12-07-2007, 04:27 PM
Bear Lake Report for Friday, December 7, 2007. Surface water temperature at Bear Lake is 43 degrees and the boat ramps at Cisco Beach and the Bear Lake State Park Marina are open. For real-time weather (wind speed, water temp, air temp, lake elevation) [url "http://www.bearlakewatch.com/NewPages/Newlakelevel2.htm"]CHECK THIS LINK:[/url]
The Bonneville whitefish spawn is underway and limit catches are common. The fishing yesterday at Cisco Beach was great (sorry no pics, forgot the camera). We anchored in about 12' of water and cast our 1/8 tube jigs (red and black were the best colors) toward shore and retrieved them right along the bottom. We tipped our tubes with about a one inch piece of night crawler which really seemed to make a difference. The whitefish are spawning over rocky areas along the shoreline in 3-15 feet of water. There have been fish caught off the Utah State Park marina and off the North and South Eden deltas in addition to Cisco Beach. The fish are averaging about 1.5-2.5 lbs, but can grow to upwards of 3 lbs. We caught two fish yesterday that were over 3lbs each. The fishing should continue to be red hot for the next two weeks and then begin tapering off just before Christmas. Several different lures will work, but small jigs with twister tails, marabou or tube jigs all work well. You can also try casting small spinners in the #0-#1 sizes as well as small spoons. The whitefish can hit hard, but often it is a very subtle hit. If you are not catching fish or snagging up on the rocks, then chances are you are not fishing close enough to the bottom. While fishing for the whitefish we picked up a couple of nice sized (3-4 lb) cutthroat trout. Don't be surprised to catch a lake trout either. At this time of year all the different fish can be in the same location. A popular thing to do is fish shallow for the whitefish and after you catch what you want to keep, try moving slightly deeper 30-50 feet of water and jig with larger jigs tipped with cisco for cutts and lakers. Trolling at this time of the year also can work well on certain days. Try rapala-type lures or flatfish on downriggers in the same areas as mentioned above.
Remember a Utah license is valid on the Idaho side of Bear Lake, but you may NOT use a second pole when fishing on the Idaho side of the lake. Idaho license holders are only able to use one fishing pole on either side of the lake this year. For those interested the GPS coordinates for the new rockpiles using WGS84 datum going from south to north are:
41 degrees 58.097 minutes;
111 degrees 23.682 minutes;
41 degrees 58.187 minutes;
111 degrees 23.728 minutes;
41 degrees 58.292 minutes;
111 degrees 23.765 minutes;
41 degrees 58.418 minutes;
111 degrees 23.798 minutes;
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The Bonneville whitefish spawn is underway and limit catches are common. The fishing yesterday at Cisco Beach was great (sorry no pics, forgot the camera). We anchored in about 12' of water and cast our 1/8 tube jigs (red and black were the best colors) toward shore and retrieved them right along the bottom. We tipped our tubes with about a one inch piece of night crawler which really seemed to make a difference. The whitefish are spawning over rocky areas along the shoreline in 3-15 feet of water. There have been fish caught off the Utah State Park marina and off the North and South Eden deltas in addition to Cisco Beach. The fish are averaging about 1.5-2.5 lbs, but can grow to upwards of 3 lbs. We caught two fish yesterday that were over 3lbs each. The fishing should continue to be red hot for the next two weeks and then begin tapering off just before Christmas. Several different lures will work, but small jigs with twister tails, marabou or tube jigs all work well. You can also try casting small spinners in the #0-#1 sizes as well as small spoons. The whitefish can hit hard, but often it is a very subtle hit. If you are not catching fish or snagging up on the rocks, then chances are you are not fishing close enough to the bottom. While fishing for the whitefish we picked up a couple of nice sized (3-4 lb) cutthroat trout. Don't be surprised to catch a lake trout either. At this time of year all the different fish can be in the same location. A popular thing to do is fish shallow for the whitefish and after you catch what you want to keep, try moving slightly deeper 30-50 feet of water and jig with larger jigs tipped with cisco for cutts and lakers. Trolling at this time of the year also can work well on certain days. Try rapala-type lures or flatfish on downriggers in the same areas as mentioned above.
Remember a Utah license is valid on the Idaho side of Bear Lake, but you may NOT use a second pole when fishing on the Idaho side of the lake. Idaho license holders are only able to use one fishing pole on either side of the lake this year. For those interested the GPS coordinates for the new rockpiles using WGS84 datum going from south to north are:
41 degrees 58.097 minutes;
111 degrees 23.682 minutes;
41 degrees 58.187 minutes;
111 degrees 23.728 minutes;
41 degrees 58.292 minutes;
111 degrees 23.765 minutes;
41 degrees 58.418 minutes;
111 degrees 23.798 minutes;
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