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I'd like to say thanks to BLM and P4L for letting me tag along with them yesterday for my first trip to Bear Lake and my first taste of Mac fishing. I'd like to say that I actually caught one but BLM was the only one who did. I did however catch a couple of nice looking and authentic Bear Lake Cutts which I was very happy about because I'm a Cutthroat fan. Besides now I have an excuse to go back and try for one of those big Macs another time. I have to give credit for the fish I did catch to P4L for lending me one of his favorite jigs and to BLM for coaching me into landing them. The most incredible thing was while reeling in my first fish he came off and then hit my jig again 5 or 6 times on the way up.
The fishing was very slow all day but the weather was nice except for some wind. The ice is about 10" thick with about 4" of cruddy ice on top that melts during the day then freezes at night and there were some soft spots around the edges. We were on the East side but I'm not sure exactly where and we fished in water from 45 to 100' deep.
FM
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it was nice to meet you ryan and alway fun to take a newbee up to bl. theres no better teacher then blm
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]I posted a report a minute after yours so I deleted mine. We did have a good time. Obviously, more catching and less waiting makes for a better trip but that's late season ice fishing. Thanks to Petty and Fishmagnet for all the help. My back is not what it used to be.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Fishmagnet also got to see the difference in sonar power in deeper water. His 1500 watt Eagle had a tough time shown everything whereas the 4000 watt X98 showed every detail after getting everything adjusted correctly.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]Plenty of ice for another week or two. The edges are still good but soften up in the afternoons so wear rubber up 3-4 inches. No snow around the edges on the eastside to speak of. If you don't want to carry your stuff to the ice, access on the ramps will get you the closest, again, on the east side.[/size][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][size 3]It's almost over but not quite. If the weather temps drop, as is expected later next week, the ice should be around for a few more weeks. As fishmagnet said 10-11 minimum good solid ice right now.[/size][/font]
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[size 1]"and I learned a lot....mostly things like how much money I'll need to get geared up if I get into Mac fishing". I am into it over $600 -- and there are still gear that I want to add.[/size]
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Hey fishmagnet. There are some nice cutts to be had on bear lake. There are some different species in there. Heres a pic of what us locals call a native cutt. Notice the different markings compared to the silver/blue. Maybe see ya out on the big pond some day. Mtnman
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Here's another native
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