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View Full Version : BBL Smackin' trout and gills



Troutin Man
06-26-2013, 07:32 PM
Hi all. Here is my report for 4 full days at Big Bear.

Fri, 6/21: caught nothing at dam and boulder bay.
Actually forgot...caught 1 small catfish using nightcrawlers dipped in garlic.

Sat, 6/22: caught 4 trout using a pontoon with family. Used thomas buoyant red/gold to catch all of them. No trolling. Just launched from boat and let it sink for 10 or so seconds. All near gerstin and white buoy line. With family, brought in 16 trout. That's 4 for each of us.

Sun, 6/23: fished using a rowboat in Papoose Bay. It was hot. Caught 9 trout there. 3 on garlic powerbait using slip bobber. Rest on super duper gold and good ole thomas b. Red/gold. Released 4 that were liphooked. My son caught his 5 using a pink dick nite doused in biteon garlic. He likes that stuff. He counted to 6 seconds before his erratic reel in method and it worked! Our success I think was based on letting it sink down before reelin.

Mon, 6/24: decided to trout fish at 5 am around and about the red house. Caught 5 trout on garlic and salmon peach powerbait in 1 hour. Throw it out far and used a 5 foot leader. So I left with my 5 by 6:15am.

I then decided to hit gills using water bubble/fly method...4 to 5 ft leader. Caught 8 gills in1 hour in Boulder Bay near picnic tables. This was around 1 to 2pm.

Overall a great trip. Highly recommend BBL. It was damn hot! Hope this report helps. Why pay at corona, sarl, and green valley? Quality fish and free at bbl. Then hit up the Himalayan restaurant in the village for a nice reward.

Tight lines!

Matt44
06-27-2013, 01:02 AM
Ill be up there friday on the troll if its not to windy I plan to jig as well. Great report.

etaggart
06-27-2013, 06:01 AM
Nice report TM - Great to see you working different areas and techniques to finally start catchin. BBL's been tough this year, but deeper's been the key so far.

Cheers,

Eric

CrouchingNinjaHiddenFish
06-27-2013, 03:30 PM
thanks for the report amigo

JAG107
06-27-2013, 09:47 PM
Nicely done! BBL is great this time of year, wish I had 4 days off to fish the Bear!

Troutin Man
06-27-2013, 10:04 PM
Ill be up there friday on the troll if its not to windy I plan to jig as well. Great report.

Good luck with the troll. Trolled a bit while heading from Metcalf Bay to Gerstin Island and had a bite, but lost my brown trout thomas buoyant to the bite. I guess my knot sucked. Oh well. Just had that one and had no other success. But I am not at all a seasoned troller. I have very little knowledge/success with this method. I'm sure you will be much more successful. Hope the winds aren't too bad for you. Wish you the best of luck.

Troutin Man
06-27-2013, 10:04 PM
Ill be up there friday on the troll if its not to windy I plan to jig as well. Great report.

Good luck with the troll. Trolled a bit while heading from Metcalf Bay to Gerstin Island and had a bite, but lost my brown trout thomas buoyant to the bite. I guess my knot sucked. Oh well. Just had that one and had no other success. But I am not at all a seasoned troller. I have very little knowledge/success with this method. I'm sure you will be much more successful. Hope the winds aren't too bad for you. Wish you the best of luck.

Troutin Man
06-27-2013, 10:07 PM
[QUOTE=etaggart;681675]Nice report TM - Great to see you working different areas and techniques to finally start catchin. BBL's been tough this year, but deeper's been the key so far.

Hey Eric! Nice to hear from you. It was a tough start. I was a bit down catchin' just 1 catfish on the first day. But going deep was the key. However, when I went super deep, no success at all. They say there is very little oxygen below 30 feet so I tried to keep my lures between 15 and 25 feet. It worked on the following days. When are you going back out?

Troutin Man
06-27-2013, 10:11 PM
Nicely done! BBL is great this time of year, wish I had 4 days off to fish the Bear!

Yep. That was awesome. I was celebrating my 40th. My wife was kind enough to get me a cabin with a rowboat up there lakeside. I took two days off of work to make this happen. Won't happen again for awhile...maybe the next time I turn 40! :EyePop: Good luck out there Jag!

etaggart
06-28-2013, 06:05 AM
We'll be back July 13/14 and 20/21 - I'll be tubin' it as usual. Hopefully the bass will be back to biting and I can find a few. My F-in-law may come up at some point in August with his pontoon boat, so there's hope for some trout trolling/drifting action as well.

Troutin Man
06-28-2013, 06:24 PM
We'll be back July 13/14 and 20/21 - I'll be tubin' it as usual. Hopefully the bass will be back to biting and I can find a few. My F-in-law may come up at some point in August with his pontoon boat, so there's hope for some trout trolling/drifting action as well.

F in law with a pontoon...sweet deal. Sounds like a great time. Two weekends in a row at BBL is awesome.

I am heading up to Dinkey Wilderness to hike and fish for trout July 13/14. Good luck to both of us!

The Fishing Queen
06-30-2013, 09:59 PM
Troutin Man, glad that you had a great family vacation and 4 days of successful fishing. We were there on Friday and I only caught some gills at Boulder Bay. Too bad that we had lunch at Lake Arrowhead, otherwise I would drag everyone to the Himalayan restaurant again, lol....

Troutin Man
06-30-2013, 10:35 PM
Troutin Man, glad that you had a great family vacation and 4 days of successful fishing. We were there on Friday and I only caught some gills at Boulder Bay. Too bad that we had lunch at Lake Arrowhead, otherwise I would drag everyone to the Himalayan restaurant again, lol....

Yes. The Himalayan is so damn good especially the shrimp masala! Good to hear you caught gills. Did you use your fly rod?

The Fishing Queen
06-30-2013, 10:47 PM
Shrimp masala? I have to try it out next time with my family. I was fishing with my Tenkara rod, and caught most gills on a dark brown nymph at the left side of the dock.

flytyingreloader
07-01-2013, 11:05 AM
Since moving out of the area in 2008, I don't frequent Big Bear Lake the way I once did. For 40 years, it was my default setting for trout--bass--and panfish fun from April to November. One recollection I do have of the Lake from recent times.....I was putzing around near the dam end of the Lake on early afternoon, metering fish for fun. The quantity of trout seen at and below the thermocline that June day was incredible. That Lake has a TON of fish within it.

That Himalayan Restaurant sounds like a "must" on our next trip up the hill.

billy b
07-01-2013, 11:11 AM
Troutin Man, glad that you had a great family vacation and 4 days of successful fishing. We were there on Friday and I only caught some gills at Boulder Bay. Too bad that we had lunch at Lake Arrowhead, otherwise I would drag everyone to the Himalayan restaurant again, lol....

Did you consider eating at the Lakebrook Malt Shop in Cedar Glen?

The Fishing Queen
07-04-2013, 02:06 PM
Did you consider eating at the Lakebrook Malt Shop in Cedar Glen?


We went there once, I wasn't fond of the service. It took us 45 mins to get the food, then they messed up our order and no apology from the waitress. This place does have long history and it was operated since 1940's. We liked the burgers (don't remember the names) and shake. I call it "heart attack food" - high in calories, high in fat and rich in sugar. This is just my opinion only. I would go back for another try, but don't think I'll become their regular.

If you live in the mountains, I would recommend "Pazzos" in Top Town Crestline. It's really not a fancy place and it does not have AC in the summer. They serve pizza and Italian food. The pizza is OK to my taste, but I like their pasta dishes. My favorite is Shrimp fra Diavalo. The chief (the owner) makes it so special, the shrimp are cooked just right. I like seafood and am very picky about how it is prepared. I think they make the best that I ever had. I go there for the great Italian food and hospitality.