Bear Lake Cisco Run Update January 13th

 

Photo Courtesy Phil Douglass, DWR

As of Thursday January 13th, Bear Lake was half frozen over with no safe ice available. Cisco were not seen running at that time. The only place to launch a boat was along Cisco Beach. Scott Tolentino with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources predicts the peak should be approximately January 22nd for the Cisco Disco.

Be prepared for both open water and hardwater conditions. Weather reports indicate that the next storm on Sunday will be warm and could bring rain.  

Remember the cisco daily and possession limit is 30 fish. Please be careful and count your fish carefully or you risk being ticketed for over limit. Also, it is only legal to dip net your own limit of cisco. It is NOT legal to dip net fish for another person.

Plan on being at the Cisco Disco at Cisco Beach on the east side of Bear Lake Saturday, January 22 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Dip a net into the water and catch your share of these small whitefish that make their annual run through Bear Lake.

After the Cisco Disco, drive to Garden City on the west side of Bear Lake for a variety of events. At 10 a.m., register to take an icy swim during the Bear Lake Monster Plunge at Bear Lake State Park Marina. Plunging begins at noon and benefits Primary Children’s Medical Center. Enjoy all day ice skating at the city office building (bring your own skates). Warm cocoa and snacks will be served. For additional information, visit http://www.bearlakechamber.com/  , http://www.bearlake.org/  or call 800-448-BEAR (2327).

There is more than15 inches of snow along the west side of the lake and more than 10 inches along the east side. Eager ice anglers should try Laketown Reservoir on the southeast end of the Bear Lake valley. It is ice covered with four to eight inches of ice, and fishing pressure has been light. You can only access the reservoir by snowmobile, due to the deep snow. Anglers report good fishing for rainbow trout using small jigs, Swedish pimples and ice flys tipped with a meal or wax worm.

For updates on the annual cisco run, call the Bear Lake Field Office after 6:00 p.m. at 435-946-8501.

Updates will also be posted here as we receive them.