Big Cutts and Slurping Carp at Bear Lake

Fishing Time: 6:30 am to 11:00 am

Weather: Sunny, warm, calm, T-80s

Moon Phase: 10% Moon

Location: Bear Lake

Best Baits: Berkley Flicker Shad (Purple Bengal)

Who Went: Alex Covili, Devin, Dayton, Dunc

Another annual trip to Bear Lake and the boys were excited to take the boat and see if we could catch some fish.  Big blue hasn’t always treated us to well, but I felt a bit more prepared this time with downrigger equipment and some highly recommended crankbaits.

We were on the lake at first light and headed towards the rock piles.  We set the downriggers about 10 ft above the bottom in 60-80 ft of water and started trolling.  It didn’t take long for Dayton to lose interest and he was soon fast asleep at the front of the boat.

Devin and Alex watched each downrigger rod and then we threw one shallow rig out the back just for fun.  Devin’s rod was the first to double over and the fight was on.  He ended up landing a nice 4–5-pound cutthroat that made his morning.  

It went cold after that, and we must have trolled for a good hour with no bites. Alex started losing a bit of interest just as another rod bent over, so again Devin grabbed the rod and went to work.  This cutthroat wasn’t as big but had some beautiful coloring.

After that I think I was the only one watching the rods and lucky me I hooked up with what I thought was a nice fish, but turned out I snagged a Utah Sucker in the back.  I had no idea they would be hanging out in 70 ft of water, but I guess they do. 

Before we called it a trip I stopped and jigged for a minute using my active target live sonar and man was it fun watching the fish react to your jig.  I had one fish that was very active and bit me once, but never did get one to fully commit.  Two cutthroats and one sucker was the final total, but hey, that is an improvement from most years!

Devin also made his own carp dough at home before the trip and man was it a hit. We would watch as carp would swim by and as soon as they saw it, they couldn’t resist.  Devin and his friend Beau caught quite a few carp near the marina at Ideal Beach Resort using his homemade carp dough.