Castaic Lagoon, California, AM 9/22
Posted: Sun Sep 23, 2007 4:00 am
Well I got up to the Lagoon a little later than I expected. Rain had been forcast and the weatherman was right for a change.
Fisrt time we've had a decent rain in the LA area for the past eight months. And first time I've had the chance to fish in the rain in the last year and a half.
But I have to admit I do love fishing in the rain. In fact I was glad to hear it was going to be raining all day. It had been a long time since I had that pleasure.
Made dang sure I had my rain gear in my bag. Got to the lake at about 4:30 AM. Rain was already coming down pretty hard.
Walked down from the top lot to my spot on the point at the south end of the riprap.
When I got my gear set up and was ready to make my first cast the rain was at what I call the little white lollipop stage. Pretty hard and steady. You guys who fish in the rain a lot know what I'm tlaking about.
When those big raindrops stand up like lollipops and there are white balls skiipping all over the top of the water.
Started off with some small dropshots just to see if the fish were in the biting mode or not. No love on those.
Switched over to a weightless T-rigged 5" Senko, daquri holographic. Fished that jerkbait style in the dark for several cast.
Finally got a bite on that. Fish fought pretty good, surprised me that it was under two pounds. Released it without photo since it was raining pretty hard and I didn't want to risk scoouching my Sony digicam for a shot of a small one.
I was rigged up on 6 lb. BPS XPS flourocarbon.
Stuck with the Senko for a while. No more love on that.
When the sun came up I decided to switch over to the new jigs I had come to try out. Fished for a long time with all different arrangements of trailer... watermelon arkies, Zoom Twin Tail green pumpkin, Zoom Twin Tail watermelon seed mixed around with PB&J and green gourd Jewel Pro Spider Jigs 3/16 and 5 1/16 sizes.
Got no bites on those but I was really getting into getting my baitcaster dialed in for them and also getting a feel for the bottom where I was fishin them. No bites and no lost jigs either so I suppose you could call that a draw.
Went back to a dropshot minnow for a while, gave the Senkos another go and also spent an entire hour whith the Fat Boy Ika (my Lagoon favorite for big reasons) just before I left at 1:00 PM.
Skies had cleard up a bit by then but it had rained pretty hard for about 2/3 of the time I was there.
Water temp at the shoreline was 68 air temp was 59. This was a big surprise for me because two weeks ago I was there on a Saturday and at 10:30 AM water temp at the shoreline was 87 and air temp was 104.
These big changes, the stom front, and also the fact that the Lagoon had been heavily bluestoned just prior to the Labor Day weekend and also the water level was much lower is what I believe contributed to the slow bite today.
I am hopeful that the bite will improve as conditions stabilize. Water temps drop and more bigger fish come back into the shallows for the fall chowdown.
One interesting note: I saw some very small bass fry around the rocks today, I mean like no more than an inch long.... this indicates to me that there may have been a secondary spawn triggered by our last heat wave. I don't know how they would have come all the way from spring and still be that small. I'm not a bassoligist... just an observation.
That was all for me today, one small one on the Senko.
And as Brendan says.... I did fish it hard today!!!
Hopefully I'll do better on my next outting.
But today was a perfect example of one of my favorite sayings about fishing..... half of it is cathing the fish, the other half is just being there enjoying the sport and learning!!!
Good fishing to ya, later......... geobass
Attached files
Fisrt time we've had a decent rain in the LA area for the past eight months. And first time I've had the chance to fish in the rain in the last year and a half.
But I have to admit I do love fishing in the rain. In fact I was glad to hear it was going to be raining all day. It had been a long time since I had that pleasure.
Made dang sure I had my rain gear in my bag. Got to the lake at about 4:30 AM. Rain was already coming down pretty hard.
Walked down from the top lot to my spot on the point at the south end of the riprap.
When I got my gear set up and was ready to make my first cast the rain was at what I call the little white lollipop stage. Pretty hard and steady. You guys who fish in the rain a lot know what I'm tlaking about.
When those big raindrops stand up like lollipops and there are white balls skiipping all over the top of the water.
Started off with some small dropshots just to see if the fish were in the biting mode or not. No love on those.
Switched over to a weightless T-rigged 5" Senko, daquri holographic. Fished that jerkbait style in the dark for several cast.
Finally got a bite on that. Fish fought pretty good, surprised me that it was under two pounds. Released it without photo since it was raining pretty hard and I didn't want to risk scoouching my Sony digicam for a shot of a small one.
I was rigged up on 6 lb. BPS XPS flourocarbon.
Stuck with the Senko for a while. No more love on that.
When the sun came up I decided to switch over to the new jigs I had come to try out. Fished for a long time with all different arrangements of trailer... watermelon arkies, Zoom Twin Tail green pumpkin, Zoom Twin Tail watermelon seed mixed around with PB&J and green gourd Jewel Pro Spider Jigs 3/16 and 5 1/16 sizes.
Got no bites on those but I was really getting into getting my baitcaster dialed in for them and also getting a feel for the bottom where I was fishin them. No bites and no lost jigs either so I suppose you could call that a draw.
Went back to a dropshot minnow for a while, gave the Senkos another go and also spent an entire hour whith the Fat Boy Ika (my Lagoon favorite for big reasons) just before I left at 1:00 PM.
Skies had cleard up a bit by then but it had rained pretty hard for about 2/3 of the time I was there.
Water temp at the shoreline was 68 air temp was 59. This was a big surprise for me because two weeks ago I was there on a Saturday and at 10:30 AM water temp at the shoreline was 87 and air temp was 104.
These big changes, the stom front, and also the fact that the Lagoon had been heavily bluestoned just prior to the Labor Day weekend and also the water level was much lower is what I believe contributed to the slow bite today.
I am hopeful that the bite will improve as conditions stabilize. Water temps drop and more bigger fish come back into the shallows for the fall chowdown.
One interesting note: I saw some very small bass fry around the rocks today, I mean like no more than an inch long.... this indicates to me that there may have been a secondary spawn triggered by our last heat wave. I don't know how they would have come all the way from spring and still be that small. I'm not a bassoligist... just an observation.
That was all for me today, one small one on the Senko.
And as Brendan says.... I did fish it hard today!!!
Hopefully I'll do better on my next outting.
But today was a perfect example of one of my favorite sayings about fishing..... half of it is cathing the fish, the other half is just being there enjoying the sport and learning!!!
Good fishing to ya, later......... geobass
Attached files