Jan. 7 fish report
| Thursday, Jan 07 2010 05:16 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jan 07 2010 06:05 PM
Images
Obadiab Daniel Douglas caught this 7.1-pound trout at on orange and green PowerBait recently at Buena Vista Aquatic Recreation Area's Lake Evans.
Clifton Calderwood of Bakersfield caught this steelhead on a fly rod recently on a guided float trip on the Trinity River west of Redding in which he floated approximately 8 miles. The fish weighed between 7-8 pounds. And it took about 10 minutes to bring it in.
Kern County and southern San Joaquin Valley
LAKE ISABELLA: There continue to be three bites of note. First the catfish bite has really surged in the Engineer Point and French Gulch areas on frozen shad. Miles, Miles Jr., Clyde, and Steve Eddington, all Bakersfield, caught over 40 cats from 1 to 7 pounds, all on frozen shad at Engineer Point. The second bite is for anglers fishing boat slips in the French Gulch marina for crappie up to 2 pounds on live minnows. A few fish are coming from the stickups in the north fork but most of the fish are in the marina. Lastly, a few quality largemouth bass continue to be caught on jigs fished in deep water around structure. 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 last week and three weeks ago. Best action on Power Bait and green, garlic nightcrawlers. Other species are very slow.
TRUXTUN LAKE: DFG trout plant last week and three weeks ago. Still spotty action. Other species very slow.
RIVER WALK PARK: DFG trout plant last week and a pretty good bite. The hot ticket has been to fish tiny 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. Fly anglers fishing midges are also having very good success. Bass and bluegill very slow.
MING LAKE: DFG trout plant last week and three weeks ago. Fair action on Power Bait and garlic nightcrawlers. Other species are slow.
BRITE LAKE: DFG trout plant last week and three weeks ago.
BUENA VISTA LAKES: The trout action has been good with a lot of quality fish showing after last weekís plant of trophy fish. Armando Gutierrez, Bakersfield, caught a 14-pounder on Power Bait, while Belinda and Dan Estrada, both Bakersfield, had rainbows at 10 and 8 pounds, repectively, also on Power Bait. The winter crappie action is perking along with some quality fish showing on live minnows. Catfish are also starting to show, but nothing as big as last week's 22-pounder.
WOOLLOMES LAKE: DFG trout plant last week and three 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: Slow trout action with no recent plants. Other species mostly slow with a few bass still showing in deeper water on plastics and jigs.
KAWEAH LAKE: Mostly slow action with only a few bass and the odd redear showing. No recent DFG trout plants.
Other regional lakes
CACHUMA: A DFG trout plant went in last week and the action has been good. Nightcrawlers have been the top bait with Cachuma Bay and the dam top spots. Jim Stornetta, Santa Maria, caught 10 trout on nightcrawlers in Cachuma Bay. There is still a pretty fair bite on smallmouth bass on the rocky points, mostly on plastics and jigs in deeper water. Dave Poolman, Ventura, landed seven bass on spoons fishing all over the lake in 40 to 50 feet of water. Slow other species. The marina is closed and boat rentals have ceased, effective in mid-October. The marina isnít expected to be reopening in the near future, but the boat launch is still open.
CASITAS: Continued slow to fair bass action, but diligent anglers are still getting a few fish in 15 to 30 feet of water on drop-shot plastics, jigs, or Kastmasters. Juan Perez, Oakview, had a 9-pound bass on a plastic, while Shaun Flaherty, Oakview, landed a 7-8 on a jig. Matt Wheatley, Oakveiw, landed a half-dozen bass to 5-12 over three days, all on plastics. Trout spotty, DFG plants a pittance of normal. Crappie, redear, and catfish all slow. Private boats are allowed at Casitas, but boats will be inspected and face a 10-day dry dock requirement because of fears of quagga mussel infestation.
CASTAIC: Fishing really slowed this past week for stripers and largemouth, but largemouth have been particularly slow with only some smaller stripers still showing, but not in the numbers of recent weeks. Cut baits and nightcrawlers have been working best for the stripers with the buoy line the top spot. Crappie, catfish and redeaer all very slow, too. The lagoon has remained the best bet with largemouth, trout and panfish all showing in fair numbers on a variety of baits.
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 last week and three weeks ago, and the bite has been pretty good on floating baits and small lures and jigs. The largemouth bass action is slow on jigging spoons and ice jigs in 30 to 50 feet of water. A few crappie continue to show on small jigs, and bluegill and redear are spotty on nightcrawlers and red worms. Catfish very slow.
PYRAMID: Stripers remain pretty fair in the channel with a few still showing in the marina. Also some fish at the dam. The stripers are 2-5 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. With no DFG trout plant for three weeks, the trout action is slow with only a few rainbows showing on Power Bait on small trout jigs or plastics. The largemouth and smallmouth bass, redear and catfish are all slow.
SAN ANTONIO: No 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
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. This is a catch-and-release water open year-around.
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
None scheduled this week for Kern or Tulare counties
Ocean report
LONG RANGE FLEET REENGAGING: The long range fleet continues to have very good action on the 10-plus day trips off the tip of Baja. The Independence returned this week with a 238-pound yellowfin the top fish on board. The Qualifer Excel returned with eight fish over 200 pounds. The Polaris Supreme reported in on Tuesday with just fair tuna action but there were several yellowfin from 150 to 175 pounds on board. The Royal Polaris just arrived in the region on Tuesday and found a good wahoo bite on the troll with fish from 30 to 50 pounds. The first albacore of the year was also caught about 200 miles south of San Diego by the Shogun, a good sign for the new year. The five to seven-day trips are just beginning, and they will be fishing the Cedros Island region for big yellowtail.
HUMBOLDT SQUID IN SAN DIEGO: The big Humboldt squid continue to show in pretty good numbers. The New Seaforth had 25 anglers on board Tuesday night and they caught 175 of the big squid and they were from 15 to 30 pounds. The squid are coming up out of deer water off the Nine Mile Bank, and boats from both Seaforth and H&M Landing are now running evening trips.
CATALINA UPDATE: Island looks like it could have a good winter bite on the white seabass, especially with the ready availability of live squid. This week a private yacht got into a school of seabass that were in the 40 to 50-pound range and ended up with several on board. There also continue to be a few yellowtail breezing at the island and quite a few bonito and calico bass are showing up in anglersí sacks.
LOCAL NEARSHORE ACTION: The nearshore scene is pretty dismal now that rockfish season is closed in Southern California waters, but the half-day and three-quarter day boats are seeing fair picks on the calico bass, blue perch, and sculpin. The action on sand dabs remains wide open on the few trips being run each week. One other bite to watch is the La Jolla kelp yellowtail bite. The kayak fishermen have been seeing and hooking more yellows in the past week.
