Return from Vegas back to Castaic Lagoon 7/22

George Cawthorn · Post by **George Cawthorn** » Sat Jul 24, 2010 6:47 am

Well I made it back from my vacation in Vegas for four days just in time to do a little fishing at the Lagoon on the day before I had to return to work.

On my way home from Sin City I stopped into the Bass Pro Shops to pick up a few goodies. Got some lures and hooks plus a very cool T-shirt. Couldn't wait to get back to LA to try out my new toys and cool off a little.

Dang!!!!! It was hotter than HEdoublehockeysticks on The Strip. On Sunday it hit 119. But anyway I had a whole lotta fun hanging out at the MGM. It was 69 degrees when I got back to LA.

On Thursday morning I got up to the Lagoon at around 8 AM. Air temp was 70, water was 76. Skies were clear as a bell, water was slightly stained with algae, conditions were pretty calm. Moon was football, barometer was 29.97 and falling slightly.

Started out tossing what was still rigged up from my last trip for a while. Rotated through Senko, Ika, DS of various sizes and colors with no action.

There were several cruisers of decent size in shallow which I was sight fishing for a while and could just not get them to respond. Even went so low as to fish a 4" sculpin flylined.

Every now and then I would switch off to a new worm I picked up at BPS. 5 3/8" Tournament Series Stick-O-Worm watermellon seed.

At first glance this lure looks exactly like a Senko but there is a slight bulge at the tail end of the worm which beefs up the profile a little and also the plastic is not quite as soft as the Senko.

I was fishing this on 10 lb. Seaguar flurocarbon line, #1 XPS O'Shaughnessy worm hook, T-rigged weedless with no weight. With a touch of Smelly Jelly salty craw scent on the tail (the orange one with the sissy sparkles).

My rod and reel combo was the trusty ole Quantum Energy PT baitcaster and 6'5" BPS Extreme medium hard action rod.

Finally at around 12:15 connected with a very nice 6.5 lb. bass that put up a nice fight. After all that time with nothing that was a major relief.

Something told me when I saw those 5 3/8" water mellon worms they would work pretty well at the Lagoon and they did!!!!!

Half an hour later I hooked up with another good one. Started out as a pressure bite and I thought I was going through some thick grass. When the grass pulled back I set the hook and the fight was on.

This one was very strong. Pulled of a lot of drag and made several very strong runs and a couple of jumps before running out of gas. Honestly by the way this one pulled so hard at the beginning I thought it was going to be much bigger.

Got it out of the water and threw it on the scale. 7.5 lbs. You can see by the dent in this females stomach that she had already spawned out.

That was it for me, had to split at 1:30. Another exciting day of bass fishing at the Lagoon and a great ending to my vacation.

swimbait101 · Post by **swimbait101** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 4:14 am

those are nice bass. that 7.5 has some bugged out eyes

man, u must have patienece to go for 4 hours witrh no bite.

how did u get the sculpin? was it dead?

George Cawthorn · Post by **George Cawthorn** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 5:10 am

swimbait101, Naaahhh the sculpin was a Roboworm plastic version.

Sometimes I wonder myself how I hang in for so long when things aren't going so good but if you stick with it somehow you usually get paid back for it with a nice fish eventually.

ronlehman909 · Post by **ronlehman909** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 5:18 pm

Nice couple of LM Geo. Looks like the summer bass are biting! I wonder how many of the bass we catch are re-caught over and over? Does a bass's mouth heal if the piercing of a hook isn't too dramatic where it actually tears the lining? Most of the LM that I catch the mouth and lip area look like they have never been hooked before but I know that if the fish are of any size that I'm probably not the first to catch it. Do you or any others know the answer?

swimbait101 · Post by **swimbait101** » Sun Jul 25, 2010 8:22 pm

hey Ron, im not sure but i know that fishes heal incrediblely fast.
for example, my tiger oscar and peacock bass once got into a lip locking fight, my oscar had the left part of his lip almost ripped completly off. within a month his mouth was like new

brendanc · Post by **brendanc** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:01 pm

Man Geo... you're on a roll lately. Nice bass (both of them)

Originally Posted By: Ron LehmanNice couple of LM Geo. Looks like the summer bass are biting! I wonder how many of the bass we catch are re-caught over and over? Does a bass's mouth heal if the piercing of a hook isn't too dramatic where it actually tears the lining? Most of the LM that I catch the mouth and lip area look like they have never been hooked before but I know that if the fish are of any size that I'm probably not the first to catch it. Do you or any others know the answer?

I fish a small man made pond that only has about 20 good sized bass in it and they do heal up. The more serious the tear the longer it takes and in extreme cases, I'm sure some might not ever full grow over.

David Lengyel · Post by **David Lengyel** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 3:48 pm

Nice fish Geobass, between you and Swimbait101, I may take my aunt up on the offer to stay at her place by Castaic Lake.

ukey28 · Post by **ukey28** » Tue Jul 27, 2010 4:26 am

Dam Dude, you are just rockin' the toads out there!!

George Cawthorn · Post by **George Cawthorn** » Wed Jul 28, 2010 5:09 am

Yeah I've been getting bit pretty good my last few outings. I'm off to the Lagoon again tomorrow morning....... hope I can do at least half as good.

I'll let you guys know how I did.

About fish being recaught I would say near to 50% of the ones I catch over five pounds show some sign of being caught and released before. Often with broken off hooks and lures still in their mouths.

Flavio Crotti · Post by **Flavio Crotti** » Thu Aug 05, 2010 8:53 pm

I am envious... >/laugh.gif" alt="laugh" title="laugh" height="15" width="15" />
I saw you fish with a left hand reel, in Italy 99% of the fishermen use left hand reels...including myself...