[ Compiled By Cyndi Gollaz... ]
Compiled by Cyndi Gollaz
and Jim Matthews
Outdoor News Service
The fish report is weekly. Its accuracy depends on marina operators, tackle shops and local fishermen we contact. The Cal TIP number, the Department of Fish and Game poacher hotline, is 1-888- DFG-CALTIP.
PICKS OF THE WEEK
1. Hesperia Lake is back in the top spot for its excellent trout action and the news that Lightning Trout will be planted for the first time here beginning Monday. The lake has been planted with 4,000 pounds of rainbows each week, and that will be kicked up to 4,500 pounds next week, when the first load of Lightning Trout from Mt. Lassen Trout Farms comes — 2,500 pounds, including some big broodstock Lightnings. How good is the action? There were 30 limits of rainbows reported on Wednesday and the big fish this past week was a 16-pounder. Make a note: Sturgeon of more than 100 pounds will be planted in March. These will be the largest fish ever planted in fresh water in Southern California.
2. Diamond Valley Lake has generally good bites for both trout and largemouth bass. The bass are mostly suspended in deep water, but anglers are getting some very good scores by fishing Rapala Ice Jigs or trolling cranks in 40 to 55 feet of water after metering fish. There are lot of solid 2 1/2- to 4-pound bass in this mix and the chance for a bigger fish is always there. The trout bite has been best right around the marina, where plants show up every two weeks. Lots of 2- to 4-pound rainbows in the mix with floating baits, trout plastics, small jigs and spinners enticing the most fish.
3. A good bet for general largemouth bass action and the chance at big fish would be Casitas The rain was relatively warm, and there have been good numbers of smaller fish showing on jigs and plastics.
FRESHWATER HOT SPOTS
TROUT: Lots of very good planted trout action right now. For big trout and big numbers of fish, the top bets continue to be Santa Ana River Lakes, which cranked out 14 more trout over 10 pounds, and Corona Lake, which had seven fish over 10 pounds this week. Irvine Lake, Laguna Niguel Park Lake, along with Hesperia Lake and Jess Ranch Lakes in the High Desert are also very good. Angler’s Lake in Hemet also has a good bite. There is also a good bite on recent plants and holdover fish at Diamond Valley and Silverwood. Virtually all of the urban lakes from San Diego County north into Los Angeles County are now being planted with trout, and the bites are good across the board at these places — at least for the first couple of days after the plants. Little change in the top picks here. They include Wohlford, Dixon, Poway, Jennings, and Cuyamaca in San Diego County, along with all the San Bernardino County park lakes — Yucaipa, Glen Helen, Cucamonga-Guasti, and Mojave Narrows.
LARGEMOUTH BASS: Bass action is mostly slow to fair, but there have been some flurries of decent action this past week, for both numbers and bigger fish. Casitas has been a consistently good spot with a number of big bass after the fish trout plant in forever here this past week. Best was an 11-0. Bass are showing with increasingly regularity at Castaic, Silverwood, Diamond Valley, Piru, Pyramid, El Capitan, and Murray. There are also some signs the lower Colorado River is also starting to shift out of the winter doldrums.
STRIPED BASS: For Southern California waters, Castaic, Skinner and Pyramid are the top picks with a number of 5-pound class fish showing on swimbaits, shad, anchovies, and sardines. Silverwood has had a decent bite, also on smaller fish, mostly on cut baits. A few bigger fish are showing on trout-like swimbaits, or big cranks at all these places. On the Colorado River, cold weather and light fishing pressure has kept the anglers activity light, but quality fish are always possible at Willow Beach or the upper reaches of Lake Mojave. Lake Mead’s bite on smaller fish is improving again.
PANFISH: Most of the panfish bites are slow with almost nothing reported in the past week. Some redear are showing at Casitas. Lopez on the Central Coast has a decent crappie bite, and there are also spotty crappie bites at El Capitan and the Buena Vista Lakes, with both waters producing some quality fish.
CATFISH: Almost no catfish reports of note over the past week. Spots to watch and check if cats are your game: Buena Vista Lakes near Taft, Casitas Lake, especially after a rain, and the Colorado River. The canals in the Palo Verde Valley from Blythe to Palo Verde were lowered or drained earlier this month, but all the flows have been restored.
TROUT PLANTS
LOS ANGELES COUNTY: Pyramid Lake. ORANGE: Centennial Lake, Mile Square Park Lake, Ralph Clark Regional Park Lake, Tri-City Lake. RIVERSIDE: Cahuilla Park Lake, Perris Lake, Skinner Lake. SAN BERNARDINO: Glen Helen Park Lake, Mojave Narrows Regional Park, Yucaipa Lake. IMPERIAL: Sunbeam Lake, Weist Lake. SAN LUIS OBISPO: Lopez Lake. SANTA BARBARA: Cachuma Lake. FRESNO: Kings River below Pine Flat Dam.
OCEAN FISHING REPORT
By Terrence Berg
and Phil Friedman
CHANNEL ISLANDS: Pretty slow bite overall. With the rockfish closures, skippers are looking for halibut and bass, but the bites have been sketchy.
LOS ANGELES AREA: Catalina Island continues to kick out a fair number of yellowtail, mostly fish from 8-12 pounds. The area has been getting light pressure and the key to getting a few fish is live squid. You need enough live squid to use them for chum and get some activity going. Bigger boats with bigger live wells and more chum have had the best success. Mixed with the yellows are some perch, bonito, calicos and an occasional white seabass. Along the local coast, anglers aboard the half- and three-quarter-day boats are seeing limit fishing on sculpin along with decent action on calico and sand bass, especially at the Horseshoe Kelp. Most of this action is on the live squid.
ORANGE COUNTY REGION: Sculpin fishing has been good along with a decent local bass bite. Anglers on boats out of Dana Wharf Sportfishing have been reporting some decent catches of sand and calico bass, along with the odd nice halibut. Mostly, anglers are getting five-fish limits of sculpin and then adding a few bass, all on the live squid.
SAN DIEGO UPDATE: The Humboldt squid bite has been good. One boat out of Seaforth Landing had 80 of the giants Tuesday evening. In addition to the squid, a few yellowtail popped this week off the La Jolla kelp for half-day boat anglers. The bass and sculpin bites are decent for this time of year, and anglers on boats going into Mexican waters are seeing a good rockfish bite.
LONG RANGE UPDATE: While the bite is nothing approaching the last two years, anglers on 14-day and longer trips down the Baja coastline are seeing some good fishing for yellowfin tuna. The Royal Polaris, on a 14-day trip, reported in Tuesday with as many as 17 tuna hooked up at one time. Diving birds led them to a floating log in open water that had two grades of yellowfin — 40- to 60-pound fish and an equal number of 110- to 160-pounders.* 22nd Street Landing, San Pedro: 832-8304
* L.A. Harbor Sportfishing,
San Pedro: 310-547-9916
* Redondo Sportfishing: 310-372-2111
* Pierpoint Landing,
Long Beach: 562-983-9300
* Marina del Rey Sportfishing: 310-822-3625
* Long Beach Sportfishing: 562-432-8993
* Marina Sportfishing, Long Beach: 562-598-6649
* Davey’s Locker, Newport Beach: 949-673-1434
* Newport Landing, Newport Beach: 949-675-0550
* Dana Wharf Sportfishing: 949-496-5794
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