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Dipping Bear Lake by Louis Bignami

© Louis Bignami

Dipping Bear Lake by Louis Bignami 407 words

Utah's Bear Lake collects hundreds of weatherproof Idaho and Utah anglers in December and January each year when whitefish and Bonneville Cisco run off Cisco Beach and elsewhere, but the azure-blue lake offers rather more winter action when unique to the lake Bear Lake cutthroat and mackinaw move into the winter shallows to suit boat, bank and in cold winters ice action. No problem with crowding with 160 square miles and rental boats, campgrounds, meals and lodgings in the small town of Garden City. Bear Lake Marina even rents ice-fishing sheds most use on the west shore. The east shore has most of the public access, and anglers with licenses in either state can fish anywhere in the lake.

The Bonneville Cisco run on the east side of the lake offers rather more than delicious seven-inch long Bonneville Cisco, a prime smoking whitefish. As is the case when the whitefish arrive a bit earlier in December, cutthroat come in to gobble whitefish spawn, and both species can be taken on small dark Wooly Bugger

Both the whitefish and Bonneville Cisco runs are prime time to either cast or troll seven-inch plugs off the spawning beaches for big mackinaw or the largest cutthroat of the year. Trolling is the best bet all winter, and it's often best over the extremely deep water along rocky shores. If drop offs are vertical, as it often the case, trolling with the inshore rod tip practically scrapping the bank is a good bet in areas sans shore anglers.

Bank fishing during the cisco run with either steelhead sticks or, my personal preference, big surf sticks and the same monster Hopkins spoons I'd use for striped bass off San Francisco beaches can be quite productive early and late in the day. All that netting means a lot of injured cisco in the evenings, and it's not unknown for big mackinaw and cutthroat to cruise in and gulp dinner. Fly fishers with at least eight weight rods and big white streamers - think saltwater - can take some huge fish here.

Facilities and access are lovely with pavement round the lake and St. Charles on the Idaho side, and Garden City and Laketown on the Utah side offering full services. The Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuse north of the lake deserves a visit too. There's camping and hookups at Marina, Rendezvous Beach and Eastside. Call 435-946-3343 for information.