Big Bear 03-15-2014

[etaggart]

Got the tube on the water just before sunrise - picked up my first bass of the year, smallmouth just under 2lbs, right at 7am. Slow hit, but nice little fight. No other hits for next two hours. Feet got too cold so I called it quits pretty early. Water was about 45, air temp started about 40 - wind was blowing stiff the whole time.

http://s23.postimg.org/yhmglqgw7/2014_03_15_A.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/yhmglqgw7/)

[JDS13]

Way to tuff out that cold water, that is a great looking smallie. Big bear is a blast on alot of smaller bass, I rotate a jig and tube and that is my one two punch. I have been fishing that lake for about 2 year pretty consistantly, I know there is still alot of good spots to discover. So what is your go to stuff up there if you dont mind me asking, again congrats on the fish.

[etaggart]

Hey JDS - Lately I've been throwing spinners looking for bass hits in the early morning. I'll also finesse a plastic worm or drop-shot - but that's usually my tactic after they stop responding to the reaction baits. Since the water's so relatively cold and clear there, I'm never really sure how to determine whether whether their in pre-spawn, spawn or post-spawn. I also assume the smallies have different spawn patterns than the LMBs. Rocks and other structure are always the bass' best friend. Hoping to start using a fish finder soon so I can look for more hidden structure to target. Eric

[GhettoBasster]

Nice. Great job toughing out the wind and cold. I've been wanting to get on some BBL smallies.

[JDS13]

Cool deal etaggart, ya the spawn thing is tricky, I have seen bass spawning in May years ago over by the dam. The tube I just started throwing last year after no action on the jig for a few hours, then first cast with watermelon 3" tube bingo, ive been using it alot since then with excellent results. I'll have to give the spinnerbait a little more of a chance this year.

[etaggart]

Whacky-rigged watermelon or baby bass senko's have generally been my plastic of choice when it's been warmer. I guess they like that green shading - especially when the water greens-up. Ika's perform for some - I gotta try the times. Jigs used to work for me, but not the past two seasons.

[Fresh H2O Bill]

Eric,

Nice smallie. Good to see you are hitting it as usual. I was up last weekend for the day. Fished the dam early for nada, chasing the trout, but my friend Dan nailed 4. We went over to Liberty and fished the docks and jetty from shore. I ended up with 4 bass on jigs and plastic worms. Hope to see you soon. I'll be up the weekend of the 11th and I am planning to get the tube in the water. If you're up maybe we can hook up.

Bill

Matthew 4:19

[etaggart]

Sheesh! I must be getting old ... I just realized there's an FNN BBL board http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/forumdisplay.php?94-Big-Bear-Lake-Reports

Browser choked and had to use other to view FNN, navigating to usual spot and I see BBL Reports!! I guess that's what I get for relying on old bookmarks!!!

I'll post-up a short report from Sunday over there when I get a few free minutes.

Cheers,

Eric