Monday’s Update: Big Bear Lake’s first fishing contest of the 2011 season is in the record books. Over $6,000.00 in total prize money was handed out to nine lucky fishermen who traveled from as far away as Las Vegas to participate in the Jim Hall Memorial May Trout Classic. The winning fish, caught by Jack Storti of Westlake Village, weighed in at 9.10 pounds. Second place went to David Marshall, a Big Bear City local, who landed a 8.78 pound rainbow trout on the second day of the event.
In the junior division, ages 12-15, Cody Hemsley from Fontana was the winning angler with a rainbow weighing in at 2.39 pounds. The winner of the pee-wee division was Michael Torres from Orange County who landed a 2.59 pound trout on the stormy second day of the tournament. Both boys received new fishing rods and and a variety of fishing tackle.
On Sunday morning the weather turned from bad to worse, with snow showers chasing everybody off the lake. ”It was a success in spite of the weather” said Jacque Hall, tournament chairwoman, “The money we’ve raised will be used to pay for future rainbow trout fish plants, and that’s the way Jim would have wanted it”
The next fishing contest of the season is Aaron’s Spring Bass Tournament on May 21, 2011.
Big Bear Lake Trout Fishing
The May Trout Classic is in full swing today with over 360 anglers participating in the tournament. “The fish are really biting today and we’re blessed with perfect fishing weather”, says Jason Hall, the tournament chairman. “We have 364 registered fishermen, women and children on the lake today and we have not sold out, so come on up and join the fun”
The largest fish caught so far today has weighed in at 2.21 pounds, taken by Dave Brown of Anaheim. The field is wide open for larger fish to be taken. ”Everyone seems to be catching their limit but the average weight is lower than we expected”. ”This is the best scenario for us” added Hall, “Someone could potentially win this tournament with just an average size fish and that makes it fun for anglers of all ages”.
The Jim Hall Memorial May Trout Classic will continue until 2pm Sunday afternoon. Contact Big Bear Marina for additional information.
Jacki and Jason Hall really appreciate all the support our community has given them. The money raised goes to keeping the trout population healthy by subsidizing fish plants throughout the year.
Thanks Doug! The Big Bear Lake community really takes care of keeping the lake stocked with beautiful trout. I’ve watched the California Fish & Game release hundreds of pounds of trout into the lake.
It was great seeing Jacque and Jason Hall. They have worked very hard to promote fishing in Big Bear Lake and everything in the name of their father and husband, Jim Hall. We must support people like the Halls that do amazing things for our community at pretty much their own expense. I’ll let you know when and where the next trout plant happens.