Directions

Take highway 89 from Logan East for 38 miles. From Evanston Wyoming head north on W-89 to Utah where it will turn to U-16. Take this to Randolph, Utah then turn left on highway 30. Take this north west about 14 miles. From Salt Lake in the Winter time it is usually quicker to go the Evanston route.

Fish Species

Bear Lake Cutthroat, Lake Trout, Bonneville Cisco, Bonneville Whitefish, Bear Lake Whitefish, Bear Lake sculpin, Utah sucker, speckled dace, catfish, and Utah chub. There was a small amount of rainbows planted in 2010. You would have a better chance driving to Montpelier and getting a lottery ticket then catching a rainbow. It is estimated (USU source) that there are over 9 million Bonneville cisco and several million Bonneville whitefish in Bear Lake.

Bonneville Whitefish
Bonneville Whitefish
Bonnevill Cisco fish from Bear Lake in Utah.
Bonneville Cisco
Bear Lake Lake Trout.
Lake Trout

Endemic Fish

The definition of endemic is a species being found in a single defined geographic location.. This is falsely reported on many sites as meaning the fish are only in Bear Lake. The Bonnelville Cisco, Bear Lake Whitefish, Bonneville Whitefish, and Bear Lake Sculpin are all listed as endemic. Through the 1970's and 1980's the Bonneville Cisco was stocked in several lakes in the west including Flaming Gorge and Lake Tahoe. Although the population hasn't established well there are bodies of water that have Bonneville Cisco other than Bear Lake. The Bear Lake Sculpin was stocked and established in Flaming Gorge Reservoir. The Bear Lake Cutthroat was taken off the Endemic list only after being established well in several fisheries.

Fishing Regulations

Updated for the 2024 fishing season. If you have a valid Utah fishing or combination license, or a valid Idaho fishing or combination license you can: Use one fishing pole to fish anywhere on Bear Lake that's open to fishing. Use two fishing poles to fish anywhere on the Utah side off the lake that's open to fishing. If you want to fish with two fishing poles on the Idaho side of the lake you must have either a valid Utah fishing or combination license, or a valid Idaho two-pole permit. An Idaho two pole permit must be purchased from the state of Idaho. If you plan to launch or fish on the Idaho side of the lake, you must have a current Idaho Invasive Species Fund sticker on your watercraft. You can purchase a sticker online, by mail, at any Idaho State Park and through some retail vendors.

  • Limit 2 trout.
  • Anglers may keep snagged Bonneville cisco that are taken through normal, legal fishing activities.
  • Cisco May be taken with a handheld dipnet. Net opening may not exceed 18 inches in any dimension. When dipnetting through the ice, the size of the hole is unrestricted. When ice fishing for fish other than Cisco the size of the hole may not exceed 18 inches.
  • A person may not possess a multipoint hook with a weight permanently or rigidly attached directly to the shank -- or a weight suspended below a multipoint hook -- unless the hook is on an unweighted dropper line that is at three inches long.

As of 2022 Anglers will now be able to harvest any two trout from Bear Lake, regardless of whether the fish have fins intact or not.

 

Fish Stocked Since 2002

Cutthroat is the main fish stocked. DWR stocking report

Nearby Area's to Fish

Laketown Reservoir, Garden City Pond, Tony Grove, White Pine Lake, Montpelier Reservoir (Idaho) about 30 miles northeast has Kokanee, and Kamloop Rainbows. Bear River, Cutler Reservoir, Newton Reservoir, Hyrum Reservoir,  Logan River, Little Creek Reservoir, Birch Creek Reservoir about 43 miles South. Woodruff Reservoir. Woodruff Reservoir has a wild reproducing population of Bear River Cutthroat.