Crappie Fishing Big Bear Lake

It was the beginning of November and my younger brother Tyson was visiting us in Southern California from Canada.  We decided to head up to Big Bear Lake since the fish usually start biting well as the water cools down in the fall.  We stopped at the North Side of the dam and were trying to use slip bobbers and power bait   It was a very slow morning and we only managed to catch one small rainbow trout from shore.   

Since fishing wasn't the greatest we decided to head off down to Big Bear Creek.  From the Dam you drive down the hi way a little over a mile until there is a large turnout with a gravel road leading down the mountain.  If you have an all wheel drive vehicle you should be able to make it since the road gets a little rough towards the end.  Drive down to the parking area and then hike down a short but very steep decent down the valley.  We arrived to the creek and started making our way down.  We saw a few brown trout but they were not paying our mini jigs any attention today.  Seems like the fish were in an off mood today.  After giving it a good try we decided to hike out and give Big Bear Lake another try for the evening bite.  The hike out is pretty tough.  My younger brother was calling out for the Mountain Lion to come put him out of his misery.  We made it out though and headed back to the lake.

Back at the dam we cast out our slip bobbers with pieces of night crawlers.  Right away our bobbers started going down.  It wasn't trout pulling them down though, it was crappie.  We started to catch a bunch of crappie and had a great time as the sun set.  Turned out to be a beautiful fall day and a bit different of an experience for my brother since he had never caught crappie before.  

Kayak Fishing Big Sur on the Central California Coast

I had read about fishing BIG SUR for months online and it was my first chance to go.  I had my kayak, fish finder, GPS and a few sturdy rods to help me catch some fish.  Everything I read seemed like it was impossible not to catch lots of fish off the Big Sur Coast.  The forecast was for big wind and bigger waves, but the sea wasn't quite so angry past the shore break.  My wife and I suited up in our wet suits and stood on the beach watching for any patterns to the waves that were crashing on the beach.  This seemed a little tricky being our first time out on the BIG WATER!  After waiting we chose our moment carefully and paddled furiously to get out past the shore break before we became its breakfast. We made it past the break and headed out to the Bull Kelp we could see from shore.  The swell was about 8 feet high and we were rolling up and down in our Pro2 Tandem Malibu Kayak.  It wasn't long before I started to feel a little sick.  This was my first experience of true Sea Sickness.  I was severely debilitated and it ruined my fishing ability.  I couldn't even change hooks.  After puking my guts out three times in a row I got lucky and caught one undersized ling cod on a large white scampi.  I think I chummed the waters with breakfast from earlier that morning at Tree Bones Resort.  It was a sunny beautiful day and the winds stayed low.  We headed in early though as I was sick and we weren't catching anything anyways.   I was shocked... seemed like my Big Sur dreams were dashed, but there was always the next day!

Day #2 headed back to the same fishy spot for a second attempt armed with ocean defense... a Scopolamine patch behind my ear.  OH MAN! fishing is 100% better when you are not sick.  The weather was great and  I was trying different lures, moving to different spots and found out the fish really just wanted something simple.  A good ole Shrimp Fly Rig with a strip of squid on it.  We started hauling in the rockfish one after another.   There were a lot of different species as well showing up.  We caught black and yellows, gophers, a big ling cod, a cabezon, and black rockfish.  These fish were located by moving around in the bull kelp and dropping the rig to the bottom and holding it still until you felt a hit.  The bites would come within a matter of seconds of hitting the bottom usually.  After catching a few fish in a spot it was time to move to the next for more action.  The only problem was getting snagged here and them and losing a few rigs to the bottom.  If you are going plan on bringing enough tackle to last you the trip.  Fishing was very consistent and then I hooked into something bigger.  It was pulling hard and actually gave me a good run as it took off back down to the bottom.  The entertaining battle ended with my first legal ling cod sitting on my lap.  What a cool looking fish.  After filling our stringer we headed back with the Central Coast delights.  We had a great day and I knew I would be back for more soon!

Hope you guys enjoyed the post.  If you have any questions about Kayak Fishing the Central Coast let me know and I'll hook you up with some information. 

This is an amazing place to go see.  We really enjoy staying at the Tree Bones Resort with complimentary breakfast.  It is very nice Glamping in Yurts right on the coast.  They also have a few camping spots on the property.

Convict Lake and Sabrina Lake Fall Fishing the Sierras

My wife and I were camping, late fall, at the Convict Lake campground.  I woke up early as usual contemplating where to search out a spot to fish while Meli was still asleep.  I tied up an ultra light spinning rod with a white mini jig and headed down to the outlet stream from Convict Lake.  The stream is very small after the pool just below the lake outlet.  Mostly 5-8 feet across and a short rod works great in the tight bushes.  I found a fool small pools and bounced my mini jig through with not much luck.  I worked my way up the stream towards the lake and found a small water fall and tried below it.  I jigged the mini jig in the white water and soon had a beautiful little brown trout to show for my work.  I released it back after a picture and headed up to the large outlet pools below the lake.  I could see about ten trout swimming around in the pools.  Even though they were there I could not convince them to bite.  Apparently the California Department of Fish and Game often stocks this stream and has put some Alpers in here at times. Without much luck I headed back for breakfast. 

Later on we launched the Kayak onto Convict Lake and trolled all over the place without catching anything.  We tried lures such as Thomas Buoyant spoons, a lake troll with a worm behind, spinners, jigs for nothing.  We saw someone else on a boat drifting night crawlers catch a large rainbow mid lake.  Since we weren't having much luck we headed to the other side of the lake where the inlet stream enters the lake.  After fishing out front for a while I caught a nice little rainbow on a mini jig.  This fish was caught with a Berkley Gulp Alive Fish Fry in white on a Trout Teaser jig head.  Saw some people fishing from shore with the bait and wait technique having some success.  Since the wasn't going to well we decided to back up and head over to Sabrina lake on the way home.      

We packed up and headed to Sabrina lake.  It turns out we had much better luck fishing from shore at Sabrina lake.  We were fishing by the dam near the parking lot since some other people seemed to be having some action there.  We were using Rainbow Glitter Powerbait and sliding egg sinker rigs.  Meli, my wife, started to catch rainbow after rainbow with this technique.  We would cast it out and slowly drag it back, pausing in between small pulls.  My wife outfished me big time!  In the hour that we were there we must have hooked 8 rainbows.  After watching a beautiful sunset it was time to head home.  Dress warm if going to Sabrina Lake it is pretty high up in the Mountains near Bishop.   

The Deer were a little too friendly at Convict Lake Campground, they came looking for breakfast from us.

Good Luck out there!  If you have any questions about the area let me know how I can help.

The Fishing Doctor's Adventures Introduction

Hello Friends and Fellow Outdoorsmen,

Welcome to my Fishing Adventure Blog.  Let me give you a short introduction of myself and what this blog will be focusing on.  Here's my Top 10 Blog Information List for you!

#1 I'm an avid Outdoorsman!

#2 I spend the bulk of my outdoor adventures Fishing:
             Kayak Fishing
             Ocean Fishing
             Stream Fishing
             Shore Fishing
             Alpine Fishing
             Spear Fishing
             Ice Fishing
             Deep Sea Fishing
             Fly Fishing
             Shark Fishing
             You name it and if I haven't tried it yet I'll plan on it next time!

#3 Just catching fish was getting old, so now I enjoy capturing it on film and making YouTube episodes for you to watch.

#4 I enjoy sharing the fishing knowledge I've accumulated over 25 years of fishing Canada and the USA.

#5 I recently completed Residency as an Internal Medicine Physician.

#6 I received my nickname "The Fishing Doctor" during residency after giving fish I caught away to people I worked with.

#7 I hope to make this an interactive Fishing Website.  I'll share my stories, tips and you can request How To Fishing Videos that I will produce.  Please Subscribe to YouTube Channel if interested. https://www.youtube.com/user/Brandonkop.  Here is a video from Maui swimming with 36 wild Spinner Dolphins off Big Beach for an example.

#8 I enjoy other adventures as well so you may see posts regarding Snow Skiing, Snorkeling, SCUBA Diving, Water Skiing, Kayaking, Hiking and more.

#9 Just to jump start the content I'll post adventures I've done in the last couple of years just to catch you up to speed.

#10 Good Luck Fishing!!!

Hope you find The Fishing Doctor's Adventures interesting and informative.

Thanks for Joining In on the Fun!

Brandon Koperski - Fishing MD