A good day outOctober is one of my favorite months to fish Big Bear Lake. You not only can catch a lot of fish this month, it is also one of the best times to catch really big fish! The Big Bear Municipal Water District stocked thousands of pounds of big trout for the annual Troutfest Tournament, and not very many of those “trophy fish” were caught.
This is the time, if you want to catch a trophy fish, to troll Rapalas. While you might catch a big fish on just about any lure or bait, there is no question that Rapalas catch more big fish than any other lure. The secret to success is to try different sizes, and colors. Count down Rapalas size # 3, # 5, and # 7 produce the biggest fish. Silver/black, gold/black, Fire Tiger, Rainbow Trout, and Brook Trout are all colors you want to try! I also use 8 lb. test leaders and constantly check the drags on my reels to have the best chance to land a big fish.
If you want to catch a lot of fish,  #1 & #2 Needlefish are hard to beat! Best colors are Brass Bikini, Copper Bikini, Silver Bikini, Copper, Brass, and Red Dot Frog; all catch thousands of fish in this lake each season. And finally, a lure that produces a lot of fish for me all season is the Luhr Jensen Speed Trap. Speed Traps, like all other lures, don’t work every day, but when the trout are “Smacken’ the Traps” you want to be trolling them!
 
Good luck!

Curt
FishBigBear.com