Tuesday 2/1 - Bear Lake ice conditions/cisco update

[BearLakeFishGuy]

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THIS IS AN UPDATE TO YESTERDAY'S REPORT WHEN WIND CAME UP AND TOOK OUT SOME OF THE ICE ON BEAR LAKE****************
What a difference 24 hours make on Bear Lake!  Yesterday (Monday 1/31) the wind and warm weather took out a bunch of the ice on Bear Lake.  But very cold and calm conditions followed and today the lake was refreezing in some area (west side/marina/rockpile and along Cisco Beach) and still in place in other areas (Pumphouse, First and Second Points).  There were people standing on the ice and dipnetting limits of cisco at Cisco Beach this morning.  Ice was stacked a bit from yesterday's high winds but able to support people along the shoreline.  Farther out on Cisco Beach there were some pockets of open water, so this is not the place to try ice fishing.  At the pumphouse and First Point there were several groups of ice anglers and they were reporting from 3-6" of ice.  The ice is tricky on Bear Lake and can be thick in some spots with thin spots close by.  The anglers are catching some really nice cutthroat trout and lake trout in 40-60' of water.  In closer to shore (20-35' of water, they are picking up whitefish and cutthroat.  It is supposed to be cold and calm through next Sunday, so I expect there will be a lot of ice anglers getting out.  The rockpile area was open water yesterday due to the wind, but its trying to refreeze.  I would use extreme caution when venturing out where there are not already people on the ice.  
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[Troutaddict]

?hope they all made it off safe. Thank you for the update.

[SkunkedAgain]

Oh man I can't believe it's gone already, I was planning on taking one of the next days off to come fish... I should have known better it just doesn't last on Bear Lake... Thanks for the update Scott, please keep us informed of any changes... So where were the fishermen that got in trouble at? Man I'll bet that was a cold swim... Glad to hear they got out okay.... I was just about them five years ago, the last day I was on fishable ice at Bear Lake... Big wind came up and after I gathered my gear and headed off I had to jump an 18" gap between me and the shore... Glad i got off as soon as I did I'm like a cat and don't like cold water... Thanks for the timely report... Jeff

[Boundless Bryce]

Well the ice fishing season lasted two days and was looking good this morning.  People were dipnetting limits of cisco through the ice at Cisco Beach and ice fishing from First Point north to Cisco Beach.  Then about 11am the wind came up!  In less than an hour it opened up more than a mile of water off the marina and much of the south end of the lake.  Several anglers were stranded on ice flows and literally lost some of their equipment and were lucky as heck to not have lost their lives.  They were swimming across the open water while towing their ice sleds (I can't make this up folks).  So, I have no idea of if or when Bear Lake may or may not re-freeze, but it's supposed to be cold and calm the next few days, so we'll see.  I would not plan on fishing Bear Lake from a boat or attempting ice fishing until it either opens up or locks up.  Don't shoot me for being the messenger.....But hey....at least I let the cisco out of their cages so they could "run" for a few days this year!

Oh man I can't believe it's gone already, I was planning on taking one of the next days off to come fish... I should have known better it just doesn't last on Bear Lake... Thanks for the update Scott, please keep us informed of any changes... So where were the fishermen that got in trouble at? Man I'll bet that was a cold swim... Glad to hear they got out okay.... I was just about them five years ago, the last day I was on fishable ice at Bear Lake... Big wind came up and after I gathered my gear and headed off I had to jump an 18" gap between me and the shore... Glad i got off as soon as I did I'm like a cat and don't like cold water... Thanks for the timely report... Jeff

Dang, I was on the ice for almost 12 hours. I'm lucky that didn't happen to me.

[wiperhunter2]

Dang, I was on the ice for almost 12 hours. I'm lucky that didn't happen to me.

My guess is you were in another area, away from those guys that went for a swim or you got off before the wind came up.

[Boundless Bryce]

Dang, I was on the ice for almost 12 hours. I'm lucky that didn't happen to me.

My guess is you were in another area, away from those guys that went for a swim or you got off before the wind came up.

I bet you are right.