Lots of good fishing going on right now at a lake near you! Crappie are turning on every where and trout are going crazy in all the lakes that are stocked. Some good redear have been coming from Lopez and I'm sure they are getting them in Cachuma but I have not heard an actual report. Bass fishing has been good to excellent and my trip to the private lake was outstanding; 70 fish from 1-3.5 pounds in 4 hours!! But let’s get specific.
San Antonio has been on fire for topwater before the cold snap but is still producing well on worms and especially dropshot from 5 to 15 feet. Try Harris Creek and the river channel with the worms for pre-spawn fish and main points and the rockslide for good action on topwater, ripbaits, crankbaits, and dropshot for post-spawn fish. Nothing on stripers yet that I've heard of but they are out there and they are close to any bait you can graph. Crappie are being caught and some good ones, too, including a 2 plus pounder reported last weekend. That fish was weighed.
Nacimiento is also on fire for spawners and post spawn fish with 20 to 50 fish days possible right now. Try the Senko; my favorite color is Daiquiri, but other shad colors will work. One guy I talked to was tearing them up on the 4” bait but the 5” will catch them, too. Bid-fish Beau said he was catching them well in Lopez dropshotting 5” baits wacky-rigged and I bet that would work really in Nacimiento. If you don’t want to spend $5 on a pack of baits try the jig and Texas-rigged and dropshot worm for good (and cheaper) results. Trollers are finding some good action for whitebass and the guys that are hunting whitebass are finding good action in the back of Tablas and in the river.
Santa Margarita is the site of this month’s WON Bass tournament and the site of intense fishing for the past few weeks. About half the guys who I've talked to have reported GREAT fishing and half have reported dismal fishing. My good friend, Bassman, told me his wife caught a 7 pounder on the Osprey to go with the 9 pounder she caught last week and I've heard the dropshot bite has been pretty consistent in shallow water. Personally, I would fish the emerging grass with crankbaits, worms, rattletraps, and dropshot, and I think you should find lots of fish coming off the beds. Post-spawn fish should react to floating worms and flukes fished around fry and crankbaits a little deeper. Next Saturday there is a Gold Coast tournament in the lake which will draw about 25 boats.
Lopez has been fishing well in spite of the pressure with my buddy Robert Saito being completely spooled by a monster and Luis Fernandes landing a 12 plus. Luis said he got a picture of the fish and I hope to post that soon. Susanne and I went up there last Sunday and caught some dropshot fish and some spinnerbait fish. I had a 5 pounder on a shad colored spinnerbait along with a 3 pounder along the road before you get to the bridge and the 3 pounder fought harder than the big fish. We have been dropshotting some good fish and reaction baits have been getting fish in the flats areas when the wind blows, which is almost all the time, so go early.
Cachuma has produced some good fish on the dropshot and then trout baits and will continue to do just that for the next week. Try dropshotting deep points and shallow banks with an oxblood worm and the topwater bite should turn on very soon. Local favorites include chartreuse colored poppers and white buzzbaits and don’t neglect to throw rattletraps and trout on the flats.
Release all the bass you catch so they can spawn and produce another generation of fish we can catch. The best time to go fishing is when you can and the bite is hot right now. For up-to-the-minute reports call Wilderness Outfitters or better yet, stop in and buy the good stuff to catch fish.