Is the Portal pond all thawed out and available for fishing this year?

Yes. People use it during the day, and the bears take over at night. They (the bears) are rather poor at flyfishing, however. But, they excel at the "quick scoop" method.

Do they really do that, Kevin? That would be fun watching.

On a more serious note - I'm not sure, Steve. I know I've heard Doug say the bears are regular visitors to the pond, but can't recall with certainly their technique. The pond is stocked regularly by F&G.

I've often wondered what percentage of fish go to the bears.

Don't know about Black Bears, but we have a couple of Grizzlies here in the Colorado Springs Cheyenne Mt Zoo. They have access to a pond that is stocked with trout and visitors frequently see them scooping the fish out with a fast swipe of their paws. Of course this involves frequent restocking with alot more trout. So far PETA has not filed a complaint as the trout are pretty much in a "shooting fish in a barrel" situation. Lots of fun to watch.

For what it is worth, I have in the past caught trout in streams using this technique, but of course with a fishing license which I suspect these grizzlies lack.

I knew a classmate who said he had caught trout in Sierra streams by reaching in and under meadow overhangs and grabbing with his hand. He was a geology student, first name was Inyo.

Yeah that is an official method called trout tickling. Rubbing their bellies make them become paralysed and you can pick them out of the water. It's considered poaching for some reason.

Like noodling, minus the trout sticking your entire arm in its mouth?

That method is more interesting since your using your own flesh as bait for your prey.

Hmmm ... are you sure about that? I've caught a few trout that way when I was a kid in Vermont, but they sure didn't hang around while you tickled them. Maybe it's a Vermont Brook trout kind of thing ...

You gotta tickle the right place ..... :-0

I have heard of the tickle method but I just used the reach into the water, got my hand underneath the trout and quickly yanked my hand up and flipped the trout out on the grass.

AND at the risk of angering alot of the female readers (NO I am not a male chauvinist), I have to say that even my wife, who had never fished in her life, was able to get several fish out of the creek too. I am sure this is the preferred method used by the bears at Whitney Portal and was definitely the method by the Grizzlies at our Zoo in town.

This guy scoops up fish & gets them on the grill in just a few seconds.