Southern California - Los Angeles area bass report

[HotCheetos]

Let's get down to it. 

 

Most recent trip, 18MAY2020, was to Puddingstone in San Dimas. I live 5 minutes from door to water, so this will be the place I will be focusing on. I didn't catch anything, no nibbles. Didn't see anything on the surface, no baitfish action either. The water was calm and muddy (1-2 ft visibility). Fished sailboat cove from the lifeguard docks to the sailboat launch, from about 5-7. I threw a weightless fluke and a weightless creature bait (pretty much all my gear is currently unavailable). I saw a guy going for catfish, as well as bass on a drop shot (with a bobber). I don't think he caught anything either. 

 

I'll likely be going every other evening or so, and will try to report on here more often than not. 

[Big Hands]

I live in Castaic, and have been having several good outings in the past month. Dropshotting 4.8" Jackall Flick Shake worms wacky rigged (no bobber of course) anywhere from 0 to 15 feet deep. 

 

You might try some small shad imitation crankbaits or jerkbaits too. I watched one of our locals stroke a few nice ones on a jerkbait last weekend. They are starting to chase bait on top, but  I haven't caught any on topwater yet this season, but that should be cranking up soon.

[HotCheetos]

18 hours ago, Big Hands said:

I live in Castaic, and have been having several good outings in the past month. Dropshotting 4.8" Jackall Flick Shake worms wacky rigged (no bobber of course) anywhere from 0 to 15 feet deep. 

 

You might try some small shad imitation crankbaits or jerkbaits too. I watched one of our locals stroke a few nice ones on a jerkbait last weekend. They are starting to chase bait on top, but  I haven't caught any on topwater yet this season, but that should be cranking up soon.

 

I'm in a pretty bad spot as far as gear goes right now. Long story short, I currently only have access to all of my rods, but reels lures and lines are all somewhere I can't get to just yet. The only two reels I can use right now are ones that I bought a few weeks ago to pair up some rods that don't have a partner. With all my line spools being out of reach, I've had to make due with the line that came on the used reel and a leftover spool without a label (though I think it's 6-8 # Berkely fluoro). I don't REALLY want to buy more of things that I know I have and will be able to tie on in a short time. 

 

I've put in an order for some stuff that I know I didn't have, so that should be coming hopefully next week, and I have a pretty crappy Walmart nearby where I've bought some standard stuff like flukes, stick baits, creature baits, and worms. That should tide me over until I get my stuff tied on, though with the bait fish chasing and warm water, it really makes me want to get at least one hard reaction bait.

[HotCheetos]

20MAY2021

 

Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 5:30 PM. The weather was funky for socal: windy, little bit of drizzle, and chilly. The water was pretty warm to the touch, pretty choppy due to the wind, and muddy (1-2 ft visibility). I fished from the south east pier headed west until just north of the cove, until about 7:00 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Puddingstone Lake

 

I started going after panfish around the pier with my telescopic rod, throwing a trout worm on a hook that I had found during the previous outing. Wind made it just about impossible to lay the worm out, but I noticed my first surface feeding (big carp) and figured it wasn't going to happen. I tried out the weightless fluke and a weightless creature bait again, nothing really happening. Early on, I found a popper on the bank and tied it on. Threw it and the creature bait the rest of the day. I saw some bait fish running around the SE cove, but they didn't want the popper in either popped or run presentations. I didn't tie the fluke back on. 

 

I also picked up a bunch of junk from around this part, seems like the people coming here are very lazy. I did score some great stuff though: the popper mentioned earlier, a trick worm, a jar of salmon eggs, and best of all, a frog tied on to about 40 yards of perfect 4lb mono. I actually tied it as backing to my pathetic spinning reel, which had a leader tied on to about 30 yards of used, unknown braid. Now I can make an actual cast if I tie on some weight!

 

I saw a guy fishing that said he had some luck on the rocky shelf, he was tossing a heavy carolina rig with a grub. He claimed that he caught 3 fish in his first 10 casts: a 3lb, 8lb, and a 5lb. I'm not going to call him a liar, but those are good fish for this lake. 

[JustJames]

A guy I fish with, fish at Pudd a lot. He shows me a lot of nice bass caught at Pudds early morning and late evening. You can get to him from Tackle tour his screen name Pudd Legend. You can use me as reference “James Canyon Lake” Also if you have IG account, George is guru for pudding stone. He caught a lot of bass with his own chatterbait. DM him up these are nice guys and ready to help fellow SoCal. 
I on the other hand, would like to help but schedule and other thing make it impossible.

[HotCheetos]

On 5/21/2021 at 12:23 PM, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

A guy I fish with, fish at Pudd a lot. He shows me a lot of nice bass caught at Pudds early morning and late evening. You can get to him from Tackle tour his screen name Pudd Legend. You can use me as reference “James Canyon Lake” Also if you have IG account, George is guru for pudding stone. He caught a lot of bass with his own chatterbait. DM him up these are nice guys and ready to help fellow SoCal. 
I on the other hand, would like to help but schedule and other thing make it impossible.

I'm not on tackle tour, so not too familiar with that site and its users. 

 

What's his IG name? is it pudd legend?

[JustJames]

The guy on IG, I don’t know him personally but been follow each other for awhile. His IG is Georgedlc12 he is pretty cool guy too and should be able to help you.

[HotCheetos]

On 5/23/2021 at 3:33 AM, Bass_Fishing_Socal said:

The guy on IG, I don’t know him personally but been follow each other for awhile. His IG is Georgedlc12 he is pretty cool guy too and should be able to help you.

 

Oh yeah, I saw that guy tonight with the other dude that I've seen a few times before. Thanks for the heads up!

[HotCheetos]

24MAY2021

 

Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 6:30 PM. Today was very hot, 90+ during the heat of the day. The water was warm and muddy (1-3 ft visibility). I started at the south east pier headed west until the cove, then at about 8:00 PM went to sailboat cove from the lifeguard dock to the launch ramp, left at 9:00 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Puddingstone Lake

 

I started out with the weightless fluke and a Texas rig creature bait, nothing really happening. Lost the T-rig on the first cast, tied another on, and lost it on the very next cast again. There's a rocky bluff that I just got hung up on, last time I cast there! I saw the bait fish running around the SE cove again, this time splashing around a whole lot more than the last. They didn't want the fluke.

 

Ran into a guy at sailboat that I've seen a few times before, he had done well the day before. I was going to hit up the area and he was going to the area I was in across the lake. I threw the fluke again, and changed it to a curly tail worm on the t-rig. I got a bite casting at about 45 degrees to the launch dock, but my puny little reel wasn't pulling him in fast enough and the hook just really wasn't in enough, and he just jumped and tossed the fluke. I cast a few more times at the surrounding area, but nothing. 

[HotCheetos]

25MAY2021

 

Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 7:00 PM. Warm day, but cloudy by the time I got on the water, which was warm and stained (2-5 ft visibility). I started at the south east cove and headed towards the east pier. Then at about 8:15 PM went to sailboat cove and was only able to fish the launch ramp before the sheriff came at about 8:35 PM and told us they were going to lock up, which was kind of early for it being a full moon. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Puddingstone Lake

 

I started out with the weightless fluke and a Texas rig curly tail worm, nothing really happening. I saw the bait fish really pooling around the SE cove again, this time catching a peek at the tiny fish in the water. No bites on the fluke, and I saw a ton of other people throwing stuff out in the cove to no avail. I swapped the fluke for a weightless stick bait, no takers.

Moving up the shallow waters, I might have had one bite on the stick bait, but it was on my puny, pathetic reel and whippy rod, and I just couldn't hook on. Sail boat cove was 6 casts total, only 1 on the stick bait, the rest on the worm, and then an unexpectedly early departure.

[HotCheetos]

31MAY2021

 

First of all, belated Memorial day to all. Heart goes out to all of the military men and women that have lost their lives both on and off the battlefield.

 

Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 7:00 PM. Warm day, and very likely a very pressured (and harassed) weekend. The water was warm and stained (3-5 ft visibility). I started at the south swim beach and headed towards sail boat cove. I was out until about 8:55 PM as the light was fading, and when I got to my car, I was surprised that there were still people in the park, though the Sheriff was causing a ruckus and kicking everybody out. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Puddingstone Lake

 

I Finally got my hands on all of my gear, so first casts were with the lipless crank bait, and a Texas rig curly tail worm was the follow-up. Unfortunately, nothing really happening with either. I saw the bait fish running around the cover by the north end of the swim beach, but no bites. I didn't see anyone else fishing on the side I was on, only a handful of people on the other side of the lake.

After a while, I tied on the weightless stick bait and continued to throw the curly tail, but nothing on either. I finally started to head back to the car well after twilight.

[HotCheetos]

01JUN2021

 

Finally, a different body of water! Crystal Lake it is, high up in the San Gabriel Mountains. My intention was to fish trout on the west fork trail for a few miles, it was actually closed off completely. I figured it was early enough that I'd just drive up to the lake and check it out, if even just to teach some worms how to swim (good thing I brought some bass poles!). I got to the lake parking lot at maybe 10:00 AM, I was the only one there. In my experience, the road to the lot is usually closed, so it was a bit of a surprise to see that I could drive up, and I was even more surprised that there wasn't anyone there. As I was tying up my rigs, two guys that came from the beach and Norco arrived, and I just gave them some info about the lake and we walked down to the water. It was a hot day, over 90, with some wind and intense cloud cover, which was sporadic. The water was relatively clear (15+ ft visibility), though there was a lot of vegetation that was growing all around the edge of the lake, creating a mat of very leafy weeds extending 10 to 20+ft in most places, with occasional openings. The water level was very low, but not as alarmingly low as I had seen it maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I started at the north end and headed west, finishing at almost the 7 o'clock position of the lake. For anyone wondering, this video gives a good idea of the lake and vegetation level of the lake:

 

I started with square bill crank bait, and I was immediately getting a lot of action. Most of what I had were very small bass (3-5 inches) coming up and trying to eat it, and it wasn't long before I accidentally hooked one while trying to find some bigger bass a little bit towards the central deeper waters. I hooked and landed a few between 4-7 inches, but in seeing that I was only attracting small fish, I switched to a big Texas rig curly tail worm and a weightless stick bait. I landed another small bass on the stick bait, and the worm got its tail chewed up pretty good, but no hooks were set in lips. 
After about an hour and a half, I decided it was time to go and grab some breakfast, and I was back in the car by 12:15 PM.

[HotCheetos]

06JUN2021

 

Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 6:00 PM. Cloudy day, and very likely a very pressured (and harassed) weekend. The water was warm and relatively clear (5+ ft visibility). I started at sail boat cove, west of the lifeguard docks towards the dam. I was out until about 8:30 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Puddingstone Lake

 

I started each spot with the lipless crank bait and a Texas rig curly tail worm as the follow-up, finishing with a weightless stick bait. I saw the bait fish running around again once the sun set over the dam, at which point I switched to a fluke. I saw a pretty big blow-up, picturesque like when you get to see the whole bass out of the water. Didn't get a bite on anything. 

 

 

I didn't get to fish the last few parts of the water as there was a pair of guys drinking and smoking and causing a bit of a ruckus. I figured I'd just stay on the other side of the trees and maybe come back the next day to clean up anything in the area. I did catch a bunch of line and someone's T-rig, which was relatively new as the hook looked good and the worm was only slightly discolored. I also broke my sunglasses (RIP Uranium Foakly jawbreakers) on a tree limb, and got hit by a bat in the ear. 

 

[HotCheetos]

07JUN2021

 

Once again at Puddingstone, line in the water at about 6:00 PM. Cloudy day leading to some sunshine, but windy towards the evening. The water was warm and relatively clear (5+ ft visibility). I started at sail boat cove, close to the dam. I was out until about 7:30 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Puddingstone Lake

 

I fished mostly a 40 yard shoreline with the lipless crank bait, a Texas rig curly tail worm (later switched the curly for a trick worm), a weightless stick bait, and this time a fourth rod with the rig that I had been purposely avoiding.

"What rig is that?", you may ask? Well, it's my most productive rig on this lake, and what I used to land my PB of honestly over 8-9 pounds: the drop shot. I had been trying to stay away from it, but after so many hours without a fish, I found myself falling back on that crutch. I tied on old reliable, a 3 inch shad, and later a 4 inch worm, but I told myself that I'd limit it to only 5 casts, so on the 5th cast and retrieve, I put it away.  

 

I saw the bait fish running around again once the sun set over the dam. I saw a good number of blow-ups kind of far out where I think there used to be some sort of floating dock or other structure. Didn't get a bite on anything.

[JustJames]

Sometimes in algae cover the shoreline like in your figure, dropshot rig is the way to go to have lure on top and being see. I either fish with some type of slow swimbait on top, jerk bait and dropshot. Weight Texas rig and even weightless Senko can get buried in those thick weed fast.

[HotCheetos]

09JUN2021

 

This time, I headed to Santa Fe Dam, line in the water at about 6:45 PM. Clear day and windy towards the water. The water was warm and relatively clear (5+ ft visibility). I started at the very west end of the dam, hoping to fish the "northern half" that has some cover. I was out until about 8:00 PM, when the sheriff came around on the PA and told everyone to leave. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Santa Fe Dam

 

I fished mostly a 60 yard shoreline with the lipless crank bait, a Texas rig trick worm, a weightless stick bait, and the drop shot with a small worm.

 

I saw some bait fish running being chased by very small bass, and got a few nibbles on the drop shot, but no landed fish. I ran into a guy and chatted quite a bit, he said that he fishes there very regularly, and that he had some nibbles on the drop shot as well. 

 

Some things to note: 

I got a really bad wind knot in the crank rig, a really bad backlash on the baitcaster, and later lost the really pretty red shad trick worm that I had found (along with a lead weight and a gama hook).

 

I also noticed that I have two rods that look pretty similar. One I paid about $30, the other was over $300. Can you guess which is which?

[islandbass]

Loving the play by play reporting of your thread. Thanks for sharing.  ? ?

[Big Hands]

On 6/10/2021 at 3:29 PM, HotCheetos said:

09JUN2021

 

This time, I headed to Santa Fe Dam, line in the water at about 6:45 PM. Clear day and windy towards the water. The water was warm and relatively clear (5+ ft visibility). I started at the very west end of the dam, hoping to fish the "northern half" that has some cover. I was out until about 8:00 PM, when the sheriff came around on the PA and told everyone to leave. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Santa Fe Dam

 

I fished mostly a 60 yard shoreline with the lipless crank bait, a Texas rig trick worm, a weightless stick bait, and the drop shot with a small worm.

 

I saw some bait fish running being chased by very small bass, and got a few nibbles on the drop shot, but no landed fish. I ran into a guy and chatted quite a bit, he said that he fishes there very regularly, and that he had some nibbles on the drop shot as well. 

 

Some things to note: 

I got a really bad wind knot in the crank rig, a really bad backlash on the baitcaster, and later lost the really pretty red shad trick worm that I had found (along with a lead weight and a gama hook).

 

I also noticed that I have two rods that look pretty similar. One I paid about $30, the other was over $300. Can you guess which is which?

My guess is the one on the left is the $30 rod.

[HotCheetos]

On 6/12/2021 at 10:41 PM, Big Hands said:

My guess is the one on the left is the $30 rod.

 

LOL, yup that's a cheapie, you win one torn up strike king stick bait from like 2009! Pick up only haha.

[HotCheetos]

13JUN2021

 

This time, I headed to a super secret body of water. Line in the water at about 6:45 AM. It was to be a hot day, so I went out early and before the sun baked me to a crisp. The water was warm and stained (2-4 ft visibility). I fished a cove, moving around the bank as the super huge ants were trying to take off with pieces of footwear and clothing.

 

I fished mostly a 60 yard shoreline with a weightless stick bait and a super cheap square(ish)-billed crank.

 

I saw some massive carp swimming around and blowing up on the surface. I'm going to guess they were well over 10 lbs. I caught about 5 fish, 3 on the crank and 2 on the stick bait. Pictured is the first one, which was the smallest at about 10 inches. The rest were bigger, and the biggest was about 3 lbs and was on the stick bait.

 

I was only there for about 1 hr, and made it back to the car to go back home for a nap and to nurse the slight hangover I had from the night before.

 

On 6/12/2021 at 7:58 AM, islandbass said:

Loving the play by play reporting of your thread. Thanks for sharing.  ? ?

Yeah I'm trying to get back into fishing and get into contact with some local fishing guys. I think I might try a FB local group, because I've never been on a bass boat and wouldn't mind tagging along (I'll bring beers or something).

 

Also, not a ton of CA anglers from what I've seen. 

[TnRiver46]

12 hours ago, HotCheetos said:

13JUN2021

 

This time, I headed to a super secret body of water. Line in the water at about 6:45 AM. It was to be a hot day, so I went out early and before the sun baked me to a crisp. The water was warm and stained (2-4 ft visibility). I fished a cove, moving around the bank as the super huge ants were trying to take off with pieces of footwear and clothing.

 

I fished mostly a 60 yard shoreline with a weightless stick bait and a super cheap square(ish)-billed crank.

 

I saw some massive carp swimming around and blowing up on the surface. I'm going to guess they were well over 10 lbs. I caught about 5 fish, 3 on the crank and 2 on the stick bait. Pictured is the first one, which was the smallest at about 10 inches. The rest were bigger, and the biggest was about 3 lbs and was on the stick bait.

 

I was only there for about 1 hr, and made it back to the car to go back home for a nap and to nurse the slight hangover I had from the night before.

 

Yeah I'm trying to get back into fishing and get into contact with some local fishing guys. I think I might try a FB local group, because I've never been on a bass boat and wouldn't mind tagging along (I'll bring beers or something).

 

Also, not a ton of CA anglers from what I've seen. 

Pretty spot!!!

[HotCheetos]

22JUN2021

 

Once again at Puddingstone, line in the water at about 7:00 PM. Clear day, and hot. The water was warm and relatively clear (4+ ft visibility). I started at the south cove, moving towards the east side. I was out past 8:30 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Puddingstone Lake

 

I walked and casted as much as I could, throwing a hula popper first, and a Texas rig trick worm, then a weightless stick bait along with the drop shot. I didn't catch a single thing.

 

There was a bass cruising the tall dock, driving all of the pier anglers crazy. I skipped a stick bait under the docks (sneakily) and got nothing. Some people caught some bluegill. And some dude was walking the south cove after sunset, vigorously swiping a net in the water, and placing his little swimmers in a bucket. I don't really know what that was about, and no way that I would risk getting shot, but when I moved closer, he packed up and ran off.

[HotCheetos]

23JUN2021

 

As always, at Puddingstone, line in the water at about 6:00 PM. I think this was the day that was cloudy and had even sprinkled a little, though it was a very hot day. The water was warm and cloudy (3-5+ ft visibility). I started at sailboat cove, moving towards the lifeguard shack and past it, towards the dam. I was out past 8:30 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: Puddingstone Lake

 

I didn't spend much time in sailboat, there were some people there that were throwing things in the water, though they actually had fishing lines in. I moved to the left of the lifeguard shack, throwing into what I found out was a rock pile or something. I mainly tossed the Texas rig trick worm (which was later changed to a beaver then a creature), the weightless stick bait, and the drop shot. A little bit later, I tied on a kicking type frog as there was some vegetation that I was fishing near and had a bass blow up a stick bait on as I was reeling it back fast right on top of it. The frog was the only bite I got, but the hook was a little small and I didn't get a good hookset on it. One bite, one chance. No fish in the hand.

 

I found out that there was a rock pile because I was constantly getting stuck in it. I lost my brand new worm on the t-rig, found a rig (pictured), and then subsequently lost a jig and the weight I found on the drop shot.

[HotCheetos]

24JUN2021

 

This one is going to be a short one.

 

I have been wanting to go to different bodies of water because I don't do very well at puddingstone, even though I live so close by. I just cant put together a pattern, and I generally only fish a few hours.

 

So I try to go to a body of water that I've caught fish in before: San Dimas Reservoir. 

 

It's freaking dry. Bummer. 

 

I get back and decide to do some things that I've been meaning to do. First on the list is go to C&M tackle in San Dimas. I get there just before opening and just organize my tackle bag a bit. The lady that's working there is super nice, and I chat with her about how her business is actually doing very very well. She doesn't have what I'm looking for (a Kigan XLA hook keeper), but I actually buy some very nicely priced Fuji ez-keepers. 

 

The other thing on my list was cycling related, but the shop opened late.

[HotCheetos]

26JUN2021

 

After such a disappointing previous outing to a dry reservoir, I tried again looking for another body of water to fish. I headed out early and got to this reservoir: San Gabriel Reservoir

 

It was pretty much completely dry (see picture). You can't really tell very well, but it is freaking deep, and it's a good hike to get to the highwater mark, let alone the extra way down to actual water. There were a lot of fish in there, I was able to pull out my binoculars out and watch the cruising carp (very big) and bass (also big). A lot op blow ups on the water. 

 

I headed back down and went to Peck Road Water Conservation Park: Peck Road Park

 

It was starting to get a little later in the morning, but I headed out to the water anyway. pretty much headed towards the water as soon as I could from the parking lot, and second cast in, I get a bite. Good fish, as it's pulling line so hard that I actually had to adjust drag and really muscle the rod. She's a good one, between 4.5-5 pounds (pictured), caught on the weightless stick bait. I continue to fish the same area, as it's shaded and while I'm in the sun, I can feel my feet actually burning up in the heat (car read 95 on the drive home) and blazing sun. I catch 5 total, 2 more on the stick bait (1.5-2ish pounds), a couple of runts on the trick worm(<1 pound). No bites on the creature or beaver, only strikes on drop shot, and a lot of strikes and actual carries at the curly tail worm (small enough that they couldn't swallow the worm and get to the hook). Nothing on the popper or the fluke.

 

I picked up a ton of trash and tried to deal with some line twist on the crank/fluke setup (to no avail). The juvenile bass (probably the ones I caught earlier) went cruising around and were causing a ruckus, and that's about the time I headed out. 

 

Picture of fish.