Bear Lake Bear Lake is once again open water, but a significant amount of ice is floating around on the lake. Depending on wind direction, ice could push up along the east shoreline, making it difficult to launch and retrieve your boat. As of today, both the First Point and Rainbow Cove boat ramps are open for launching, and courtesy docks are in place at both locations. The state park marina is free of ice. If you decide to fish from your boat, be careful of floating ice chunks. The chunks could be as thick as 6 inches, which can damage your boat if you hit them going fast. Fishing for cutthroat trout, lake trout and whitefish has been very good to excellent for those who have ventured out. Jigging has worked best, but anglers are picking up fish while trolling. If youre jigging for trout, use ½- to 1-ounce tube jigs or swim baits that are 3 to 6 inches long. Tip the jig with a piece of cisco, sucker meat or Gulp minnows, and fish it right on the bottom. White, green and chartreuse are reliable colors. If youre fishing for whitefish, use a 1/8- to ¼-ounce jig or a vertical jigging spoon, such as a Swedish Pimple or a Kastmaster. Try tipping the lure with a salmon egg, a maggot or a nightcrawler. Hot spots have been on the rockpile in 45 65 feet of water. Move around this area until you find active fish. Other good spots to try include off the weed beds south of Gus Rich Point, at the pump house and between 1st and 2nd Points. If you fish in these areas, start in about 25 feet of water, and continue moving deeper until you catch fish. If youre trolling, try using Rapalasin F9 - F13 sizes and with a dodger/squid combinationalong Cisco Beach in water thats at least 30 feet deep. We received several reports from anglers who have done very well over the past few days. Some anglers have been catching a few cutthroat trout while casting from shore or long lining off Cisco Beach. Fishing should remain good in these locations for the remainder of the winter. Cast large (#5 - #6) spinners (such as Mepps or Blue Fox) or spoons, let the lure sink and try to retrieve it so its running close to the bottom. If youd like to fly fish, large articulated flies in white rabbit fur or a sculpin pattern should work. Remember the trout limit is two fish and the whitefish limit is 10. Cutthroat trout with a healed fin clip may be kept; cutthroat trout with all fins intact must be immediately released. Large lake trout take a long time to reach large sizes. While theyre legal to keep, many anglers are encouraging other anglers to release them.
