01-23-2017, 07:21 PM
Monday, January 23, 2017
UDWR Bear Lake Fishing Report:
There is about 30-36” of snow on the ground on the west side of Bear Lake and 18-24" at Cisco Beach. The lake has some open water and a lot of ice at this time. The deicers have been shut off at the marina and it is now frozen along with most of the west side of the lake. There were some ice anglers fishing off the “pump house” this past weekend and at least one angler fishing on the ice off the marina. The ice is 2-4”, but there are many weak and fractured spots on the lake and we do not recommend ice fishing due to unsafe ice. The entire area long Cisco Beach is open water, but boat ramps at Cisco Beach and Rainbow Cove are extremely slippery and we not recommend trying to launch boats at this time.
It was windy and wavy along Cisco Beach and dip netting was very difficult. The cisco move off shore when the water is rough. It really helps if you dip net in pairs of people. On person can use a fishing rod with a lure to attract the cisco in and the the person with the net dips the fish. It is important to make sure you only dip net your fish and not other anglers. The run will continue to improve over the coming week and likely peak next weekend. Fishing for Cutthroat Trout should be good off the Cisco Beach area while the cisco run continues. Try large spoons or spinners (#5 or #6) when casting or use streamers/leaches on fly rods. Fishing for Whitefish should also be good either from boats or from the ice, depending on the weather conditions. Use smaller vertical jigging spoons such as Kastmasters and Swedish Pimples. You can also try running a 6-8” dropper line below the spoons with an ice fly for the whitefish.
Please remember, all Cutthroat Trout that are caught and don’t have a healed fin clip must be released. Large Lake Trout are not very good eating and take a long time to reach large sizes, and while they are legal to keep, many anglers are encouraging other anglers to release them.
The UDWR will update the Bear Lake office answering machine with lake conditions, status of the Cisco run, and other fishing opportunities every other day until the end of the Cisco run, but please call after 5pm in order to keep the line open during business hours (7am – 5pm). The number is 435-946-8501. The annual "Cisco Disco" , Polar Plunge, and Bear Lake Winterfest will be held on Saturday, January 28th. More info is available at: [url "https://bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com/"]https://bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com/[/url]
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UDWR Bear Lake Fishing Report:
There is about 30-36” of snow on the ground on the west side of Bear Lake and 18-24" at Cisco Beach. The lake has some open water and a lot of ice at this time. The deicers have been shut off at the marina and it is now frozen along with most of the west side of the lake. There were some ice anglers fishing off the “pump house” this past weekend and at least one angler fishing on the ice off the marina. The ice is 2-4”, but there are many weak and fractured spots on the lake and we do not recommend ice fishing due to unsafe ice. The entire area long Cisco Beach is open water, but boat ramps at Cisco Beach and Rainbow Cove are extremely slippery and we not recommend trying to launch boats at this time.
It was windy and wavy along Cisco Beach and dip netting was very difficult. The cisco move off shore when the water is rough. It really helps if you dip net in pairs of people. On person can use a fishing rod with a lure to attract the cisco in and the the person with the net dips the fish. It is important to make sure you only dip net your fish and not other anglers. The run will continue to improve over the coming week and likely peak next weekend. Fishing for Cutthroat Trout should be good off the Cisco Beach area while the cisco run continues. Try large spoons or spinners (#5 or #6) when casting or use streamers/leaches on fly rods. Fishing for Whitefish should also be good either from boats or from the ice, depending on the weather conditions. Use smaller vertical jigging spoons such as Kastmasters and Swedish Pimples. You can also try running a 6-8” dropper line below the spoons with an ice fly for the whitefish.
Please remember, all Cutthroat Trout that are caught and don’t have a healed fin clip must be released. Large Lake Trout are not very good eating and take a long time to reach large sizes, and while they are legal to keep, many anglers are encouraging other anglers to release them.
The UDWR will update the Bear Lake office answering machine with lake conditions, status of the Cisco run, and other fishing opportunities every other day until the end of the Cisco run, but please call after 5pm in order to keep the line open during business hours (7am – 5pm). The number is 435-946-8501. The annual "Cisco Disco" , Polar Plunge, and Bear Lake Winterfest will be held on Saturday, January 28th. More info is available at: [url "https://bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com/"]https://bearlakemonsterwinterfest.com/[/url]
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