09-12-2009, 05:08 PM
[center][font "Comic Sans MS"][#008000][size 4]FRESHWATER HOT SPOTS[/size][/#008000][/font][/center]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#008000][size 4]TROUT: Some of the local mountain waters continue to have good action. Green Valley Lake and Lake Hemet are both top bets. Green Valley is getting private plants each week now. Big Bear Lake is tougher but did receive a DFG plant last week. In the Eastern Sierra, the bites are good on planted fish from north to south, especially the Bishop Creek drainage, the waters around Tioga Pass, and the high elevation waters throughout the region. For fly anglers, the East Walker River, upper Owens River, Hot Creek, and Crowley Lake all have good to excellent bites, with the Crowley streamer bite on around the wed beds. In the Western Sierra, the Kern River is excellent with a lot of dry fly action now morning and evening in the upper reaches, especially the Wild Trout stretch.
LARGEMOUTH BASS: The largemouth bass bites are mostly just fair right now, but there are flurries of decent morning and evening topwater bites. The top picks are again Diamond Valley, Sutherland, Perris, and Casitas. Other decent bets include Castaic, Piru, Skinner, and Silverwood. In San Diego County, Barrett remains fairly good, but Upper Otay, Wohlford, Lower Otay, El Capitan, and Hodges are all worth fishing. 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: There is pretty good striper action at all of the Southern California striper spots with Castaic, Skinner, Pyramid, Silverwood, and Diamond Valley all cranking out fish, mostly on sardines and anchovies. Best fish are showing at Castaic. The California aqueduct near Taft is also good, but with a lot of small fish (remember there is an 18-inch minimum size here). On the Colorado River, Willow Beach broke open nearly two months ago and has never slowed since. There are a lot of fish over 15 pounds caught each week on the big, trout-like baits. Lake Mohave is fair on fish to four pounds on sardenes at the dam, while the stretch from Havasu upstream to Bullhead turned on in the past week with a lot of smaller fish. Few reports on wipers at either Elsinore or Hesperia this week.
PANFISH: The bluegill and redear bites are good just about everywhere. Diamond Valley and Lake Perris are hot. But just about every water with bluegill are still seeing at least fair to good fishing, even if the fish are mostly smaller now. Crappie bites have lulled most places, but Isabella is still pretty good if you can fish a school of fish in flooded timber and fish live minnows. Lake Cachuma is still surprisingly producing fish at the narrows, and some fish are still showing at Piru. The tilapia bite at the Salton Sea s still very slow.
CATFISH: Cachuma had been the hotspot in this category with a lot of fish to 20 pounds, and it's still a good bet, but the lower Colorado River flathead and channel catfish action is also good, and Skinner has really been producing a lot of fish. Other places of note include Diamond Valley Lake, Pyramid, Silverwood, and Isabella. The planted water lakes -- Hesperia Lake, Jean's Channel Cats, Irvine Lake, Santa Ana River Lakes, and Corona Lake -- are also all pretty good.[/size][/#008000][/font]
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[font "Comic Sans MS"][#008000][size 4]TROUT: Some of the local mountain waters continue to have good action. Green Valley Lake and Lake Hemet are both top bets. Green Valley is getting private plants each week now. Big Bear Lake is tougher but did receive a DFG plant last week. In the Eastern Sierra, the bites are good on planted fish from north to south, especially the Bishop Creek drainage, the waters around Tioga Pass, and the high elevation waters throughout the region. For fly anglers, the East Walker River, upper Owens River, Hot Creek, and Crowley Lake all have good to excellent bites, with the Crowley streamer bite on around the wed beds. In the Western Sierra, the Kern River is excellent with a lot of dry fly action now morning and evening in the upper reaches, especially the Wild Trout stretch.
LARGEMOUTH BASS: The largemouth bass bites are mostly just fair right now, but there are flurries of decent morning and evening topwater bites. The top picks are again Diamond Valley, Sutherland, Perris, and Casitas. Other decent bets include Castaic, Piru, Skinner, and Silverwood. In San Diego County, Barrett remains fairly good, but Upper Otay, Wohlford, Lower Otay, El Capitan, and Hodges are all worth fishing. 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: There is pretty good striper action at all of the Southern California striper spots with Castaic, Skinner, Pyramid, Silverwood, and Diamond Valley all cranking out fish, mostly on sardines and anchovies. Best fish are showing at Castaic. The California aqueduct near Taft is also good, but with a lot of small fish (remember there is an 18-inch minimum size here). On the Colorado River, Willow Beach broke open nearly two months ago and has never slowed since. There are a lot of fish over 15 pounds caught each week on the big, trout-like baits. Lake Mohave is fair on fish to four pounds on sardenes at the dam, while the stretch from Havasu upstream to Bullhead turned on in the past week with a lot of smaller fish. Few reports on wipers at either Elsinore or Hesperia this week.
PANFISH: The bluegill and redear bites are good just about everywhere. Diamond Valley and Lake Perris are hot. But just about every water with bluegill are still seeing at least fair to good fishing, even if the fish are mostly smaller now. Crappie bites have lulled most places, but Isabella is still pretty good if you can fish a school of fish in flooded timber and fish live minnows. Lake Cachuma is still surprisingly producing fish at the narrows, and some fish are still showing at Piru. The tilapia bite at the Salton Sea s still very slow.
CATFISH: Cachuma had been the hotspot in this category with a lot of fish to 20 pounds, and it's still a good bet, but the lower Colorado River flathead and channel catfish action is also good, and Skinner has really been producing a lot of fish. Other places of note include Diamond Valley Lake, Pyramid, Silverwood, and Isabella. The planted water lakes -- Hesperia Lake, Jean's Channel Cats, Irvine Lake, Santa Ana River Lakes, and Corona Lake -- are also all pretty good.[/size][/#008000][/font]
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