March 18 fish report
| Thursday, Mar 18 2010 11:07 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Mar 18 2010 11:07 PM
Kern County and southern San Joaquin Valley
LAKE ISABELLA: Trout action has continued to be fair to good and even more trout (15,000 more, to be exact) are going to go in before the big March 27-29 21st Annual Isabella Lake Fishing Derby. This event has over $200,000 in prizes this year. For more information go to www.derby.kernrivervalley.com. Some surface action for fly anglers in the mornings, but most of the action is on floating baits. The largemouth bass bite has been up and down but it is finally starting to improve with the better weather this past week. Also some catfish showing again in the North Fork arm. A few crappie starting to show again, too, but still light fishing pressure.
KERN RIVER: Good trout action continues in the upper Kern just below Power House No. 3 and the Kernville Park with trout from the plant two weeks ago still showing in decent numbers. Jose Rivera, Bakersfield, landed a limit of rainbows to 2-8 on salmon eggs. The Hobo section on the lower Kern remains pretty good for planted trout, too, but there haven't been plants for three weeks now. Best action on salmon eggs and crickets for the planters in both the upper and lower section. The flyfishing above Kernville remains tough, but there has been daily improvement in the bite with the better weather. Still best to fish small mayfly nymph or midge patters (size 16 to 20), or a No. 10 stonefly under an indicator.
AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: There continues to be a pretty decent bite on stripers from 3-5 pounds with blood worms, sand worms and live minnows the best bet. Lure anglers are having less success, but the bite should break wide open any day. Still relatively light fishing pressure. No catfish reported.
HART PARK LAKE: Still a fair trout bite after plants last week and three weeks ago, but the bass, bluegill and carp action are all starting to surpass the trout bite. The bass are moving shallow and showing on worms and plastics, while the carp are best on dough baits, especially Powder Bait. Some bluegill on wax worms and meal worms. Other species are very slow.
TRUXTUN LAKE: The carp bite has been good on Powder Bait, and some crappie are starting to be caught here. DFG trout plants last week and three weeks ago mean this bite is still fair on garlic Power Bait or nightcrawlers.
RIVER WALK PARK: Still a fair bite on trout after DFG plants last week and three weeks ago with small flies and green pumpkin Power Bait the best bets. A few bass are starting to show on minnows and nightcralwers, and the carp action is also starting to turn on with homemade dough baits and Powder Bait the best bets. The bluegill bite is also starting again on waxworms.
MING LAKE: There is a good carp bite here on Powder Bait or other dough bait recipes, and the bass are starting to show on brush hogs. Also a fair number of bluegill on wax worms. The trout bite is fair after DFG plants last week and three weeks ago. Best bite on garlic-doused Power Bait or nightcrawlers.
BRITE LAKE: DFG trout plant last week. No reports.
BUENA VISTA LAKES: Pretty decent crappie bite at night on small minnows with some of the fish topping two pounds. The trout action has slowed, but a few are still coming in. The catfish bite is also spotty on frozen shad.
WOOLLOMES LAKE: DFG trout plants last week and three weeks ago and the bite is just fair. The bluegill bite is starting to improve on red worms or meal worms.
SUCCESS LAKE: Slow overall fishing, although the DFG planted the lake with trout this week and three weeks ago. Some bass starting to move up into the shallows showing on plastics.
KAWEAH LAKE: DFG trout plants this week and three weeks ago with a fair bite. Slow action on other species with only a few bass and the odd redear showing, but all the warmwater species seem to be improving.
Other regional lakes
CACHUMA: Trout action has been good since the 4,000-pound plant on Tuesday this week provided by the water district. Fish showing on floating dough baits for still-fishermen, but trolling with Needlefish is a better option for a quick limit. Most of the fish are one to two pounds, but 500 pounds of the fish in the most recent plant were bigger, up to six or eight pounds. Bob Johnson, Solvang, had a limit of rainbows in Cachuma Bay trolling. Larry Humphrey, Goleta, had a limit of trout caught on worms. Bass action is fair to good for both largemouth and smallmouth with quite a few fish moving into the shallows to fan out beds. Plastic worms have been the best bet. Most fish 1-3 pounds.
CASITAS: The largemouth bass bite is good to excellent with the fish stacking up in the shallows and catches of 10 to 40 fish per day common for the catch-and-release bass anglers. Top fish this past week were a pair of fish at nine pounds. Ann Hernandez, Torrance, landed her big fish on a swimbait, while Jess Settum, Simi, landed 12 fish on drop-shot plastics with the nine the biggest. The trout bite was good Tuesday after a 5,000-pound plant of Oregon fish by the water district. Most of the trout are in the 2 to 3-pound range and limits were common Tuesday, but the bite got a little tougher Wednesday as the fish scattered. This plant was the first half of 10,000 pounds of rainbows to be planted this month by the water district. The second half will be planted March 24 right before the March 27 Kid's Fishing Derby (which annually draws over 1,100 kids and 3,000 adults). Half of the fish planted are over 3 pounds.
CASTAIC: Fair to good trout action after a DFG plant (the first since Jan. 12) at the west ramp last Wednesday. The trout have dispersed since the plant and the action has slowed for shore anglers in the marina. Best bite on salmon peach Power Bait and small spinners. Striper bite fair with a few quality stripers caught since the trout plant, most on Huddleston's or similar trout-like plugs or swimbaits. Top fish was a 22-8, part of a two-fish catch by Dave Williams, Canoga Park, that also included a 14-pounder.
LOPEZ: Excellent bass bite with the fish all over the shallows in a full-on spawn mode. Lots of 1 1/2-2-pound fish, but a number of quality fish also landed this past week. Best was a 9-8 landed by Henry Hang, Milwaukee, on a Senko. The crappie bite is also good with a lot of one-pound class fish showing on small jigs in Mallard Cove, the ranger's boat house, and Strawberry Flats. Few other reports.
NACIMIENTO: Very good spotted bass bite on jigs, plastics, and swim baits. No reports on other species.
PIRU: Fair to good largemouth bass and crappie action. Most of the bass are staging just out of the shallows with males up tight on warm mornings. Best action still in 12-20 feet of water on plastics and jigs with some anglers culling through 10-15 fish to get limits. Most fish from 1-2 pounds with some to 3-8 reported in the past week. Crappie are showing on small jigs tipped with bait or Crappie Nibbles in 15-30 feet. Also improved redear action on nightcrawler pieces in the same depths.
PYRAMID: Still just spotty action on smaller stripers on anchovies and sardines in deeper water in the main body of the lake. Also an occasional bigger fish on a swimbait. The last DFG trout plant was Jan. 25, and only a few fish are still showing on Power Bait or small lures. The largemouth and smallmouth bass bites are improving with the warm weather, especially the smallmouth bass. Best action for both in 15-30 feet on plastics and jigs. The redear, bluegill and catfish are all slow.
SAN ANTONIO: No report.
SANTA MARGARITA: The bass bite is really starting to take off with a lot of fish flooding into the shallows. Plastics and small reaction baits are getting the most fish. A few crappie are showing on small jigs, too, but the fishing pressure has been very light. The marina store is open Wednesday through Sunday.
Eastern Sierra
GENERAL: General trout season reopens in Inyo and Mono counties on April 24.
Trout plants
TULARE: Del Lago Park Lake, Lake Kaweah, Lake Success.
Ocean report
CORONADO ISLANDS YELLOWTAIL: The yellowtail are still stacked up on the Coronado Islands, but the bite has been picky in recent days with only a handful of fish per boat. The quality of the yellows has been good, in the 15- to 20-pound range, and they are being caught on yo-yo iron fished on a dropper-loop. It's like someone turned back the clock 25 years. In between flurries of yellowtail action, there has been a decent pick on calico bass and rockfish.
ALBACORE EARLY?: There's a pocket of 61- to 62-degree water south of San Diego between Colonet and San Martin that has been holding albacore, and a few have even been picked off by boats trolling through. Could we have an early albacore season?
CATALINA STILL TOUGH: The white seabass action at Catalina Island has continued tough this week in spite of better conditions. The Options out of Pierpoint Landing was there Saturday with five anglers who landed a single seabass, 22 calicos, 14 bonito, 11 sheephead, four whitefish, three sarg and three rockfish. That has been a pretty typical score this past week.
CLEMENTE CALICOS: While the yellowtail continue to be very picky at San Clemente Island, the sportboats hitting this island continue to see a pretty good bite on quality calico bass averaging from two to five pounds with some fish into the 7- to 10-pound range nearly every trip. There is also a good pick on bonito and bottom fish when the yellows don't cooperate.
ROCKFISH EXCELLENT: Rockfish season continues to be the main stay for most sportboats all along the coast, with some excellent scores posted in recent days, especially from the more northern landings. On Wednesday, a boat out of Channel Islands Sportfishing returned with 290 rockfish for for its 29 anglers. The overnight Mirage was out with just 11 anglers and they landed 110 rockfish, 97 whitefish, and 13 sheephead.
OTHER NEARSHORE ACTION: All along the coast from San Diego into the Santa Monica Bay, there continues to be a pick on bass and a few halibut and this action has been improving with each warm day and when conditions have allowed for fishing. But this bite is still mostly muddling along.
GOLETA PIER: Excellent perch bite on blood worms with limits not taking more than an hour. Most of the fish up to a pound, but the blood worms are the key.
