Nov. 19 fish report
| Thursday, Nov 19 2009 04:46 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Nov 19 2009 04:57 PM
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Aaron Silberberg, originally from Bakersfield and now part of the staff at SoCal Fly-Fishing Outfitters, shows off a large bonita he caught recently off the coast of San Diego, using his custom-made fly.
Christopher Crider Jr., 4, of Bakersfield caught his first fish, a 4-pound bass, Nov. 1 at Lake Success with his dad, Chris Crider, 25, in Chris Sr.'s boat. They were using plastic worms for bait.
Kern County and southern San Joaquin Valley
LAKE ISABELLA: There continues to be fair catfish action, mostly on frozen shad and cut baits. The crappie bite is finally slowing and the bass action has been very spotty. Few trout up around cemetery, and just slow to fair trout action at the auxiliary dam in deep water. Carp action slow.
KERN RIVER: Flows in the upper Kern are low and the river is fishing fair to good in the 20-mile roadside stretch above Kernville with a dry fly bite most morning but most of the action on small nymphs, predominately on smaller fish. Some nice fish showing in the Johnsondale Bridge stretch. The lower river is pretty good for smallmouth bass in the Richbar, Hobo areas off on spinners, crawlers and plastics. Most fish are small.
AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: The striper bite has been very good with a lot of quality, keeper fish over the 18-inch minimum size. The bite has been on blood worms, sand worm and shad-like crank baits. Becky and Vern Selbach, Bakersfield, had double limits (four fish) and all were 5-pound fish taken on blood worms. The catfish remains also pretty good on cut baits.
HART PARK LAKE: Slow trout action after the DFG plant three weeks ago, with the best bite on Power Bait, Gulp trout baits and green, garlic nightcrawlers. There is also a pretty fair night bite on catfish. The bluegill bite fair on wax worms, meal worms or red worms. The carp action is also still fair on Powder Bait. Slow bass action.
TRUXTUN LAKE: Still slowish trout action, perhaps because of all the cormorants. DFG plants last week and three weeks ago. Other species also slowish, but Henry Chapman, Bakersfield, landed a 2-8 crappie on a live minnow. Trout still not good, lots of cormorants there.
RIVER WALK PARK: Wide open trout action, and this is the first week in the past four not planted by the DFG. Trout plants return next week, however. Best action on garlic Power Bait, with corn Power Bait and chunky cheese Gulp also decent bets. Green, garlic nightcrawlers have also been good. Bass and bluegill slowing.
MING LAKE: Fair trout action after DFG plant three weeks ago. Bluegill are fair on wax worms, crickets, meal worms and red worms. The bass, crappie and carp bites are very slow.
BRITE LAKE: DFG trout plants three and four weeks ago.
BUENA VISTA LAKES: There was a mob for the Taft Trout Derby this past Saturday with 815 people signed up and the winning fish just a 4-8 rainbows. The regular trout season opens here Saturday with a plant of 3,400 fish this week. Fish over 20 pounds remain from derby plant. Lake closed until Saturday opener. Other species are slowing, but still a fair bite on bluegill and the odd bass and catfish. Carp, crappie and largemouth slow.
WOOLLOMES LAKE: Very good trout action, but not DFG plant this week after plants three weeks in a row. Best action has been on garlic nightcrawlers and Power Bait. The bluegill bite is fair on wax worms, crickets, red worms or meal worms.
SUCCESS LAKE: DFG trout plant last week. Fair to 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: Overall light fishing pressure, but the trout action has been fair to good after a plant of 4,000 fish two weeks ago from Calavaras Trout Farm. DFG trout slated for this week. The best action has been in Cachuma Bay for both bait fishermen with Power Bait and trollers working Needlefish. Most fish around a pound. There is still a pretty fair bite on smallmouth bass on the rocky points, mostly on plastics and jigs. A few reports of catfish and some crappie were reported in Cachuma Bay on small Rapalas this past week, but that bite has been spotty. The odd redear and bluegill showing in the east end and Stork Flats on nightcrawler pieces.
CASITAS: Pretty fair bass action this past week with the fish focused on shad right now. The candy bait are showing in the surface early and late in the day and anglers dip-netting the bait are doing best, but cranks, small shad-like swinbaits and even spinnerbaits are all working pretty well. The topwater bite, however, is pretty much done. There continue to be a few bluegill and redear along with the odd catfish, but light fishing pressure and few anglers targeting these fish. Alan James, Oakview, had 11-8 catfish on a nightcrawler. Trout still very slow, but the first DFG plant of the season is slated for this week. Private boats are being allowed at Casitas, but boats will be inspected and face a 10-day dry dock requirement because of fears of quagga mussel infestation. The lake is open every day, including all holidays from dusk to dawn.
CASTAIC: Excellent striper action this past week with stripers chasing shad all over the lake. Top spots have been Fish Arm off the points and in coves such as Old SS, Hawk's Nest, and along the dam. Many quality stripers are showing once again this week with fish to 15.2 pounds reported on sardines and swim baits. Brian Orlowski, Castaic, caught three stripers totaling 25 pounds with this week's top fish, a 15.2-pounder, topping the catch. The largemouth bite is good with shad and anything shad-like working best. Catfish action is fair in both lakes with most of the fish being caught by anglers using nightcrawlers or mackerel. The trout action is excellent in the lower lake. Both the lagoon and upper lake are slated to be planted with trout this week. 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.
LOPEZ: Fair to good action on bluegill and redear with wax worms, meal worms and crickets the top bet. A few crappie showing on jigs. 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.
PIRU: DFG trout plant this week. 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: Good trout and striped bass action. There was a DFG this week and two weeks ago, and there has been a good bite since on floating baits and small lures. Best action has been around the marina, but the fish are spreading out. The best striper action has been on jerk baits in the marina, around the island, Yellowbar. Most of the fish are in the 2- to 5-pound range with better quality fish showing. The largemouth and smallmouth bass are a better bet with pretty fair to good action on suspended cranks and swim baits. Also a fair to good bite on bluegill and redear on live bait fished in 12 to 20 feet. Some of the redear are in the pound range. Channel catfish are slowing with the fish mostly in the channel and off the marina rocks on anchovies.
SAN ANTONIO: Still few reports except for catfish, which have been pretty good. Best bet on cut baits.
SANTA MARGARITA: Bass slow with good anglers lucky to get a fish a day. The crappie have been improving with some nice fish coming in on small red and white jigs. The cats have been good. Light pressure. The marina store is open Wednesday through Sunday.
Eastern Sierra
BRIDGEPORT REGION: Flows on the East Walker remain very low (around 19 cfs) and the bite is fair to good on fish stacked up in the runs and pools and a few fish are being caught on streamers 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, are both very good for fly anglers. 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 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. DFG plant at Pleasant Valley last week. Owens Gorge good for small browns.
Trout plants
LOS ANGELES: Castaic Lagoon, Castaic Lake, Elizabeth Lake, Pyramid Lake.
No plantings slated for Kern or Tulare counties.
Ocean report
LONG RANGE SCENE AWESOME: There is just tremendous fishing on the long-range boats out of San Diego on 10 to 10-day trips fishing the big tuna grounds off Cabo San Lucas. The Royal Polaris reported in on Tuesday and Wednesday this week with steady action on the big yellowfin tuna and fish over 250 pounds were landed by anglers on both days. The Independence reported that it already has hatches full of big yellowfin from 100 to 180-plus pounds on its trip. Amazing fishing.
LOCAL OFFSHORE SCENE: Incredibly, there are still decent numbers of yellowfin and albacore in our Southern California waters just 60 to 100 miles west and southwest of San Diego, but virtually no one is fishing these tuna. The long range boats run over them leaving and coming back from their longer trips, and even the 1 1/2 and two-day rockfish boats fishing Colonet report seeing and catching a few of the tuna as they chug south.
CLEMENTE YELLOWTAIL: There also continues to be a pretty decent volume of yellowtail at San Clemente Island, but except for a few six-pack charters fishing the island for the yellows and calico bass, they are completely neglected.
LOCAL SCENE: The half and three-quarter day boats from the Channel Islands south to San Diego are seeing generally good mixed bag action with virtually everything open right now. If the surface fish don't cooperate, the rockfish are there, but most bags are pretty full of calico bass, sheephead, blue perch, whitefish, sculpin and rockfish. Again, there is just very light angling pressure in spite of the generally decent fishing.
