Girl's Mini Vacation and Tenkara Fishing at Lake Gregory and Big Bear lake....):}+{:(

[The Fishing Queen]

Finally, summer is here! No more school, homework or tests. No more Mommy chores, no need to be a taxi driver. I was just about to take a break and be carefree...... But wait, there are summer activities to start soon??? Ha, ha, this is the job that I signed up for as a parent of two. In my life, there are a few things that are on my top list: 1. The children (family); 2. Art and Music; 3. Fishing..... So, before my daughter's 5 weeks of summer activities start, I wanted to spend a few days with her alone at our mountain home.

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Day One: It was a sunny day. We stopped at LG on our way up around 2 pm. I took my 13' Tenkara rod with a 16' line + a 4' tippet with me. My daughter and her little girl dog enjoyed their walk on the dirt trail and the little, sassy dog was proud to take the lead. We walked around the lake and I stopped at a few spots for fishing. As I was fishing, the girls would sit on a boulder watching me catching fish or play. We stayed for 3 hours, I caught 4 trout and a lot of panfish on an olive green woolly bugger. The crappies and green sunfish were hiding in the weed-beds about 10'-15' from the shore. The trout that I caught were all in 10"-13" range. All fish were released safely.

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Day Two: We had a lazy but relaxed morning - we had breakfast at home, then we both read for a while on the shady deck. Around 11am, we decided to get out of the house for lunch and going to BBL.

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We got to the Big Bear Village around noon. The town was doing some construction. We went to many stores and had fun browsing and shopping. Some stores had great sales and we were loaded with bags of goodies.

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We left village about 2:30, then we drove to Boulder Bay. I wanted to check out the fishing at this location before I returned home. I had my 13' Tenkara rod with me and we were fishing on the dock. There were 9 or 10 fishermen there fishing. I asked around and I was advised that the fishing was pretty slow - one guy caught a bass, a group of 4 were catching panfish with worms. So far, no one had caught any trout yet.

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I spotted some juvenile bass, carp and some panfish in the tall weeds. I picked a brown BH Hare's Ear Nymph and fished around the weeds. The panfish were biting, I had a fish on almost every other cast and it kept me very busy. I had caught 45+ crappies, bluegills, redears,green sunfish and baby bass within 2 hours. Nothing was big enough to keep. Ended the day before 5pm and drove back home.

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Day Three: A sunny and windy morning. I went to the LG around 6:20 am, I did solo fishing along the north shore. The trout were splashing in the water to reach the flies on the surface. I tried to fish with a tan color caddies fly, but only spotted a small rainbow following the fly to the shore. After half hour without any bites, I changed to an olive green woolly bugger. I had better success with it and caught about 6 small trout and about 2 dozen crappies. All fish were safely released after the photos.

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The wind started to blow harshly around 10:30, and the trout stopped biting. I ended fishing around 11 o'clock and left the lake. I pick up the girls from home and we headed to Lake Arrowhead Village for lunch and shopping.

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All in all, we had excellent mini vacation and a good 'mom & daughter' time. I enjoyed fishing, she liked to play with her dog by the water and listen to her iPod. She loved to shop with me as much as I liked hanging out with her. It's a joy watching my girl growing up every day - she dresses like a big girl and shops like a young lady. Oh, yes, she sure has shopping fever and she carries on like her Mom - like mother, like daughter???... My father in-law used to tease us and say: "The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.".... Well, let's all blame it on our female genes, OK?.....lol.... Meanwhile, we are planning another "girls only" kind of outing during this summer again.

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The happy camper

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[carpanglerdude]

Love the closeup photos. Nice catches!

[DEVOREFLYER]

Most outstanding indeed. Looks like you have a "Fishing Princess" in the making and with the shopping perhaps also a "Chip off the Ole Block". lol

[GhettoBasster]

Thanks for another awesome report! What a great trip with the two and four-legged kids.

[VIVID_FLY]

Nice report Alice. Way to fish BIG BEAR for the sunfish.


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[TonyLisa]

Great report fishing queen. Those pictures make me wanna go up there lol

[Bobber Boy]

Great report and some good looking fish! It is beautiful up there!

[5150fishn]

Great report and pics. I love it in Big Bear!

[Natural Lefty]

What a nice vacation, Alice. The first panfish is a Pumpkinseed Sunfish actually. A couple of other ones are difficult to identify exactly. They might be Bluegill/Green Sunfish hybrids, or maybe Green Sunfish. I have never seen Green Sunfish in BBL, but I guess they are in there. I had never seen Green Sunfish in the Colorado River before until May when my wife and I went there, but there was a school of the little critters all together, spawning I think. I caught about 10 of them on jigs and put them back to spawn.

Nice photos. It looks like your lovely daughter takes after you. :)

[fishinone]

That sounds like a nice vacation.

BTW: The little dogs hair would make great flies.:Smile: I have solid gray cat that will be donating at my house!

[Troutin Man]

First off, your fishing report is awesome. Your reports are so informative and the pictures are awesome. Absolutely feel like I am there through your photos...a nice little feeling of getting away for a moment or two.

Boulder Bay was certainly happenin' with panfish when i was there too. BBL was hot for trout using powerbait with a 5 foot leader or lures 8 to 15 feet down. Papoose Bay and the white buoy line was amazing...there must be tons of trout in those areas!

Nice to see your reports as usual. Awesome.

[The Fishing Queen]

*
Love the closeup photos. Nice catches!

Thanks! I think those panfish have amazing colors.





Most outstanding indeed. Looks like you have a "Fishing Princess" in the making and with the shopping perhaps also a "Chip off the Ole Block". lol

Thank you! She was a fishing princess and she used to join me for fishing. She won third place in the youth category at the LG fishing derby a few years ago, but she never became addicted to fishing. Sometimes I wish they were more like me, I'd love to take my kids fishing.





Thanks for another awesome report! What a great trip with the two and four-legged kids.

The little dog is the baby of our family. I called her "my four-legged daughter....lol

[The Fishing Queen]

Nice report Alice. *Way to fish BIG BEAR for the sunfish.

Chuck, the pic is funny! I know you and Robert both fish with Kebari only these days. I'm not 100% into Kebari flies like I should with Tenkara fishing. I'm fonder of western flies and they have served me well with good catches. I don't know if it is the presentation that was not attractive to the trout, or just my confidence. Any tips?




[QUOTE=TonyLisa;682510]Great report *fishing queen. Those pictures make me wanna go up there lol

Thanks TonyLisa, nice to hear fome you!





Great report and some good looking fish! *It is beautiful up there!

It is a very nice lake and we love to go up there.

[The Fishing Queen]

Great report and pics. I love it in Big Bear!

Thanks for the reading and your feedback! :)





What a nice vacation, Alice. The first panfish is a Pumpkinseed Sunfish actually. A couple of other ones are difficult to identify exactly. They might be Bluegill/Green Sunfish hybrids, or maybe Green Sunfish. I have never seen Green Sunfish in BBL, but I guess they are in there. I had never seen Green Sunfish in the Colorado River before until May when my wife and I went there, but there was a school of the little critters all together, spawning I think. I caught about 10 of them on jigs and put them back to spawn.

Nice photos. It looks like your lovely daughter takes after you. :)


Robert, I was wondering how you've been these days. I read some of your dad's poems, he is very talented. I can see he is a sensitive, emotional man with great passion for life through his words.

It was nice to spend a little time with my girl. It amazes me how fast the kids grow. She is getting tall enough to fit in some of the clothes that I used to wear years ago.....

I think it's my first time to catch a Pumpkinseed Sunfish, it had amazing colors. Many of the gills that I caught had lightening blues stripes on the heads and gill plates. But their rest of their bodies were just like a blue gill. I thought they might be hybrids. Green Sunfish are beautiful, chubby little fish. I’ve only found them in mountain lakes. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the climate or elevation. Here is a picture of a Green Sunfish that I caught. I always release these little guys too, I want them to breed and have more babies.

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[The Fishing Queen]

That sounds like a nice vacation.

BTW: The little dogs hair would make great flies.:Smile: *I have solid gray cat that will be donating at my house!

Thank you! You're right about the dog’s hair. I have two bags of hair from her past “summer fashion cuts" and I use them as the dabbing to dress the fly’s bodies. I can change the fly colors by using colored Sharpie.





First off, your fishing report is awesome. Your reports are so informative and the pictures are awesome. *Absolutely feel like I am there through your photos...a nice little feeling of getting away for a moment or two.

Boulder Bay was certainly happenin' with panfish when i was there too. *BBL was hot for trout using powerbait with a 5 foot leader or lures 8 to 15 feet down. *Papoose Bay and the white buoy line was amazing...there must be tons of trout in those areas!

Nice to see your reports as usual. *Awesome.


I appreciate the positive feedback and for your great support. Once I met a teenager at a lake, he knew me by reading my posts about Tenkara fishing. He asked if I got paid for writing fishing reports. Ha, ha..... I guess that I write too many reports....lol.

Big Bear has the most beautiful panfish that I've caught and the hold over trout can get pretty big.

[flytyingreloader]

Big Bear Lake is just a great fishing lake, period. I have been stunned at the numbers of trout I meter in the west end of the lake, both shorelines, commencing about a mile east of the buoy line right up to that line. 2-5 feet either side of the thermocline, there are trout present in large numbers. Put the lure or bait in their zone, and if they are in the mood you will go BENDO forthwith.

Fishing Queen, your posts belong in "Field & Stream". They are that good.

[Natural Lefty]

Oh, how did you see my dad's poems, Alice?

Green Sunfish are actually rather ubiquitous. They are found in most lower elevation lakes as well, especially where rocky shorelines are abundant. However, they are not very big or very common in many waters, and seem to be more abundant in rocky mountain lakes.

Pumpkinseeds are actually the colder water species, so they are usually only found in the mountains, or way up north, like in Washington State.

By the way, I actually did fish Boulder Bay a couple of weeks ago. It was kind of disappointing and nobody was catching many fish. It was sort of chilly that day, but I don't know if that was the reason. As in your report, there were no trout to be seen at all. I did catch a juvenile Crappie and a smallish Bluegill, a small LMB and a bigger one around 13 inches, mostly on jigs. I was really hoping to catch a trout too. I wish that 13 inch Bass had been a 13 inch trout.

I went to Catfish Cove on your Lake Gregory yesterday, for the first time in a long time. I didn't bring any worms because I seem to be allergic to the dirt. Fishing wasn't great there, either, but I caught 7 small Black Crappie and a Rainbow Trout, all on 1/32 ounce red and chartreuse jigs. It was weird that I tried other jigs but they would only bite on that kind. I have never known the fish to be picky there before. I also tried an Adams fly behind a bobber but no strikes. I think maybe most of the Crappies have finished spawning already, so maybe the fishing had been better there in May or June, numbers wise. The Crappie don't seem to have gotten any bigger there. Have you noticed any bigger ones, Alice?

My next fishing will probably be out of state as we are planning a vacation "to Arkansas" since "We have never been there." The quotes are because the whole idea is of course my wife's. I would be just as happy if not more happy to go to the sierras for a while. :)

[Hardcor]

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You have a beautiful daughter ! I have four children that grew up so fast there all out of the house and gone ! None of them picked up fishing.

The picture of the green Sunfish almost looks like a Jack Demcy !

[TUNAVIC]

Very nice report,and really nice pictures,thanks for sharing.

Cya TunaVic

[The Fishing Queen]

Big Bear Lake is just a great fishing lake, period. *I have been stunned at the numbers of trout I meter in the west end of the lake, both shorelines, commencing about a mile east of the buoy line right up to that line. *2-5 feet either side of the thermocline, there are trout present in large numbers. *Put the lure or bait in their zone, and if they are in the mood you will go BENDO forthwith.

Fishing Queen, your posts belong in "Field & Stream". *They are that good.


BBL is great lake and we love to go up there. We've met some local regulars and they were very friendly and gave me the info on some locations. Just have to spend more time there to explore better locations for fishing.

Thanks for the kind words on my posts! As you know, I've grown from bait fishing with a spinning rod, to western fly fishing and now Japanese Tenkara fishing. I've come a long way. To be honest, sometimes I feel lost and worry that my unique style and method of fishing will be boring to others. But it surprises me that I've received a lot of nice comments, encouragement and great support from most members here. I'm grateful to everyone who replied to my posts, and accepts me the way I am.....

[The Fishing Queen]

Oh, how did you see my dad's poems, Alice?

The Crappie don't seem to have gotten any bigger there. Have you noticed any bigger ones, Alice?

My next fishing will probably be out of state as we are planning a vacation "to Arkansas" since "We have never been there." The quotes are because the whole idea is of course my wife's. I would be just as happy if not more happy to go to the sierras for a while. :)



Robert, I read your dad's poems from your Facebook. You posted some of his writing and a couple of Eunice's posts too. I think she is pretty cute, especially the poem about her new hair style.

Thanks for the additional fishing info on BBL and LG. As you described, most of the Green Sunfish were caught near the rocky areas. I've never seen any big crappie or had any luck catching one. The big bluegills, redears or crappies that I've caught were about hand sized fish....

Good luck to you and Eunice on your Arkansas trip. You two are going to love it. It will be hot down there if you are going in summer. I took my family twice to visit there (8 years ago), we rented a car and we went every where - like Eureka Springs, Hot Springs and Cherokee Village. My favorite town is Eureka Springs, it is a beautiful little town and has a long history. We went to the Wild Animal Rescue Park, visited a couple of Caves ( don't remember it's names). Hot Springs is nice too and it's about an hour drive from Little Rock. The best hotel in town was Holiday In Express back then. We stayed at Holiday Island in Eureka Springs; Hot Spring Village in Hot Springs; and Cherokee Village. These are golf country club communities and I arranged the family to stay in 2 or 3 bedroom vacation condos on both our trips. Nice to have privacy and comfortable space. People in Arkansas were very polite, respectful and friendly as I remember. Big difference than LA....lol...

[The Fishing Queen]

You have a beautiful daughter ! I have four children that grew up so fast there all out of the house and gone ! None of them picked up fishing.

The picture of the green Sunfish almost looks like a Jack Demcy !


Thank you! She's a pretty girl and we have to put "extra eyes" on her. She would rather read, do school work or be in one of her theater performances acting or dancing than fishing.....lol..






Very nice report,and really nice pictures,thanks for sharing.

Cya TunaVic


Thanks for your feedback as always!:Smile:

[I*B*CATCHIN]

I'd say your one of best lady fishers I've seen always good catches & the work shop ....that's to funny

[The Fishing Queen]

I'd say your one of best lady fishers I've seen always good catches & the work shop ....that's to funny

Thanks for your support! The workshop sign reflects part of my life. I used to travel a lot with my spouse, and people (shop owners) would always ask: "Are you here for business or pleasure?", and I would answer with: "my husband is here for the business, and I'm here for the pleasure..." lol...

[Natural Lefty]

Alice, we returned from the trip on Monday. I have photos I need to load onto the computer, but I don't feel like writing up a long report since there is a lot for me to do. For one thing, Eunice wants to build a pond in which we can grow aquatic veggies such as Taro, Watercress, Lotus and whatever else will grow, so I have been digging a big giant hole in the yard. :Smile: Eunice actually wanted to raise panfish to eat in the pond, from small ones we caught, but I said that they would become pets so we wouldn't be able to eat them, and I think one needs a permit to grow gamefish legally in California, anyway.

We had no problems with the people in Arkansas. They seemed nice, and we did go fishing. I had wanted to go trout fishing, but when we found out that the trout permit cost more than a 3 day nonresident permit, we decided not to. Most of the trout in Arkansas that are caught are stockers, anyway, I think, nothing to get excited about as the few trout rivers are massively stocked, although there are some huge fish too, especially Brown Trout.

We caught 5 types of sunfish in a creek in Little Rock, including Pumpkinseeds, Longears, Green Sunfish, Bluegills, and a Warmouth. Those were our first Longears and Warmouth (if I identified them correctly). I caught a Channel Catfish too. We went to the Buffalo River the next day and it was quite scenic, kind of crowded, but there were lots of amazingly colored sunfish biting. I think they were Longear Sunfish again. The third day, we went to Dardanelle Lake. They had a nice state park and visitor's center there. A bunch of average size Bluegills were biting, and I even caught a Redear on a Super Duper lure there.

We also went fishing in Colorado. It rained much of the time, though. In fact, I think we had considerable rain on 8 out of the 13 days fo the trip, but no rain in Arkansas. Nonetheless, we had really good trout fishing on the Grand Mesa. It's a special place with lots of trout fishing and incredible wildflower displays (lots of rain too). We also went to McPhee Reservoir, having little idea what to expect. Only Eunice had a fishing permit that day, and Smallmouth were biting constantly for her. She must have lost about 30 of the critters and caught 6. She lost one in the beginning that must have gone 17-18 inches. She was totally taken by surprise by that one. Oh well, that's fishing!

We tried to go to Sunrise Lake in Arizona on Sunday, but it has been raining all day everyday there so we changed plans. This monsoonal season is really something out of the ordinary. It backs up my hypothesis that summer rains are increasing in this region. I did some internet research a while ago which shows that rain records back that up. It appears to be due to global warming and evaporation from Central Valley agricultural irrigation which winds up being recycled as rain. Anyway, Eunice insisted on fishing along the Colorado River on our way back on Monday, which was about 98 degrees so I was sweating buckets. That's cool there for July, though. It was cloudy, too. All we caught were some small Bluegills and Bass. I had warned Eunice that only small fish were likely to be biting. Oh well. The veggies were so thick that it was hard to fish, actually. :EyePop:

Thanks for checking my posts on Facebook.

I will try to post some pictures soon. We also have a litter of 5 kittens which I took some photos of yesterday.

[FlamingTube]

Thanks for the report and nice pics of bbl and fish. I never go to far from L.A. for vacation but bbl totally seams worth it. I might just try it next summer or sooner!!!

[The Fishing Queen]

Alice, we returned from the trip on Monday. I have photos I need to load onto the computer, but I don't feel like writing up a long report since there is a lot for me to do.

Robert, just came back from our vacation and saw your post here. Sounds like you two had a great vacation/fishing trip. I like the countryside and I like Arkansas. I'll check out your Facebook to see the photo that you've posted.





Thanks for the report and nice pics of bbl and fish. I never go to far from L.A. for vacation but bbl totally seams worth it. I might just try it next summer or sooner!!!

Thanks! BBL is beautiful, and the panfish are active in summer, but the trout fishing can be tough in some days. Good luck to you if you are up there.