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April 17 fish report
Good bass action at Hart Park Lake
| Thursday, Apr 17 2008 6:49 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Apr 17 2008 7:16 PM
Kern County and southern San Joaquin Valley
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Tito Aguilar of Shafter caught this 32-pound, 49.5-inch striped bass April 7 at the California Aqueduct near the Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area. Aguilar, who used anchovies for bait, said it was the biggest fish he's ever caught.
LAKE ISABELLA: Winds have made fishing tough at this lake, but with some persistence the bite will pay off. Fair to good trout action on Power Bait, nightcrawlers, and salmon eggs in Paradise Cove and by the dam. Fair to good crappie bite on minnows. Bass bite improved this week, with a good bite on plastics. Also a fair catfish bite at the dam on shad, clams and minnows.
KERN RIVER: The Kernville area has a fair to good trout bite on salmon eggs and silver spinners. The flows are rising in the upper river, but it's still fishable. Fair trout bite in the lower river. Bass bite very slow. DFG trout plant at Kern River from Powerhouse No. 3 to Riverside Park.
RIVER WALK PARK: The action from the last trout plant is dying. No more trout plants will go until next season.
AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: The striper action is very good on shad, Gitzits, lug worms and blood worms. Blood worms and lug worms are the hot tickets. Most fish are from three to seven pounds. Juan Morales, Bakersfield, caught a 3-8 striper on lug worms. Decent catfish action on shad and nightcrawlers.
HART PARK LAKE: Good bass action on brush hogs, and Senkos. Fair to good carp bite on dough balls. Trout action fair, but winding down, on Power Bait and nightcrawlers.
TRUXTUN LAKE: Good bass bite on nightcrawlers, live minnows and brush hogs. Good carp bite on dough. Catfish bite picking up. Bluegill action fair on wax worms and crickets.
MING LAKE: Very good carp action on dough. Fair to good bass bite on Senkos, plastic worms, nightcrawlers, Brush Hogs and minnows. Slow to fair trout action on Power Bait.
BRITE LAKE: Trout bite is fair on Power Bait and spinners, with boat anglers having the best success in deeper water. Shore anglers having a tougher time as the trout head deep with warming temperatures. Water level still coming up. DFG trout plant this week.
BUENA VISTA LAKES: Good crappie bite on minnows and jigs with some two-pound plus fish. Fair bluegill bite on wax worms. Good trout action on mini-jigs, Power Bait and nightcrawlers. Fair to good striper bite on blood worms and lug worms. Good bass action on Senkos, brush hogs, crawdads and large minnows. The catfish bite is fair on shad or minnows. Some bluegill starting to show with warming weather on wax and meal worms.
WOLLOMES LAKE: Fair bluegill action on wax worms. Bass bite good on minnows and plastics.
SUCCESS LAKE: The levels are up, and anglers are able to launch boats. Action slow. Bass bite fair, at times, on plastic worms and Senkos. DFG trout plant two weeks ago.
KAWEAH LAKE: Fair crappie bite on small minnows. Fair bass action on Senkos. DFG trout plant two weeks ago.
Other regional lakes
CACHUMA: Fair trout bite in the open water for trollers using Needlefish and nightcrawlers. The trout are from 11/2 -2 pounds, with some in the 5- to 6-pound range.
CASITAS: The live shad are back, and the bass are all over them. The fish are also taking swimbaits and plastic worms. Gary Plant, Long Beach, caught an 11-pound bass on nightcrawlers. The trout has been slow, but picked up with this week's plant at the Coyote Launch Ramp. Fair to good bluegill and redear on live worms. Catfish bite very slow. Crappie bite very slow to fair, but will pick up with the live shad. Nightfishing scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Private boats are not being allowed on the lake because of fears of quagga mussel infestation.
CASTAIC: Fair to good largemouth bass bite, with some fish nearing four pounds. The fish arm and the lagoon are the hot spots for the bass on plastics. The striper bite is fair to good, with a few fish in the double-digits on anchovies or frozen shad. More carp landed this week on frozen shad or dough. Trout were planted two weeks ago, 1,800 pounds at the lagoon, and aside from a few holdovers the action is slow.
LOPEZ: Bass action fair on jigs, nightcrawlers or plastic worms, especially in Wittenberg Canyon. Fair crappie action in 25 to 30 feet across from the marina and near the boat house on jigs.
NACIMIENTO: Good spotted bass action on plastics and spoons. The spotted bass are in the narrows and off the rocky shorelines. Anglers reported catching 12 to 15 fish by putting in 2 to 3 hours. Fair white bass bite.
PIRU: Fair trout bite on Power Bait, plastic worms and nightcrawlers for bait anglers. Trollers have been using Kastmasters, Rapalas or Needlefish in 65 to 85 feet. Most fish are in the one to two-pound range, with an occasional four-pounder or better. DFG trout plant two weeks ago.
PYRAMID: A trout plant, 3,000 pounds, went in earlier this week and should help the trout bite improve. Trout action has been fair to good on anchovies and nightcrawlers, but inconsistent with storms of heavy winds since the lake re-opened two weeks ago. The bigger stripers should come out and go after the trout from the plant, but the striper bite has been very good on fish to six pounds this with fish showing on cut baits or shad-like swimbaits and cranks. Many anglers have caught easy limits this week. Catfish are still slow, but a 15-pound catfish was caught last week. No bluegill or crappie reports, yet. Largemouth and smallmouth have been landed on plastics in a fair to good bite.
SAN ANTONIO: Fair to good striper action in Bee Rock Cove and Harris Creek on anchovies and swimbaits. The smallmouth are scarce, however the largemouth bite is fair to good around the rocky points on swimbaits, spoons, crankbaits and plastic worms. Fair catfish action on anchovies.
SANTA MARGARITA: Largemouth bass action fair to good on Brush Hogs, plastics or crankbaits. Anglers have landed their limit with largemouth to five pounds on some stringers.
Eastern Sierra
Trout season is closed throughout most of this region. General trout season opener will be April 26.
Trout plants
KERN: Brite Valley Reservoir, Kern River from Powerhouse No. 3 to Riverside Park, Kernville.
TULARE: Big Meadows Creek, Kern River from Bush Creek to Fairview Dam, Kern River from Fairview Dam to Falling Waters Lodge, Middle Fork of Tule River, North Fork of Middle Fork Tule River at Wishon Campground, Peppermint Creek, South Fork of Middle Fork Tule River at Camp Nelson, South Fork of Middle Fork Tule River at Ceder Slopes.
Ocean report
CHANNEL ISLANDS UPDATE: Good rockfishing with lots of reds and limits of salmon grouper. In addition, there has been some very good ling cod fishing. We are still hoping for white seabass and halibut as well as more calico bass. The water needs to warm a bit more and then it should be game on.
LOS ANGELES AREA LANDINGS: Anglers on the Big Game 90, on a 976-TUNA charter at San Clemente Island this past week, saw lots of yellowtail and caught a few. Skipper Mikle Jewitt thinks this bite could break open any day now, especially with the improving tide and weather conditions. Wind has been a problem this week. There is still a hit and miss bite on the white seabass at Catalina Island, but we are looking at slightly warmer water and a full moon, so look out. The Phantom had limits of white seabass last week, and there has been a decent pick here and there. The 3/4-day boats at Catalina have been picking at the barracuda and calico bass, but there is a good bite on the bonito on these trips. Local rockfishing remains good. Boats in the Santa Monica Bay have been catching limits of salmon grouper and a few lings. The water remains cold along this part of the coast so no sign of the barracuda, yet.
ORANGE COUNTY LANDINGS UPDATE: Good sculpin and rockfish along the coast with a few halibut, too, for the half- and 3/4-day boats fishing nearshore waters. There have been a few sand bass, with the spring bite trying to get going. There has also been a few barracuda showing up mixed with bonito. Once again, warmer water will really accelerate this action. Many boats are headed to the islands (both Catalina and Clemente) this week to tap the good bonito action and a shot at the possibility of yellowtail and white seabass.
SAN DIEGO ARE NEWS: The Coronado Islands are more and more like spring with good catches of bonito along with a few barracuda and yellowtail. The Mission Belle skipper Ryan Bostian says that spring is here and that he sees more life every single day. Some boat skippers are even talking about albacore exploratory trips, so we'll see what comes of that. Good bottom fishing for the boats headed down the Baja coast for 11/2-day trips. San Diego's local bite is ready to explode. On the long range scene, there was tremendous fishing for giant yellowfin tuna this past week. Anglers on the Royal Polaris this week reported in lots of 170- to 190-pound yellowfin tuna.