April 23 fish report
| Thursday, Apr 22 2010 06:32 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Apr 22 2010 10:46 PM
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Joey Gardiner, 22, of Bakersfield, caught this hefty bass March 26 at Lake Lopez in San Luis Obispo, using a cover craw from Jackall lures. He caught it during a practice round with his Cal Poly SLO fishing team teammates. The size and weight of the fish was not available.
Caitlin Chapman, 23, of Bakersfield, caught this bass March 23 at Santa Margarita Lake. The largemouth bass weighed 2.5 pounds. Chapman caught the fish using used a Jackall Crosstail Shad 4-inch drop shot.
Kern County, southern San Joaquin Valley
LAKE ISABELLA: While the storm late this week lulled the angler pressure, the crappie bite has broken wide open all over the lake with lots of fish up to 2-8 on crappie jigs tipped with Berkley Crappie Nibbles or small minnows. Many anglers were reporting 25-fish limits of crappie up to two pounds from all over the lake. Last week, the bite was mostly confined to Kissack Cove, but over the weekend, fish were showing around structure everywhere. Matching the crappie bite is the hot catfish action on clams, shad and live minnows. Most of the cats are in the three pound class, but some are bigger. The cats are also showing in many areas of the lake, but Engineer Point has been a top spot. The bass bite has been pretty good on cranks and Senkos. Over the weekend, it took a 30-pound limit to win a local bass event. Trout action is fair at the auxiliary dam on Power Bait and nightcrawlers. Bluegill still slow.
KERN RIVER: Action on planted trout in both the upper and lower river has been good and DFG plants were scheduled at all locations this week and next week. Still quite a few quality rainbows are still showing in the upper river when the hatchery had a pump failure and had to dump all its trout. Best action on nightcrawlers, salmon eggs and crickets for the planters in both the upper and lower section. The fly-fishing above Kernville remain good with the best action on No. 10 stonefly nymphs or No. 16 mayfly nymphs fishing deeply under indicators, or crane fly patterns fished on the surface early and late in the day.
AQUEDUCT NEAR TAFT: The striped bass and catfish action has been good over the past week, with the catfish really turning on in recent days on cut baits. The stripers have been best on sand worms and blood worms, with lures still not producing as well as normal this time of year.
HART PARK LAKE: Carp are starting to show in good numbers on homemade dough baits or Powder Bait. The bluegill bite is fair on wax and meal worm and the bass action has been pretty good with fish still on beds. The largemouth are best on plastics and nightcrawlers.
TRUXTUN LAKE: The carp bite has been good on Powder Bait. Bluegill and bass had been improving daily with the warmer weather, but they've lulled a little in recent days. Some crappie are also starting to be caught.
RIVER WALK PARK: The carp action is the best bet here with the fish getting active in shallow water on homemade dough baits and Powder Bait. The bluegill bite was again lulled by a cold front and winds, but the action should improve again with the warm weekend. There is a fair bass bite on minnows, nightcrawlers and plastics.
MING LAKE: The carp bite is good to excellent action on Powder Bait and other dough baits. There has been a pretty fair bite on bluegill, mostly on wax worms and meal worms, and the bass action is fair to good on brush hogs with fish still in the shallows on beds.
BRITE LAKE: DFG trout plant this week and three weeks ago. No reports.
BUENA VISTA LAKES: The bluegill action has been fair to good on wax worms. The panfish are starting to move shallow. The crappie have been very spotty on live minnows, but the catfish bite has started to kick into gear. The spring-summer catfish stocking program began last week.
WOOLLOMES LAKE: The bluegill bite is fair on red worms, meal worms, or wax worms, and more and more bass are showing on plastics in the shallows.
SUCCESS LAKE: Fair to good bass action, and some bluegill and catfish also starting to show.
KAWEAH LAKE: The bass and redear are really starting to take off with both moving shallow, and the bass are well into the spawn. Some catfish beginning to show.
Other regional lakes
CACHUMA: Trout action has been very good. Trout have been hitting a variety of baits and lures but nightcrawlers seem to be the best bet once again this week with a few anglers scoring full stringers on nightcrawlers. Dave Marmiani, Reseda, caught 14 trout in two days of fishing using nightcrawlers and fishing Cachuma Bay and the dam. Bass action is just fair with plastics and jigs working well. A few crappie continue to show in the Narrows, and this bite seems to be improving. Catfish and redear slow. The marina is closed and boat rentals have ceased. The marina isn't expected to be reopening in the near future, but the boat launch is still open.
CASITAS: Very good trout action for trollers working 30 feet of water at the dam and the creek channels. Needlefish are accounting for most of fish, but some trout have been taken on drifted nightcrawlers, also in 30 feet. A lot of these fish are running up into the four-pound class. The bass bite remains pretty good in 12 to 25 feet of water on nightcrawlers and plastics, but only smaller males remain up in the shallows on beds. Jess Settem, Simi, caught an 8-pound bass on a drop-shot plastic, while Dale Garon, Torrance, landed bass at 8 pounds and 7-8 on live shad on Monday. The shad haven't been up where they could be dipped for bait since, however. Catfish and redear are slow, but a few are starting to be caught James Romano, Ventura, landed a 10-pound cat on a nightcrawler. Still very spotty crappie action. Private boats will be inspected for quagga mussels and face a 10-day dry dock requirement before being allowed to launch. The lake is open every day, including all holidays from dusk to dawn.
CASTAIC: The striper action has been very good since the trout plant two weeks ago, and another DFG plant is slated for this week. Swimbaits are still the best bet to score a big striper but cut baits have been producing much better numbers. Ken Hemer, Castaic, landed two stripers totaling 22 pounds with the bigger fish weighing in at 14.8 pounds. Largemouth bass are on beds but the bite has been tough. Anglers have had some success with topwater baits, nightcrawlers and creature baits. Crappie have been showing all over the shoreline and in 20 to 35 feet of water for boating anglers. Ice jigs and white crappie jigs with pink heads have been the top baits. Kevin Gallette, Valencia, caught four crappie totaling 7.3 pounds with a 2.2-pounder topping the catch.
LOPEZ: The largemouth bass are finally backing out of the shallows, but some are still up tight. Weather and wind have slowed the action again last this week, but still pretty fair action on 11/2 to 2-pound fish. The crappie bite also slowed, but a fair bite on 1-pound class fish.
NACIMIENTO: The crappie action turned back on over the past few days with a lot of fish showing on live minnows. There continues to be a pretty good spotted bass bite with fair largemouth and smallmouth action. The white bass are in the main lake again with fewer and fewer fish up in the river mouth. A few catfish are starting to show.
SANTA MARGARITA: The bass bite was good until the latest front moved in. Fewer fish up tight, with better action in 12 to 20 feet this past week. A few nice crappie from 2-8 to 3-0 are showing, along with the beginnings of a bluegill and redear bite, but all the panfish are still mostly spotty because of the weather. Catfish have been slow. The marina store is open Wednesday through Sunday.
PIRU: The largemouth bass and crappie bites have been fair to good with some quality bass reported once again this past week. Best bass action has been on plastics, swim baits and nightcrawlers with a lot of fish still shallow. Crappie are showing in 12 to 20 feet on small jigs with few topping a pound. Also improving redear and bluegill action on nightcrawler pieces. Catfish still slow. Trout have not been planted since Jan. 18 but some anglers reported some success trolling very deep. There will be a night bass tournament April 24.
PYRAMID: The striper bite has been fair to good. Anchovies and sardines have been the hot ticket with many smaller stripers showing on these baits. A few fish continue to show on swimbaits that look like shad or rainbow trout. The largemouth and smallmouth bass bites are still fair to good. Some fish are up in the shallows fanning out beds, but the best action for both species is in 12 to 20 feet on plastics and jigs. The redear, bluegill and catfish are all slow. Trout have slowed way down with no plants since Jan. 25.
SAN ANTONIO: No report.
Eastern Sierra
GENERAL: General trout season reopens in Inyo and Mono counties this weekend.
BRIDGEPORT REGION: This past week, the East Walker was very low and the bite still fair for anglers fishing midges and caddis nymph patterns with a few streamer fish. This is a catch-and-release water open year-around.
MAMMOTH AREA: More snow this week. Hot Creek has been pretty fair on midges and small mayflies patterns with some dry-fly action. The Upper Owens is improving in spite of foul weather as more fish move up out of Crowley.
BISHOP AREA: Pleasant Valley Reservoir has been fair to good and there were DFG plants this week and three weeks ago. The Wild Trout section of lower Owens River has had a good mid-day BWO-emerger bite, especially closer to the dam, but flows have been high, making fishing tough. Below the Wild Trout stretch a few nice holdover browns and rainbows are showing for anglers fishing the banks or floating the lower river. Owens Gorge fair for small browns.
Trout plants
LOS ANGELES: Castaic Lake, Elizabeth Lake
INYO: Bishop Creek Dam Intake No. 2, Cottonwood Creek, Diaz Lake, George Creek, Goodale Creek, Independence Creek, Lone Pine Creek, Middle Fork Bishop Creek, Pleasant Valley Reservoir, Shepherd Creek, South Fork Bishop Creek, Symms Creek, Taboose Creek, Tuttle Creek.
MONO: Bridgeport Reservoir, Convict Creek, Grant Lake, Lee Vining Creek, Mammoth Creek, McGee Creek, Robinson Creek, Rock Creek from French Camp to upper bridge at Rock Creek Lodge, Rock Creek from Paradise Lodge to Tuff Campground, Rush Creek, Virginia Creek, Walker River little, West Walker River Section 2, W.Walker River Section 3
TULARE: Lake Kaweah, Lake Success.
Ocean report
LONG RANGE YELLOWTAIL: The long-range fleet, after being in port for the Day at the Docks event this past weekend are all back down on the tuna grounds off Cabo. And the pigs are feeding. John Yamati, one of the owners of Seaforth Sportfishing, landed a 311-pound yellowfin fishing on the Royal Polaris this week. The Qualifier is there and had a number of 230 to 240 pound yellowfin this week and some to nearly 300 pounds. The Excel is also down there scratching away on quality fish around 200 pounds. Amazingly, skippers are driving away from 80 to 130 pounders looking for the cows.
SAN DIEGO YELLOWTAIL: Winds came -- again. Yes, it's getting to be an annoying story. Just when the bite starts to come back on for the yellowtail at the Coronados, we get another front that blows the bite away. This week the Malahini out of H&M Landing was at the Coronados a couple of days and racked up some decent scores fishing pretty much alone. The bite is washed out again.
ROCKFISH STAPLE: The rockfish continue to salvage trips all along the local coast and at the islands this week. From San Diego to Santa Barbara, the rockfish action has been good with 3/4- to full-limits the rule most days and the quality of the fish has been solid. Itís the back-up plan when all else goes to pot.
CATALINA SEABASS: Catalina Island continues to bump out a few white seabass for the six-pack charters and private boaters each week, but every time this bite seem to settle in and start rocking another storm from moves through. Before the latest front, the six-pack charter boat Options had two days of limit seabass (1 fish per angler). Wednesday there were 40 mph winds that shut down the bite.
