Fished Carneros yesterday and did pretty good. Between the four of us (Zach, Brian #2, Daniel and I) we had about 10 legal fish, and a mess of shorts. I met Zach there today, and we started working the same shoreline of tullies with senkos and roboworm worms and reepers in aaron's magic. Zach got a couple and I got one legal on the reeper. My waders have huge leaks in both feet, and after awhile the duct tape was beginning to cut off circulation to my right foot, so I got out of the water and took it off, and tried to put on some more, looser, but I ended up not having enough, and it leaked a bunch, so I fished from shore for awhile. After about half an hour I got two little bass on a little grub, then I hooked what I thought was a bigger bass. I got it to shore and it looked like a crappie. I'd never caught one before. I went to lip it, and it had TEETH. Do crappies have teeth??? I couldn't even lip it, they were so sharp. From the crappies I've seen, this one seemed to be slightly "blunter" or more bass shaped, and seemed to have a darker, pattern with larger black blotches. The mouth was fairly large, but not as large as a bass. Any ideas? I'm calling it a mutated Carneros crappie. There were a couple Mexican guys fishing next to me on the shore, who looked like they were straight out of the fields. They were obviously fishing for food for their families, as they were sitting on buckets, so I decided to give the mutant crappie to them. I figure if they want to kill something, it's better than a bass. I felt kind of guilty, because it was the first "crappie" I'd seen in Carneros, but I figure even if I'd let it go, there probably isn't enough of them to have a sustainable fishery. Plus, they're eating the bass fry!!! I felt justified knowing that those guys would go home with food though.
-Brian

Might it have been a Sacramento Perch? I know they have teeth occasionally large enough to be a pain. How big was it? and why no Pixs?

Tight lines,
Wade

Maybe it was an aku? Dean at Margarita had one in the fridge that someone had caught. Looked like a crappie kinda and had some big fangs. Any pictures? Sounds like the bass bite was hitting pretty good.

Didn't bring a camera (it's carneros for god's sake). It was about 10 inches long, sort of the shape between a crappie and a bass. Had the fins of a bass, more of a crappie like body shape. It didn't have noticable fangs like a sheephead or anything, but it had some sharp teeth, more like a calico, or one of those gnarly reef sand buggers we were catchin.
-Brian

Hey Swimbait,

I am pretty sure that you mean Pacu. It is a relative of the Pirhana(sp?) and is also a pretty common Tropical fish. These end up in our local lakes as they get to big for their aquariums. I live in Modesto and there is a little lake here that one was caught out of and they made a huge deal about it. This was 3 or 4 months ago and the lake is still completely fenced off.(we are talking about 8' hurricane fences.) They were concerned that it MAY be a Pirhana. The pacu has some big a$$ teeth but is primarily a vegetarian eating seeds and such. They also can grow to be over 30lbs. I have caught them in Florida and they fight like bulldogs. Anyway, just FYI..


Tight Lines,

Clay

I was thinking Pacu also or at least some kind of aquarium fish that someone threw in there. I've been fishing there since 1981 and have never seen anything like what Brian described (in fact I've never caught a crappie there either).

Brian - how was the water clarity? I guess it's not that thick pea soup like stuff like it has been the past few years in the fall. Maybe the colder summer has stunted the algea bloom this year.

It's lookin the best it's looked all summer. Water level's way down, but it seems to be positioning the fish better. We've been getting lots of fish off the tullie bank between the bridge and the island channel opening, and a few off the wood in that cove by the bridge. Much different than last year.
-Brian

All the pictures I found of pacu's look nothing like the fish I caught. The pacu seemed to look very close to a pirhanna. The fish I caught looked almost exactly like a crappie, or had the body shape of a bass like creature. I'm becoming afraid of the unknown waters of Lake Los Carneros... Who knows what lurks in the depths...
-Brian

Brain:
Sounds like a Pacu. The guy at the baitshop at Margarita told me they are catching lots of them up there. Crappies do not have teeth, and are not scary looking.

I am glad you feed it to the locals. Through them on the banks for the raccoons! See you at Lopez.

Hey there Dave. I think you've got your Brian's mixed up (Kettler is Brian #2), but you'll see him at lopez... The mystery of the carneros monster continues.
-Brian

Nope, wasn't a Sacramento Perch. I finally was able to find some decent pix of some, and it was definitely not that fish. Much darker and thicker, like a bass.
-Brian

Oooh oooh, maybe it was some kind of chiclid. You know like an albino Tiger Oscar or something like that? Next time you get a mutant you need to keep it and take photos so we can find out what it was. In the name of science and everything you know? What if they get to be 50 pounds and are attracted to neoprene? LMAO

lol. If I knew it would be such a big stink I would've taken it and put it in my pond. I could've charged people to come and stare at it... When I caught it, at first I was like, oh, it's a crappie, I'll give it to those guys, and then I asked em if they wanted it, and I looked at it again, and I was like wait a minute... But it was too late then. I considered the oscar possibility, but it didn't really look like an oscar either. The best description I can give is crappie like body, only slightly thicker. Coloring seemed to be darker, with larger black splotches than a crappie. Fin configuration was much like a bass or crappie. Mouth was about the size of a redear (in relation to body size). Teether were short and sharp, like a spotted bass in freshwater, or sand bass for those familiar with saltwater fish. Fight was about average, maybe a little tougher than a bass of that size.
-Brian

Look-up a Massagua(sp?) Cichlid. I believe the're S. American, but might be African.

Tight lines,
Wade

Tilapia?

Nope. Caught those before.

Manguenese (sp) cichlid it sounds like- they have the color kind of like a smallie, but their teeth are cichlid like, little pokers, not fangs- I had a pair, the male got pretty big, over 12" and shaped like a fat crappie or tall bass, lol- Maybe one of these critters? These are South American cichlids, cool fish- I was diving in Lake Mission Viejo (oops, sorry, didn't know it was illegal! :) )and saw a nice fat pacu, but they are easy to identify, and cool fish, they do grow very large in the right environment.

That's what I was trying to say.

Unfortunately, I don't have anything to add on the Carneros Monster Mystery. But I'd love to solicit your help. I'm a very rusty fisherman (fished a lot as a kid), and I'd like to teach my almost three year old son. We live very close to Lake Los Carneros. I'd greatly appreciate some experienced advice:

What kind of fish usually caught in this lake?

What kind of bait/lure/tackle would be a good choice for fishing with a child? Size and edibility of the fish aren't important at this point--just the higher probability of catching something.

Where are good spots to fish from the shore with a kiddo?

If you like you can email me directly at cbprater@home.com

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Craig

Craig,

I grew up fishing at Lake Los Carneros. During the 80's I probably fished there at least two or three times a week. If you want to fish with any success you need to get out on the water. Float tubes are by far the best way to fish since you can move (or keep your position) and fish at the same time. Another good alternative is a small inflatable raft. I have a younger brother who was 9 years old when I started bringing him to Los Carneros. We would fish from a small inflatable. The picture below is him at 10 years old with his first buzzbait fish. I've been float tubing the lake since 1984.

Los Carneros is a difficult place to fish. One day it will be wide open and the next day you'll think everything died.

I wouldn't eat anything out of Los Carneros for many reasons. First being I don't kill bass. It is a small un-stocked lake so killing fish depletes the population. The primary source for water in the lake is run-off from the agriculture fields and neighborhoods above. I do not believe it is safe to eat anything out of there. Although it is not official (yet - I'm working on it) it is widely viewed as a catch and release only lake by anglers who use it and even by the parks department. It's better to teach children the importance of catch and release.

From the shoreline your best bet would be to fish the dam with spinnerbaits or crankbaits. Rebel Wee-crawfish or any brown/orange or firetiger colored crankbaits will work. I haven't had much success with shad or chrome colored baits but who knows. White, chartruese, or black would be the colors for spinnerbaits or spinners. I got a 24 inch largemouth in 1984 off the dam. Plastic worms are great also but they take some learning (I'm focusing on your desire to teach your child). At certain times buzzbaits can be great and it's always fun to have a bass smash the lure off the surface. My largest L.C. bass (25 inches) came on a buzzbait in 1990.

If you would like more information and are willing to not kill any fish out of Los Carneros e-mail me at leapinbass@yahoo.com. I have a 7 month old son and I look forward to the day I can introduce him to Los Carneros.

Pete

http://www.leapinbass.com/photo/photos/1990-1993/910904.jpg

Rather than going for Bass it may be far more fun for a youngster of that age to start with Bluegill. These can be caught relatively easily with fun, light weight gear. They can generally be found any where you can find brush or weeds in 3' to 10' of water. You can catch them with 4# line, a small "pencil" type bobber, a split shot, a #10 long shank hook, and a redworm threaded on the hook. With a Snoopy-type rod/reel combo from Walmart and everything else including a 50 count pack of redworms it should set you back less than $35. Good luck, hooking a kid on fishing.

Tight lines,
Wade

Ooops!

I skipped over the fact that he was only 3. You're right - bluegills are probably the way to go. Los Carneros has them. Don't know about bait but they'll go for tiny spoons and small spinners.

One of the problems with bluegill fishing and Los Carneros is every year there is a huge bass spawn (not sure where all the bass end up going - most of them probably end up being food for their parents). From early June on there are millions of 2 - 4 inch bass everywhere. They can get annoying.

Yes, I have fond memories of catching bluegill when I was a kid. Thanks to both Pete and Wade for the suggestions! We'll try 'em out.

Craig