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View Full Version : A vacation and fishing at Big Bear Lake and Jenks Lake...):}+{:(...



The Fishing Queen
11-27-2012, 01:34 AM
11/16, check in day. Each year on "Thanksgiving" my family goes to Big Bear Lake to celebrate the holiday at one of the lake front timeshare resorts that we own up there. The past three years we had lots of snow for the holiday. Our two kids loved playing in the snow and we enjoyed BBQ by the lake. Thanksgiving was early this year and it has been a warm, beautiful season. Our unit is on the top floor and looks out on a full view of the lake.

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11/17, it was foggy and raining outside. A cold day in the 40’s in the morning. I was up at 7 am and took out my fishing gear and fished outside of the condo. I didn't see any fish action on the surface and the temperature made my fingers freezing cold. I fished with two spinning rods 'bait and wait’ style. Both had Power Bait, one with a 3' leader, another with a 4' leader. The weed bed was about 30'-35' from the shore and I made a good cast past all the weeds. I stayed in the cold for over an hour and didn't have a bite, so I called it off.

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11/18, cold chilly morning with thin icy covering the roof of the buildings and the cars in the parking lot. I fished in front of our unit around 8:00. I asked a fisherman about fishing. He told me that the fishing was pretty slow. He had only caught one trout in the past three days. I fished next to him for a while with no bite at all. Packed up before 10, and went to the Big Bear Village with the family. We did some shopping and ate our lunch at my favorite Indian restaurant. I must eat at this place every time we are in BBL. The food is great, and if you are a person like me with an open mind and a passionate love for different cultures and foods, then, you just have to try it out.

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11/19, woke up early and looked out of my window to check on the weather. The mountains and lake were dressed in cloudy thick fog. After catching nothing but cold the past two days, I decided to go back to my comfy bed and tuck myself under the fluffy covers. I appreciated the cozy rooms, warm fireplace and the great views just outside of my window. This day was the day that I truly enjoyed being a vacationer instead of a hard fishing girl.

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11 am, the sun was up high and the weather warmed up. We took a road trip with the kids and went to Jenks Lake fishing. We got there about noon. The parking lot was closed. We parked our car outside of the gate and walked to the lake. The lake and the entire camp were empty. The lake was so clean with reflections of the green trees in water, like a large emerald gem mounted with mountains under the blue sky. The peaceful surroundings and fresh air filled with the scent of pine just took my breath away.

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I fished at the fishing pier, set one spinning rod with a 5' leader and garlic Power Bait and a Tenkara rod with a 20' line and a BH Nymph. I had a hit on the spinning rod and caught the first trout with 20 mins. Then, shortly after that, I missed a bite, but hooked up another rainbow trout 15 mins later.

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My family had picnic on the pier. As I joined them for lunch, I saw the spinning rod line slowly go slack. I put down my food and walked to my rod, gently tightened the line and watched for the action. When I felt a tug, I set the hook and reeled in a good looking rainbow trout.

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My husband took a hike around the lake and did some sight fishing with his Tenkara rod. The children were playing and they spotted a few small bass swimming under the pier. I let them fish with my Tenkara rod to see if they could catch those bass. As I was showing them how to fish, I caught a juvenile bass on the Nymph.

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When Scott returned from his sight fishing, he told me that he had caught a juvenile bass on the opposite shore of the lake. The fourth trout that I caught was around 1:20, it was a small trout and it was barely hooked on the side of its lip. So, I released it and took home the rest of the fish. We only stayed and fished for two hours and left the lake before 3pm.

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All in all, it was a good day with the family at Jenks Lake. We had 4 trout, 2 bass and plenty of fun at the end of the day.

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11/20, a windy day in low 40's. Scott and I wanted to take a drive and explore more fishing areas while the kids went for their youth activities at the resort. We drove to the Stanford Cutoff and fished from the sandy shore near the dam. I was using rainbow Power Bait with 3' and 4' leaders. I had a bite and hooked a nice trout within half hour. When I reeled it in, it got trapped in a bundle of thick weeds and I dragged in an extra heavy weight. As it got about 8' from the shore, the hook suddenly broke off from the leader and the fish escaped. Ugh,..... That was disappointing! I fished for 20-30 mins until I was tired of the wind so we left the lake and went for lunch.

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We got back to the resort around 5:00. Scott cooked a great dinner for us and we ate the trout that I caught at Jenk’s Lake. Then, we all got dressed up and we went to the beautiful Performing Arts Center in town and watched the musical show "Oliver". What great show that was! I really enjoyed it and we all had a wonderful night.

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11/21, I was up early and was anxious to get out and fish. I heard from a group of people that they only had caught two trout yesterday at the resort area. Scott and I decided to fish elsewhere. We drove to the East Boat Ramp at 7:30 and found a spot that was convenient for both of us.

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There were a few local regular fishermen out there by the water. No one had caught anything. It was chilly by the lake. We set up our rods with Power Bait and cast far past the weeds to the deeper water. As far as I can tell, no one had caught anything in the first hour.

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9:15 am, the gentleman on my left side just had a bite and he caught the first trout with PB. Everyone was excited for him. I put new bait on both rods and was getting ready for the action. Around 9:35, I got an aggressive bite. I ran to the rod, quickly set the hook and started to reel the fish in. This fish was a feisty beast. It pulled hard under the water, but I had it solid on the hook. When I pulled it closer to the shore, Scott helped with a net. It was a nice 21/2 pound trout. When I took a picture with the trout, it jumped up and gave me a big slimy, wet kiss on my cheek. That’s why I have a 'death grip' on this fish.

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I saw that two other guys had caught one or two trout. But, the fishing was slow for everyone. Even the regulars told me that they only had two or three trout each day this week. I fished for two more hours. The fishing was quiet till noon and I caught another decent sized rainbow.

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After that, I had no more bites. There were 15 people out there fishing, only 6 people caught fish, the rest of the 8 people had no luck at all. Two fishermen each got one and they both caught bigger trout than us all - one 5 pounds and one 6 pounds......

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11/22, "Happy Thanksgiving"! Scott cooked thanksgiving dinner and we celebrated this wonderful holiday together on our vacation with good food and great spirits. We had a nice relaxing time and it reflected the words that I love most. I had it mounted in a frame and it is hanging up in our living room - that is: "Live well, Laugh often, Love much"......

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Sunset

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Thanks for reading

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The End

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Jbfish
11-27-2012, 02:22 AM
awesome post! long but i read all of it haha.. my family is taking a trip up to big bear in late december so hopefully the whole lake isnt frozen. thanks for the post!

gamekiller
11-27-2012, 03:23 AM
Awesome!!!

Fishnfun
11-27-2012, 06:35 AM
Alice - It's all your fault. Now I'm hungry again. Bring me a slice of pie the next time we fish Pudd. Looks like a great vacation. Fishing seemed slow but some quality trout caught. See you soon.

FSHNLIC
11-27-2012, 08:12 AM
Awesome vacay!!! You cannot beat them big bear bows!!!

seal
11-27-2012, 08:22 AM
Excellent! Thanks for the great post.

Hometown
11-27-2012, 04:41 PM
Great report and good time spent with Family cant think of a better way to spend a vacation

billy b
11-27-2012, 04:50 PM
Thought I knew BBL pretty well ... I have a cabin there ... but don't recall where the Indian Restaurant is?

Troutcz swimbait
11-27-2012, 05:46 PM
Great report and pics once again,see you at the Pudd sometime.

Natural Lefty
11-27-2012, 06:33 PM
I am glad you stuck with it until you finally caught some fish. It looks like the kids are learning how to fish too. I remember I went to Big Bear in mid December once in the afternoon and caught 3 trout in a couple hours of fishing, on a relatively warm day. I wonder if the fishing is better in the afternoons this time of year with the colder weather.

jaggerbub
11-27-2012, 08:15 PM
Awesome photos... Fun read as well!

geedavell
11-27-2012, 09:11 PM
I was up there too for Thursday and Friday nights. Took the 3 y/o grandson for his first time fishing. Fished Boulder Bay and got skunked. Lots of weeds. I wish I had taken my float tube.Had fun watching the dog chasing the ducks around though. I almost hit up Jenks lake on the way home but we decided to try Gregory instead. Nothing there neither. Was only able to wet a line for about an hour. Had to meet the kids parents at Bass Pro. What a zoo that place was !!
Great report on your end. Maybe we'll see you up there sometime.

bedrocksamerica
11-27-2012, 10:29 PM
really enjoyed your post!

The Fishing Queen
11-28-2012, 10:29 AM
Thanks everyone for reading and the replies! I wish I could have sent the report out earlier, but the resort had some troubles with their network. It is painful and frustrating when the intent doesn’t work well when you really need it.




awesome post! long but i read all of it haha.. my family is taking a trip up to big bear in late december so hopefully the whole lake isnt frozen. thanks for the post!

Thanks! It is a marathon report, lol... I hope you guys have fun up there fishing, it was cold up there, so warm hat, gloves and thick socks are a must have.





Awesome!!!

Thank you!





Alice - It's all your fault. *Now I'm hungry again. *Bring me a slice of pie the next time we fish Pudd. *Looks like a great vacation. *Fishing seemed slow but some quality trout caught. *See you soon.

Lol, it's all gone, Charlie.... I heard you fished at the Pudd last Sunday. How do you like your new rod? I got another 13' Tenkara rod with 7:3 action. It’s made in Japan, I don't know how to read the name brand, as it's written in Japanese. Took it to the lake and fished with Robert and Mike for couple hours today, only caught 3 bluegills. But I like the rod, it's a little stiff, but casts well and definitely has more back bone for bigger fish.





Awesome vacay!!! You cannot beat them big bear bows!!!

I agree. Those rainbows from BBL are the most beautiful trout that I ever caught. The flesh is orange colored, like salmon. They are the best tasting trout with tender meat.

The Fishing Queen
11-28-2012, 10:36 AM
Excellent! *Thanks for the great post.

Thank you Seal! I wish that I would have caught more fish while I was there, but fishing was slow where we were. I wanted to try fishing at Juniper Point to see if the fishing was better over there if we had more time.






Great report and good time spent with Family cant think of a better way to spend a vacation

Thanks for reading Hometown! As all of our relatives are living back east, it’s nice to celebrate the holiday in a place like a home away from home.






Thought I knew BBL pretty well ... I have a cabin there ... but don't recall where the Indian Restaurant is?

This Indian restaurant is near the very end of the village, it's located at the right side of main street (Pine Knot Ave).






Great report and pics once again,see you at the Pudd sometime.

John, haven't see you at all since you've been back. Have you hit Santa Fe Dam lately?

The Fishing Queen
11-28-2012, 10:42 AM
I am glad you stuck with it until you finally caught some fish. It looks like the kids are learning how to fish too. I remember I went to Big Bear in mid December once in the afternoon and caught 3 trout in a couple hours of fishing, on a relatively warm day. I wonder if the fishing is better in the afternoons this time of year with the colder weather.

Robert, you know I won't just leave and come home without catching any fish, right? Lol... The weather was cold in the morning, then it usually warmed up around 10. I was thinking the same thing about the trout fishing getting better after the water gets warmer. Hope someone can give us advice on that.






Awesome photos... Fun read as well!

Thanks you for your nice feedback! :)






I was up there too for Thursday and Friday nights. Took the 3 y/o grandson for his first time fishing. Fished Boulder Bay and got skunked. Lots of weeds. I wish I had taken my float tube.Had fun watching the dog chasing the ducks around though. I almost hit up Jenks lake on the way home but we decided to try Gregory instead. Nothing there neither. Was only able to wet a line for about an hour. Had to meet the kids parents at Bass Pro. What a zoo that place was !!
Great report on your end. Maybe we'll see you up there sometime.

Thanks for the reply and for the additional report on BBL! Sorry to hear about your skunk, it must be disappointing not have any fish action when fishing with the children.


As you mentioned about the weeds, I lost a real nice trout, about 3 pounds, due to the weed situation. So I learned my lesson and changed my leader to 6 pound line. It seemed to work better for me. Funny, the other day when I caught the second trout and as I was reeling in, the trout was very heavy and my rod bend almost in half. Everyone on the shore thought I caught a big trout and I was excited too. Then, as it got closer to the shore, we saw the trout was covered in weeds, plus a bundle of weeds wrapped around the weight above the fish. Those guys teased me and said that I got a fish plus some free salad for dinner - the fish was only about 1&1/2 pound, but the "salad" almost weighed like 2 pounds.

I never get skunked at Jenks Lake. I love that lake, not just because it’s so pretty and clean, but I’ve always had good fishing there. Gregory is a good lake for trout, it’s like Puddingstone and can be tricky some days, I stick with structures when I fish there. Trout like to hide in structures at that lake. The best time to learn that is when the water level is low. We usually catch fish 30’-45’ from the shore. If we can see what the area looks like when water level is low, then we'll know where the fish will be hiding or nesting when water level raises up again.

Good luck to you next time when you are out on the water!





really enjoyed your post!

Thanks, glad to hear that, and welcome to the board!

Carptain_Bao
11-28-2012, 11:02 AM
Epic, glad to hear you had a great vacation with some fish action! The BBL trout looks beautiful!

Troutcz swimbait
11-28-2012, 03:34 PM
The catfish bite slowed down at SFD so now just hiting up the pay lakes and pre fishing Guasti for there derby Sat.

Fishnfun
11-28-2012, 03:51 PM
Lol, it's all gone, Charlie.... I heard you fished at the Pudd last Sunday. How do you like your new rod? I got another 13' Tenkara rod with 7:3 action. It’s made in Japan, I don't know how to read the name brand, as it's written in Japanese. Took it to the lake and fished with Robert and Mike for couple hours today, only caught 3 bluegills. But I like the rod, it's a little stiff, but casts well and definitely has more back bone for bigger fish.


No more pie! Forget it. I don't need to see you at Pudd....lol. My new rod worked well. Will love to see your new rod the next time we're together. Looking out my window, looks like rain. Maybe no fishing this week.

P.S. Love your fur hooded Eskimo look.

Mr T-rex
11-28-2012, 03:58 PM
Your reports are always interesting and gives me the itch to do some mountain fishing..Thanks for sharing the information and keep those reports coming

The Fishing Queen
11-29-2012, 05:27 PM
The catfish bite slowed down at SFD so now just hiting up the pay lakes and pre fishing Guasti for there derby Sat.

Hah, that's why..... You guys are hunting for the 'big boy's. Good luck to you and Paul at the Saturday derby!





Epic, glad to hear you had a great vacation with some fish action! The BBL trout looks beautiful!

Thanks Bao! Indeed, we enjoyed it, and I was lucky to see a couple of big trout caught that day. All full tail and good looking.





No more pie! *Forget it. *I don't need to see you at Pudd....lol. *My new rod worked well. *Will love to see your new rod the next time we're together. *Looking out my window, looks like rain. *Maybe no fishing this week.

P.S. *Love your fur hooded Eskimo look.

Ha, ha.... Ok, about the rod, you have fancier rods than I do these days. See how I got you in trouble with my cheap but lucky Chinese Tenkara rod? I let you try it once, then got you hooked on Tenkara, now even turned you into a Tenkara rod collector. Lol....






Your reports are always interesting and gives me the itch to do some mountain fishing..Thanks for sharing the information and keep those reports coming

Mr T-rex, thank you for your great comment on my reports! Good to know you enjoyed your read.

VIVID_FLY
11-29-2012, 07:30 PM
Great photo essay Alice. That one larger trout you cleaned looked like it had PINK MEAT. Those are the best eating from BBL. Have a Salmon taste. Nice Glass waters at big bear in the morning. I really want to go there next spring for some shore TENKARA fishing. But the winds are so sporadic there.

The Fishing Queen
11-29-2012, 10:06 PM
Good to hear from you Chuck! Mike told me that you three fly fishermen had met for fishing one day. So I asked Mike: "How is Chuck doing." He answered me:"oh, you know him, same ol Chucky, doesn't talk much". Lol..... Anyways, nice to know you are back for some fishing. I don't know how often I can fish next year, have some plans in mind for early next year for some art projects and I'm going to take some music courses and may also travel overseas in the summer and stay for a few months..... I haven't fished that much these days, only one or two days a week. I miss when we all had time and met fishing almost every day....

Someone told me that the trout eat freshwater shrimp in BBL and that's why the meat is pink or orange. I don't know if there are any freshwater shrimp in BBL for trout to eat, but I think these are holdovers because of their full tails. It might have eaten natural food for a while and that's where got its color. They had good tasty meat..... Too windy and cold for fly fishing up there. My hands were dry and cracked from the cold, so I switched to spinning rods. It also give a break for my poor old shoulder, it seems almost 95% recovered now. Can't wait for the water level raise, so we can go back to wildwood fishing again.

See you, and take care!

Troutin Man
12-01-2012, 04:53 PM
Your post is awesome. I reread the whole thing for the 2nd time. Love fish from BBL. You all are right. The pink meat is awesome. My kids want to go back up there!

For those of you who haven't hit the Himalayan yet, it is great. I showed my son the pic of the food that was posted and said, "I miss that food. We gotta go up during vacation, eat and fish!

Thanks FQ for the great report!

The Fishing Queen
12-03-2012, 09:16 PM
Thank you Troutin Man for your reply! Glad to know to you also enjoy the food at Himalayan. My favorite dish is the Lamb Saag - lamb cooked with a spinach cream sauce and spices. I also like the Lamb Masala and Tandoori Chicken. My favorite drinks are Masala Tea or Mango Lassi....

Good luck to you guys if you go fishing there, and enjoy your meal if you go to that restaurant!