Jan. 1 fish report
| Thursday, Dec 31 2009 04:54 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Dec 31 2009 05:12 PM
Images
Gabriella Jackson, 7, holds up the first trout she caught on a fall fishing trip with her dad, Kent Jackson, on the Kern River.
Parris Hayes of Bakersfield caught this 25-pound catfish Dec. 24 at Buena Vista's Lake Webb. He used shad for bait.
Kern County, southern San Joaquin Valley
LAKE ISABELLA: Little fishing pressure, but there are three bites of note. First, a few really toad largemouth bass are showing on jigs fished in deep water around structure. Randy Richardson, Bakersfield, caught a 16-pound, 8-ounce last Monday and Glen Richardson, caught a 13-pounder earlier in December. Both were released. Second, there is a pretty good crappie bite on live minnows at French Gulch Marina. These are mostly quality fish over 1-8. Last the catfish bite has also come back on a little in the French Gulch area on frozen shad. Other species are slow, but some trout are showing at the main dam.
KERN RIVER: Flows in the upper Kern are low and the river is fishing slow in the 20-mile roadside stretch above Kernville with the best action on small nymphs in the cold water. The Wild Trout stretch is even slower with the cold water conditions. The lower river is fair for smallmouth bass in the Richbar, Hobo areas off on spinners, crawlers, and plastics, but the fish are small.
AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: The striped bass bite has been good with a lot of keeper fish over the 18-inch minimum size. The best action has been on blood worms, but more and more lure fish have been reported in the past week with shad-like crankbaits or Gitzit-sytle lures the best bets. Also still a few catfish showing.
HART PARK LAKE: DFG trout plant this week and two weeks ago. Best action on Power Bait and green, garlic nightcrawlers. Other species are very slow.
TRUXTUN LAKE: DFG trout plant this week and two weeks ago. Still oddly spotty action. Other species very slow.
RIVER WALK PARK: DFG trout plant this week. The bite had slowed before this stock. The hot ticket has been to fish mini jigs or Trout Traps just 12-inches under a rattling bobber. The rainbows are also showing garlic Power Bait, chunky cheese Gulp!, and green, garlic nightcrawlers. Bass and bluegill very slow.
MING LAKE: DFG trout plant this week and two weeks ago. Fair action on Power Bait and garlic nightcrawlers. Other species are slow.
BRITE LAKE: DFG trout plant this week and two weeks ago.
BUENA VISTA LAKES: The winter crappie action is starting to take off here with some quality fish showing on live minnows. In fact, most of the fish are over 11/2 pounds. Mark Nelson, Bakersfield, had crappie at 2-8, 1-12 and 1-12 on minnows. The trout action has continued fair on corn Power Bait, and the best action is still close to shore. Elias Zacarias, Bakersfield, landed a 4-12 rainbow. Big trout are slated to be planted for this weekend. Catfish are also starting to show. Mervin Williams, Bakersfield, caught a 22-pound cat on frozen shad this past week.
WOOLLOMES LAKE: DFG trout plant this week and two weeks ago. Fair to good action on corn Power Bait and garlic nightcrawlers. The bluegill bite is slow on red worms or meal worms.
SUCCESS LAKE: DFG trout plant three weeks ago, fair action. Other species mostly slow with a few bass still showing in deeper water on plastics and jigs.
KAWEAH LAKE: Trout plant three weeks ago, with fair action. Mostly slow action on other species with only a few bass and the odd redear showing.
Other regional lakes
CACHUMA: A DFG trout plant went in this week and the action has been pretty good with light fishing pressure. Best action in Cachuma Bay for trollers and bait anglers. The dam area also pretty good. There is still a pretty fair bite on smallmouth bass on the rocky points, mostly on plastics and jigs in deeper water. Slow other species.
CASITAS: Continued tough fishing, but a DFG trout plant Wednesday this week at the Coyote Launch ramp could bring a few of the big largemouths for anglers tossing big, trout-like swimbaits and cranks. The action has mostly been in 15 to 40 feet of water on live bait, plastics, and jigs. Also some suspended fish on spoons and ice jigs. Trout spotty before the plant with only a few on small spinner and floating dough baits. Catfish very spotty, but a few have been reported by anglers fishing mackerel in 15-20 feet of water.
CASTAIC: Striper action was good this past week. Swimbaits have been working best after the trout plants, and the DFG trout went in both the upper lake and lagoon this week. Sardines fished at the forebay buoy line has also been working well for the stripers. There is a good trout bite in the lower lake on salmon eggs, Power Bait, and small grubs. The largemouth bite is fair on shad-like cranks and swimbaits, with plastic worms also a good bet. Catfish action has slowed and very few bluegill and crappie.
LOPEZ: Light fishing pressure, but a few crappie and redear are showing. Bass spotty, catfish slow.
NACIMIENTO: Fair spotted bass action with jigs, plastics, and swim baits all producing fish. Other species slow.
PIRU: DFG trout plants this week and two weeks ago, and the bite has been pretty good on floating baits and small lures and jigs. The largemouth bass action is still fair on deep-running cranks, jigging spoons, and ice jigs in 30 to 50 feet of water.
PYRAMID: With no DFG trout plant for two weeks, the trout action is just fair on Power Bait on small trout jigs or plastics. Stripers remain pretty fair in the channel with a few still showing in the marina. Also some fish at the dam. The stripers are two to five pounds and they are showing on swim baits and cut baits. The bigger fish are best in the marina with the smaller fish in the main channel. Still light fishing pressure. The largemouth and smallmouth bass, redear, and catfish are all slow.
SAN ANTONIO: Very few reports.
SANTA MARGARITA: Bass action still slow, but a few crappie are showing on small jigs. Very light fishing pressure. The marina store is open Wednesday through Sunday.
Eastern Sierra
GENERAL: General trout season reopens in Inyo and Mono counties on Saturday, April 24.
BRIDGEPORT REGION: Cold and icy conditions and flows on the East Walker remain very low and the bite is fair in the afternoons in the runs and pools. Most action on midges and caddis nymph patterns.
MAMMOTH AREA: The upper Owens River and Hot Creek, both open to year-around catch-and-release fishing, but access has been very difficult. The Owens has quite a few quality rainbows and browns up from Crowley.
BISHOP AREA: Pleasant Valley Reservoir, the lower Owens River, and the Owens River gorge remain open to year-around fishing. The Wild Trout section of lower Owens River remains good for fly anglers. Pleasant Valley Reservoir has been fair for lure, jig, bait, and fly anglers, especially for float tubers fishing near the inlet or at the dam. No plants in region this week. Owens Gorge fair for small browns.
Trout plants
LA County: Castaic Lagoon, Castaic Lake, Elizabeth Lake, Hansen Lake, Peck Road P.
Kern County: Brite Valley Resrvoir, Hart Park Lake, Lake Truxtun, Lake Woollomes, Ming Lake, The Park at River Walk Lake.
Ocean report
LONG RANGE FLEET REENGAGING: The long range fleet out of San Diego was back in for Christmas, but most of the boats running 14-day and longer trps are back en route south or are leaving in the next few days to hit the big tuna grounds off the tip of Baja California. The big tuna are showing from the Gordo Banks off San Jose del Cabo and out into the Pacific. The action on 100 to 200-pound fish has been excellent, even for the panga fleet out of San Jose, but the attraction is for the even bigger cows from the high 200-pound range into the mid-300s. The scores on those fish have been spectacular again this season. There are also five to seven-day trips beginning that will be fishing the Cedros Island region for big yellowtail. Amazingly, all of the long range boats are seeing tuna as close as 180 miles or so south of San Diego and off San Martin Island as they run south.
HUMBOLDT SQUID IN SAN DIEGO: The big Humboldt squid have stolen the show out of San Diego for local boats. The New Seaforth out of Seaforth Sportfishing has pioneered this fishing and the action has been excellent for two weeks. This is all twilight and after-dark fishing and the squid are running from 15 to 30 pounds. The big cephalopods come up out of deer water off the Nine Mile Bank, and other landings are going to be sending out boats, probably starting this weekend.
CATALINA UPDATE: Since Christmas a few more sport boats are looking at Catalina Island this week and seeing pretty good signs of yellowtail and white seabass. While few catches have been posted, skippers are reporting quite a few fish and the availability of squid for bait has boosted hopes there could be a decent winter bite. In the meantime, anglers aboard the Option out of Pierpoint Landing reported wide open bonito fishing at Catalina along with a pretty decent pick on the calico bass this week while looking for yellows and seabass.
LOCAL NEARSHORE ACTION: With rockfish and other bottom fish closures starting Friday, the outlook for the local near-shore fishing all along the coast is not bright. The availability of squid for bait has kept the sand bass action pretty decent, but without the bottom fish adding heft to the sacks, the pickings are likely to get pretty slim. The exception is sand dabs, which remain wide open on the few trips being run each week.
