July 2 fish report
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 02 2009 10:40 PM
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CATCH OF THE WEEK: Joe Ledbetter, front right, of Bakersfield, admires his 881/2-pound Pacific halibut he caught June 15 while fishing at Trinidad Harbor in northenrn California. He used herring for bait. Ledbetter has been fishing the Trinidad waters for more than 40 years.
BAKERSFIELD AREA CATFISH DERBY: Bob's Bait is having a month-long catfish derby with the largest cat weighed in during July winning a $100 cash prize. The just ended carp derby was won by Edward Granillo, Bakersfield, with an 11-pound carp out of Hart Park Lake on Powder Bait. There were 473 total entries. The catfish derby will be followed by a striper derby in August.
LAKE ISABELLA: The crappie bite is still pretty good for boat and float tube anglers fishing in the South Fork Arm of the lake, but it takes some work to get a limit now and most of the fish are under a pound. The best bite is still on small jigs and minnows. The bass bite has improved with a fair to good bite on plastics, minnows, and cranks. Trout action is still very good, with a lot of limits reported on spinners and Power Bait, with fish up to 2 pounds and some bigger. Colby Curten, 10, Bakersfield, landed trout at 4-4, 3-8, and two at 3-0 each fishing a salmon egg-Power Bait combo at the cemetery. Best action has been at the auxiliary dam area. Catfish are also pretty good, mostly on frozen shad, other cut baits and Sonny's dip bait. Good action on small bluegill, too.
KERN RIVER: Runoff subsiding in the upper Kern, and the wild trout action is fair to good with an excellent palm morning dun hatch each evening at 7:30. The South Fork has been excellent and all of the upper elevation tribs are also good on the wild trout for catch-and-release anglers. Anglers are reminded this part of the river is not being stocked any longer and catch-and-release fishing is prudent. Lower Kern River has been spotty with only fair action on small bass. Few trout showing.
TULE RIVER: All of the usual stocking areas, including the lakes at Balch Park, were planted this week by the DFG and the action has been good on crickets, salmon eggs and Jake's lures.
AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: Stripers remain good with the best bite on the sand worms, but blood worms and shad-like cranks are also decent bets. The catfish bite has also really taken off with a lot of nice showing.
HART PARK LAKE: The bluegill and carp bites remain good to excellent. The bluegills are best on wax worms, meal worms, or red worms, while the carp are best on Powder Bait. Slow to fair bass action on minnows, nightcrawlers and plastics with the best action early and late in the day.
TRUXTUN LAKE: The carp action remains good on dough baits and Powder Bait. Bluegill are also good on wax worms or crickets. Slow to fair bass action on nightcrawlers and plastics, but the bite is only early and late in the day.
RIVER WALK PARK: The bluegill bite is very good on crickets, wax worms, and meal worms. Bass are spotty with the best action on plastics, nightcrawlers and small swim baits early and late in the day.
MING LAKE: Good carp action on fish to 10 pounds. Best action has been on Powder Bait, but most dough baits are working. Bluegill very good on wax worms, crickets, meal worms and red worms. The bass bite is slow to fair on nightcrawlers, minnows and plastics early and late in the day. The crappie bite is very slow. The lake is closed to boating now into August while repairs are made, but the lake remains open to fishing during this time.
BUENA VISTA LAKES: Very good catfish action thanks to plants every two weeks. The planters are all 2-4 pounds and showing almost exclusively on nightcrawlers. Holdover cats showing on a variety of cut baits. Also very good carp action on Power Bait, and the bluegill bite is good on wax worms. The bass action fair with the best bite still on minnows and plastics early and late in the day. Stripers and crappie slow.
WOOLLOMES LAKE: No reports.
SUCCESS LAKE: Bass fair, bluegill good, and the crappie bite slow. No DFG trout plants in over a month.
KAWEAH LAKE: Fair to good bass bite on live bait and plastics. Bluegill are good. No DFG trout plants in over a month.
Other regional lakes
CACHUMA: Trout action is fair for trollers and bait fishermen at the dam working 30-50 feet of water. The fish are running up to 2 pounds. The bass bite, for both smallmouth and largemouth, has been fair with a lot of fish showing on plastics and topwater.
CASITAS: The largemouth bass bite remains fair with some flurries of good action, mostly early or late in the day. The live shad are still available for bait in the mornings, but the bass have switched almost entirely to plastics and nightcrawlers drop-shotted on the bottom, with some topwater early in the morning on small fish.
CASTAIC: Stripers and largemouth action both slowed slightly with the warmer weather, but the bite is still very good. The dam has been a little slow for stripers, but the forebay buoy line has been a hot spot. Sardines, anchovies and Kastmasters have all been working well for stripers.
LOPEZ: Continued good to excellent crappie action with most of the fish right around a pound. Small crappie jigs in chartreuse have been the hot ticket and stringers of 25 to 50 fish have been common with fish up to 2 pounds or better. Best action has been near the bridge, at the boat house, and off the point opposite the marina. Bass fair with fish to four pounds to good on swimbaits, plastics, nightcrawlers and jigs fished on main lake points. Bluegill are good with a lot of fish on red worms, crickets, wax worms and small jigs. A few catfish.
NACIMIENTO: Continued tough action here. The white bass are schooled up off the points but there have been only a few flurries of action in the past week.
PIRU: Still generally fair to good action overall, with trout highlighting the bite for both trollers and shore anglers fishing floating baits. DFG plant two weeks ago. The bass and crappie are also fair to good.
PYRAMID: After a double trout plant two weeks ago, and the trout action remains fair to good in the marina and main channel with a lot of fish in the one-pound class and some bigger showing on floating baits, spinners and anchovies. There is also a pretty good bite on stripers and catfish on cut baits, with most of the action in the main channel. Good bluegill action with a lot of fish shallow now.
SAN ANTONIO: Overall the crappie bite has been fair on small jigs and live shad, mostly in the mouth of Harris Creek, and most in the half- to 3/4-pound range. Good action on stripers, with some fish in the 20-pound class showing, mostly on live shad in the north end of the lake. Largemouth and smallmouth action also good on plastics, cranks, topwater baits, and the live shad. Fair to good catfish action on anchovies, mackerel or shrimp. The water level is low and dropping and boaters near to be cautious.
SANTA MARGARITA: The crappie action continues to be up and down with some good catches of fish up to nearly 2 pounds on small crappie jigs and minnows in the narrows. The bass action has also been pretty good but streaky. The best bite has been on plastics, cranks or swimbaits, with a little evening and morning topwater action. The catfish action was slow this past week, but the bluegill and redear bites have also been fair to good. Trout dead slow. The marina store is open Wednesday through Sunday.
Eastern Sierra
COLEVILLE-TOPAZ REGION: The West Walker River is starting to fish better and better thanks to heavy plants by the DFG and Alpers. Little Walker River is good for brookies and rainbows. Kirman Lake is still fair to good on brookies weighing up to four pounds, and cutthroat trout in the 6- to 8-pound range.
BRIDGEPORT REGION: Good action on East Walker River for 12 to 22-inch browns. The best bite has been on midge pupae patterns and caddis nymphs, but there?226-130?s also a good streamer bite early and late, and more and more dry fly action each day (mayfly and caddis). Bridgeport Reservoir has been fair with the best action mid-day on inflated crawlers and Power Bait, with a few on trolled lures in hot colors.
LEE VINING REGION: Excellent action on Lee Vining creek for fly, bait, and lure anglers with water levels finally subsiding. Tioga Lake is also excellent Lee Lower Rush Creek in the special regulation section has been excellent on small caddis dries or a two-fly rig with fish to 16 inches reported.
JUNE LAKE LOOP: The action has been improving at all of the lakes in the June Lake Loop with some quality Alpers?226-130? trout in June and Gull on nightcralwers and garlic Power Bait. Silver and Grant also fair to good on floating baits and flies in the evening. Walker and Parker lakes are both fair to good, and most of the trails to higher elevation waters are open.
MAMMOTH AREA: Convict Lake has improved over the past week with some quality fish. Crowley Lake also really improved this past week for fly anglers fishing midges under indicators in 12 to 15 feet of water. Good action on planted trout in Rock Creek.
BISHOP AREA: Sabrina Lake received 1,800 pounds of 2-pound Alper's trout and DFG fish last Thursday and the bite has been good since those plants and the lake is now at full pool.
BIG PINE TO LONE PINE AREA: Generally fair to good action after DFG plants last week, and all the streams were slated for stocking by the DFG again this week.
Trout plants
KERN: None reported this week.
TULARE: Balch Park (eastern and western lakes), Hedrick Campground Pond, Middle Fork Tule River, North Fork of Middle Fork Tule River at Wishon Campground, Peppermint Creek, South Fork of Middle Fork Tule River, South Fork of Middle Fork Tule River at Camp Nelson, South Fork of Middle Fork Tule River at Ceder Slopes.
Ocean report
SAN DIEGO ALBACORE: The albacore bite has been good some days on some boats and slow others. Part of this is due to poor boat coverage. The economy is just keeping anglers off the boats right now. Most of the major long-range boats have cancelled their six and seven-day trips and are doing two and three-day runs, and there are fewer overnight and 11/2-day boats running right now. That said, the average albacore score has been maybe a fish a rod on the overnight and 11/2-day boats, with two or more fish a rod considered a good trip. On Tuesday, the Pacific Dawn out of Fisherman's Landing returned with one bluefin, 49 albacore, and eight yellowtail for 10 anglers. The Islands, on a 11/2-day trip with 24 anglers, returned Tuesday with one bluefin and 45 albacore. A more typical trip was posted by the Top Gun 80 on a 11/2-day trip with 23 anglers. They landed just 26 albacore. Most of these fish are 14 to 18 pounds with the bluefin a little bigger and the yellowtail a little smaller. The full moon should bring in more fish, and a board area of fish are out there from the southwest all the way to the west of San Clemente. Bongos III on a half-day six-pack trip saw the six anglers land three bluefin and three yellowfin in the channel between the coast and Clemente.
OFFSHORE ISLANDS UPDATE: The calico bass bite has been good to excellent at all of the offshore islands, with Catalina, Clemente, and Santa Barbara Island all good for bass for anglers fishing squid on a leadhead. Limit-style fishing is not uncommon at all three places. The white seabass and yellowtail have been another story. While they have been showing at all the islands in fair numbers, no major bites have opened up.
NEARSHORE ACTION: While there doesn?226-130?t seem to be a big mass of spawning sand bass on the flats, the bass bite has been good on structure with most boats reporting four fish to 10-fish limits per rod per trip. Add in some good calico bass action, and the bite has generally been good all along the coast, from San Diego to Santa Barbara. There have also been some shots at white seabass and yellowtail, with the best seabass chances at La Jolla and Laguna.
ROCKFISH STILL GOOD: The Oxnard to Morro Bay landings are still running rockfish trips and having half-limit fishing on most.
