10-24-2009, 08:06 PM
[font "Trebuchet MS,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif"][#003366][size 2][size 4]JIM MATTHEWS' PICKS OF THE WEEK[/size]
1. Diamond Valley's largemouth bass bite remains excellent. You can catch them on just about any presentation anywhere on the lake. Lots of smaller fish, but just enough fish to six pounds to keep things interesting. Add in a shot at a striper to 23 pounds, and you have the No. 1 pick of the week. For the latest update, call the marina at 951-926-7201 (www.dvmarina.com) or Last Chance Bait and Tackle at 951-658-7410 (www.lastchancebaitandtackle.com).
2. Castaic Lake's striped and largemouth bass action is excellent, and some quality stripers are showing in the mix with fish at 12 and 17 pounds this week. The bite is best on live shad or shad-like baits and some of the action is topwater. Follow the boils in the morning and you'll be into fish. For an update on the bite check with the marina at 661-775-6232 or go to www.CastaicLake.com.
3. This is staying in the top picks one more week, but you should clip this out and save it. This bite will last right through the end of the trout season in the Eastern Sierra. Kirman Lake near Bridgeport continues to crank out the trophy brookies and cutthroats. The action is wide open in the main cove on the lake for fly anglers with fish to 26 inches reported this week. In case you didn't know, Kirman is a spring-fed lake and rich with aquatic crustaceans and insects, and a 25-inch fish will weigh in the six to eight-pound range. For an update on the bite and directions how to hike into the lake, call Ken's Sporting Goods 760-932-7707.
[size 4]FRESHWATER HOT SPOTS[/size]
TROUT: The urban trout season is rolling into gear with plants the last two weeks at Santa Ana River Lakes, Corona Lake, and Hesperia Lake, and all three have been cranking out fair to good numbers of rainbows. Most everyone will be stocking by the early part of November. In the local mountains Big Bear is still producing a few fish, especially at the mouth of Grout Bay, and Lake Hemet is still pretty good. In the Eastern Sierra, the bites are slowing in the planted trout waters, but for fly anglers, the East Walker River, upper Owens River, Hot Creek, Crowley Lake, and Kirman Lake all have good to excellent bites, with the Crowley streamer bite on around the wed beds. In the Western Sierra, the Kern River recovered and has a very good dry fly bite early and late in the day.
LARGEMOUTH BASS: The largemouth bass bites mostly just fair right now, but the cooler evenings are really starting to turn on the bite across the boat as the fish come up to chase shad and pack on some weight for winter. There are a number of decent morning and evening topwater bites, and a surge in bigger fish. The top picks are again Diamond Valley, Perris, Castaic, Casitas, El Capitan, along with Upper and Lower Otay. Other decent bets include Pyramid, Piru, and Skinner. Silverwood was planted with trout, but didn't crank any big fish last week. On the lower Colorado River, the smallmouth bass bite from Needles to the I-40 bridge, in Lake Havasu, and Havasu downstream through about Palo Verde is good, and the largemouth bite is starting to really improve in lower river backwaters.
STRIPED BASS: The bites were fair to good and improving at all the usual haunts. Castaic, Skinner, Pyramid and Silverwood all are pretty good bets, and some bigger fish are showing everywhere and a number of topwater bites came back on with the warmer weather. Diamond Valley may be the best bet this week after producing a couple of quality fish to 23 pounds this week. On the Colorado River, Willow Beach continues to produce a few quality fish on big, trout-like baits, but mostly in the pre-dawn hours. Mohave is fair on small fish to four pounds, but Havasu is good to excellent with a great topwater morning and afternoon bite. Hesperia Lake was planted with wipers two weeks ago and has been pretty good, but Elsinore has been very quiet.
PANFISH: The bluegill and redear bites remain good in a number of places, and the bite seems to be getting better as we move into fall. Diamond Valley, Lake Perris, El Capitan, and Lower Otay all are good bets, but most waters with bluegill and redear are cranking out fish for dedicated bluegill anglers. There were some good reports at Piru and Skinner this week. Crappie bites have slowed most places, but the Isabella bite came back on a little after last week's rain. The tilapia bite at the Salton Sea is still very slow.
CATFISH: Santa Ana River Lakes, Corona Lake, Irvine Lake, and Hesperia Lake all remain top bets for planted fish in the urban region. For wild fish, Skinner, Isabella, and Diamond Valley are all fair to good, while Cachuma, Casitas, Silverwood, and Pyramid are fair. A number of the San Diego area lakes are improving but some nice catches at El Capitan and Lower Otay. The lower Colorado River is turning on again with good flathead and channel catfish action in the backwaters, canals and drain ditches. The main river is also starting to kick back into gear, too. Top fish down here was a 35-pound flathead this week.
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1. Diamond Valley's largemouth bass bite remains excellent. You can catch them on just about any presentation anywhere on the lake. Lots of smaller fish, but just enough fish to six pounds to keep things interesting. Add in a shot at a striper to 23 pounds, and you have the No. 1 pick of the week. For the latest update, call the marina at 951-926-7201 (www.dvmarina.com) or Last Chance Bait and Tackle at 951-658-7410 (www.lastchancebaitandtackle.com).
2. Castaic Lake's striped and largemouth bass action is excellent, and some quality stripers are showing in the mix with fish at 12 and 17 pounds this week. The bite is best on live shad or shad-like baits and some of the action is topwater. Follow the boils in the morning and you'll be into fish. For an update on the bite check with the marina at 661-775-6232 or go to www.CastaicLake.com.
3. This is staying in the top picks one more week, but you should clip this out and save it. This bite will last right through the end of the trout season in the Eastern Sierra. Kirman Lake near Bridgeport continues to crank out the trophy brookies and cutthroats. The action is wide open in the main cove on the lake for fly anglers with fish to 26 inches reported this week. In case you didn't know, Kirman is a spring-fed lake and rich with aquatic crustaceans and insects, and a 25-inch fish will weigh in the six to eight-pound range. For an update on the bite and directions how to hike into the lake, call Ken's Sporting Goods 760-932-7707.
[size 4]FRESHWATER HOT SPOTS[/size]
TROUT: The urban trout season is rolling into gear with plants the last two weeks at Santa Ana River Lakes, Corona Lake, and Hesperia Lake, and all three have been cranking out fair to good numbers of rainbows. Most everyone will be stocking by the early part of November. In the local mountains Big Bear is still producing a few fish, especially at the mouth of Grout Bay, and Lake Hemet is still pretty good. In the Eastern Sierra, the bites are slowing in the planted trout waters, but for fly anglers, the East Walker River, upper Owens River, Hot Creek, Crowley Lake, and Kirman Lake all have good to excellent bites, with the Crowley streamer bite on around the wed beds. In the Western Sierra, the Kern River recovered and has a very good dry fly bite early and late in the day.
LARGEMOUTH BASS: The largemouth bass bites mostly just fair right now, but the cooler evenings are really starting to turn on the bite across the boat as the fish come up to chase shad and pack on some weight for winter. There are a number of decent morning and evening topwater bites, and a surge in bigger fish. The top picks are again Diamond Valley, Perris, Castaic, Casitas, El Capitan, along with Upper and Lower Otay. Other decent bets include Pyramid, Piru, and Skinner. Silverwood was planted with trout, but didn't crank any big fish last week. On the lower Colorado River, the smallmouth bass bite from Needles to the I-40 bridge, in Lake Havasu, and Havasu downstream through about Palo Verde is good, and the largemouth bite is starting to really improve in lower river backwaters.
STRIPED BASS: The bites were fair to good and improving at all the usual haunts. Castaic, Skinner, Pyramid and Silverwood all are pretty good bets, and some bigger fish are showing everywhere and a number of topwater bites came back on with the warmer weather. Diamond Valley may be the best bet this week after producing a couple of quality fish to 23 pounds this week. On the Colorado River, Willow Beach continues to produce a few quality fish on big, trout-like baits, but mostly in the pre-dawn hours. Mohave is fair on small fish to four pounds, but Havasu is good to excellent with a great topwater morning and afternoon bite. Hesperia Lake was planted with wipers two weeks ago and has been pretty good, but Elsinore has been very quiet.
PANFISH: The bluegill and redear bites remain good in a number of places, and the bite seems to be getting better as we move into fall. Diamond Valley, Lake Perris, El Capitan, and Lower Otay all are good bets, but most waters with bluegill and redear are cranking out fish for dedicated bluegill anglers. There were some good reports at Piru and Skinner this week. Crappie bites have slowed most places, but the Isabella bite came back on a little after last week's rain. The tilapia bite at the Salton Sea is still very slow.
CATFISH: Santa Ana River Lakes, Corona Lake, Irvine Lake, and Hesperia Lake all remain top bets for planted fish in the urban region. For wild fish, Skinner, Isabella, and Diamond Valley are all fair to good, while Cachuma, Casitas, Silverwood, and Pyramid are fair. A number of the San Diego area lakes are improving but some nice catches at El Capitan and Lower Otay. The lower Colorado River is turning on again with good flathead and channel catfish action in the backwaters, canals and drain ditches. The main river is also starting to kick back into gear, too. Top fish down here was a 35-pound flathead this week.
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