Woolly Bugger

lake trout? with a fly rod from shore?

i will be going camping to a lake and for anyone who know this lake it is Bear Lake on the utah/idaho border well anyways i am not sure if my friend will bring a boat or not but i would like to take my fly pole and try to catch some fishes... the water is usually pretty gradual at getting deep i can walk out to about my belly and i was hoping that maybe a fish would be in that close could i use something like a wooly bugger and catch something? the lake is very deep i places there are some holes in it that man still hasnt seen the bottom of

Bear Lake is a pretty cool place. I've been there many times. You'll be fishing for stocked lake trout and native cutthroat trout. Might get into some whitefish, too. Unfortunately, this is not a great time to fish from the shore at Bear Lake. If this trip of yours is planned in the next month, you'll be there during the warmest time of the year, when the fish tend to hold deep, especially the lakers. You can catch them up by the shores, but trolling 100-300 feet offshore with a downrigger would be much more effective right now. Same goes for fly fishing with leaches and streamers -- you want to be in the deep areas, and you want to fish deep. Also, Bear Lake sees the most campers, swimmers, skiers, etc., in July. That place will be packed every weekend for the next 40 days or so, and you know how those people can get in the way.

If your trip isn't for a couple months yet, that's better -- in late August and September there is much more activity near the surface, in the shallows, and near the shore. Tell your buddy you've GOT to have that boat. A fish finder is also a good thing to have out there. Bear Lake has long stretches of shoreline and bottom that are basically featureless. There are very few coves or broken shorelines, and it can be difficult to identify places where fish are likely to hold and feed. Every time I've been there I've gone with people who know the area and they went to the same spots every time -- in a boat. If I had to fish from the shore, I'd go to the campgrounds on the southwest side. Even if you're not camping there you could drive around. The fish will mostly be on that deeper side all summer. I've not caught much on the Idaho side of the lake ever -- I once trolled back and forth over that long shallow side with a fish finder and never saw anything but a flat bottom. Then there's the wind. Sometimes in the afternoon these big winds will scare up and unless you're in a cabin cruiser you basically head for shore (and it's not much better there). Go to Garden City -- there are a couple bait shops and gas stations there where you might get some good local info.

If the fishing is no good at Bear Lake when you go, and/or if you don't have a boat, there are many, many places you can go to fly fish on streams, all within an hour's drive, in Utah, Idaho, or Wyoming. If I met someone who went to Bear Lake to fish in July without a boat and didn't into Utah to fish the Logan River or into Idaho to fish the Bear River, I'd call him crazy.