Great Bear Lake

[BoatBallast]

We fished Bear Lake on 8/30 and8/31.  Decided to fish Gus Rich Point early before the power squadron could get going.  We caught a lot of little cutthroats but nothing of any size.  On Sunday we hooked and landed a 30" lake trout on a white hoochie.  We had some big hits that we didn't convert that we think were also large lake trout.  Maybe they were there to chow down on the little cutthroats we were catching.

I should have run across the lake and tried to fish the east side given the small cutts we were catching.  We just didn't seem to have enough time before the power squadron fired up.  

We did well on a J-7 chart Rapala, white and green kokanee hoochies, kastmaster spoons, and a chrome/green flatfish.  All fish were 40-60 feet down.

Does anyone have any high confidence lures for cutts they are willing to share?

[wiperhunter2]

Great detailed report, thanks for posting it. Not many of us fish BL anymore since the laker population is down but a 30" mack from there is a great fish. We never targeted cutts when fishing there but Scott would be the master about all things at BL, if he sees this post. We always did our best catching, while vertical jigging and white or pearl tubes were what we used the most, with a piece of cisco or chub meat.

[BoatBallast]

Great detailed report, thanks for posting it. Not many of us fish BL anymore since the laker population is down but a 30" mack from there is a great fish. We never targeted cutts when fishing there but Scott would be the master about all things at BL, if he sees this post. We always did our best catching, while vertical jigging and white or pearl tubes were what we used the most, with a piece of cisco or chub meat.

I've really gotten into flatfall jigs lately.  We did drop on the rockpile a couple times to see if we could get any cooperation.  We have gotten cooperation before, but not this time.

How deep of water were you jigging in?  Jigging on the bottom?

[wiperhunter2]

Great detailed report, thanks for posting it. Not many of us fish BL anymore since the laker population is down but a 30" mack from there is a great fish. We never targeted cutts when fishing there but Scott would be the master about all things at BL, if he sees this post. We always did our best catching, while vertical jigging and white or pearl tubes were what we used the most, with a piece of cisco or chub meat.

I've really gotten into flatfall jigs lately.  We did drop on the rockpile a couple times to see if we could get any cooperation.  We have gotten cooperation before, but not this time.

How deep of water were you jigging in?  Jigging on the bottom?

After many years of jigging on and around the Rockpile, we have found that jigging just off the rockpile is the most productive but the depth depends on the lake water level in any given year from 65 to almost 80 ft depending on the lakes level in that year. We have had our best luck on the North side but we have also caught them on the east side. We drop to the bottom and jig up about a foot of two depending on what the fish want, on any given day. We jig aggressively from the bottom up about two feet some days, other days only a few inches but the aggressive jigging has produced the most often. The only time we jig on top of the rockpile is when the cisco are spawning and the cutts and macks are there feeding on them.

[BoatBallast]

After many years of jigging on and around the Rockpile, we have found that jigging just off the rockpile is the most productive but the depth depends on the lake water level in any given year from 65 to almost 80 ft depending on the lakes level in that year. We have had our best luck on the North side but we have also caught them on the east side. We drop to the bottom and jig up about a foot of two depending on what the fish want, on any given day. We jig aggressively from the bottom up about two feet some days, other days only a few inches but the aggressive jigging has produced the most often. The only time we jig on top of the rockpile is when the cisco are spawning and the cutts and macks are there feeding on them.

Interesting.  We've caught a few on the flatfalls on the east side.  But we haven't caught anything on the west or south side.  I haven't tried the north side.  We'll work on that.

I'll take some jigs and tubes next time I go too.  Thanks for the heads up on that!

[wiperhunter2]

The South side is the Shore, so that is on the Rock pile. We have caught them on the West side, while trolling but anywhere that drops off from the top of the RP can be productive, while trolling. On any given day, if you work that edge, at the bottom of the drop off, you will find fish but they are not always actively feeding. On those days when the jigging isn't working, we troll, moving to the East side of the lake if the RP isn't producing. On the East side, between Cisco beach and First point, is the place we have had our best luck trolling.

[BoatBallast]

The South side is the Shore, so that is on the Rock pile. We have caught them on the West side, while trolling but anywhere that drops off from the top of the RP can be productive, while trolling. On any given day, if you work that edge, at the bottom of the drop off, you will find fish but they are not always actively feeding. On those days when the jigging isn't working, we troll, moving to the East side of the lake if the RP isn't producing. On the East side, between Cisco beach and First point, is the place we have had our best luck trolling.

That's good to know, thank you.  Are you just running your downrigger close to the bottom on the rockpile?  I always see them on the finder within about 5 feet of the bottom.

[wiperhunter2]

The South side is the Shore, so that is on the Rock pile. We have caught them on the West side, while trolling but anywhere that drops off from the top of the RP can be productive, while trolling. On any given day, if you work that edge, at the bottom of the drop off, you will find fish but they are not always actively feeding. On those days when the jigging isn't working, we troll, moving to the East side of the lake if the RP isn't producing. On the East side, between Cisco beach and First point, is the place we have had our best luck trolling.

That's good to know, thank you.  Are you just running your downrigger close to the bottom on the rockpile?  I always see them on the finder within about 5 feet of the bottom.

Yes, downriggers while trolling there but I don't get any closer than ten ft to the bottom with the ball, I let the lure take it down closer to the bottom, depending on how deep the lure dives but I try and keep the lure no closer than 5 ft from the bottom, because the water is clear up there and they will come up to the lure, if they are interested

[BoatBallast]

The South side is the Shore, so that is on the Rock pile. We have caught them on the West side, while trolling but anywhere that drops off from the top of the RP can be productive, while trolling. On any given day, if you work that edge, at the bottom of the drop off, you will find fish but they are not always actively feeding. On those days when the jigging isn't working, we troll, moving to the East side of the lake if the RP isn't producing. On the East side, between Cisco beach and First point, is the place we have had our best luck trolling.

That's good to know, thank you.  Are you just running your downrigger close to the bottom on the rockpile?  I always see them on the finder within about 5 feet of the bottom.

Yes, downriggers while trolling there but I don't get any closer than ten ft to the bottom with the ball, I let the lure take it down closer to the bottom, depending on how deep the lure dives but I try and keep the lure no closer than 5 ft from the bottom, because the water is clear up there and they will come up to the lure, if they are interested

Makes sense to me.  Thanks for the tips!