July 9 fish report
| Thursday, Jul 09 2009 11:15 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 09 2009 11:20 PM
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handout photograph of Tanner Hall age 3 year old. The bass was caught on June 18th, 2009 all by himself. He casted himself and reeled in himself. Photo courtesy of Synthia Hall
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. There are 255 entries so far. The catfish derby will be followed by a striper derby in August. For information, call Bob's Bait at 833-8657.
LAKE ISABELLA The crappie bite is finally slowing down, but boat and float tube anglers fishing in the South Fork Arm of the lake can still catch some fish 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 two pounds and some bigger. Best action at the cemetery and the auxiliary dam. DFG trout plant this week. The trout are moving to dee p water quickly. Catfish are also pretty good, mostly on frozen shad, clams, and Sonny's dip bait. Very good action on bluegill, mostly on wax worms. Carp have moved into the shallows mudding for clams near the river mouth with the flooding of the flats as the lake comes up.
KERN RIVER The 20-mile roadside section of the upper Kern has been good for fly anglers fishing pale morning duns, caddis, and yellow stonefly emergers. Flows were 900 cfs, which is high but fishable. Best action early and late during hatches and egg-laying flights. On the lower Kern, the water is high and the fishing is best from Erskine Creek to the dam. A few anglers getting some large rainbows. Smallmouth are hitting in these areas now that the water temperature has reached 60 degrees. The South Fork of the Kern Rockhouse upstream has been very good for fly anglers.
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. BUENA VISTA LAKES Very good catfish action thanks to plants every two weeks. The planters are all two to four 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.
SUCCESS LAKE Bass fair, bluegill good, and the crappie bite slow.
KAWEAH LAKE Fair to good bass bite on live bait and plastics. Bluegill are good.
Other regional lakes
CACHUMA Trout action is fair for trollers and bait fishermen at the dam working 30 to 50 feet of water. 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 to good with consistent action on one to three pound fish and some quality fish each week. The largemouths are still showing on live shad, but plastics, cranks, and topwater are also working. The trout action has been consistently good.
CASTAIC Excellent action for both largemouth bass and striped bass this past week. Some catfish are showing in the two to three-pound range on mackerel, shad, and nightcrawlers. The rainbows have been slow to fair.
PIRU The action is fair to good overall, with bass probably the best bet for anglers tossing plastics, nightcrawlers, and surface baits early and late in the day. Trout are also still fair to good, especially for trollers.
PYRAMID There is also a pretty good bite on stripers and catfish on cut baits, with most of the action in the main channel points. Good bluegill action with a lot of fish shallow now. Trout action fair after a double trout plant three weeks ago.
PUDDINGSTONE DFG catfish plant last week. Just fair action on cats, but the bluegill bite is good.
SAN ANTONIO Crappie bite has been fair on small jigs and live shad. Spotty action on stripers, with some fish in the 20-pound class showing, mostly on live shad in the north end of the lake.
NACIMIENTO White bass are schooled up off the points but there have been only a few flurries. Some spotted bass and the odd largemouth on plastics and topwaters, but that has been off, too. Fair to good crappie action south of the launch ramp.
SANTA MARGARITA A little bit of bass action, but no big fish reported this week. The crappie action slowed way down.
LOPEZ Continued fair crappie action with most of the fish right around a pound. Small crappie jigs in chartreuse have been the hot ticket but the big stringers have dwindled. Bass fair with fish to four pounds on swimbaits, plastics, nightcrawlers, and jigs.
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, but flows are still up and just starting to come down. Little Walker River is good for brookies and rainbows. Kirman Lake is excellent on brookies.
BRIDGEPORT REGION Tons of small browns showing from recent plant, but lots of 15 to 22-inch fish, too, with a lot of dry fly action morning and evening. Twin Lakes are both fair to good on planted rainbows on inflated nightcrawlers and Power Bait. The Virginia Lakes -- Big Virginia, Little Virginia, and Trumbel -- have all been excellent.
LEE VINING REGION 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. Just fair action on Lee Vining creek for fly, bait, and lure anglers with water levels finally subsiding. 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.
MAMMOTH AREA Crowley Lake is mucking up with algae, but the bite is still pretty good for fly anglers fishing midges under indicators in 12 to 15 feet of water, especially in McGee Bay. The upper Owens River and Hot Creek are both very good for fly anglers. In the Mammoth Lake, all the lakes have received DFG plants again this week.
BISHOP AREA Sabrina Lake fair with some fish in the two-pound class. South Lake and Bishop Creek also received Alpers?226-130? fish and the bite has been good both places. South Lake is also fair to good. North Lake good with shore anglers and float tubers enjoying a solid bite on fish to three pounds.
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 Isabella Lake.
TULARE Balch Park (eastern and western lakes), Big Meadows Creek, Bone Creek, Dry Meadow Creek, Hedrick Campground Pond, lower Peppermint Creek, Middle Fork Tule River, Nobe Young 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, upper Peppermint Creek.
Ocean report
SAN DIEGO ALBACORE Practically for the first time this season, there was a confluence of good conditions and good weather for one and one-and-a-half day boats out of San Diego on Wednesday and the action for both albacore and bluefin tuna was excellent, with fish as close at 60 miles off San Diego. If you?226-130?ve been waiting to the hot bite, it's probably not time to wait any longer.
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'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 3/4-day and shorter trips.
