Bear Lake is on FIRE!

[BearLakeFishGuy]

We fished Bear Lake on Friday 1/13.  Fishing was really good!  Launched at the marina about 8:00am and fished around the rockpile until about 2:30.  We lost count of how many trout we landed, but we estimated it was about 22-24 fish, maybe more, between two of us.  The quality of the fish was great.  Only 2 fish were under 20" and I think we caught 4 lake trout and the rest were very nice cutthroat.....and one pig of a whitefish.  Used tubes tipped with cisco and one secret lure that I will not mention, but it caught about well more than half of the fish.  Started off in 62 feet, then moved to 67 feet.  We also moved into about 40' right on the rockpile for about 45 minutes to try for cisco.  We did not catch any but we saw two cisco caught yesterday.  I also noticed several cisco in cutthroat stomachs when I was cleaning fish when I got home.  Now is the time to cash-in on some excellent Bear Lake fishing and the best part is you're not fighting the slush and soft edges on just about any water in Utah.  There was a fair amount of floating ice on the lake but we just slowed down and motored through the stuff to get to where we were going.  Flat calm all day and I'm pretty sure we solved all the world's major problems while we were fishing.   Not sure whether the big blue pond will freeze or not, but that doesn't matter as long as we can access it by boat or ice.....its just that "in-between" season that sucks.  Get your boat up there and help out the cisco population by taking a few fish home for dinner.  The cutthorat and whitefish we ate last night were absolutely phenomenal!

[SkunkedAgain]

Wow sounds like a great trip Scott, glad you guys did really well... Are there quite a few boats on the pile now days? Just wondering if week days are better than the weekend? Thanks Jeff

[BearLakeFishGuy]

Wow sounds like a great trip Scott, glad you guys did really well... Are there quite a few boats on the pile now days?  Just wondering if week days are better than the weekend?  Thanks Jeff

There were 6 boats on the pile yesterday and a few on the east side too.  There is less pressure on the weekends, therefore, less noise from boats above the fish.  We anchored up the old fashioned way and we seemed to catch more fish than the people who were using their trolling motors. I'm beginning to dislike the spot lock motors more and more.   Just my opinion though.  But when the electric motor came around us, it seemed to slow down the bite.  My friend agreed and said he noticed the same thing too last week.

[SkunkedAgain]

Thanks Scott,
I've really heard more and more folks with your same thoughts on the spot lock... Pretty sure stealth is always best, even if you have an anchor rope to deal with when landing the fish... I didn't think there would be that many boats out, the fishing must have picked up from December.. Thanks for all the info... Oh and the pics look great, fun day I'll bet Jeff

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I kind of feel the same way about gas ice augers as you do about spot lock, that extra noise always seems to slow the fishing, although this year there isn't enough good ice fishing to tell the difference... Later J

[TheOtherSide]

My boat isn't really a winter thing, but we're renting a friend's place during the winter fest. We have a lot of fun every year. We'll, the last 3 years we've gone. Hoping the cisco show up and the kids can do some early morning netting.

I can't imagine having my boat out this time of year. Glad you guys are having so much success. Looks like a great time.

[Kent]

Wow sounds like a great trip Scott, glad you guys did really well... Are there quite a few boats on the pile now days?  Just wondering if week days are better than the weekend?  Thanks Jeff

There were 6 boats on the pile yesterday and a few on the east side too.  There is less pressure on the weekends, therefore, less noise from boats above the fish.  We anchored up the old fashioned way and we seemed to catch more fish than the people who were using their trolling motors. I'm beginning to dislike the spot lock motors more and more.   Just my opinion though.  But when the electric motor came around us, it seemed to slow down the bite.  My friend agreed and said he noticed the same thing too last week.

"There is less pressure on the weekends..."

Scott, this statement seems backwards.  Why would there be less pressure on the weekends?