After months of above average snow fall, Big Bear Lake is almost “full”, spring has arrived, and it’s time to go fishing. By far the most popular method of fishing for the hard fighting, rainbow trout is bait fishing. Early in the season, a sliding sinker bait rig is the most popular.

The rig consists of a 1/8 to 1/4 ounce egg sinker threaded onto your main line with a small swivel tied to the end. I attach a pre-tied, two hook bait rig to the swivel in either #2 lb. or #4 lb. test. When I take the rig out of the package, I always cut off and shorten the leader where it attaches to the swivel, so that the first hook is about 6” from the swivel. That way when you are fishing, the first hook is about six inches off the bottom with the second hook above that. The length of leader above the bottom can be very important!

Another very effective rig that is more effective as the water warms is the slip bobber rig. With a slip bobber rig, where you place the bobber stop determines how deep your bait will be below the bobber. Start by attaching the bobber stop to your main line, then thread on the slip bobber with a 1/8 oz. egg sinker below that, and then tie on a swivel. To the swivel I tie a two hook, pre-rigged 2 lb. or 4 lb. test leader, with size #14 or #16 hooks. In the spring when the fish are feeding closer to the surface, many times fishing shallow is much more productive than fishing on the bottom. If you are going to use floating baits with this rig, there is and easy little trick to stop the bait from floating up and tangling with the main leader. Buy a small spool of fly tier’s lead thread, and make a few wraps of the lead around the shank of the hooks. This will keep the hooks with floating baits hanging straight down.

By far the king of all “floating type” baits is Berkley’s PowerBait and Gulp! Top colors for Big Bear Lake are Chartreuse, chartreuse/orange, pink, and orange.  Many anglers also spray scents like Gulp! Garlic on the bait, to make sure they eliminate all human odors.Big Trout

The most popular way to put the bait on the treble hook has always been to mold a bait ball just large enough to cover the treble hook. However, two new methods have been introduced that have become very popular and productive. The first is called the “Power Larva.” Using a little more bait than usual, the bait is shaped like a caterpillar larva, giving the bait a live bait look. The second method is called the “Power Mouse”. To rig a power mouse, mold Berkley Gulp! into a ball just covering all but one of the treble hooks. On the exposed treble hook, add a Berkley Power Trout Worm. The Power Mouse can be fished on a standard sliding sinker rig, or as bait that you slowly work in with a split shot that can also be deadly.

To rig the Power Mouse as moving bait, it is best that your main line is either #2 lb. or #4 lb. test line. Tie a #16 treble hook to the end of your line, and install a #3 or #5 split shot rigged about 12 to 15 inches above the hook. Cast the Power Mouse out and let in sink to the bottom. Once on the bottom s-l-o-w-l-y reel the bait in, pausing every few feet.
A shoreline bait fishing tip: In the spring the fish might be a lot closer to shore than you think both early and late in the day! Many times fishermen rig up their rods, and then cast as far out in the lake as they can, when quite often the majority of the fish are only maybe 30 to 40 feet from the shoreline.

Curt Dills
Fish Big Bear Charter Service
www.fishbigbear.com