TrouTracker
06-12-2013, 02:14 AM
Met up with a Big Bear local friend, Matt Keller, this past Sunday to do a little holdover trolling. Matt's considered one of the more knowledgeable angler's in Big Bear. It was a hot weekend on the mountain, with temperatures in the mid-80's. Surface temperature was 62 degrees, with water clarity at about 5'. Even though we were on a pontoon boat, the wind was pushing us around pretty good. We trolled with No. 1 Needlefish with a little copper coloration on one side and nightcrawler harnesses with half a crawler on the other. Trolling depth was pretty consistent at 14 and 19'.
Matt had us focused on the northwest side of Big Bear. We trolled the same area for the 3 hours we were on the water. We caught holdovers that had really nice colors, with most of them having a gold splash of color running down their sides. Matt suggested that these holdovers were possibly from last fall's stocking to the beginning of 2012. The hot ticket Sunday was the nightcrawler harness with half a crawler. A majority of the holdovers were caught this way, and dipped in Berkley Trout Dip with the corn scent. All trout were released with TLC.
It was a very informative day on the water, learning the trolling lanes from Matt. I learned a few days before going up that there was a trout derby that weekend with a 50K tagged trout in the water. At around 9:30 in the morning, it looked like the 405 freeway on a Monday morning. Thanks Matt for a great few hours trolling for those holdovers!
Local angler Matt Keller (left) and myself with first holdover of the day........
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/DVL_SmackDown/photo_20130609_003_zpsbb5f12d9.jpg (http://s297.photobucket.com/user/DVL_SmackDown/media/photo_20130609_003_zpsbb5f12d9.jpg.html)
Second holdover that's just starting to lose it's markings. Big shoulders!
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/DVL_SmackDown/photo_20130609_004_zpsc3786f05.jpg (http://s297.photobucket.com/user/DVL_SmackDown/media/photo_20130609_004_zpsc3786f05.jpg.html)
Third holdover that Matt says has been in the water for about a year. One of the biggest of the day.........
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/DVL_SmackDown/photo_20130609_002_zpsf079d8e3.jpg (http://s297.photobucket.com/user/DVL_SmackDown/media/photo_20130609_002_zpsf079d8e3.jpg.html)
This was my First Mate "Aki". She loves to fish, just has problems reeling them in.......
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/DVL_SmackDown/photo_20130609_001_zpsa81e35ed.jpg (http://s297.photobucket.com/user/DVL_SmackDown/media/photo_20130609_001_zpsa81e35ed.jpg.html)
Matt had us focused on the northwest side of Big Bear. We trolled the same area for the 3 hours we were on the water. We caught holdovers that had really nice colors, with most of them having a gold splash of color running down their sides. Matt suggested that these holdovers were possibly from last fall's stocking to the beginning of 2012. The hot ticket Sunday was the nightcrawler harness with half a crawler. A majority of the holdovers were caught this way, and dipped in Berkley Trout Dip with the corn scent. All trout were released with TLC.
It was a very informative day on the water, learning the trolling lanes from Matt. I learned a few days before going up that there was a trout derby that weekend with a 50K tagged trout in the water. At around 9:30 in the morning, it looked like the 405 freeway on a Monday morning. Thanks Matt for a great few hours trolling for those holdovers!
Local angler Matt Keller (left) and myself with first holdover of the day........
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/DVL_SmackDown/photo_20130609_003_zpsbb5f12d9.jpg (http://s297.photobucket.com/user/DVL_SmackDown/media/photo_20130609_003_zpsbb5f12d9.jpg.html)
Second holdover that's just starting to lose it's markings. Big shoulders!
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/DVL_SmackDown/photo_20130609_004_zpsc3786f05.jpg (http://s297.photobucket.com/user/DVL_SmackDown/media/photo_20130609_004_zpsc3786f05.jpg.html)
Third holdover that Matt says has been in the water for about a year. One of the biggest of the day.........
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/DVL_SmackDown/photo_20130609_002_zpsf079d8e3.jpg (http://s297.photobucket.com/user/DVL_SmackDown/media/photo_20130609_002_zpsf079d8e3.jpg.html)
This was my First Mate "Aki". She loves to fish, just has problems reeling them in.......
http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/mm210/DVL_SmackDown/photo_20130609_001_zpsa81e35ed.jpg (http://s297.photobucket.com/user/DVL_SmackDown/media/photo_20130609_001_zpsa81e35ed.jpg.html)