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May 15 fish report

Crappie bite very good at Isabella

The Bakersfield Californian | Thursday, May 15 2008 8:15 PM

Last Updated: Thursday, May 15 2008 8:45 PM

Kern County and southern San Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: The crappie bite is very good. Lots of big fish from 1-8 to 3 pounds have been landed on small minnows and jigs in the north and south forks. Jordan Reed, Bakersfield, landed 21/4-pound crappie on crappie jigs. Fair bass bite. Jermaine Brown, caught an eight-pound bass on minnows. Fair to good catfish bite on shad, and decent bass fishing for anglers fishing plastics, jigs, and nightcrawlers. Trout bite very good on Power bait and nightcrawlers. Trollers also scoring with Needlefish.

KERN RIVER: The Kernville area has a fair to good trout bite on salmon eggs and Blue Fox spinners. The flows are rising in the upper river, so use some more lead. Fair trout bite in the lower river. Ryan Klaruyk, Bakersfield, caught a 2-pound trout on Power Bait. Still too cool for the bass, but the action should start to pick up as it warms.

RIVER WALK PARK: The action from the last trout plant is slow to fair. No more trout plants will go until next season.

AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: Excellent striper bite on blood worms and lug worms and chicken liver. Very good catfish action on anchovies and shad, with improving action as the waters warm.

HART PARK LAKE: Bluegill action good on wax worms and crickets. Good bass action on brush hogs, and Senkos. Good carp bite on dough balls. Trout action fair, but winding down, on Power Bait and nightcrawlers.

TRUXTUN LAKE: Bluegill action good on meal worms and crickets. Fair to good bass bite on topwater plugs in the evenings. Good carp bite on dough bait. Catfish bite picking up. Fair trout bite. Michael Monti, Bakersfield, reeled in a 3-pound, 8-ounce largemouth bass on May 6.

MING LAKE: Very good bluegill action on crickets and meal worms. Fair to good bass bite on Senkos, plastic worms and minnows. Good carp bite on dough bait. Fair trout action on Power Bait.

BUENA VISTA LAKES: Good catfish bite on shad and Sonny's. Donte Thompson, Bakersfield, caught a 5-pound catfish on liver. The crappie bite is fair on minnows and jigs with fish to 1-8. The bass bite has slowed down. Bluegill bite good on wax worms.

WOLLOMES LAKE: Fair to good bluegill action on wax worms and crickets. Bass bite good on minnows and plastics. Good carp bite on dough bait.

SUCCESS LAKE: Very slow. Little to no bite.

KAWEAH LAKE: Fair crappie bite on small minnows. Fair bass action on Senkos.

Other regional lakes

CACHUMA: Fair trout bite in 5-20 feet for trollers using red Needlefish and nightcrawlers. The trout are from 1.5-2 pounds, with some over 6 pounds.

CASITAS: The live shad still remain the hot ticket. The bass bite is very good with anglers catching large numbers of fish on live shad, swimbaits and plastic worms.

CASTAIC: Good largemouth bass bite, with fish from 3-5 pounds lurking in the shallows. The coves and off the points are the hot spots.

LOPEZ: Very good crappie bite on jigs. Bass action very good on jigs, nightcrawlers or plastic worms, especially in Wittenberg Canyon. Good bluegill, perch and redear action on meal and wax worms. Catfish bite spotty.

NACIMIENTO: Continued 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 two to three 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 2-pound range, with an occasional 4-pounder or better. DFG trout plant this week.

PYRAMID: Good bass bite for anglers throwing jigs and plastics up shallow. Some still on beds but most are moving out. Fair trout action on Power Bait, anchovies and nightcrawlers. Still some holdovers from the DFG trout plant two weeks ago. Fair striper bite.

SAN ANTONIO: Very good crappie bite on jigs and minnows. 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 5 pounds on some stringers.

Eastern Sierra

BRIDGEPORT REGION: Bridgeport Reservoir continues to be good, despite the low water levels. Boats are launching, and boat anglers have had decent success in front of the marina. Lots of quality fish up to 5 pounds. Twin Lakes best for shore anglers fishing floating baits in a fair bite. Alpers?226-130? were recently planted, and those that can beat the very cold temps will pull out a few. The East Walker River remains good for good fly anglers with a lot of fish to 20 inches and better. Midge hatch in the early morning. The West Walker remains fair with decent water clarity in spite of the beginning of the runoff cycle and both fly and spin anglers are scoring. Kirman remains good with most of the action on quality cuts up to 20-inches.

JUNE LAKE LOOP: June, Gull, Silver and Grant have been fair to good, with waves of better action between windy spells. Silver Lake has been fishing the best in the loop.

MAMMOTH AREA: Bite fair to good on Crowley with fish spread out all over. Cold water has most fish five feet off the bottom. Beaver Cove, around the corner from the marina, is the hot spot with lots of small fish. For those with patience, fish McGee Bay and right in front of Bart's Bluff for the larger fish. Sandy Point also producing some trout.

BISHOP AREA: Bishop Creek is still fair to good, especially Intake II, and Sabrina Lake. Lots of open water all over at Sabrina. Boats were already on the water for Mother?226-130?s Day weekend. A few browns and rainbows are being landed on nightcrawlers, Power Bait and salmon eggs.

BIG PINE TO LONE PINE AREA: Pretty decent bite in both the lower Owens River and Diaz Lake. Plants this week at Baker, Big Pine, Cottonwood, Georges, Goodale, Baker Creek, Big Pine Creek, Cottonwood Creek, Diaz Lake, Georges Creek, Goodale Creek, Independence Creek, Lone Pine Creek, Owens River (below Tinnemaha), Sheperds Creek, Taboose Creek, Tinnemaha Creek, Tuttle Creek.

Trout plants

None scheduled this week for Kern or Tulare counties

Ocean report

CHANNEL ISLANDS UPDATE: The Coroloma out of Ventura Sportfishing continues to report excellent rockfishing. There has also been an occasional surface bite with a few yellowtail, barracuda, bonito and white seabass.

LOS ANGELES LANDING UPDATE: Fishing at San Clemente Island has been inconsistent but has shown significant signs of life. Anglers aboard the Toronado from Pierpoint, Long Beach, had 11 white seabass, while anglers on the Freedom, 22nd Street Landing, landed 46 yellowtail, both on trips this past week. Catalina Island has also shown promise, but for the most part the action has been hit and miss. Anglers aboard the Phantom had some big whites seabass days, as have fishermen on the Old No. 7, but there have been a lot of misses, too. Lots of sculpin and rockfish along the coast. Bass fishing on Marina del Rey twilight trips has been steady.

ORANGE COUNTY LANDINGS: Great local fishing for bonito to 17 pounds has been the word for Orange County-based boats for the past week. The half- and three-quarter-day boats have been acting more like albacore boats lately with anglers trolling feathers. After a jig strike, the bait stops on the giant bonito have made these trips something to remember. There have also been some bird schools of barracuda around, so that may be in our future, too.

SAN DIEGO: Anglers aboard the Coronado Island boats have been scratching some yellowtail, good bonito action (like in Orange County), along with occasional jags of good barracuda action. La Jolla has also shown signs of life with some good bass, barracuda, and bonito action along with a few yellowtail big thresher sharks are nearby.