that the swimbait bite is a little different this year. It may just be me but I have been seeing trout get killed by bass and they wont hit anything. Last year if I saw anything like this it was an instant hook-up. I don't know if the fish are getting conditioned to swimbaits or what but it is really frustrating to see trout getting inhaled and not catch anything.

Jake J

http://calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/jakej/

Welcome to reality :) I think the lakes out your way were in many ways the last frontier of untapped swimbait fishing. From what I gather, there was some stupid good fishing last season. Now comes the hangover. Fish just get smart, it's the way it goes. I've been lucky to be on the front side of great bites before and I've seen what happens afterward. It just means you have to think up new ways to catch them. There will still be fantasic days on most lakes even after they've been hit hard, but there's usually only one year of really good stupid easy swimbait fishing on any given lake in it's lifetime.

I guess it's time to put away the Okuma's and pull out the spinning rods again :-(

Jake J

http://calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/jakej/

Nah, you'll still catch plenty. Fish just get smart. Look at Don Pedro. We went from hero to zero in about 10 months. When lakes get tough it's all about weekday fishing and figuring out little things that other people aren't doing.

Don't stress Jake, I think you're getting ahead of yourself. (I hope) I know some of the lakes were going pretty good a month ago then just shut down for no apparent reason. I still think they'll come back on in the near future. Then again, if we go head to head in a tourney anytime soon you feel free to pick up a spinning rod! }(

I didn't think the bass could get conditioned to seeing some of the swimbaits but it seems like it has happened. I'm just going to start medatating before I go out or something.

Jake J

http://calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/jakej/

I was justing thinking about the fish getting conditioned at certain lakes but Casitas continues to kick out tons of swimbait fish every year. That is probably one of the first lakes to get hammered with swimbaits and yet the fish continue to eat them. Maybe the stars haven't been lined up for me when I've been making my trips. It's still early in the season so I'm sure it will improve.

Jake J

http://calfishing.com/gallery/v/members/jakej/

So-Cal is much different than up here. I've fished Casitas, the lagoon, Piru, Cachuma, Dixon, Poway, Wholford, Otay, San V, etc. The biomass in So-Cal and San Diego is tremendous. Casitas has a population of 10lb fish per acre that puts anything in Northern California to shame. Go to San Vicente in the spring, there aren't just a lot of fish up spawning, there are fish spawning every 50 feet around the entire lake. That's how it seemed when I was there anyway.

Casitas fish are smart, very smart, but there are so many of them that when they do bite it can still be excellent fishing. I think good fishing for trophy bass over time has a lot to do with how many are in the lake because I think we collectively catch the same fish over and over so many times.

50 feet? normally its like every 5 or 10. :D the only thing is with san v its normally small fish that are up, big females are kinda rare to come by there ;O

Shane

Any of you guys in the Bay area or the central valley should think about hitting Los Banos Detention resivoir.The trout plants should be going hot and heavy right now.I moved too Missouri 11 years ago from there..alot can change in that time,but it might be worth checking into..Nathan
www.Bettencourtbaits.com

I have been fishing a local metro lake down here in SoCal. This is the only lake in the City chain that is being stocked with DFG trout. All I know, I had better success with swimbaits at this lake before the trout were stocked. I caught a 12, and couple of 10s. Know that there is fresh meat in the water I have only caught a couple smaller fish (5 lbrs) all the large fish are just slowly following like they have a Thanksgiving hangover. I'm not giving up, I just need to try something different and make sure I stick with the one cast theory and make sure I work the entire water column. Speaking of one cast, I consistently see new swimbait anglers camping on spots making repeated casts with the same baits for hours.