Three feet down or so and infused with tons of fresh water. Clear as a bell with water clarity up to 15 feet. Most important of all, no quagga mussels!

    Big Bear Lake is in terrific condition heading into 2008 season, and with minimal inconvenience to boaters should remain that way. The invasive quagga mussel that plagues Lake Mead and the Colorado River has not turned up in Big Bear, and while Municipal Water District is implementing the screening methods other state lakes are employing, there won’t be much hassle for boaters.

    The wet early winter brought the lake up to what many consider its optimum operational level, around three feet down. At that level there’s more beach and coves around the 22-mile shoreline to enjoy and with the influx of all the winter water, the water is clearer than ever. Used to be five feet was considered good; 12-15 feet was unheard of.

    Fishermen have already been reaping the benefits of the near-full lake with terrific action reported all spring. “The trout fishing has been awesome,” says MWD lake manager Mike Stephenson. “This spring people have been getting their limit in a couple hours.”

    MWD has been helping the fishery by raising its own homegrown trout. A cage-full of Big Bear bows numbering around 450 are set to be released in time for this month’s May Trout Classic, 430 weighing 3.5 or even 4 lbs. The rest are beasts tipping the scales at 10 and up to 15 lbs. Just as last year, a few homegrown fish will be held over for the October Troutfest. These fish are held in Big Bear Lake and so don’t experience culture shock when they’re introduced to the water, unlike bows purchased from outside fisheries. It should be noted that the tagged fish caught at last year’s event, good for a truck, was homegrown and caught within 50 feet of where it was released from the cage.

    While MWD continues to introduce good fish, it’s also removing the bad ones. In 2007 some 70,000 lbs. of carp were taken out of the lake by Nevada Carp, which utilizes huge football-field size nets and electroshock boats to clear the trash fish, which harms the lake’s ecosystem and hurts the game fish. “The project was so successful we’re hoping to buy our own electro fishing boat,” MWD general Manage Scott Heule says. “It cost about a buck a pound to remove the carp. With our own equipment that number goes down.”

    The other way MWD is removing carp is with its fifth annual Roundup, set for June 7-8. In 2007 anglers removed some 8,000 lbs. of carp during the two-day event, and another two thousand during the preceding days while tuning up for the competition.

    Two-man shoreline or boating teams using crossbows begin hunting each day at 7 a.m. $1,000 cash is award based on the total weight of carp taken over the two days in each category, with $500 for second place teams and $300 for third. Hunting is till 4 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday.

    Entry fee is $40 per person, which includes T-shirt, mesh fish bag and hot dog lunch at the awards ceremony. Also included is a raffle ticket, with the grand prizes two custom bows.

    Give the lake a helping hand on May 17 during Adopt a Shoreline. Based on the Adopt a Highway program that’s been so successful for roadways, the program is especially vital this year, since the lake’s five foot rise since last fall means there’s plenty of debris to remove. Meet at MWD offices (Lakeview) at 9 a.m. Volunteers are given gloves, bags and trash picker-uppers—not to mention barbecue hot dog lunch and T-shirt. Last year some 50 volunteers turned out.

    While October Troutfest is still a few months away, now’s the time to register for what has become one of the region’s premier fishing events. Cosponsored by Western Outdoor News, the event is limited to the first thousand anglers to sign up and 500 have already done so. Entry fee is $75 which includes lunch, blind bogey and goodie bag filled with lures, lines and other great swag that’s worth the price of admission in itself.

    “All the proceeds are spent on fish plants,” Heule says. “Last year we raised $15,000 from the blind bogey and spent it on fish plants.”

    Call MWD at (909) 866-5796.