BL whitefish reports

[SBennett]

Thinking of hitting BL for whiteys this weekend if I can get over this little cold I have.
Weather looks decent.
I plan on launching from the State marina.
Anyone been there in the last couple days and care to share tactics/fish reports?
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[Kent]

Fished it yesterday. The catching was slow for us, one here and one there, but I found out we were "almost" in the right spot. There is a good chance that we will be fishing it again on Saturday (deciding between a couple places). I prefer launching on the east side, so if the wind comes up I don't have to cross that lake in a strong wind. Been there and done that before and I was extremely thankful that the bilge pump worked great.
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[JJ-fisher]

Slow fishing but great weather for December.
Thanks for taking me even if it was a little slow
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[SBennett]

Have you found the east side is better than the west?
Never been before but kind of believed that any rocky shoreline is as good as any other rocky shoreline during the spawn?
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Rocky shoreline is rocky shoreline. But each year is different in terms of how deep the preferred spawning areas are. And on each day there can be a search necessary to find the active fish. They seem to have their own preferences for their own reasons. Female dominated.

There have been reports of off and on fishing at second point...where it was gangbusters last year. There are fish being caught right outside the marina...on the west side...near the dike rocks. Several whitieologists have reported good action in the Cisco Beach area.

Sounds like the whitefish are going to be heavily pursued for the next two or three days. I have a small floatilla thing going with a couple of other tuber/tooners...probably in the Cisco Beach area. Walkie talkies on channel 5.
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[Kent]

[quote SBennett]

Have you found the east side is better than the west?
Never been before but kind of believed that any rocky shoreline is as good as any other rocky shoreline during the spawn?

[/quote]

I believe the east side is better than the west side because there is far more rocky shoreline to choose from on the east side. The outside of the marina is the only rocky shoreline on the west side, that I am aware of, and that small area can get crowded, especially on a weekend. Apparently, some are also being caught off of the new rock piles just north of the marina on the west side, but I doubt it is fast catching there for whitefish.
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[setthehook]

I will be up Saturday. I will likely stay west. Hope the canyon doesn't get hit too hard with snow tomorrow. West side is your safest bet If things get nasty. east side offers a lot more, but attempting to load a small boat on a trailer is not a fun game when the winds come up.... And they almost always do! Just have to join the crowd at the marina.
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[wyoguy]

Where did you launch on the East side, and what's the conditions like there, if you don't mind saying?
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[Kent]

Launched at First Point and the dock was still in the water, but it had a coating of ice on it in the morning. The ramp was plowed but still snow packed.
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[Old_Coot]

Just got back from fishing it today. We launched at first point. When we pulled into the ramp area at the top, I was making a U-turn to back down and started to jack-knife slide with brakes full on. I was sliding down the ramp sideways. As soon as I let off the brakes, I was able to gain traction and avoid the jack knife. Once we got straightened out and backing down the ramp, I would shift between neutral and drive while rolling backwards down the ramp so I could avoid using my brakes. That worked well. I had a bucket of salt and spread it liberally on the ramp. At the end of the day, much of the ramp had melted. Negotiating the ramp is definitely a 4WD process. But don't let what I have written here scare you away. Just use 4WD and some common sense and you'll be fine. Might want to bring some salt.

As for the fishing, we got our buts handed to us! Me and my brother only caught 3 whites all day!. But that's because I'm still learning how to catch those whites. Pretty much the same for all other fishermen there ... except for one boat:

There was a boat there with two guys who had never fished Bear Lake and never fish for whitefish and they both limited out! Other boats around them just watched in aww. After talking with them, I believe that their good luck (luck?) was due to their lures and their retrieve technique. I'll try to describe both as best as I can: The lure they were using that did so well was a small crappie sized curly-tail grub. It was simply clear (no color ... transparent) with sparkles throughout on a 1/8 oz. (yea, a little heavy) white jig head tipped with a 3/4 inch piece of worm. Their retrieve was to reel one or two revolutions and stop till the jig dropped to the bottom about 3 seconds, then reel two revolutions again and so on. Anyway, they schooled the crap out of us!

If my wife and my budget will let me go again Saturday, I will. I'd sure like to try that lure and technique. Man I want a limit for the smoker.
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[albinotrout]

Cold days and fish. Sounds like an interesting day for sure. Sometimes the difference is all in presentation.
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[Old_Coot]

Yea, I have a hunch that whatever lure they would have used, their technique is what got them the fish. But hey, that's just my opinion.
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[gmwahl]

We fished it Wednesday and did well. We used 1/8 oz. jig heads in various colors (didn't seem to matter), and 2.5 " gulp minnows on smelt and white colors. We tipped them with a small bit of worm, but when the fish slurped the worm off we still would get them on the gulp minnow, just not as fast.
Anywhere with a rocky bottom and 6-10' of water should hold them.

Good luck!

Mike

P.S. If your lure isn't on the bottom or within 2-3" of it you won't hardly get a thing.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Pat I'm still on for tomorrow, got the poles rigged last night and got the motor controller actually working without me blowing anything up yet.... I'm looking forward to trying the ultra slow trolling mode as we scout for a spot with fish.. Need to pick up some worms and probably should get some new line, my line from last summer is starting to seem old so I probably need to replace it before I lose fish because I didn't... Everyone is talking 4lb test, what's your thoughts? I like a little heavier because it lasts a little longer, do you think it makes a difference to the fish? Are you still planning on the same launch spot and time? If so I'll meet you there or around there.. Thanks J
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[r2u2]

Jeff, Pat, I'm in for tomorrow. Can't remember how long it takes to get there from Logan or Ogden. Don't want tomiss you. I might need some help if the ramp is still iced up. Or needing other assistance.

0700 eta ??
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I'm good to go. Time of arrival sometime before noon...or earlier...where we discussed.

Line? Definitely spool with good quality line. You don't want kinky curly stuff that breaks too easily on the frequent snags. But 4# is a bit light for my tastes. For the past couple of years I have been using 6# Berkeley Nanofil...with about 3 feet of good 6# mono or fluoro. That is heavy enough to handle almost anything you might hook...and heavy enough to help work jigs free from "forgiving" rocks. But if you are hopelessly snagged you can break it off without turning your toon over.

Using this setup...Nanofil with short leader...I have pretty much kept up with the master (BLFG) when fishing with him on his boat. (Limits plus the last couple of years) And, by the way, he has been using the Nanofil too.

Just got off the phone with someone who was up there yesterday. Seems like Adam Eakle was doing some footage yesterday too. They only got two fish in their boat...4 anglers. And only a few boats really scored very well. The fish were in small areas and they were pretty particular about the presentation they wanted.

Guess us "floatation" fishermen gotta go show 'em how it's done.
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[SkunkedAgain]

Great news we'll see ya there. PM sent with details. J
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[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks for the info Pat I have a couple poles set up with Nanofil and leaders, I'll just change the leader to 6lb instead of 10 lb that I use on the cats. Plans sound great I'll see you there. J
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[buckhunterhart]

Sounds like there will be a bunch of us there tomorrow. I have never tried for whitefish before on the big blue, looking forward to the experience. Thanks for all the good information shared, I hope we all do well.
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[Moosedog]

I fished it yesterday. The state marina should be in great shape if there isn't any more snow fall. it was about 75% dry when we left. We made sure that we pulled out of the water slowly so we didn't create anymore ice for the next guy. Whitefish started off great early and just died after we caught 7. It took the rest of the day to get two more for 9 total between 2 guys. We got 3 cuts one being about 8 pounds he was right in front of the marina. I also caught a bonus 17 lb laker jigging on the rockpile. I'm thinking the spawn is a little late this year and it's just getting going.
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