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BIG BEAR: SUMMER COMES TO SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S ALPINE ESCAPE
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WON On the Spot / BY PAUL LEBOWITZ WON Staff WriterPublished: Jul 15, 2008
BIG BEAR LAKE – The booms and crashes of Big Bear’s Independence Day fireworks spectacular had scarcely faded when my son James and
I drove into town on Monday the 7th. We pulled into the visitor center parking lot in the middle of the quaint village, a half tank of gas still left in the big pick-up after the drive from San Diego.
That ride had passed slowly until we’d left the freeway and started up the steep Highway 330 grade. Soon the clean tang of pine scent filled the cab and urban Southern California faded, replaced by picturesque mountain vistas.
Inside the visitor center run by the Big Bear Resort Association, we met the ever-smiling Dan McKernan to get the full scoop on the area’s summer activities. McKernan recited a long list of warm weather options, starting naturally with fishing, boating and swimming at their 7-mile long centerpiece. He took another breath and continued with camping, mountain biking, hiking, navigating 4-wheel trails, hopping on Snow Summit’s scenic sky chair, and rides down the twisting toboggan track of the Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain. And that was only the beginning of the outdoor options. 
At that Cliff Fowler joined the conversation. Fowler, the former owner of Big Bear Sporting Goods, the town’s best-stocked tackle shop, now takes people trout fishing for Cantrell’s Guide Service.
“Let’s see if any fish have come out of hiding,” Fowler joked, referring to the huge fireworks show a couple days earlier. Fowler played down expectations. Summer is not Big Bear’s best trout season; that’s spring, when limits come easy and quick. Fall is good too, when the lake turns over and cools off, bringing the trout back up shallow.
Still, summer sees a lot of family visitors with a taste for trout, and the fish have got to eat too. Cantrell’s is so confident their clients will catch fish, they offer a free return trip for groups blanked on a 3-hour or longer charter. Fowler can’t remember ever having to pony up.
Once out on the lake, Fowler showed me the water quality chart the Big Bear Municipal Water District distributes to the area’s tackle shops, marinas and guide services. The neat columns showed temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels from several stations spanning the lake.
“See the thermocline?” Fowler asked, pointing to a line he’d drawn across the chart. “Oxygen levels drop off below it, so we’ll fish about 20-ft deep.”
Fowler pointed Less Stress, Cantrell’s 24-ft pontoon boat, toward the deeper and cooler west end of the lake and set out a quartet of trolling setups – 
levelwind reels spooled up with 18-lb leadcore mounted to lightweight ‘buggy whips.’ Tiny Dick Nite or Needlefish trolling spoons dangled from the leaders. “Elephants eat peanuts,” Fowler quipped.
The first strike came soon after. As young James worked on the first of several biters, Fowler bragged a bit about the fishery. The trout go into the lake as stockers, but after a year under the ice they emerge as ‘native’ pink meats. There are about a million of them swimming at any given time.
Soundly convinced that Big Bear’s trout will bite right through the hottest months as long as they are targeted deep (shore anglers can score if they fish from the top down using slip bobbers), we headed for our lakefront condo at the Edgewater Lakefront Suites. Situated next to Big Bear Marina and with a stretch of shoreline all to itself, the comfortable room would be ideal for just about anyone who uses the lake, be they private boaters, kayakers, or folks who prefer to rent their rides.
The next day we caught up with Alan Sharp, Big Bear Marina’s colorful manager. Sharp was buzzing with his typical enthusiasm, and full of news.
“We’re now Big Bear’s official weigh station. Records haven’t been established for crappie, bluegill, small and largemouth bass,” Sharp said. Good timing; Sharp has seen a parade of super-sized channel cats up to 27-lbs in recent weeks. Sharp said Eagle Point and east to the Stanfield Cutoff would be good places to look for the whiskerfish, one of the lake’s underappreciated warm water species.
Instead my son and I chose the fish the lake is famous for. We hopped aboard one of Sharp’s well maintained fleet of rental boats, dropped in the leadcore lines, and kicked back under the nearly cloudless summer sky until interrupted by hungry trout.
Later, I stopped by MWD’s offices to check in with Lake Manager Mike Stephenson. The affable Stephenson had bass on the brain.
Yep, bass. Stephenson and his staff have been hard at work on improving Big Bear’s little publicized bass fishery. Unlike their lower altitude cousins, these mile-plus high fish only get 30 to 45 days of grow time. To pump up the numbers, Stephenson and crew have poured in 65 thousand largemouth into the lake in just the past 30 days. Yes, you read that right; it’s a staggering number.
They were joined by 500 smallmouth trucked down from Shaver Lake – for catch and release only reminded Stephenson – and about 25 thousand bluegill. Spring is the lake’s prime bass time, when aquatic vegetation is at a minimum. In summer, the weeds make fishing the shoreline structure a challenging proposition. A few savvy locals suggested buzzbaits and spinnerbaits might work to bust a bass or two. Minijigs are another option, especially Lip Ripperz, and larger tube baits such as the Fat Gitzit. Likely spots for bass and panfish include Boulder Bay, Grout Bay and the solar observatory jetty.
Stephenson loved talking about fishery enhancement; his team will add artificial structure soon in the deeper water adjacent to the shoreline, giving the bass somewhere to go in low water years. His face darkened when the subject turned to quagga mussels, those little nightmares that reproduce in staggering, damaging numbers. He’s determined to keep them out of the lake.
“I’m optimistic we can do it,” Stephenson said hopefully. Currently, private boats must be inspected before launching at any of the marinas. They have to be clean, drained and dry. If not, MWD will decontaminate them - at no charge for now.
“We’re trying to keep it as painless as possible,” said Stephenson, who added that MWD has spent $100,000 on equipment, manpower and public outreach to this point.
Of course there’s more fishery enhancement to come. MWD will stock huge numbers of trophy trout for WON’s Big Bear Troutfest. Set for October 4 and 5 this year, the prize-packed fishing extravaganza will be as family-friendly as ever. Someone will take home the grand raffle prize, a boat and motor package. Online sign-ups are available at WON’s website: www.wonews.com/california-outdoor-
event-81-2008-Big-Bear-Lake-TroutfesT.aspx.
The Bear Lake Resort Association offers free gasoline cards to guests who book one or more nights at a participating lodge. Details are available at BigBear.com.
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BIG BEAR LAKE – The booms and crashes of Big Bear’s Independence Day fireworks spectacular had scarcely faded when my son James and I drove into town on Monday the 7th. We pulled into the visitor center parking lot in the middle of the quaint village, a half tank of gas still left in the big pick-up after the drive from San Diego. That ride had passed slowly until we’d left the freeway and started up the steep Highway 330 grade. Soon the clean tang of pine scent filled the cab and urban Southern California faded, replaced by picturesque mountain vistas. Inside the visitor center run by the Big Bear Resort Association, we met the ever-smiling Dan McKernan to get the full scoop on the area’s summer activities. McKernan recited a long list of warm weather options, starting naturally with fishing, boating and swimming at their 7-mile long centerpiece. He took another breath and continued with camping, mountain biking, hiking, navigating 4-wheel trails, hopping on Snow Summit’s scenic sky chair, and rides down the twisting toboggan track of the Alpine Slide at Magic Mountain. And that was only the beginning of the outdoor options. At that Cliff Fowler joined the conversation. Fowler, the former owner of Big Bear Sporting Goods, the town’s best-stocked tackle shop, now takes people trout fishing for Cantrell’s Guide Service. “Let’s see if any fish have come out of hiding,” Fowler joked, referring to the huge fireworks show a couple days earlier. Fowler played down expectations. Summer is not Big Bear’s best trout season; that’s spring, when limits come easy and quick. Fall is good too, when the lake turns over and cools off, bringing the trout back up shallow. Still, summer sees a lot of family visitors with a taste for trout, and the fish have got to eat too. Cantrell’s is so confident their clients will catch fish, they offer a free return trip for groups blanked on a 3-hour or longer charter. Fowler can’t remember ever having to pony up. Once out on the lake, Fowler showed me the water quality chart the Big Bear Municipal Water District distributes to the area’s tackle shops, marinas and guide services. The neat columns showed temperatures and dissolved oxygen levels from several stations spanning the lake. “See the thermocline?” Fowler asked, pointing to a line he’d drawn across the chart. “Oxygen levels drop off below it, so we’ll fish about 20-ft deep.” Fowler pointed Less Stress, Cantrell’s 24-ft pontoon boat, toward the deeper and cooler west end of the lake and set out a quartet of trolling setups – levelwind reels spooled up with 18-lb leadcore mounted to lightweight ‘buggy whips.’ Tiny Dick Nite or Needlefish trolling spoons dangled from the leaders. “Elephants eat peanuts,” Fowler quipped. The first strike came soon after. As young James worked on the first of several biters, Fowler bragged a bit about the fishery. The trout go into the lake as stockers, but after a year under the ice they emerge as ‘native’ pink meats. There are about a million of them swimming at any given time. Soundly convinced that Big Bear’s trout will bite right through the hottest months as long as they are targeted deep (shore anglers can score if they fish from the top down using slip bobbers), we headed for our lakefront condo at the Edgewater Lakefront Suites. Situated next to Big Bear Marina and with a stretch of shoreline all to itself, the comfortable room would be ideal for just about anyone who uses the lake, be they private boaters, kayakers, or folks who prefer to rent their rides. The next day we caught up with Alan Sharp, Big Bear Marina’s colorful manager. Sharp was buzzing with his typical enthusiasm, and full of news. “We’re now Big Bear’s official weigh station. Records haven’t been established for crappie, bluegill, small and largemouth bass,” Sharp said. Good timing; Sharp has seen a parade of super-sized channel cats up to 27-lbs in recent weeks. Sharp said Eagle Point and east to the Stanfield Cutoff would be good places to look for the whiskerfish, one of the lake’s underappreciated warm water species. Instead my son and I chose the fish the lake is famous for. We hopped aboard one of Sharp’s well maintained fleet of rental boats, dropped in the leadcore lines, and kicked back under the nearly cloudless summer sky until interrupted by hungry trout. Later, I stopped by MWD’s offices to check in with Lake Manager Mike Stephenson. The affable Stephenson had bass on the brain. Yep, bass. Stephenson and his staff have been hard at work on improving Big Bear’s little publicized bass fishery. Unlike their lower altitude cousins, these mile-plus high fish only get 30 to 45 days of grow time. To pump up the numbers, Stephenson and crew have poured in 65 thousand largemouth into the lake in just the past 30 days. Yes, you read that right; it’s a staggering number. They were joined by 500 smallmouth trucked down from Shaver Lake – for catch and release only reminded Stephenson – and about 25 thousand bluegill. Spring is the lake’s prime bass time, when aquatic vegetation is at a minimum. In summer, the weeds make fishing the shoreline structure a challenging proposition. A few savvy locals suggested buzzbaits and spinnerbaits might work to bust a bass or two. Minijigs are another option, especially Lip Ripperz, and larger tube baits such as the Fat Gitzit. Likely spots for bass and panfish include Boulder Bay, Grout Bay and the solar observatory jetty. Stephenson loved talking about fishery enhancement; his team will add artificial structure soon in the deeper water adjacent to the shoreline, giving the bass somewhere to go in low water years. His face darkened when the subject turned to quagga mussels, those little nightmares that reproduce in staggering, damaging numbers. He’s determined to keep them out of the lake. “I’m optimistic we can do it,” Stephenson said hopefully. Currently, private boats must be inspected before launching at any of the marinas. They have to be clean, drained and dry. If not, MWD will decontaminate them - at no charge for now. “We’re trying to keep it as painless as possible,” said Stephenson, who added that MWD has spent $100,000 on equipment, manpower and public outreach to this point. Of course there’s more fishery enhancement to come. MWD will stock huge numbers of trophy trout for WON’s Big Bear Troutfest. Set for October 4 and 5 this year, the prize-packed fishing extravaganza will be as family-friendly as ever. Someone will take home the grand raffle prize, a boat and motor package. Online sign-ups are available at WON’s website: www.wonews.com/california-outdoor- event-81-2008-Big-Bear-Lake-TroutfesT.aspx. The Bear Lake Resort Association offers free gasoline cards to guests who book one or more nights at a participating lodge. Details are available at BigBear.com. |
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