Got up to Castaic Lagoon at around 7:00 AM.
Skies were some clouds, mostly clear. Surface water temp was 68 air temp was 59.
Felt fresh like a nice fall morning. I was glad to see the water so clear and the temp down to 68. Not long ago water temps were up to 87.
Started out with some dropshots, no bites on those. Switched over to the jigs for a while, then the Fat Ika. No bites on those.
Put in a little time with an 8” S-Pro BBZ 1 trout swimbait. One small follower on that, no bites and saw no submarines on the tail.
At around 9:00 AM I switched back to the dropshots on 6 lb. BPS flourocarbon line and got two bites on a 4.5” Bonzai straight tail cinnamon neon core worm.
The second bite on the dropshot was my best of the day.
After the bites on the dropshot, I cycle up through my rigs till I got back to the BBZ. No action on that, the jigs, Ika, or Senko.
Returned to the dropshot with a Zoom Tiny Fluke, and then switched back to the Bonzai.
Got one more bite on that but it was a small one.
That was it for me today... three small ones on the dropshot best was 2 lbs.
Weather was great today. Got a little windy at midday but for the most part it was mild with gentle breeze. Water was about the clearest I’ve seen it all year.
Were talking 20 ft. visibility, I’ve included one pic of the water so you can get an idea of exactly why us Castaic dropshotters go with 6 lb. line or less.
Got to try out my new rod today with my older Quantum PTi 30 reel. It felt sorta heavy so I’m still looking to get something else that will work better with that rod.
Good fishing to you guys, later.............. geobass
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Castaic Lagoon, California: Sat. 9/29/07
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brendanc
- Posts: 2720
- Joined: Thu May 03, 2001 4:00 pm
Castaic Lagoon, California: Sat. 9/29/07
Nice post Geo and thanks for the photos, it helps a lot to have a visual of the water you are fishing. Man, talk about gin clear... my earlier jig suggestions would have been slightly different, had I known you were fishing that clear of water. Sometimes bass will just not hit a jig if they have too much time to look at it in clear water like that (sometimes). Here's something else to try, if you are interested:
You already have a spinning rod set up with 6lb test flouro, so I know you are comfortable fishing with that type of rig. You may want to use a rod that is a a little stiffer than your drop shot rod, but not too much. Try down-sizing your jig and trailer dramatically. Here's what I mean:
Strike King's Bitsy Bug Jigs com in sizes all the way down to 1/16, and they make craw trailers to match. Here is there color chart:
Here is a Bitsy Bug Jig:
Samples of the craws:
So anyways, in our earlier discussions, we were talking about jigs from 3/16oz up to 1/2oz... but now that I see where you are fishing, I would recommend that you downsize to a 1/8oz bitsy bug on 6lb flouro. If you can, try to spot some crayfish under rocks (turn a few rocks over) and then try to match the hatch by choosing a color as close to the crayfish as you can find.
This tiny, light jig can be deadly in gin clear water. With the 1/8 oz, the fall is so slow and most of the time the bass will grab it on the long fall. It takes a lot of patience to fish this rig in 20' of water, but it can be well worth it if the bass are keying in on crayfish and won't take the standard jig offering.
Anyways, the photos got me thinking, so I thought I would share my thoughts.
BC
You already have a spinning rod set up with 6lb test flouro, so I know you are comfortable fishing with that type of rig. You may want to use a rod that is a a little stiffer than your drop shot rod, but not too much. Try down-sizing your jig and trailer dramatically. Here's what I mean:
Strike King's Bitsy Bug Jigs com in sizes all the way down to 1/16, and they make craw trailers to match. Here is there color chart:
Here is a Bitsy Bug Jig:
Samples of the craws:
So anyways, in our earlier discussions, we were talking about jigs from 3/16oz up to 1/2oz... but now that I see where you are fishing, I would recommend that you downsize to a 1/8oz bitsy bug on 6lb flouro. If you can, try to spot some crayfish under rocks (turn a few rocks over) and then try to match the hatch by choosing a color as close to the crayfish as you can find.
This tiny, light jig can be deadly in gin clear water. With the 1/8 oz, the fall is so slow and most of the time the bass will grab it on the long fall. It takes a lot of patience to fish this rig in 20' of water, but it can be well worth it if the bass are keying in on crayfish and won't take the standard jig offering.
Anyways, the photos got me thinking, so I thought I would share my thoughts.
BC
Brendan C.
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George Cawthorn
Castaic Lagoon, California: Sat. 9/29/07
Thanks for all the feedback guys. I really appreciate all the advice. If all goes as planned I'm gonna take a half day off from work and go fishing at Castaic again this Thursday. It is usually better when it's less crowded.
I plan on fishing it from about 3:00 PM till it gets dark.
Yeah when it's not windy and the wave action hasn't kicked up a lot of silt the water at Castaic can be scary clear.
The water is for the most part melted snow runoff from the High Sierra collected and channeled through the California Aquaduct and pumped into Castaic and several other reservoirs in my area including Pyramid Lake and also Piru.
So basically what you have is an Alpine lake at lower altitude.
The lower lake.... Castaic Lagoon can be an incredibly tough place to fish due to the clear water and sometime very windy conditions that pop up from time to time because the Lagoon is situated right below the dam which forms the upper Castaic.
Sometimes when the wind is out of the North it comes across the upper lake and then just falls over the dam which is over 365 ft. high... scooting right across the smaller lake with zero obstructions. It is not at all unusual to see the red pennants up after we get into November all the way through late March and winds gusting to 50 mph.
But if you can hang with the bite at the Lagoon being tough, the payoff can be really incredible. The lake is notorious for producing major trophy bass, many in the teens. It is arguably one of the best lakes to fish for LMB from the shoreline in CA, the U.S.A. and possibly the world for that matter.
I am blessed to live only twenty minutes drive away from such a legendary bass fishery as Castaic. I take full advanage of that and I have a yearly pass which only cost me $120!!!
I fish it almost religioulsy at least one day a week between Feb. 15 and the end of November. Then I take a fishing break and get a few major items off the "Honey Do" list..... if you guys know what I mean!!!!!
Good fishing to you guys, later............. geobass
I plan on fishing it from about 3:00 PM till it gets dark.
Yeah when it's not windy and the wave action hasn't kicked up a lot of silt the water at Castaic can be scary clear.
The water is for the most part melted snow runoff from the High Sierra collected and channeled through the California Aquaduct and pumped into Castaic and several other reservoirs in my area including Pyramid Lake and also Piru.
So basically what you have is an Alpine lake at lower altitude.
The lower lake.... Castaic Lagoon can be an incredibly tough place to fish due to the clear water and sometime very windy conditions that pop up from time to time because the Lagoon is situated right below the dam which forms the upper Castaic.
Sometimes when the wind is out of the North it comes across the upper lake and then just falls over the dam which is over 365 ft. high... scooting right across the smaller lake with zero obstructions. It is not at all unusual to see the red pennants up after we get into November all the way through late March and winds gusting to 50 mph.
But if you can hang with the bite at the Lagoon being tough, the payoff can be really incredible. The lake is notorious for producing major trophy bass, many in the teens. It is arguably one of the best lakes to fish for LMB from the shoreline in CA, the U.S.A. and possibly the world for that matter.
I am blessed to live only twenty minutes drive away from such a legendary bass fishery as Castaic. I take full advanage of that and I have a yearly pass which only cost me $120!!!
I fish it almost religioulsy at least one day a week between Feb. 15 and the end of November. Then I take a fishing break and get a few major items off the "Honey Do" list..... if you guys know what I mean!!!!!
Good fishing to you guys, later............. geobass