Big Bear Lake 10-10-2009 - Trout bite picking up a bit ...

[etaggart]

Hi Everyone,

Hit the water near the observatory in the tube at about 6:30 – just in time for the sunrise …

http://members.cox.net/taggart1/2009-10-10%20Pix/Photo_10_10_2009_01.jpg

One rod had chartreuse gulp w/ a gulp worm about 10’ under a bobber, the other was my fly rod with a green wooly bugger, purple wooly bugger and a red streamer. First time I tried using 3 flies on the line. Luckily didn’t have any serious problems.

The 5mph buoys were gone and there weren’t many boats early so I headed out a little farther into the lake than normal. A very light breeze was blowing to the west, just a slight ripple on the water.

At 6:50 this nice 22” fatty took the gulp really slowly, but fought hard …

http://members.cox.net/taggart1/2009-10-10%20Pix/Photo_10_10_2009_02.jpg

Here’s another of the same fish …

http://members.cox.net/taggart1/2009-10-10%20Pix/Photo_10_10_2009_02b.jpg

At 7:10 I picked-up this 17” skinny guy on the green wooly bugger …

http://members.cox.net/taggart1/2009-10-10%20Pix/Photo_10_10_2009_03.jpg

The breeze died about 7:30 and stayed dead for quite a while – so did the fishing.

At 9:30 I finally picked up another one on the gulp – about 16” …

http://members.cox.net/taggart1/2009-10-10%20Pix/Photo_10_10_2009_04.jpg

10:45 the normal easterly wind picked up nice and strong. I was read for it and was on the far west side of the observatory – ready to ride the winds down to Juniper Point for a while.

At 11:10 I picked up a small stocker on the red streamer fly past the two marinas – maybe 10” at the most – no picture.

At 11:45 I picked up another small stocker on the red streamer just before Juniper Point …

http://members.cox.net/taggart1/2009-10-10%20Pix/Photo_10_10_2009_05.jpg

Here’s another of the same fish …

http://members.cox.net/taggart1/2009-10-10%20Pix/Photo_10_10_2009_05b.jpg

Got off the water at noon to go and get other stuff done. Met three tubers just pulling into the Juniper Point parking lot and suggested they go to the Observatory or further west. Hope they did well. If you guys monitor this board, let me know if my directions were OK and how the fishing went.

Not WFO, but it was nice to see the trout bite picking up a bit. Lots of boaters around and many reported catching 2 or 3 around the observatory. All mine were above 10’.

Cheers!

ET

[familyguy15]

Nice looking bows, especially that larger one. Nice to hear that the bbl trout fishing is picking up. Going to try and make it up there this year to give it a try. Good job on the trout!!!

[Thisfool]

wtg that 22" looked really nice

[gotstofish]

Thanks for the post.Beautiful looking trout,full tails.They look long and skinny but healthy.Good job finding some.

[Crawler]

Look at how long the head on that fatty is. :Shocked: Beautiful mature fish. Way to go man. Thanks for the report.

[diamondbear]

NICE LOOKING TROUT , I have 4 more weeks of deer hunting and Iam back up to BBL . I like your sunrise pic on the water . GOOD JOB and thanks for the report .

[Kimura6985]

Right on man, nice fish!

[pasadenafishin]

Nice looking fish! great full tails... i have a question tho, how do you fish powerbait on a bobber? like what stops it from just floating to the surface?

[etaggart]

Hey PF,

No PowerBait this time. I was using 3 pieces of Gulp nuggets and a brown Gulp worm on a trebble hook. Those sink nice. I also had some sliding weight between the bobber and the leader w/ gulp. I have used PowerBait under a bobber with OK luck in the past. I'll put some weight under the sliding bobber and set a stopper/knot in the line at the desired depth, and maybe a 2 to 3 ft leader with the PowerBait. The PB floats, but I'm usually moving a bit so it doesn't just float straight up the line.

I've also done this from the shore with a nice breeze moving the bobber along and recasting up-wind when it hits its down-wind limit. This is usually my approach from shore by the dam when the fish are suspended higher-up and I don't want to float PB from the bottom.

Hope that helps a bit.

ET

[steve092]

Nice catch!

I need to make one last trip to BBL before the lake turns to ice!

[netdawg]

is BBL safe to tube and if so where in the lake is it allowed? What was the water temp up there?

I've been to the lake a handful of times but never seen any tubers... but I'd love to give it a try.

[etaggart]

Hey NetDawg,

Tubing is fun, permitted, and very safe across the whole lake, keep between the 5mph bouys and the shoreline to be safe. If the bouys aren't out, keep about 100ft from shore - mainly to stay out of boat traffic. Bays are wide open up to their 5mph bouy and the far west end toward the dam is wide open from the bouy markers near Garstin Island all the way to the firm bouy line near the dam.

Costs (I think): $45 for an annual permit - be prepared to buy one on the water from the Lake Patrol guys if you don't get one from shore. Maybe $15 for a one-day - not sure.

I think the water temp is still in the low 60's across the lake. But there are plenty of us tubers who'll go in cold water if they let us.

You can launch a tube from any shoreline. The public boat launches close from Dec 1 thru April 1 and the Lake Patrol stops patrolling during that time. The lake never officially closes, but it's probably not a good idea to tube from Dec 1 thru April 1 for safety reasons.

Tubers do pretty well in BBL - it's usually tough fishing anyway and tubers can get the finesse going. The only bummer is you can't cover as much ground if you think you're in a dead zone.

There are some really popular tubing areas, search these boards to see were many of us hit it at various times of the year.

Tight lines!!

ET