Warm Water at Bear Lake

[Dr.Flinn]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Last time I was on the ice at Bear Lake (not this season, yet), I noticed some warm water raising and melting the ice in some spots out from the condos on the west shore. Dose any one have the GPS or a close GPS coordinate for these spots ?[/size][/black][/font]
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[Elkoholic]

Here are some coordinates that I have marked.
N41 55.138 W111 22.066

This spot is out past the rock pile and when I last saw it (about 2 or 3 years ago) it was HUGE!! I'll bet it was at least 40-50 yards across. I only ventured out to about 20 fet from the water. i also remember some small holes that were open between the rockpile and the bank. Someone had created a trail that everyone followed out and this hole was within 10 feet of the trail. It almost looked like an old hole but there was no snow around it. It had all melted. If you get out there after a new snow you would have a hard time finding some of those small spots. Maybe have a buddy go first!

Hope the ice comes on this year! Everyone in the valley needs to hold their breath for a week or so as to not create any wind.
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[LABSRULE]

UNFORTUNEATLY I FOUND ONE OF THESE SPOTS WHILE ICE FISHING AFTER A SNOW/WIND STORM HAD COVERED ALL OF THEM UP. IT MADE MORE A VERY UNPLEASANT DAY BUT FOUR HOURS LATER I WAS REWARED WITH A 10LB MAC. BE VERY CAREFUL OUT EAST OF THE ROCKPILE AND OUT FROM THE MARINA WHEN ICE FISHING.
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[Elkoholic]

Yeah there are alot of those little holes that pop up out there. A few years back my uncles and I were out on the ice for superbowl sunday and when we left we found one of those soft spots. After loosing alot of gear and having 2 guys go in, we ran into a 10- 15' wide channel that had opened up between us and the bank. We were basicaly on an iceberg. We had to follow the opening all the way around Gus Rich point to get off the ice. By then we were a good 2 hours after dark and the guys who fell in, could hardly move because their clothes had froze solid. We ended the day donating all our fish and almost all our gear to the Bear Lake fish gods.

I noticed last summer, in my boat, over by Cisco beach there are tons of those methane bubblers over there. I know people ice fish that area but I don't know if I would. We were running into them about every 20 feet or so.
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[BearLakeMack]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Someone correct me if I'm wrong but what I think what you are seeing in those open spots are areas where methane gas bubbles from the bottom are coming up and agitating the water enough to keep it from freezing. There is a larger fault line running north and south along the west side of the lake where you see a lot of these occurrences. These areas, if cold enough, will eventually freeze but do take longer.[/size][/black][/font]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]We were buzzing across the ice at dusk on snowmobiles a few years ago and dang near went right over the top of one. We didn't see it until we were right on top of it. Good thing we missed by a little ways because there was no way we were going to avoid it after we saw it. I guess it sometimes its better to be luck than good.[/size][/black][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I will tell you this. I have repeated caught fish on these bubblers. Why? I don't know. Is it mineral content in the water? Is the water more conducive for plankton or organisms which attracts bait fish and other food chain predators? I don't know but I do know sometimes those bubblers are a good place to be.[/size][/font]
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[LABSRULE]

IT IS DEFINETLY A DANGEROUS PLACE. FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN THE SPRINGS ON THE EAST SIDE SEEM TO BE CLOSER TO THE SHORE SO ONCE YOU GET AROUND THEM YOU ARE USUALLY GOOD BUT LIKE YOU SAID YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN ON THAT LAKE. IT MAKES YOU WONDER ABOUT THE SANITY OF US WHO TRY TO FISH IT.
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[RipNLips]

I was once anchored over one of these spots when the lake was like glass. There were some serious bubbles coming to the surface. I had heard that it may be methane so I decided to check. I took a lighter and held the flame to the surface of the water. As the bubbles came to the surface where the flame was there was absolutely no flare-up or change in the flame. I'm not sure about other bubble areas, but this one was definitely not methane.
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[Dr.Flinn]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][black][size 3]Thanks for the coordinates. I thought it might be a good idea for every one to be aware of these spots when the ice fishing starts up there. Also I’d like to fish them when I can get back in the boat. It might be fun to look at them with the camera too. We might see some gear down there, (that’s not funny is it). One time when I was a kid and Cisco fishing with my Dad, my younger brother slipped under the ice and started to slide away from the large hole, and then my Mom reached under the edge of the ice and grabbed the hood of his coat and pulled him back up. I know how dangerous it can get up there, but I still can’t wait to get on the ice.[/size][/black][/font]
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