It’s hard to believe that fly-fishing enthusiasts might be lonely fishing at Big Bear Lake, which draws thousands of anglers from urban centers such as Los Angeles, but it’s true. “I fly fish this lake all the time, especially in the spring and fall,” said Scott Eberhard, a 30-year resident of the lake in the mountains of San Bernardino County. “It’s really a funny thing that nobody fly fishes up here. I’ve seen one other group fly fishing in the past year, back in February — a couple from Montana.”
The lake is home to largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegills, catfish, carp, crappies, and rainbow trout, which are stocked at least twice a year. Surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest, Big Bear Lake is 7 miles long, a mile across at its widest point, has 23 miles of shoreline, 2,971 surface acres, and is located at 6,743 feet above sea level. In the summer, the surface water temperature is 70 degrees. Air temperatures average 65 degrees in the spring, 81 degrees in the summer (although days can get much hotter), 67 degrees in the fall, and 47 degrees in the summer, so it’s fishable throughout much of the year. According to data from the Big Bear Visitor Center, 3 million people visit the lake each year. The lake is formed by a dam that was originally built in 1884 and replaced in 1912.
According to Eberhard, one of two guides on the lake, all the trout are planted by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the Big Bear Municipal Water District, which has a large budget for planting fish. “A local CDFW biologist told me they planted 36,000 fish two Januarys ago,” said Eberhard. “They were small — six, seven, and eight inches. Those planters, two years older, are what we are catching now. We get supplemental stocks from the water district, but they have trouble finding fish to plant. The water district has been purchasing them from Calaveras Trout Farm for a number of years now.”
Small fish may be mostly what get planted, but holdover fish grow and grow. Eberhard added that “there are some big bruisers cruising around.” A big bruiser, he said, is an eight-pound trout. It’s not unusual to catch trout in the seven-pound range, he said. The lake record for rainbow trout is a fish caught in 2009 that weighed a whopping 18.69 pounds.
When it comes to fly selection, “the Balanced Leech is probably my most productive fly,” Eberhard said, and a two-fly rig is his best-producing setup. “They eat Pheasant Tail Nymphs really well. Sometimes I will put a leech on the bottom and Hare’s Ear Nymph above it.” The Hare and Copper Nymph is also a good fly for the lake. He often fishes his subsurface rigs from five to seven feet deep.
“Midges work really well for me under an indicator at times when there’s no wind blowing,” Eberhard told me, “mostly red midge patterns fished within a foot or so of the bottom. Either a Copperhead or a Whitehead Midge Emerger fished just outside weed lines also works. If the fish are higher up in the water column, a black pattern seems to work well at times. I tie all these in size 16 to 20. I’ve had good luck with an emerger pattern with a little cellophane in it. If fish are trying to eat my indicator, I just throw on a hopper/dropper rig.” Eberhard said he prefers to strip midge pupa slowly from a float tube in September, when the intensive summer boat traffic is gone. At that time, he usually fishes flies from size 14 to 18. Overwhelmingly, orange is the best color for flies at the lake, he said, though sometimes he will add yellow to the fly, with good results.
The best times to fish Big Bear for trout during summer are in the morning and the evening, and even better is when boat traffic is light. Here are some of the best summer and fall fishing locations around the lake, according to Eberhard:
- The Juniper Point Picnic Area on the northeast shore, either wading from shore or fishing near the shore from a boat. The site is near the East Public Boat Launch and is known by local anglers as the “Trout Triangle.”
- The Observatory. Fish top-water flies in a wide area just offshore past the travel trailers and the Big Bear Solar Observatory. The hike to the water is relatively long, particularly carrying a fully loaded float tube.
- North Shore Drive between Captain John’s Marina and the observatory. This is a popular location for fly fishers wading from shore.
- North Shore Landing is popular in the summer months from the landing to an area near the Bear Valley Dam. This area is fed by three creeks, when they are running. Recent drought conditions, however, have left the creeks dry.
- Metcalf Bay and across to the north shore. This area has been fishing well. Locals call it “Trolling Alley.”
- Lagonita Point, with shoreline access via Lagunita Lane. Just to the east, fishing is good in a cove offshore from Lakeview Drive and Gibraltar Road.
- Eagle Point, particularly in the cove offshore from Meadow Park. Access is available via Eureka Drive and Eagle Drive.
For more information, you can contact Eberhard at Cantrell Fishing Guide Service, https://bigbearfishing.net/team/scott-eberhard. Big Bear Sporting Goods carries a selection of popular fly patterns: 40544 Big Bear Boulevard, Big Bear Lake, (909) 866-3222, https://bigbearlakesportinggoods.com.
