This is from a 2013 column with memories of the late Ivar Aker.
I am just going to ramble a bit this week. Things have quieted down at the Bear Lake State Marina. I helped pull a sailboat out this weekend that was frozen in the ice. Time had just gotten past the sailor and with the water depth only 3 ½ feet and cold weather, the circulators that Parks and Recreation installed could not keep up. Luckily some die-hard whitefish anglers had broken a trail out to the lake the day before so the ice was not as bad as it could have been. There is still one sailboat in the slips that will stay there the winter with a “bubbler” by it to keep the water open.
Ivar Aker, who is the resident, Norwegian/sailor/boat builder/record keeper of the lake elevations on the pilings and I were talking about boats freezing into the water. There is a misconception that if a boat freezes in the water that the ice will crush the hull. Actually, if the ice does not move, it expands outward and will do no damage. Think about aluminum cans frozen in the ice left by some thoughtless litterer. If they are in the water, they survive to thaw, untouched, without a dent. Ivar agrees with me but is not about to let his sailboat, “Norseman”, freeze in to test the theory.
The Bonneville whitefish started spawning right on queue last week. Any place there was rock in the water, they were present. Fishing has been good from both boat and shore off the Marina and Cisco Beach. Fishermen have started catching more Bear Lake cutthroat trout recently and they follow the whitefish and Bonneville Cisco into the shallower water. Fishing for trout should only get better as December progresses on. Just be careful if you are in a boat. At this time of year if you go over board you have 15 minutes to hypothermia and death. That old life jacket stuffed under the front seat that you never wear may give you just enough time to be saved but if no one is around at least we will be able to recover your body for the family.
The “low water” ramp off the south end of Cisco Beach was extended last week. Money from Wildlife Resources Access Fund was used to buy the concrete. Ken Hansen and Brad Weston of Bear Lake Sails to formed a 16’ x 20’ x 6” slab on top of the existing ramp and Ray Lutz and the Rich County Road crew pushed it in with a Cat. Hopefully, the ramp will not have to go any farther.
I have been asked why this ramp does not have concrete up to the road. In order to get a Corps of Engineers permit to construct it on this critical spawning habitat, it had to be designed so that it was exposed only during extremely low water periods when other ramps were out of the water. At normal lake elevation, it will be completely covered and the wave action will move substrate back onto the concrete reestablishing the habitat. The ramps at First Point and Rainbow Cove can be used most of the time.
There is still some water coming into the lake and the elevation is at 5903.5, up about five inches from the low in October. If you are interested in checking the elevation anytime go to www.bearlakewatch.com. There is a lot of other great information about Bear Lake there also.
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