This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated.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 Manager for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, shared this report of fishing at Bear Lake and some other local waters.
Thursday, September 05, 2013 Bear Lake Fishing Report: Water temperature has dropped to the mid 60's. Boats can be launched and the Utah State Park Marina, 1st Point, and Rainbow Cove boat ramps and docks are in the water at all locations. Fishing action is still fair, but it seems to be picking up a little bit each week as the water gets cooler. The next few weeks anglers should start to see some good catches of cutthroat trout and lake trout being taken. Right now fishing in 80-150 feet of water along the east side of the lake has been the best. A few anglers were catching a few fish off the deep side of the rockpile in 85-95' of water. Try flatfish or minnow lures with rattles in them trolled behind downriggers at 1.5-2.0 mph. 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. Garden City Community Fishery PondThe pond was stocked for the last time for 2013. There will be a fishing contest as part of Garden City Heritage Days on September 6th, but you can still fish the pond for free if you would like. Fishing has been good for rainbow and a few of the larger cutthroat trout brood that were stocked earlier in the summer. Try using small spoons and spinners and wooly buggers behind a bubble. Try dry flies on the surface in the morning and evenings. Powerbait and worms will always work too. The pond level is completely full at this time. Laketown ReservoirPond level is almost full. The moss (filamentous algae) is disappearing the fishing has improved quite a bit. Anglers are still doing well for rainbow trout using worms, flies and spinners.