This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

This was filed Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, by Scott Tolentino, Bear Lake project leader:

The cisco run has just begun as of this morning. There were a few anglers dip netting cisco off the Cisco Beach at first light but the fish schools were small. Over the next few days the run should pick up and fish should be thick by this weekend. Now that the run has started, we expect fish to be along the shoreline and spawning for 7-10 days. There were also a few cisco dip netted off the Utah State Park marina, but they were more sparse than at Cisco Beach.

Ice on Bear Lake is 3-6" thick at this time and there is no open water on the lake. If you come up for ice fishing we urge you to use caution as there could be some thin spots due to methane vents or springs. You can jig/snag limits of cisco on the rockpile in about 1 hour. Remember if you foul-hook any whitefish, cutthroat or lake trout they must be released. Fishing has been very good for cutthroat trout and whitefish using jigging spoons (Swedish pimples and castmasters) tipped with cisco or sucker meat. Try off the rockpile, south of Gus Rich Point, the pump house, and 1st and 2nd points in water 40-70' deep. Remember cutthroat trout must have a HEALED FIN CLIP in order for them to be harvested. Whitefish like to hang out over the rocky bottom or weed bed areas to eat cisco eggs, so try tipping your lure with a salmon egg, night crawler, or wax worm. A few lake trout are being caught in water 65-90' deep off Gus Rich Point using the same lures as for cutthroat.

We will continue to update the answering machine hotline at the Bear Lake office on an every-other-day basis. If you call, PLEASE CALL AFTER 5 p.m. FOR THE UPDATES. 435-946-8501.

Garden City Community Fishery Pond •

Frozen and ice thickness can vary due to aerators in the pond. Be extremely careful. Water levels are low, but fish can be caught using small ice jigs tipped with worm or wax worms.

Laketown Reservoir •

Frozen and about 8" thick. Access is best by snowmobile at this time. Be careful around the inlet, but the rest of the pond should be fairly solid. Jigging with typical ice lures and bait have been working well.