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By Dan Zambrano, May 27, 2010

Man, oh man, oh man, what a month.

Social obligations have stacked up one after the other like jetliners flying into LAX on a Friday night: Mother’s day, birthdays, anniversaries, speaking engagements, business-related trips and professional continuing education courses… all have merged into a perfect storm to keep me away from my fly rod.

Not that the celebrations of life are less important than fishing. In fact, if anything, this month has clearly demonstrated the width and breadth and depth of my blessings. Still in those reflective moments between and betwixt the hustle and bustle  — while speeding past one of my favorite urban lakes or flying over the San Bernardino mountains on approach to John Wayne airport or quickly flipping through the stack of fishing magazines piled up on the counter – well, then is when I am most acutely aware that it has been a good month for the social graces and strengthening family bonds but a lousy month for fishing.

Mind you, there have been plenty of enticements. There have been tournaments and classes and competitions galore. Everybody seems to be sponsoring some sort of something or other with valuable prizes and untold amounts of prestige available for the taking – all for a nominal entry fee, of course. And there have been the phone calls and offers from fishin’ buddies but alas, it just didn’t happen. The fly rod sat untouched…or rather, unused. I’ve carted it around in the back of the car hoping to squeeze in a half hour or so here and there. I’ve washed the line and prepped it for the season. I’ve changed the leader and restocked my fly boxes – typically in the deep hours of night but I just haven’t fished.

One bright spot did occur last weekend when my wife and I made a quick overnighter to Big Bear. Over a relatively laid back cup of morning coffee the love of my life actually suggested we go fishing.

Once I picked myself up off the floor, we readied up and soon were at the lake with rods in hand. Naturally, since it was our only free day up there, the weather was less than cooperative and the wind howled across the water strong enough to form whitecaps.

Now, my bride has gone out with me on about half a dozen ventures and has yet to land a fish. She has hooked up on a fish, played a fish and had a fish break off just feet from the shore but she has yet to actually land a fish so, needless to say, I too really wanted her to catch a fish.

So the fly rods went back into the car and out came the spinning rods.

We also opted to head over to Grout Bay which is more sheltered and therefore less windy.

When we arrived at Grout Bay the water indeed lacked the white caps seen on the rest of the lake but it still rippled and splashed and roiled. Carp were everywhere and they were…busy.

It didn’t look good for fishing but then I glanced over at my wife and she had the “Look”. You know what I’m talking about. The fixed gaze, the shaking hands, the raised pitch in the voice… She beat me down to the water.

We fished hard for about an hour and a half but, alas, some things trump even food (if you know what I mean) and we could not entice a strike.

By the time we decided to call it quits for the day we had tossed a whole lot of hardware and cleared a whole lot of weeds from our rigs but had not landed a fish. Still, we had spent a very pleasant morning in a very pleasant place doing something I already love and something I am happy to say my wife is growing to love.

Man, Oh man, oh man. What a month.

I love this addiction called urban flyfishin’.

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By Dan Zambrano, July 26, 2009

I love Big Bear Lake. It fascinates me and frustrates me all at once – just like my wife. It is one of the most beautiful local lakes I know and it is also one of the most elusive lakes I have ever fished.

Big Bear has some twenty miles of accessible shoreline, shallow flats, deeper water, rocky coves and quiet back bays. Trout, Largemouth Bass, Smallmouth Bass, Catfish, Crappie, Sunfish & Carp are all found there.

Unfortunately, Big Bear is not known as a great place to fly fish, which is too bad. Virtually every piece of literature you read about fishing there recommends using floating bait or an inflated worm fished off a sliding sinker or trolling with lead core line –possibly two of the most boring ways to fish, in my mind.

Don’t get me wrong…If you were fishing to eat or as a cover for consuming massive quantities of beer while sitting in a fold-up chair… well, then I suppose those methods would be fine – I’m not judging here, I’m just saying…

Anyway, I had a chance to sneak off to BB recently with my bride and I had it fixed in my mind that I was going to pursue Carp…on a fly rod.

Yup, Carp.

Now, right about now, some of the purists out there are getting a shrinking feeling in their nether regions and likely just spat out their coffee in an involuntary spasm of disgust.

So be it. I like catching Carp and I like catching them on flies. Not that I actually get to catch them on flies that often but I love the pursuit nonetheless.

So, we get up to BB and decide to take out the kayaks into Grout Bay. Grout Bay is generally protected from the wind, is shallow and quiet and makes for a great place to paddle around and have lunch while quietly bobbing amongst the floating patches of water plants.

While our little float was primarily an opportunity for some quality time with my spouse, it was also a chance to do a little reconnaissance since Grout Bay is a well-known hang out for Carp.

Sure enough, they were there and they were active. In fact, a courting/mating pair literally ran into the bottom of my kayak as they romped around in spawning oblivion. Viva l’amour!

I took mental notes, plotted a strategy and waited.

Around 6:00 pm, I drove back to Grout Bay, stripped down to swim trunks and t-shirt, a neck lanyard with just the bare essentials, my 9-wt. with sinking tip line and a few carefully chosen flies.

Grout Bay is named for the sandy soil that was just the right consistency to be used as mortar during construction of the Big Bear Dam. Sure, it has accumulated a nice thick layer of black ooze on it over the years but, I gotta’ tell ya’, there is something totally cool about sloshing through the warm water with the aquatic plants brushing gently against your legs and feeling the coarse sand and silky ooze squish up between your toes while sight fishing for massive, feeding Carp.

During the next hour and a half I cast repeatedly to some two-dozen fish but none would take my offerings. They didn’t spook – except the one I actually hit on the head with a leech imitation (note to self: keep working on the targeting skills)– but they wouldn’t be fooled either.

Yet, with the glassy water reflecting the setting sun, the soft calls of the various birds and the absolute peacefulness of the entire surroundings it didn’t seem to matter all that much.

Like I said, I love Big Bear Lake.

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By Sean Fenner, July 16, 2009

This is a photo of a nice Bluegill that I pulled out of Big Bear Lake. I love fishing the coves up there from the Spring to the Fall. You never know what you are going to hook up on, and I have seen people catch many different species of fish out of this lake (I heard that Dan aka The Fishing Guru even caught a frisbe one time). So the next time your up in Big Bear wet a line, you never know what you might bring in!

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By Dan Zambrano, July 9, 2009

Nothing says “go outside and play” like the Fourth of July holiday. When said holiday falls on a weekend…well, exposure to sun, dirt and non-chlorinated water is almost mandatory — which is how we found ourselves up at Big Bear Lake last weekend with 100,000 or so other patriotic Americans.

Generally speaking, my wife and I avoid weekend crowds at the lake as much as possible, preferring to head up the hill late Sunday while everyone else is heading back down to do the Monday through Friday, nine to five grind. Now, don’t get me wrong, we put in some 40+ hours most weeks too. We also just happen to own the business, so we get to set the schedule and part of that schedule includes occasional Monday mornings on uncrowded mountain waters with a fly rod in one hand and a full thermos of freshly brewed java in the other– hate the game, not the player.

Anyway, this weekend, the pleading eyes and sweet smile of our god-daughter worked their magic and we threw our convictions out the window long enough to wind up in the miles long queue of SUV’s headed to higher elevations.

Though she is only six, Our Little Organizer already had a full agenda of activities lined up for us which, much to my delight, included having Uncle Dan show her how to fish. That little fact alone confirmed my suspicions about just how special that kid really is.

So, with the knowledge that I would be passing down hard-earned and sacred information to my little gem, I kept a weather eye out for the opportune moment as we jostled around the village and shoreline.

Finally, about an hour before sunset I noticed a general migration away from the lake by a very ragged and slightly reddened horde of tourists and fisher-folk. Seizing the moment, I fairly shouted, “let’s go fishin’”.

Ten minutes later we were down at the water watching carp pretend they were trout as they leapt after skimming insects against a rose colored sky.

The slap of their bodies against the surface was loud enough and random enough to keep the novice fisher-girl excited and interested while I rigged her pole with a baited hook.

Big mistake. For the record, six-year olds don’t want to wait for something to take bait. After 5,724 queries as to whether she could reel it in I decided we needed to teach her the fine art of casting.

I rigged a floating Rapala on a spinning rod and had her stand next to me, “Finger pulls the line tight, open the bail, cast and close the bail”

“I know Uncle Dan, Let me try.”

Three fouls and a hit.

The rest is, as they say history.

Now, unless you’ve been there, your gonna have to trust me on this but when you watch a disciple transform the knowledge you’ve so carefully imparted into actual practice — it’s magic.

It did not matter one lick that the only thing we caught in the next half hour was an honest-to-goodness Frisbee, she was hooked.

As the sun slipped behind the Western peaks, I knew that on the anniversary of our nation’s birth, a sports-woman had been born.

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By Sean Fenner, December 1, 2008

Over Thanksgiving I had the chance to go up to Big Bear Lake, CA. I did not really get to do alot of fishing, but it is a great spot. There is fishing all year round, and there is a fishing shop down town to pick up current lake info. Here are the spots that I have heard are the best; Boulder Bay, The Flats next to the airport on the east end of the lake, and the shoreline of the north/northwest end of the lake. They have all the species you are looking for Bass, Panfish, Catfish, Carp, and Trout. All you have to do is go in the right season. Here is the website I like best Big Bear Lake Fishing Report. Below are some pics of the lake from my trip.