Fish Report
FRESHWATER
CASTAIC LAKE--Bass fishermen are having fun catching small bass--averaging eight to 12 fish per day--on shad-colored plastic worms and mudsuckers. Striper fishermen are mostly getting skunked, but drifting with anchovies at about 40 feet is getting a few. Bluegill are being taken in brushy coves. The lower lake remains slow, unless you count the small bluegill that are biting pieces of worms.
PYRAMID LAKE--Striped bass still avoiding the surface, though a few boils have been seen. Best bet is to soak an anchovy. Catfish will take your anchovy if you put it on the bottom. Largemouth and smallmouth are hitting crankbaits and plastics off points and in the coves.
CASITAS LAKE--Get there at dawn for the best chance at catching a big fish. Brandon Lemay, Ojai, caught an 11-pound, 12-ounce specimen on a crawdad just after dawn. The trout bite is very good at 50-60 feet. Limits are not unusual. Trolling Needlefish lures is the best method. A 17-pound catfish was caught in the shallows.
CACHUMA LAKE--Fishing is slow overall as the trout bite has finally tapered off. You can still get a few at the west end on Needlefish and Power Bait fished deep. An occasional bass is being hooked in the morning or evening on a spoon or a jig.
JESS RANCH LAKES--You can still put a few trout on your stringer using inflated night crawlers and very light line or leaders. Catfish are partial to shrimp and mackerel.
IRVINE LAKE--Plenty of catfish on tap here, with some edging toward 20 pounds. For something different, try flipping a few plastic worms along the shoreline. One angler did, and was rewarded with a 7 1/2-pound bass.
ANAHEIM LAKE--Limits of catfish are the rule, especially from boats, but few fish exceed five pounds. Marshmallow-mealworm combinations are working best.
CORONA LAKE--Greg Knackert, Huntington Beach, caught 20- and 12-pound catfish using mackerel. Fishing is good, but not wide open.
OSO RESERVOIR--Lures, plastics and plugs are working for bass, and some anglers are catching as many as 45 per day. The biggest weighed eight pounds.
LAGUNA NIGUEL LAKE--A 16-pound catfish was caught on a mackerel head at the inlet, but if you’re fishing during the day try the dam area for best results. Bass fishermen are doing well, too, and an 8-6 was caught by 9-year-old Alex Goodrich, Laguna Niguel, on a night crawler.
LAKE SKINNER--Anglers armed with chicken livers and salted anchovies are filling their stringers with catfish averaging 1-5 pounds. Other species are slow, but fishing the shoreline with poppers might produce a few largemouth bass.
LAKE PERRIS--Nothing big, but lots of small bluegill (at east end on crickets) and bass (averaging 12-15 inches, on night crawlers at 20 feet) and an occasional catfish await patient anglers.
GREEN VALLEY LAKE--Limits of trout and a few catfish are the rule. You might even catch a bass. Chances are, though, all fish will be on the small side. Orange Power Bait is best for trout.
LAKE JENNINGS--Some bass, some catfish. A northern-strain largemouth was caught, which is noteworthy in that the strain hasn’t been planted in 30 years. Closing day is Aug. 29.
SAN DIEGO CITY LAKES--Bass are attacking crankbaits and crawdads at Hodges, and biting only fair at the other bass lakes. Hodges is also fair for catfish. Otay and San Vicente are fair for bluegill.
LAKE CUYAMACA--Trout are biting in mornings and evenings and crappie and bullhead catfish are feeding during the day. Nothing special happening here.
BISHOP AREA--North, South and Sabrina lakes, as well as Bishop Creek and Intake II, are producing fair to good catches. North Lake is probably best for fly-fishermen using damsel nymphs and woolly buggers. Alpers rainbows are scattered through the region.
MAMMOTH AREA--Convict Lake remains the place for big fish, with a 7-pound DFG broodstock rainbow, caught on a night crawler at the inlet, topping the list. The general store is loaded with snapshots of slightly smaller rainbows. Hard to go wrong at any of the high-elevation lakes or creeks, however. Mammoth Creek, for example, is loaded with pan-size rainbows, which are being fooled by salmon eggs.
JUNE LAKE LOOP--Get to these lakes early for best results as the fish are going deep during the day. Try yellow or rainbow Power Bait, a night crawler, or trolling a Thomas Buoyant or deep-diving Rapala. You might be rewarded with a four-pound rainbow. Rush Creek is fair on pieces of night crawlers or any small lure.
BRIDGEPORT--Bridgeport Reservoir started picking up at midweek, with Power Bait and worms getting fish averaging two-plus pounds. The East Walker River fishing depends on the flow rate dictated by the Nevada Irrigation District, and it has been up and down. All the streams are running at good levels and fishing is good on small spinners or hoppers and even small dry flies. Virginia and Twin Lakes are fair, but nothing has come close to the 11-14 brown caught more than a week ago in upper Twin on a woolly bugger.
SALTWATER
MORRO BAY (Virg’s Landing)--56 anglers (3 boats): 59 albacore, 5 ling cod, 190 red rock cod, 60 rock cod, 456 rockfish.
PORT SAN LUIS (Patriot Sportfishing)--64 anglers (2 boats): 217 rock cod, 357 rockfish, 57 red rock cod, 1 ling cod.
SANTA BARBARA (Sea Landing)--20 anglers (1 boat): 1 sand bass, 1 sculpin, 42 rockfish, 24 white croaker.
VENTURA--22 anglers (1 boat): 7 barracuda, 21 calico bass, 3 rockfish, 1 sculpin, 1 whitefish. (Captain Hook’s)--13 anglers (1 boat): 70 sand bass, 2 rockfish, 1 barracuda.
OXNARD (C.I.S.C.O.’s)--122 anglers (4 boats): 1 white sea bass, 150 barracuda, 15 calico bass, 2 rockfish, 151 sand bass, 4 sculpin, 13 whitefish.
PORT HUENEME--41 anglers (2 boats): 3 calico bass, 7 sheephead, 39 barracuda, 209 rockfish, 4 sand bass, 32 whitefish.
MARINA DEL REY--76 anglers (3 boats): 10 sculpin, 5 sand bass, 20 red snapper, 380 rockfish.
SAN PEDRO (L.A. Harbor Sportfishing)--113 anglers (3 boats): 116 albacore, 7 bluefin tuna, 1 white sea bass, 92 sand bass, 97 barracuda, 1 halibut, 1 sculpin. (22nd St. Landing)--154 anglers (6 boats): 5 yellowtail, 43 calico bass, 2 halibut, 364 barracuda, 729 sand bass, 6 sculpin, 2 sheephead, 17 rockfish.
LONG BEACH (Belmont Pier)--10 anglers (1 boat): 33 barracuda, 12 calico bass, 1 halibut, 68 sand bass. (Pierpoint)--72 anglers (4 boats): 16 albacore, 3 bluefin tuna, 289 sand bass, 130 barracuda, 1 yellowtail. (Los Alamitos Bay, Marina Sportfishing)--88 anglers (4 boats): 186 barracuda, 425 sand bass, 4 sculpin. (Berth 55)--103 anglers (5 boats): 289 barracuda, 37 calico bass, 88 sand bass, 6 rockfish, 2 sheephead, 1 sculpin, 85 mackerel.
SEAL BEACH--59 anglers (3 boats): 134 barracuda, 189 sand bass, 1 halibut, 1 sculpin, 1 black sea bass (released).
NEWPORT BEACH (Newport Landing)--128 anglers (5 boats): 82 barracuda, 6 calico bass, 577 sand bass, 212 sculpin, 1 white sea bass, 2 sole, 45 mackerel. (Davey’s Locker)--194 anglers (7 boats): 4 albacore, 8 yellowtail, 737 sand bass, 93 barracuda, 24 calico bass, 2 halibut, 150 mackerel.
DANA WHARF--263 anglers (11 boats): 47 albacore, 3 bluefin tuna, 1 yellowtail, 69 barracuda, 104 calico bass, 163 sand bass, 10 sculpin, 1 rockfish, 2 whitefish, 77 mackerel.
OCEANSIDE--161 anglers (6 boats): 13 sand bass, 32 halibut, 8 sculpin.
SAN DIEGO (H&M; Landing, Fisherman’s, Point Loma)--276 anglers (11 boats): 83 bluefin tuna, 39 yellowtail, 19 skipjack, 335 albacore. (Seaforth)--318 anglers (10 boats): 58 albacore, 76 bluefin tuna, 20 skipjack, 3 yellowtail, 2 barracuda, 402 sand bass, 65 rockfish, 23 mackerel. (Islandia)--125 anglers (4 boats): 57 albacore, 1 bluefin tuna, 4 whitefish, 4 barracuda, 1 yellowtail, 103 sand bass, 7 sculpin, 28 rockfish.
TROUT PLANTS
SAN BERNARDINO--Lake Gregory. SAN DIEGO--Doane Pond, San Luis Rey Creek. INYO--Baker Creek, Big Pine Creek, Bishop Creek (Lower, Middle, South forks and Intake II), Goodale Creek, Independence Creek, Lake Sabrina, Lone Pine Creek, North Lake, Owens River (below Tinnemaha), Pine Creek, Rock Creek (Rock Creek Lake to the end of the road), Rock Creek Lake, South Lake, Taboose Creek, Tinnemaha Creek, Tuttle Creek. MONO--Convict Lake, Deadman Creek, Lake George, Glass Creek, Gull Lake, Grant Lake, June Lake, Lake Mary, Mamie Lake, Pine Creek, Robinson Creek, Rock Creek (Paradise Camp to Tom’s Place, Tom’s Place upstream to Rock Creek Lake), Silver Lake, Twin Lakes Bridgeport, Twin Lakes Mammoth.
CATFISH PLANTS
ORANGE--Carr Park Lake, Centennial Regional Park Lake, Greer Park Lake, Huntington Central Park Lake, Irvine Regional Park Lake, Mile Square Park Lake, Ralph Clark Park Lake, Tri-City Park Lake, Westhaven Park Lake.
