Crawdads Great Bait for Bass at Lake Casitas

They’re casting crawdads like crazy in Lake Casitas, and it seems the bigger bass can’t resist the little lobster-like critters.

Randy Crabtree of nearby Oak View used them to take two largemouth bass of almost 10 pounds one day, a 9 1/2-pounder the next day and an 11-pounder the next.

Eric Elshere of Ojai, an 11-year-old fishing the same area with the same bait, successfully fought his first big bass, a nine-pounder. “He hooked, played and landed it by himself,” King said.