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Aug. 7 fish report
| Thursday, Aug 7 2008 9:15 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Aug 7 2008 9:21 PM
Kern County and southern San Joaquin Valley
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Leah Raeann Villa, who is 5 1/2 and about to start kindergarten at Old River Elementary School, caught this 7-pound rainbow trout while fishing with her aunt Sherry Lynn Reed on July 26 in the Kern River near Kernville. She used power bait.
Seth Castillo, 16, of Bakersfield caught this 160-pound halibut while deep sea fishing July 26 on a private charter out of Seward, Alaska. Castillo, who will be a junior at Garces High, initially thought he got his line caught on something under the boat, but the captain, when trying to unhook his line, said: "you've got something...you've got something big." Turned out to be the biggest catch of the day on the boat. Castillo was fishing with his siblings Caleb and Christina.
DERBY ALERT: T.J. Williams, Bakersfield, officially won the July derby contest with his 37-pounder pulled out of Buena Vista. Striper derby began this week and will continue through Aug. 31. Biggest striper of the month earns $100 cash. Entry is free, but anglers must sign up at Bob's Bait in Bakersfield.
LAKE ISABELLA: Some of the best fishing in the area. The catfish bite is still the best with excellent action on clams and liver. Excellent bass bite on crawdads. A few crappie have been landed on small minnows. Also some fair trout fishing on Power Bait.
KERN RIVER: The Kernville area has a fair to good trout bite on salmon eggs and spinners. The flows have dropped drastically in the upper river, so the bite is very good for trout on flies, crickets, and salmon eggs. The lower river is starting to clear some. The Hatchery at Kernville has started planting the area with trout. The bite is best around the Hobo Campground and Sandy Flats on nightcrawlers and Salmon eggs.
RIVER WALK PARK: Few reports, but some of slot to fair bass and bluegill action.
AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: The catfish bite is good to excellent on mackerel and clams. Striper bite fair on blood worms, primarily at night.
HART PARK LAKE: Bluegill action good on wax worms and crickets. Good carp bite on dough balls.
TRUXTUN LAKE: Bluegill action good to excellent on meal worms and crickets. Good bass bite on topwater plugs in the evenings. Good carp bite on dough bait. Catfish bite picking up. Fair trout bite.
MING LAKE: Fair to good bluegill bite on crickets and meal worms. Fair bass bite on Senkos, plastic worms and minnows. Good carp bite on dough bait. A few trout biting Power Bait.
BRITE LAKE: Catfish bite fair on anchovies. Also a few bass showing.
BUENA VISTA LAKES: Good catfish bite on shad. Bluegill bite also good on wax worms.
WOLLOMES LAKE: Fair bluegill bite on wax worms and crickets. Bass bite fair on minnows and plastics. Consistent, good carp bite on dough bait.
SUCCESS LAKE: Improved action. Decent bass bite on plastic worms. Bluegill on wax worms and crickets.
KAWEAH LAKE: Slow to fair bass bite on Senkos. Levels are high.
Other regional lakes
CACHUMA: Trout bite still slow, but OK for the few anglers putting in the extra work and trolling deep with Needlefish or Rapalas.
CASITAS: Eric Elshere, Ojai, won last weekend's bass tournament here. He pulled out the best limit with a 9-8 and an eight-pound fish included. He took home a $1,500 check. Trout action fair to good by the dam for trollers using Needlefish in 40 feet.
CASTAIC: The trout bite that had been struggling to hang on is gone for the season. The recent heat has turned the action over to the stripers. The bite is good with fish being landed on cut bait, frozen shad and nightcrawlers.
LOPEZ: Excellent crappie bite on crappie jigs and minnows. Fish to 2 pounds or better have been reported over the past few weeks.
NACIMIENTO: The overall action improved and the bite for most species is fair. The spotted bass are best on plastics and spoons in the narrows and off the rocky shorelines. Some anglers have reported catching close to 20 fish in a day's fishing. Largemouth and small action fair with the largemouth action slightly better with fish reported on plastics and nightcrawlers.
PIRU: Trout action fair with the most action reported on Power Bait and nightcrawlers. Most fish are less than a pound.
PYRAMID: Bass action fair and steady. Anglers have reported the most fish up shallow early in the day on plastic worms and drop-shot. Slow to fair trout action with anglers catching fish at random on Power Bait, anchovies, and nightcrawlers. Fair striper bite. The bigger stripers, 10 pounds plus, are occasionally chasing the trout.
SAN ANTONIO: Crappie bite good, but inconsistent. The bite is best off shore on crappie jigs and minnows.
SANTA MARGARITA: Fair to good largemouth bass action on Brush Hogs, plastics or crankbaits. Anglers have pulled out limits with largemouth to 5 pounds or better on some.
Eastern Sierra
BRIDGEPORT REGION: The weather is great, but the temps did go up a few degrees, which means higher water temps and deeper fish at Bridgeport Reservoir. Although the fish are deep, they are still concentrated in deeper water. Fish in eight to 15 feet off Rainbow and Rocky Points. Flows are currently at 91 cfs. Virginia Lakes are very good. Big Virginia's fly and bait bite is hot. Twin Lakes fishing fair for trollers fishing on top. West Walker River good from 395 bridge down the canyon into the town of Walker, both stockers and wild fish showing on dries and droppers.
JUNE LAKE LOOP: June, Gull and Silver Lake are in full swing with good action trout on all three. Pulling a streamer along the weed beds is best at June with calibaetis and damsel patterns ideal at Silver.
MAMMOTH AREA: The rainbow and brown trout action at Crowley Lake is good. Cutthroat bite isn't so bad either. A number of decent fish were brought in, with the hot spot in McGee Bay for anglers fishing bait or midge patterns in seven to 14 feet of water. The bite at Hot Creek is fair to good, but the thickness of the weeds is making things a bit complicated. Water is dirty and high, but still fishable. Use small tricos in the early morning and PMDs after 10 a.m. Good stocker trout action in Mammoth Creek and all the Mammoth Lakes -- Mary, Mamie, Gull, and George. The water temps are warming, so the bite is deep during the late morning and evening. The San Joaquin River is really coming down and the fishing is good for wild and stocked fish. The area between Rainbow and Lower falls is a good spot. A dry/dropper setup is a good bet. Sotcher and Starkweather lakes both are good. Convict Lake bite good for rainbow trout at the inlet and outlet on nightcrawlers, Power Bait, Thomas Buoyants and Kastmasters. Upcoming events: Crowley Lake Stillwater Classic scheduled for Saturday. Entry fee is $75 and includes entry, T-shirt and BBQ lunch. Proceeds will be used to stock Crowley with brown trout.
BISHOP AREA: The bite at Lake Sabrina slowed, but only due to the warm temperatures. The fish are there, just deep. Fish in the Little George Inlet with Power Bait and nightcrawlers. The action for trollers is slow, but some are still working it off shore. The lake was planted by the DFG last Thursday. Bishop Creek has been very good on both planters and wild fish. Bishop Creek and Intake II were planted this week. Pleasant Valley Reservoir is fair to good for trout and perch. The trout are biting Power Bait and nightcrawlers. The reservoir was planted with trout by the DFG last week. The lower Owens River (in both the Gorge below Crowley Lake and below Pleasant Valley Reservoir) has a good early bite. Flows are at 369 cfs below Pleasant Valley. Tricos hatch around 7 a.m., baetis start mid-morning.
BIG PINE TO LONE PINE AREA: Pretty decent bite in both the lower Owens River. Diaz Lake slow. Plants this week at Baker Creek, Big Pine Creek, Goodale Creek, Independence Creek, Lone Pine Creek, Owens River (below Tinnemaha), Taboose Creek, Tinnemaha Creek and Tuttle Creek.
Trout plants
KERN: Kern River from Powerhouse No. 3 to Riverside Park, Kernville.
TULARE: Balch Park Eastern Lake, Balch Park Western Lake, Dry Meadow Creek, Freeman Creek, Hedrick Pond Campground Pond, Kern River from Brush Creek to Fairview Dam, Kern River from Fairview Dam to Falling Waters Lodge, lower and upper Peppermint Creek, North Fork of Middle Fork Tule River at Wishon Campground, South Fork of Middle Fork Tule River at Camp Nelson, South Fork of Middle Fork Tule River at Ceder Slopes.
Ocean report
SAN DIEGO BLAZING: The best bite in many years continued to sizzle out of San Diego with flat, calm seas, a tremendous variety of fish, and lots more on the way. Polaris Supreme skipper Tommy Rothery was on a recent five-day trip for wide-open kelp paddy yellowtail and dorado. Rothery said that there were several areas stretching hundreds of miles of the same kind of fishing. That bodes well for the next several weeks for the San Diego fleet because all of these fish are pointed north. The dorado and yellowtail, mostly smaller fish 5-8 pounds, are thick off San Diego and into Mexican water and big pushes of fish were being seen this week all the way to Newport. For San Diego anglers, one-day boats continue to take fishermen to limits of dorado, lots of big yellowtail to 18 pounds, a few albacore, bluefin tuna and yellowfin tuna, too. It has pretty much been a slam dunk on every single trip for the past 10 days, and with the Polaris Supreme report, it sounds like we have a lot more to come. Just a couple of the most recent scores? Earlier this week, the City of San Diego out of Seaforth Sportfishing with 32 guys returned to port with 44 dorado, four yellowfin, two albacore, and two yellowtail. On a 3/4-day trip. The overnight to two-day boats are really slamming the fish. Twenty anglers aboard H&M Landing's Constitution on Tuesday were on a 11/2-day trip and caught limits of dorado (40 fish), 56 yellowtail, a bluefin and caught and released a marlin on Tuesday. Also on Tueday, the New Lo Ann from Point Loma Sportfishing was out with 24 anglers who caught 71 dorado, 61 yellowtail, two yellowfin and a bluefin. The El Dorado was one a two-day early this week with 27 anglers and they landed 108 yellowtail, 63 dorado, two bluefin, two albacore, and one yellowfin.
ORANGE COUNTY UPDATE: Anglers aboard the Sea Horse from Dana Point Sportfishing scored over 50 dorado, 12 yellowtail and 2 albacore on an overnight trip late last week. Captain Dave Hansen found a floating kelp paddie 31/2 miles from Dana Point loaded with dorado, and there have been lots more catches made since then. Even the 1/2- and 3/4-day boats are starting to scratch a few dorado and more of these great gamefish are headed this way. There are also a lot of yellowtail mixed in with the dorado, too. There wasn't enough volume yet early this week to call it wide open -- like for the San Diego fleet -- but the action is definitely improving each day. This is one you need to stay on top of and go when the fish pop. Even if the dorado and yellowtails don't pop for the local half- and three-quarter-day boats, there continues to be pretty decent calico and sand bass mixed bag action on most days, and barracuda are frequently a component of the bag.