Idaho Fish Report

The Bonneville whitefish run has just begun and should continue from now until about the second week of December. Anglers were just beginning to catch a few whitefish this week and fishing will only get better. The run is about a week earlier than normal. Likely, the cold weather triggered the fish into spawning a little early. Try using a light action spinning rod with four- to six-pound line and 1/16- to 1/8-ounce jigs tipped with a one-inch piece of nightcrawler or mealworm. Cast along the rock shoreline on the east side and off the Utah State Park marina for best results. Anglers report catching both cutthroat and lake trout by trolling with downriggers and flatfish in the U-20 and T-4 sizes. Try fishing the rockpile area off Ideal Beach Resort in 40 to 60 feet of water and from along Cisco Beach northward to North Eden. Begin trolling at about 1.4 to 1.9 miles per hour, but try going faster or slower to figure out what the fish want that day. Focus on jigging for both lake trout and cutthroat trout with tube jigs tipped with cisco in the same locations mentioned above.


The water levels are very good. You can launch all sizes of boat at the Utah State Park marina and off the east side at the 1st Point boat ramp. Due to icing conditions along the shoreline, the docks have been removed at the Rainbow Cove and Cisco Beach boat ramps.


Remember, in order to keep a cutthroat trout from Bear Lake, it must have a healed fin clip (usually the adipose fin). Cutthroat trout with all fins intact have to be released, including fish that are tagged with all of their fins. You may also want to consider releasing large lake trout to help maintain the fishery.