This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated.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.
Scott Tolentino, Bear Lake Project Leader with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, sent in this report
Bear Lake Fishing Report: Ice on Bear Lake is 10-14" thick at this time and is still in good shape. There might be a few soft spots along some shoreline areas, but as of this morning it was frozen hard. There is very little snow on top of the ice. Fishing for cutthroat trout and lake trout has been fair to good for anglers using tube jigs tipped with cisco or sucker meat. Best colors have been white, yellow and glow-in-the-dark. The best spots have been all along the west side of the lake at the rockpile/Gus Rich Point area south to the rest area. Also try along the east side at the pump house northward to the state line. Anglers have been fishing for trout in water from 45-95'. Anglers are also still catching a few whitefish have mainly been taken off the rockpile in 45-60' of water or off the weed beds south of Gus Rich Point in 20-30' of water using small jigging spoons or an ice fly below a spoon. Make sure to tip your lure with a small piece of nightcrawler, wax worm or salmon egg. Remember cutthroat trout must have a HEALED FIN CLIP in order for them to be harvested. Garden City Community Fishery PondFrozen 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 ReservoirFrozen and about 4-6" thick. Avoid the inlet due to unsafe ice and be careful of soft shoreline areas. Jigging with typical small spoons tipped with crawlers or wax worms has been working well for rainbows.