco. I didn't see many others catching fish. I thought it would be a great day with the new ice, but we didn't have much luck.

Anyone else do better?
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[Kent]

Yesterday, apparently they showed up around 9:00 AM (right when we quit). How thick is the ice?
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[Fishdude]

There was 1-2 inches of ice depending on where you were standing. Pretty sketchy. Most were standing on top of the ice and some had waders. I saw a couple of guys get their feet wet when the ice gave way. Lots of people out, but we saw very few fish. Lots of people walking up and down the shoreline asking if we were seeing fish, which tells me that we weren't the only ones who didn't have a lot of luck.
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[gmwahl]

When the ice is thin and people are wading, the ciscos stay out deeper on Cisco beach during the Cisco disco. They are pretty sensitive to tons of pressure....and I would call the disco "tons of pressure"!

What most people don't realize or care to accept is that as long as there are several fisherman in the water than the ciscos stay generally out of reach. 1-2" of ice is the bum deal here. Not quite thick enough to stand on without the occasional plunge and no open water to kneel down next to to scoop them up. When ice is 4-6" thick then the dipping is much better when there are crowds present.

Just my personal observations from over 20 years of fishing for them and living up here.

Mike
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[Fishdude]

None of those things seemed to make any difference today. The ice was thicker. I kneeled down next to a much smaller hole and there weren't any people on either side of me within about 40 yards. I was there from before first light to about 10 am and only saw a handful of fish. I didn't see anyone netting any fish today and talked to a bunch of guys before I left and none of them had gotten any.

Just seems like the cisco weren't running strong this weekend - either that or they weren't in while I was there. Certainly not like any of the runs I've experienced in the past. If they just started showing up on the beach last Saturday, I thought they would be running strong this weekend, but maybe not.
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[Brighamfish]

I was up there Wed & Thursday mornings and had a great time. This was the first year I've ever tried it and Wed morning I didn't see many and only got 3. Thur morning I got my limit and my 10 year old boy was able to get a few also. It was still open water both days when I went. From what I heard Thur was the last day it was open water. Anyone standing up tall in proximity definately made a difference. When I was kneeling down waiting for some to come in other fisherman came up and would ask how it was going. Fish would stay out just a few feet out of reach. When it was just me and the boy kneeling down again they would come back in. Seemed like 8:30 - 10am was prime time both days. I'm definately hooked on it now. Can't wait to get out there and try using some to lure in the lakers!
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[SkunkedAgain]

I didn't hit Cisco this year because of the conditions, but last year it was a lot like you're describing and I went out in about 10 FOW with my kastmaster and jigged up a limit pretty quick. Netting is fun but when it's not working try the jigging. It's more fun to me. Later J
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[buckhunterhart]

They try to plan the disco on the Saturday closest to when they think will be the peak of the run, but it never seems to coincide with the actual peak. I have found the best years I have had was when I was able to get up a day or two before the official event and get out with very little pressure, and the open water years were the most successful I have been. A few years back we had 2 limits within about 20 minute with open water and no wind. If you don't have that luxury in your schedule it can be a crap shoot. Still a good excuse to get out.
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[SkunkedAgain]

I guess I have a different perspective, I like the ice capped years for both netting and jigging, but that's usually because when it's open water it's usually windy and the waves kill the dipping... We usually always get most of our limits on the ice and considerably less on open water, but might be because we each know how to do better under the opposite circumstances.. this year we got 25, last year limited and the year before on open water it was like 3... So I'm happy this year, but I think your timing thing is key... As pressure gets heavy the fish know to stay offshore.. Saturday when there weren't too many folks at the marina we did pretty good, but when the crowd showed up, it all but ended.. Don't know why those little fish are so much fun to me, but I still love catching them... Guess the little kid in me never grew up... Later J
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