Bear Lake Fisheries Biologist Notes

Bonneville Whitefish Action Heats Up In Cold Weather

By Scott Tolentino, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Bear Lake Fisheries Biologist

Bear Lake occupies more than 100 square miles, straddles the state line between Utah and Idaho in the northeast corner of Utah. Approximately half of the lake is found in each state. Bear Lake is referred to as “Caribbean of the Rockies” for its aqua-blue water. When visiting during the summer you will see throngs of tourists picnicking at state parks or private beach areas, boating, kayaking, jet skiing and paddle boarding in the lake. You will also see many “tour” buses with European & Asian tourists passing through on their way to visit western national parks and these buses make lunch stops here between Salt Lake City and Yellowstone / Teton National Parks.  One thing you will not typically see much of in the summer, though, are people fishing. Or at least, fishing successfully on Bear Lake proper. The summer months are slowest time to fish on Bear Lake since most the fish seek the deeper, colder depths during the heat of the summer which makes them inaccessible to most anglers who do not own the specialized equipment, electronics or knowledge to target them.

Although cutthroat trout and lake trout (mackinaw) are the most sought after sport species, there are other fish found in Bear Lake.  Bear Lake’s fish population is one of the most unique in the world.  Bear Lake has four endemic fish species, found nowhere else in the world.  These species – the Bonneville whitefish, Bear Lake whitefish, Bonneville cisco and Bear Lake sculpin – tend to spend most of their lives in the off-shore, deep waters in the middle of Bear Lake.  The first three species are “sport fish” species which are sought by anglers.  The sculpin is a fish that most anglers or visitors to the lake will never see since they are relatively small, are not a fish that anglers desire, and mainly serve as a forage fish for the larger sport fish predators. 

There is one thing in common with the endemic species, each comes to rocky areas to spawn. They have evolved so that each comes at a different times of the year, but this article will focus on only one of these species, the Bonneville whitefish.  Beginning in late November, around Thanksgiving, and continuing through the middle of December, the Bonneville whitefish will begin spawning in mainly shallow, rocky shoreline areas.  During this time the whitefish move to rocky areas off the shoreline on both the east and west sides of Bear Lake and can be caught either from boat or from shore.  Some of the hottest fishing action occurs during the coldest time of the year.

The Bonneville whitefish are a sport fish and are typically only caught during their late fall spawning season and again during the ice fishing season (late January through March).  The Bonneville whitefish are a completely different species compared to the mountain whitefish, which are found in many Utah streams and some lakes.  The mountain whitefish are similar in appearance/color to the Bonneville whitefish, but that is where the similarities end.  The Bonneville whitefish has a much larger mouth and has a completely different diet.  Once Bonneville whitefish reach about 12”, they begin feeding on other fish almost exclusively, whereas their river “cousins” feed on insects their entire life.  Since Bonneville whitefish are only found in the lake, they do not develop the strong intermuscular bones that mountain whitefish do which is the objection that is most often heard about anglers not wanting to harvest mountain whitefish for eating.

Before you turn up your nose at eating Bonneville whitefish you should at least try them.  The Bonneville whitefish has a nice firm, white flesh and is easily prepared many different ways as you would most other fish.  They are good deep fried, baked, smoked, or grilled.m

How do you catch the Bonneville whitefish?  Well if you don’t have a boat, don’t worry you can catch these fish right from shore.  However, if you plan on fishing from shore, chest waders or hip boots help and will allow you to walk out a few extra feet in order to cast out a bit farther.  If you are in a boat, simply anchor in about 8-15 feet of water next to a rocky shoreline and either vertically jig under the boat or make short casts and retrieve your lure so it is right on the bottom.  If you do not snag up on a rock occasionally, you should either slow down your presentation or move to an area with more rocks!  You can “tip” the lure with a piece of night crawler or meal worm, but it really isn’t necessary since the fish are hitting the lure more out of aggression during their spawning season rather than feeding on the bait.  Use a medium to light rod with 4-6 pound test mono line.  Even better are small diameter superlines such a Spiderwire or Nanofil with a 4 foot leader of fluorocarbon line.  These lines do not stretch and are therefore much more sensitive and you are able to detect the sometimes light bite of the whitefish.

You might be surprised, but pound-for-pound Bonneville whitefish fight better than trout. They will readily hit lures such as small (1/16-1/8 ounce) marabou or twister tails jigs, small spoons, small spinners and ice flies.  This is a time when they can also be caught on fly rods using a sinking fly line with large flies such as wooly buggers or other brightly colored patterns.

Popular spots to catch Bonneville whitefish from shore include off the Utah State Park marina in Garden City and along the rocky shoreline on the east side of the lake at 1st and 2nd Points and Cisco Beach.  The water temperatures will be around 40 degrees or even colder, so come prepared to fish in cold weather.

If Bear Lake freezes (historically it freezes 3 out of every 4 years) then you can also catch the Bonneville whitefish through the ice.  The best time to target them is after the Bonneville cisco spawning run which ends around the end of January.  Use the same rods and lures that you would for the fall fishing.  During the winter the Bonneville whitefish will feed on cisco eggs and you should target them in slightly deeper water.  Try fishing over weed beds in anywhere from about 15-30 feet of water.  Another good spot to try is off the rock piles just north of the Bear Lake State Park marina.  These rock piles were built by the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) to provide both spawning areas for cisco and fishing areas for anglers that are easily accessible.  Do not overlook the natural rock pile off the Ideal Beach area.  You can’t miss it since there usually are many ice anglers who fish this area and it looks like a small city on some weekends. 

After gill-net sampling for over 25 years on Bear Lake for the UDWR, I noticed in the last few years the nets have been catching some really large Bonneville whitefish.  In fact, I would not be surprised if the Utah state record for Bonneville whitefish is broken sometime this fall or winter.  During sampling in October 2018, the UDWR actually caught and released a Bonneville whitefish that was ½” longer than the current “catch and keep” state record fish.  I did some checking into past records of Bonneville whitefish for both “catch and keep” and “catch and release” categories for Utah and here is what I found:

Catch and Keep Bonneville whitefish records

Date	Angler Information	Length (inches)	Girth (inches)	Location caught	Lure type	Weight (lbs & oz)
Dec 7, 1981	Tom Wharton, Salt Lake City	17 ¾”	8 ¼”	Rockpile	Spoon	1lb 10 oz
Dec 12, 1981	Clyde Hoth, Logan	17 ¾”	9”	Rockpile	Spoon	1lb 15 oz
Feb 15, 1982	Don Bone, Logan	17 7/8”	10 1/8”	Rockpile	Spoon	2lb 4 oz
Feb 15, 1982	Max Wixom, Logan	20 ¼”	12 ½”	Rockpile	Wonderlure	3lb 6 oz
Nov 5, 1982	Deon Sparks, Randolph	21”	13 ¾”	2nd Point	Jig	4lb 4 oz
2013	Eric Cockayne	20 ¾”	13”	n/a	n/a	4lb 8 oz

Catch and Release Bonneville whitefish records

Date	Angler Information	Length (inches)	Location caught	Lure type
Oct 3,1999	Jeanne Pettengill, Roy	18”	1st Point	Thunderstick, trolling
Dec 4, 2001	Scott Tolentino, Garden City	19 ¼”	1st Point	1/8 oz jig
Feb 12/2008	Eldon Robinson, Laketown	20”	Rockpile	Ice fly
Nov 25, 2009	D.J. Ballingham, Garden City	20 ¾”	2nd Point	1/8 oz jig
Nov 30, 2009	Scott Tolentino, Garden City	23 ¼”	2nd Point	1/8 oz jig

The state records for each category have different requirements.  The “catch and keep” record is recognized ONLY by weight, even though the length and girth measurements are taken.  The “catch and release” records is recognized ONLY by length.  The information all record fish and for record fish applications/instruction in both categories can be found at: wildlife.utah.gov/record-fish.html 

The daily whitefish limit is a liberal 10 fish (no size limit), so come up to Bear Lake this winter and try your luck at catching one of Utah’s truly native sport fish species!  Not only are they hard fighting but excellent for eating too.

Reflecting Red

 Photo by Ken Hansen, Garden City

Garden City Council Reports

Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 8, 2019.  There was a short training meeting on "Open and Public Meetings" held prior to the Council Meeting.  This item was held to make sure all individuals in the audience understood the rules and procedures that are used in public meetings.  Those in attendance were asked if there were any questions concerning how meetings are handled.  A few items were discussed, and this meeting was closed.

The Garden City Town Council Meeting was then called to order.  Water’s Edge Properties, LLC. requested a license that would allow them to conduct a full-service resort with hotel, indoor water park, conference rooms, condo’s, and a sales office all located at 188 S. Bear Lake Blvd.  Up until now, this business has been coming to the City each time they opened another section or part of their business.  This license would allow multiple activities without having to come back to the City each time they completed another part of the resort.  Debbie Batt represented Water’s Edge.  After a short discussion, the motion was made and passed to grant this business license.

Public Comments were allowed.  Barbara Turnbow thanked the City for the work they do.  She also noted that she thought a mandatory brake check area should be put in place at the top of Logan Canyon to make sure there would not be any more run-away trucks.  There was a short discussion on this issue.  It was noted that the road from the top down is a federal road, not a state road.  Hopefully, the federal government will put more signage and information for truckers as they are coming down the hill.

There was a short discussion concerning having a fee required when an individual requested an administrative hearing.  In other words, an individual who feels they have been given a ticket unfairly and wants to go to court to contest the ticket would need to pay money to do so.  The reason for the fee is that the magistrate must be paid, the city employees must get the needed information available as well as prepare the room for the hearing.  All of this costs money. Thus, it was felt that the individual contesting the ticket should pay for some of the costs that are involved.   One individual thought $150 would be fair.  Another felt that was too much.  Finally, the City Council decided that the fee should be $100.  That amount will not cover everything but will help the City.  Since this was just a discussion, this item will be on the agenda next month to make the motion for acceptance of this item.

There was a discussion held about small house and large garages and vise versa.  Big garages often block views.  However big garages also often hold many of the toys people have thereby giving the area a neat look instead of having trailers, boats, ATVs, etc. in the yards.  The Council Members were asked to think about this issue.  It will also be on the agenda next month.

The City Council also passed the changes made to Ordinance #18-18 dealing with recreational vehicles and camping requirements that was passed by the Planning Commission.  In addition, they added the term “business property” to be included in the ordinance.

Some changes were made in the Employee Handbook.  It was noted that use of the new technologies such as e-mails, text messaging, social media, etc. can be used in communicating with workers.

The Handbook also has a section on seasonal or temporary employees which are individuals who work six months or less.  Full time workers do received benefits.  However seasonal or part time workers are not paid for holidays—there are only usually only two holidays when they are not paid, the 4th and 24th of July.  Usually they are hired after Memorial Day and leave before Labor Day.  The suggestion was made that perhaps the seasonal workers who have done a really good job and finish out Labor Day could be given holiday pay because of the good job they have done.   It might encourage them to return the next year.  No decisions were made on this item.

There was a discussion regarding the Boy Scouts of America using the meeting room in the City’s complex for their scout meetings and events.  After a bit of talking back and forth, it was determined that they would be welcome to use that facility.

The City feels they need a work meeting to discuss with the County concerning sanitation problems.  Mayor Leonhardt noted that he will get in touch with the County Commissioners to see if a meeting could be determined.

The Council members gave their reports.  Pat Argyle asked if the City could afford some new Christmas lights for this coming holiday.  It was suggested that lights be put around the fish pond and then lights be strung up to a high pole making it into the shape of a Christmas tree.  The Council also wants the businesses in Garden City to enter the decoration contest to see who can have the most festive decorations for the Christmas holiday.

Councilman Ken Hansen suggested that there be a community party where everyone would be welcome.  It could be held up at Heritage Park.  There could be a be bonfire and some refreshments.  Everyone could visit, and sing Christmas Carols, and enjoy a town party.

Councilwoman Pat Argyle said that there is a Winter Fest.  Additional items are being held for that activity along with the usual polar plunge   There will be singing on Friday night, snowmobiling in the sinks and some new winter sports for people to try.  This year will be the tenth year for this activity.

Councilman Howard Pope noted that he hadn’t been able to walk the trails this fall, but he rode up on some of them and they are looking better.  He also noted that the swimming pool is doing good.  The water aerobics is doing especially well.  There are both morning and evening water aerobics classes being held.

Ken Hansen noted that there have been some water leaks.  There was one at an intersection that was fixed and there is another up the Canyon that will soon be fixed.  Hansen noted that he had been to a nice park.  It was fixed especially for children.  There was a low zip line that the kids really enjoy.  There was a kiosk that was weather proof where books were available.  Parents could go to the kiosk, pick up a book, go back to the benches and watch their children and read as well.  It seemed to be working especially well.  He also noted that there was a mound of dirt covered in grass. The kids loved running up and down that little hill.  He suggested that the City might want to add some of those things at the City Park to make it more fun with more things that the children could enjoy.

Zan Murray, City Engineer, noted that the water project is almost complete.  He noted that easements for Paradise Parkway are almost all completed.  He reported that the City is trying to buy some water rights from Swan Creek.  He told the group that grants have been submitted for TRT money.  Hopefully, they will be funded to help build the rest rooms and stage building at Heritage Park.

The meeting adjourned.

Snow and Waves

Photo by Jim Stone, Garden City

Garden City Planning Comission

Anita Weston, Reporter
Rich Civic Times

GARDEN CITY, Utah.  November 7, 2018. There was a short Public Hearing before the regular meeting started.  There was a wording problem in Ordinance #18-18 that needed to be corrected.  After a brief discussion, the suggestion was made that will make the Ordinance more understandable, which was later approved by the P & Z.

Individuals from Conestoga Ranch were present.  A discussion was held talking about giving this business a Conditional Use Permit which would allow this entity to add employee housing to Lot 22 in Foothill Estates.  Clark Thornock was there representing Conestoga Ranch and was willing to answer any questions that might be asked.  After a short discussion, the motion was made and passed giving Conestoga Ranch a Conditional Use Permit.

The Commission discussed the size of homes and garages.  It was noted that many times, there is a very small house and a big garage and vice versa.  There are pros and cons for both big and small for houses and garages.  Also, the Commission discussed connected and separate garages.

No decisions on this matter were made.