Oct. 21 fish report
| Thursday, Oct 22 2009 05:47 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Oct 22 2009 07:37 PM
Images
Raymond Kearney holds up a 16-pound salmon he caught on the Klamath River in Northern California last month. He was fishing with waders on, using a 10-pound test with a seven-foot Ugly Stick fishing rod and a Little Cleo lure.
Lance Bowman of Bakersfield caught a 13-pound salmon while trolling in the Klamath River last month using a trolling lure.
Kern County and southern San Joaquin Valley
LAKE ISABELLA: The lake level came up a little and there continues to be good catfish action, mostly on frozen shad and cut baits. There is still a pretty decent crappie bite on live minnows in the French Gulch area. The bass action has been decent on cranks, plastics, jigs and live bait. Slow to fair trout action at the auxiliary dam in deep water. Carp fair to good in shallows.
KERN RIVER: Flows in the upper Kern are back down to under 500 cfs and the river is fishing very well in the 20-mile roadside stretch above Kernville with a very good early and late dry fly bite. The Wild Trout section of the river above the Johnsondale bridge is also good. The lower river flows continue to be low but the water remains a little muddy. The smallmouth bass action remains fair to good in the Richbar, Hobo areas off on spinners, crawlers and plastics. Most fish are small. Improved catfish action with quite a few cats in the pools on nightcrawlers and cut baits. The South Fork of the Kern from Isabella upstream is back down but still fishing just so-so.
TULE RIVER: Very slow. All of the usual stocking areas, including the lakes at Balch Park, have not been planted for over a month.
AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: Striper bite improving a little bit, with more and more topwater early and late in the day on Gitzits and crank. Most of the action is till on blood worms and sand worms. The catfish remains pretty good on cut baits. A 7-pounder was caught by Jose Juarez, Bakersfield, on chicken liver on Wednesday this week.
HART PARK LAKE: Good trout action over the weekend after the first DFG plant of the season last week. Best action on Power Bait and Gulp trout baits. The bluegill bite remains good on wax worms, meal worms, or red worms. The carp action is also still fair to good on Powder Bait. Slow bass action.
TRUXTUN LAKE: Fair to good trout action after the season's first plant by the DFG last week. Best action on floating baits. Bluegill are good on wax worms or crickets. The carp action remains fair to good on dough baits and Powder Bait. Slow bass action on nightcrawlers and plastics.
RIVER WALK PARK: Good trout action after the season's first DFG plant last week. The best bite has been on garlic Power Bait, with corn Power Bait and chunky cheese Gulp also decent bets. Green, garlic nightcrawlers have also been good. The bluegill bite is good on crickets, wax worms and meal worms. Bass are very slow with a few on plastics, nightcrawlers and small swim baits.
MING LAKE: DFG trout plant last week and there has been fair to good action since on floating dough baits. Bluegill are good on wax worms, crickets, meal worms and red worms. Good carp action on fish on Powder Bait, but other dough baits are also working. The bass and crappie bites are very slow.
BRITE LAKE: DFG trout plants this week and three weeks ago.
BUENA VISTA LAKES: The Taft Trout Derby is schedule for Nov. 14, and the lake will be planted with over a ton of trout prior to this event, including the usual assortment of huge rainbows topping 10 pounds. The lake levels are down, but the bluegill bite remains good on wax worms, meal worms and nightcrawler pieces. Fair catfish action on frozen shad and Sonny's Dip Bait. Good carp action on Powder Bait. Bass, stripers and crappie all slow, but the odd crappie still being caught on live minnows, and a few more largemouth are showing on plastics and cranks.
WOOLLOMES LAKE: Fair to good trout action after the DFG's first trout plant of the season last week. Best action has been on floating dough baits. The bluegill bite remains good on wax worms, crickets, red worms or meal worms.
SUCCESS LAKE: Fair to good bluegill bite, fair bass action on cranks and plastics, but other species were mostly slow.
KAWEAH LAKE: Fair to good bass bite on live bait and plastics, and quite a few bluegill are showing.
Other regional lakes
CACHUMA: The largemouth and smallmouth bites have both improved to fair with the best action on drop-shotted plastics and a few fish on topwater. Fair catfish action on mackerel and nightcrawlers in 10 to 20 feet of water. Trout are still in deep water at the dam and off Johnson's Cliffs. Trollers are scoring fishing eight to 10 colors of leadcore and Needlefish or Rapalas.
CASITAS: There continues to be a pretty good bass bite. The fish have been off points in 20 to 30 feet of water on plastics and live bait. Lots of smaller bass, but some quality fish from 6-10 pounds. The catfish have been fair to good on cut baits. Bluegill and redear remain fair to good in most coves on nightcrawlers or red worms in 10 to 15 feet of water. Trout still very slow.
CASTAIC: Striped bass and largemouth bass action has been excellent on live shad or anything shad-like. Lots of 2-pound largemouth reported over the weekend with some bigger. The striper action was also good. There was again some topwater action this past week, especially around Old SS with many boils in the early morning. Catfish action is fair with most of the fish being caught by anglers using nightcrawlers or mackerel. The trout are slow with only a few holdover fish showing for diligent trollers. The bluegill and crappie action is also still fair to good on wax worms and meal worms at the lower lake. There is also a good carp bite.
PIRU: Few reports with a fair to good bass bite on plastics and nightcrawlers and a few trout showing for trollers. The crappie bite is still fair on small jigs in 12 to 18 feet of water. The bluegill and redear are also part of this mix with a pretty good bite on these panfish, along with some fish at half-pound or better. Catfish slow.
PYRAMID: The striper bite has been fair over the past week with very spotty surface action and only fair action on bait and swimbaits. The fish have scattered all over the lake with cooling water temperatures and winds. Channel catfish are fair, mostly in the channel and off the marina rocks on anchovies.
LOPEZ: Fair to good action on bluegill and redear, the bass bite is fair, and only a few catfish have been reported this week.
NACIMIENTO: Fair spotted bass action with cranks, plastics and swim baits all producing fish. Catfish fair on cut baits, mostly early and late in the day. Carp remain pretty fair in the marina area on dough baits.
SAN ANTONIO: Catfish the best bet on cut baits. Few reports.
SANTA MARGARITA: Improving bluegill and bass action with cooling conditions. A few catfish are also coming out. Light pressure. The marina store is open Wednesday through Sunday.
Eastern Sierra
COLEVILLE-TOPAZ REGION: The West Walker River has continued good for planted and wild trout with a lot of fish nymphs under and indicator. Little Walker River is good for brookies and rainbows. Kirman Lake is excellent on brookies to 20 inches and cutts to 26 inches this past week. Best action on nymphs, scud and streamer patterns for float-tubing fly anglers. Roosevelt, Lane and Poore all good, too.
BRIDGEPORT REGION: Flows have been consistent on the East Walker in the 70 to 90 cfs range this past week and the bite has been very good early and late in the day with more dry fly action this week. There is also a pretty good streamer bite starting. Bridgeport Reservoir has been good for shore, float tube and boat anglers fishing the East Walker River channel and other creek channels. Yellow Power bait and gulp eggs as well as 'crawlers are all producing for the bait fishermen. For fly anglers, it's been the best with soft hackles, streamers and midging under an indicator. Twin Lakes have been just fair with a tougher bite for bait, lure and fly anglers on pan-sized fish. The Virginia Lakes all still good.
LEE VINING REGION: Lower Rush Creek in the special regulation section has been good on small caddis dries or a two-fly rig with fish to 16 inches reported, but water level is getting low. Some baetis hatches. Below 395, Rush is good but the fish are very small. Tioga, Saddlebag and Ellery all slowed down with the cold weather, but Lundy remains good for bait, lure and fly anglers.
JUNE LAKE LOOP: Light fishing pressure. Just fair action throughout the loop, with the best bite on holdover planted trout or brown trout. Best bite is early and late in the day. Walker and Parker lakes are both good, especially for browns and brookies in the stream mouths.
MAMMOTH AREA: Crowley Lake is good to excellent on midges under indicators in 12 to 15 feet of water, but the perch streamer bite hot. Stripping the flies along weed beds is the hot ticket for quality rainbows and browns with a lot of fish over 18-inches. The algae is completely gone and the fish are stacking up in the North Arm (Owens River) of the lake. Also quite a few browns in Whiskey Bay, McGee Bay and the mouth of Hilton Creek. The upper Owens River and Hot Creek are both very good for fly anglers. In the Mammoth Lakes, all the lakes are slowing down, but there is a good brook trout bite in the stream mouths. The Twin Lakes have a pretty good morning bite with a lot of midging fish early and late in the day. Fair action on holdover planted trout in Rock Creek and Rock Creek Lake.
BISHOP AREA: Light fishing pressure throughout the Bishop Creek drainage, but the action is fair at all the lakes, especially at the inlets for browns and brookies. Sabrina Lake has been pretty good with a lot of holdover rainbows, some to 3 pounds. South Lake is good at the dam and inlets in the upper lake, mostly on planted fish, but quite a few brookies to 13 inches are being caught in these inlets. Trollers also getting a few holdover Alpers?226-130? fish to 3 pounds. Bishop Creek is fair on holdover planted trout, with some wild fish. North Lake good for shore anglers and float tubers with a very good bite, mostly on holdover rainbows. The 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. Owens Gorge good for small browns on small dries.
BIG PINE TO LONE PINE AREA: Generally fair to good action in the small streams after DFG plants, and Baker, Big Pine and Long Pine creeks were all planted last week.
Trout plants
KERN: Brite Lake.
LOS ANGELES: Castaic Lagoon, Elizabeth Lake, Pyramid Lake.
Ocean report
TUNA NEWS: The local yellowfin tuna and dorado action may be over for the overnight to two-day boats, but the cooler water off the local coastline has brought a resurgence of albacore and bluefin tuna. The Condor was out with 19 anglers and returned from its 1 1/2-day trip on Wednesday with 50 albacore and two bluefin. There are still yellowtail on paddies in one-day range, but the yellowfin and dorado have dwindled. Boats on five- to 10-day trips down the Baja coast are seeing excellent action on the yellowfin, however, and all of the trips are like light-load specials at regular load prices. The Royal Polaris returned from a 10-day trip this week with just 20 anglers (normal load is 32) who caught 285 yellowfin, 253 yellowtail, 60 wahoo and 50 dorado in the Alijos Rocks region.
ISLAND UPDATES: San Clemente Island remains an unsung hero for skippers making this run. On the right day, the yellowtail and white seabass action can be very good, but even on the off days, there is still great calico bass and rockfish action. Catalina also continues to have a pretty good pick on the yellowtail, and very good mixed bag action beyond that. On Wednesday this week the Freelance was there with 24 anglers who caught three yellowtail, 75 bonito, 69 calico bass and 18 barracuda. The Coronado Islands off San Diego also continue to have a pretty good pick on the yellowtail and these fish even squirt over to the mainland and can be found off La Jolla kelp.
COASTAL BASS BITE: Even with cooling water, there has been a good bite on calico bass with a few sand bass mixed in all the way from the Santa Monica Bay down to La Jolla. The fish are in a feeding mode and stacked up on structure and kelp and half limits or better have been the norm this week. Not a bad bite.
