BIg Bear lake 7/23/12 on the kayak

[mission89]

Hello friends,
fished bbl today in the morning. my brother and law and i were on the tandem kayak today. we were on the water by about 7am by the ramp west of windy point. we anchored in about 20 feet of water soaking power bait off the bottom. we finally hooked up on 2 nice trout at about 10:30am. it was a slow day for us, first time using a kayak and not fishing of shore lol. btw both were caught on chartreuse. hope this helps if anyone is headed up there soon. also, light breeze after 10am not bad at all...over all a good day of fishing though even though both of us dropped our phones in the water:/...ps if anyone has any pointers on the best way to fish off a kayak or if its worth it to buy a fish finder the help is greatly appreciated:)!!..Good fishing to all!.

[DotA]

hehe sucks about the phone but makes for a funny report :D glad u found the trouts

[Frequent Flyer]

Awsome job out there. I don't think I could ever tandem kayak with someone haha. And also how long we're your leaders while fishing the pb?

[mission89]

yes, it was not very comfortable but it worked.. well, they were about 3 feet but i honestly don't think that was the best method. I'm trying to figure out how to set up the slip bobber method i guess that works well.

[marinate]

Thanks for the report. I'll be up there with my brother in law as well in a couple of weeks. We'll each have our own kayaks. I'm hoping to catch some crappie and/or bluegill. Did you see anyone targeting/catching any panfish? Oh, by the way, where did you get your yaks inspected for quagga muscles?

Thanks again for the report!

[etaggart]

I've seen people do very well drifting in kayaks - powerbait, powerworms, etc. down at whatever level the fish are at. With a kayak you have better range - try working the outer mouths of the big bays on the south side - westerly (metcalfe, boulder, papoose). Get multiple lines out at multiple depths to find the depth of fish - or get a fish finder or talk to boaters with electronics to ask what level they're seeing markings.

Crappie anywhere - look near docs/structure. Bluegill (tiny) in the Grout Bay weeds.

[mission89]

i didn't see anyone targeting that specifically, there wasn't many people on the water. so a few others on float tubes using worms with no luck they said......hey thanks for the advice etaggart sounds like you know your stuff, ill try that side next time let ou guys now how i do!!

[Calicanuck]

Big Bear Lake off a kayak:

Ok so I've done a fair share of experimentation off the kayak. I've trolled with lead line, with rapalas, needlefish, worms, lake trolls and caught the odd fish. Flat lining rapalas in the early am also caught the odd fish. What I find works best in the summer is getting yourself a portable fish finder and see where there majority of the fish are hanging out. They will usually be suspended way off the bottom at about 12-25 feet down. Once you have that depth you rig yourself up with some slip bobbers. If you have a two rod stamp you can put out a couple of rods at different depths and see what happens. Then depending on how I feel I'll launch close to the dam off shore. Then paddle out to one of the bouys that the boats tie off to. If there is a free one I'll just tie off to it and cast out the slip bobbers. The action can be good some days. When the drift is good and there is a good breeze I'll drift from the dam all the way to the marina or launch ramp dragging the slip bobbers at whatever depth you found worked. You just drag them a few feet from the boat so they're easy to watch. This works great. We've had double/triple hook ups like this. Lots of fun! You just have to find the key depth to put your bobber at. Then paddle back to the dam trolling a spoon or something and do the drift all over again. Have fun.

[mission89]

Big Bear Lake off a kayak:

Ok so I've done a fair share of experimentation off the kayak. I've trolled with lead line, with rapalas, needlefish, worms, lake trolls and caught the odd fish. Flat lining rapalas in the early am also caught the odd fish. What I find works best in the summer is getting yourself a portable fish finder and see where there majority of the fish are hanging out. They will usually be suspended way off the bottom at about 12-25 feet down. Once you have that depth you rig yourself up with some slip bobbers. If you have a two rod stamp you can put out a couple of rods at different depths and see what happens. Then depending on how I feel I'll launch close to the dam off shore. Then paddle out to one of the bouys that the boats tie off to. If there is a free one I'll just tie off to it and cast out the slip bobbers. The action can be good some days. When the drift is good and there is a good breeze I'll drift from the dam all the way to the marina or launch ramp dragging the slip bobbers at whatever depth you found worked. You just drag them a few feet from the boat so they're easy to watch. This works great. We've had double/triple hook ups like this. Lots of fun! You just have to find the key depth to put your bobber at. Then paddle back to the dam trolling a spoon or something and do the drift all over again. Have fun.

Amazing!!! looks like you were on it. what were you using to nail this fish? looks like I'm going to have to set my self up like that new time.

[etaggart]

Nice fish - and that's the technique I've heard other experience yakers use in BBL - Thanks for sharing details and some good ol' american trout porn!!!!