Trout Fishing - Lake Poway 11/27

Got to Lake Poway kinda late at a little after 7 am, over slept. Fish the Half-moon Bay most of the day. Managed to get 2 little ones, but lost a big one. 

Sitting there soaking Powerbait in rainbow color when this fish started taking line, took about half a spool of my 4lb. test line. Seconds later the fish leaped a foot out of the water and snapped my line. I don't know how much he weighed but got a good look at him, I would say that he had to be at least 6 to 7 pounds. That really hurt.

Anyways, I only saw one angler leave with a limit (4 fish) at about 11:30 am. He said that he was there at the crack of dawn, apparently they were biting early then died off when the sun came out. It looked like he had a couple of fish that were over 5 pounds and the others are probably around 2 to 2.5 pound. I caught one of fish with the rainbow Powerbait and the other with a nightcrawler & Powerbait combo. I maybe going back to Lake Poway again this coming weekend and I'm going to make sure that I there super early.

Fishing: Lake Poway 11-14-09

Got to Lake Poway around 7:00 am, a little cold and not many people on the lake. Got my permit and walked all the way to boulder bay. 

Right away I saw bass chasing shads, so I thought it's a good time to try this rig I saw on FLW last week, the "double fluke." Third cast and got fish on, fish landed but a dink, maybe a pound. A few more cast, produced another one of about the same size, maybe I tiny bit bigger. 

About 10:00 am, 2 guys walks up and set camp next to me to fish for cats. Moments later, one guy started coughing out his lungs, I turned around and saw that they were smoking some ganja, so I thought it was time to leave.

Worked my way back to the boatdock and fish the chainlink fence on the left of the dock. Saw bass busting on shad on the no fishing zone, but could not reach them with my cast. So I switched to a senko and managed 1 more fish, about a 2 lber. Left the Lake Poway at 11:30, ended up with 3 fish in 4 hours, not good but beats the skunk.

A Closer Look At Fishing Rods!

Fishing beginners or even experience fishermen often don't know how to select a fishing rod to match the type of fishing they plan to do. Before deciding which is best, an angler should know about the power and the action of a fishing rod.

Difference Between Baitcast Reel & Spinning Reel!

A quality reel can greatly improve your casting distance and accuracy, whether it is baitcast reel or spinning reel,  it will make fishing a lot more fun.

Fishing: Lake El Capitan 10-17-09

When I got to work last Friday, my friend/co-worker Steve ask me if I wanted to do some fishing on the weekend. I said yes, ofcourse, and he then left me to decide on which lake to fish. Since I have not fished Lake El Capitan for sometime, it became my choice.

Met up with Steve at his house at 6:00 am Saturday morning and off to Lake El Capitan we were. Got to the lake at 6:30 am only to find out that there was a tournament going on. So we ended up waiting in line behind 20 boats before we could launch. Luckily, Lake El Capitan had a pretty wide boat ramp. Finally got on the water a little before 7:00 am.

Headed down and started fishing the north end of the lake, air temp was 71 degrees, water temp was 65. We started throwing some topwater to start the day but for nothing. I later switch to Senko worm and managed a dink. Switched to jigs for nothing, tried spinnerbait & cranks for nothing. 

It's now 10:30 am, fishing is tough and the burning sun was even tougher. Temperature was creeping up and is now over 90 degrees with no wind at all. So we jetted down by the dam and started fishing with a dropshot rig. Managed to catch 2.5 lbr on the first cast of the dropshotted Roboworm, but that was about it.

It is at noon time when we decided that we had suffered enough, not just from the heat but also from the frustration of the a tough day of fishing. We leave Lake El Capitan with the air temp at 97 degrees and water temp at 73 degrees. I ended up with a couple of fish and Steve got none. It may not have been a good day of fishing, but it was still fun just being out there enjoying the sport that I love.

Bass Fishing Tips

The best time for bass fishing is in the mornings and evenings inside three days before & after a full moon. I like to fish submerge structures and points. Bass loves points because it is easy access from shallow water to deep water.

When bass fishing, look for big flat areas around the lake and start throwing crankbaits and spinnerbaits early in the morning. Then, look for structures on the water such as submerge boulders, trees, weeds, etc.. Bass use these structures to hide in to ambush prey.

Fishing - Santee Lakes 4 & 5

After a stressful week of work, I decided to do some fishing for relaxation the next day which is Saturday. Got up early and decided fish Santee Lakes that morning.

Got to the lake around 6:15 am when the sun is just coming up. Headed straight to Lake 5. Started out throwing some topwater bait, but to no luck. Walked to the other side of the lake and saw some fish busting the surface. Rigged up a fluke in shad color weightless. Cast out, jerk..jerk..and BAM!!! fish on. Got the fish in a solid 2.5 lbr. Continued fishing the fluke for a couple of hours just walking around the lake and managed a couple of more. After a couple of hours on Lake 5, decided to try Lake 4. Saw a guy catch a fish with a spinnerbait, sadly, I didn't bring any with me. So instead, I tied on a crankbait in sexy shad color. With the second cast of the crankbait, fish on. Stuck with the crankbait for an hour, but that was the only fish I caugh with it.

After 4 hours of fishing, I decided to call it the day because it was starting to get pretty hot and I promised my wife that I would to a barbeque party with her. So another fine day of fishing.

Yellowtail Fishing: La Jolla Kelp

Got out on Sunday morning  for some calico fishing at La Jolla kelp beds. Launched at about 5:30 am with a my fishing bro, overcast and glassy to start. Started throwing some plastic swimbaits and managed a few calicos. When the marine layer burned off, sun came up, the wind kicked in and so did the bite. 

We went out in hope of catching a few calicos, but did not expect all of the yellowtail we would see. Every cast of the swimbait there would be 2 or 3 yellowtails following it. They are not be very big, may be in the 5lb class which are the best eating anyways. My bro was using a slug while I was using a swimbait. We both managed to land 1 yellowtail each, my bro hooked what looked to be may 10-12 lb but when I was about to gaff it, it made a mad dash to the bottom, got caught on the kelp and broke off. 

If only we had know there were going to be this many yellowtails around, we would have brought some live baits. Anyways, had a lot of fun and hope to get back out again next weekend. Just hope the water stays warm like it is now, at high 70s.

Fishing - Lake Murray 8/15/09

Decided to hit up Lake Murray last Saturday morning. Got there at about 6:30am and fished the west side of the lake by the baseball field. Started out with topwater using the Rage Toad, awesome bait. Got a few blowups but only managed 1, a nice 3.5 lbr, I guess I should be a little more patient and not set the hook too soon. Switched to a dropshot, using Roboworm MM and manage a couple of dinks. Left the lake at 11:00 am, ended up 3 fish. Like always, fun time.

Gear:

Abu Garcia Revo S w/50lb Power Pro braid on 7ft med-heavy Fenwick HMXT70MH baitcast rod. Lure=Strike King's Rage Toad

Daiwa Exceler 1500 with 4/lb flouro on a Fenwick HMXS70 spinning rod use for dropshot. Lure=Roboworm MM

Bluegill Fishing: Santee Lakes

Went down to the Bloodbank to donate blood at 8 a.m. on Saturday. Came home and rested for awhile, till my wife walks in the room and asked me if I wanted to go bluegill fishing. I jumped right out of bed and grabbed the rods, packed up some food & beers and off we went.

Got to the lake at around 2:00 pm, got some nightcrawlers and we were ready to go. We asked one of the rangers where the good bluegill spot were in pointed us to a spot. Cut down the crawlers to small pieces, rigged up a bobber and handed off the rod to my wife. Before I can start rigging mine up she was already hooked up. Just constant bite after that, none were really big but plentiful and fun. We stayed at the same spot all day, well, the 4 hours that were there. Caught lots of fish and got to spend some quality time with wife, it was a great day.

Fishing The Drop Shot Rig!

One of the most popular techniques in bass fishing right now is the Drop Shot rig and is my go to rig when the bite is slow. The advantages of the Drop Shot rig is that the bait is always suspended, the depth is easily adjusted and it is very simple to fish.

Fishing: Lake Miramar

Went fishing with Steve, a friend from work, last Saturday. We decided to fish Miramar since there have been some good report lately. Got there at around 5:20 am and on the water at about 5:35. The lake looked awesome, lots of grass underwater, tullies surrounding the whole lake and there were hardly any boats on the water.

Started out throwing topwater baits. Steve went with a popper and I went with the Rage Toad. We both managed to catch a couple LMB each. Continued topwater fishing till about 10:00 went the temperature started to heat up. We switched to crankbaits and plastics and managed a few with those. Come noon time, we were done, temperature was at 100 degrees so we were out of there.

Had a good time, lake was beautiful, caught some fish and just plain relaxing. I just wished that I had brought my flipping stick with me to fish some of those underwater matted grass. It has been a while since I fished Lake Miramar so I didn't really know what the lake condition was going to be like. Anyways, hope to get back there in a couple of weeks. PS... sorry Steve for missing that fish with the net, I never was good at netting someone else's fish...haha!

Humboldt squid wash-up!

Weird happenings Saturday morning in the shores of La Jolla, Calif.

Dozens of dazed Humboldt squid, which were roughly in the 40 lb range, were found flapping around on La Jolla Shores beach after a 4.0 earthquake hit just 19 miles off the coast of San Diego.

Whether the earthquake cause them to wash up shores, nobody knows. But it didn’t take long for the seagulls to swoop in and start feeding on the squids, when some good semaritans saw what was happening they were quick to try to help the squid back in the water.

A spokesman for Scripps Institution of Oceanography said that they do not see a connection between the squid and the earthquake, but plan to look into it.

Is It A New World Record Largemouth Bass?

Certified weight: 10.12 kg. = 22 lb. 5 oz
Length: 29.4 inches
Location caught: Lake Biwa, Japan

Congratulations to Manabu Kurita, 32, who reportedly is the fortunate angler. Early reports are that the fish was caught just before noon on July 2 on live bait (either a bluegill or a native fish similar to a bluegill).

There is sure to be a lot of controversy over this fish. If it really weighed 22 pounds, 5 ounces it will be considered a tie with Perry's 22 pound, 4 ounce bass since the International Game Fish Association requires a fish to outweigh by 2 ounces one it beats.

A 25 1/2 lb. bass was also reported netted by a fisherman earlier in the year, so many thought it would be just a matter of time before a record size fish was taken from Japan's largest natural lake.

Congratulations to the angler on a great catch.

87lb Blue Catfish Caught On 4lb Test Line

Congratulations to Adam Hinkle of La Mesa, who caught a 87-pound Blue Catfish with 4lb test line in Lower Otay Lake. Adam was fishing for bass when the big blue hit, in which apparently took him over an hour to land.

At 87lbs, this fish exceeded the breaking strenght of the 4lb rated test line by over 20 times. It also shatters the current International Game Fish Association line-class world record for that test line. Adam could have applied that record, but chose not to because he said that the fish was caught accidentally.

Fishing: Lake Poway

Decided to fish Lake Poway, but got up kinda late so I was a little mad at myself leaving the house at 6:00 am. Usually, I'll have the line on the water by now.

Got to Lake Poway at about 6:30 am. As I was pulling up I saw a car outside the gate with the gate still close. As I pull up to the gate, I saw the sign saying the lake opens at 7:00 am, so I wasn't mad at myself anymore but mad that the lake opens so late. Had no choice though but wait, so sat around talking to other anglers waiting to be let in.

Finally, the gate opened at 7:00 am and got to start fishing. Weather was a liitle cool, drizzling and a little windy. As is walk up to the lake, saw that the water level was up, the highest I've ever seen it. So walk all the way to Boulder Bay and fished there pretty much the whole time. Managed to catch a couple of small bass on dropshot rig using Roboworm MMII on a 7-ft med-light rod, shimano spinnning reel w/6lb flouro.

It was starting to drizzle again, I was wet, cold & hungry so I decided to call it the day around noon. Fishing was tough, with the water level so high there was really not much shore access, would have been great if I was in a boat. But as I always say, any day of fishing is a great day!

Rough Day On The Water!

Fished the kelp beds on Saturday.  Got on the water at about 6:30 am and line on the water about 7:15 am. As soon as we got on Mission Bay channel we could already see that water conditions were going to be pretty rough, so we kinda prepared ourselves for some beating.

We started out at La Jolla kepl beds slow trolling irons & swimbaits in hopes of catching some yellowtails, but to no luck. So started casting out soft plastic swimbaits & slugs weedless in to the kelp and started hooking up some calicos. Nothing of the size we were looking for though. So after an hour, we decided to hit up our honey hole somewhere in Point Loma.

Took about 20 minutes to get to the honey hole after manuevering through all the kayakers out on the water. My first cast produced a nice sandbass and then my buddy at the same time hook a really nice calico. This went on for a couple of hours. The honey hole really produced for us this time. Ended up catching 3 sand bass and 9 calicos most in the 5-6lb range. 

After a few hours of just getting beat up by the rough water condition, we decide to call it the day. It sure was a fun day, I just wish that the water was a little calmer so we could have stayed out longer.

How To Fish The Spawn!

From March to the end of April, in some lakes it could last into June, big bass spawn on shallow, sandy beds. 

Fishing - Lake Murray 5/16/09

Fished Lake Murray last Saturday. Launched the boat at 6:00 am w/line on the water at 6:15 am. Started out throwing crankbaits but no luck. Switched to dropshotting roboworm and got 1 right away, small but good fish to start the day. Ended the day at 1:00 pm with only 3 fish with 2 of them over 3lbs. and 1 dink. Caught them all wit a Roboworm margarita mutilator color on a dropshot. Caught some casting out next to the tullies and caught the biggest out deep. Weapon of choice: Diawa Exceler (EXC1500) spinning reel w/6lb flouro on a Fenwick (HMXS70M) medium-action rod. Lure: Roboworm (margarita mutilator color).

Tournament Schedule

Tournament director John Cassidy has announced the preliminary dates for the 2009 San Diego Saltwater Bass Showdown. The dates are not finalized yet, as Cassidy is inviting anglers to bring forth concerns of conflicts before firming it up.

Unfortunately, I did not get to fish any of the tournaments last year because of schedule conflicts. I sure hope that I get to fish at least one of the tournament this year. My buddy Doug and I fished it in 2007, the tournament that had a 5 bass limit in the combination of spotted bay bass, calico and sandbass. Although we did not win, we caught our limit with some nice fish and it was a lot of fun.

So once the schedule is finalized, I'll work it out with mine & my teammate's schedule and will look forward to the competition.

Lake Barrett Opening Day!

My congratulations goes out to the approximately 100 anglers that got to fish Lake Barrett on opening day this past weekend. The first anglers of the 2009 season to have a chance to fish for those fiery northern-strain largemouths.

Fishing reports are out on sdfish.com and looks like an epic day on the opener. I was reading reports on 2 anglers in a boat catching & releasing over 200 fish. It sounded like the anglers who were fishing on boats were averaging over 100 fish a boat. I have not read the reports from the float tubers but I'm sure they did well.

Anyways, I was not fortunate enough to get a ticket for opening day, not even the opening month. I guess I'm just not skilled enough with the touch tone phone or just plain not lucky enough. But hopefully I can get a reservation for June, tickets for that month goes on sale on May 12th so can be sure I'll be on that phone at 7:00 pm.

Again, congratulations to those fellow anglers who got to fish opening day. I can't wait to get back to Lake Barrett again and hopefully I will next month.

Lake Murray With The Boys!

Got out to Lake Murray yesterday with a couple of fellows at work, Mate (Graeme) & Steve. I got there at 5:45 am to find out that they have already lounged and they're lines on the water, but they were nice enough to pick me up at the boat dock. 

We started fishing the shallows for spawning fish, but the water was stained and skies were cloudy, so we couldn't really see under water. So, we all switched to the dropshop, not too long after, Mate & Steve got double hook ups. I got kinda worried cause I didn't catch my first fish till a couple of hours later, but ended up the day with the most fish. We fished from 6:00 am-1:00 pm and managed to catch 8 fish between us. Final fish count: Me=4, Mate=3, Steve=1. Most fish were caught on a dropshot and also caught some on the weighted Fluke. 

It would have been nice to catch more fish, but it was a great day to hang out with the fellows. Thanks guys, for the fun day.

Catching Bass After The Spawn

After the female bass has deposited her eggs in the nest, the male will stay near the nest to protect it for about a week after spawning. During this time the male is not a feeding fish, however, he can be provoked into attacking a lure which is presented very close to the nest in a defensive effort. After spawning both the male and female become active feeders again.

Back to Lake Dixon

Got the day-off from work yesterday, so I decided to fish Lake Dixon again. I got there at 7:00 am, which surprisingly work cause it has been cold the last few weeks.

Knowing that the wind is going to pick up later in the morning, I decided to sight fish. Found fish right away by cruising the shoreline on the west side of the lake. Lots of fish on the beds, but mostly males, didn't see many females. Managed to catch 9 fish in 3 hours by flipping texas rig Zoom bedbait. The wind picked up at 10:00 am which made it hard to sight fish. It made it hard to see under water with the ripple created by the wind. It was also hard to keep the boat still, especially with 30 lbs thrust trolling motor that comes with the rental boat. After 1/2 hour of frustration trying to look for bed fish, I gave up and started to do regular fishing. Managed to catch 2 more fish tossing a fluke close to the tullies.

At about 1;00 pm, got tired of fighting the wind, it got hot and I got hungry so I decided to call it the day. It was definitely a fun day with 11 fish caught & released, mostly 1.5 to 2.5lbs, biggest one at maybe 3.5lbs. Not a bad day at all, sure beats working.

Bed Fishing Lake Dixon

Had time for a few hours of fishing this morning, and since it is full moon tonight, I decided to hit up Lake Dixon for some bedfishing. It was a little cloudy when I got there so I couldn't really see the beds, but later in the morning, the some came out for a little bit and I managed to find a few beds. I ended up catching & releasing 6 fish, all were right around 2 pounds, no big ones. As always, I could not get the big females to bite and I didn't really have much time to spend working on a fish. Wind started to pickup, got cloudy and cold so I got out of there by noon. Since there is a full moon tonight, it should make for good spawn fishing tomorrow, but there is suppose to be a storm coming tonight, so I won't be out there. Caught all fish dropshotting a white Zoom Bed Bait on 6lb flouro.

Shores of Lake Murray

Hit up Lake Murray this morning for a few hours. Spent the whole time walking down the shores in search of spawning bass. I was really tough because the water was stained, but managed to find a few beds and managed to hook a couple of males. I did try to catch some of the females, there was a time when I spent an hour on 1 of them, but could not catch her. I kept throwing lures at her, but the male just kept pushing her off, taking my bait away from the nest and spitting it out. Didn't want to set the hook on the male to avoid spooking the big female, so maybe she'll get mad enough to get her to bite, but she never did. Anyways, managed to get 3 fish, all males at about 2-2.5 lbrs. Weapons of choice: 6'5" med daiwa rod, daiwa spinning reels, 6 lb. Berkeley flouro line and robo bed bait in dropshot rig.

Tough Day in Lake El Capitan

Got to the gate at 6:00 a.m. only to find out that there was a tournament, so there were 50 boats ahead of us. After, being in line for awhile we finally got to launch at 7:30 a.m. The lake looked beautiful and the water level was up. Unfortunately, the fishing was tough, it was overcast, cold & windy.

We tried just about everything but could not get a bite. We saw quite a few fish, just could not entice them to hit. After 4 hours of frustration and getting beat up by the cold wind, we called it the day. Oh well, that's why they call it fishing and not catching!

Fished Santee Lakes this morning!

Hit up Santee Lakes this morning. Got there at 6:30 am and it was pretty cold, hands were frozen, probably missed hits cause I could not feel them. I know, some of you from the midwest who are reading this are probably calling me a whimp. I undertand, but I grew up in SoCal and born in the islands, so anything below 70 degrees is cold.

Started out at Lake 4, those of you who are familiar with Santee Lakes, there are 5 chain of lakes. Started out tossing weightless Senkos next to the tullies without much luck. Moved to the end of the lake and saw shad busting the surface, so I tossed the Senko in and right away I got hit but missed it. I snagged a shad while reeling in, so I tied on a lipless crankbait to match the shad color. Sure enough, threw it out and hooked a small largemouth, but that was about it. So moved over to Lake 5, but had no luck with the crankbait. Switched to Senkos and jigs tossing next to the tullies & logs, but no love there.

After 2 hours of fishing with just 1 fish, I was getting a little frustrated. So I moved on the Lake 3. As I was walking up I saw a guy hook up on a dropshot rig, so I switched to a dropshot with my go to bait the Roboworm (Margarita Mutator). First cast, hooked a 2 lber, not bad. After a few more cast, nothing. Moved back over to Lake 4 by the paddle boats and caught 1 there about the same size.

It 11:00 am and it was starting to get hot and all picnikers are starting to arive, so I called it the day. 4 hours with 3 fish, usually that is a bad day, but for me at 3 largemouths at Santee Lake is not bad. I've caught lots of trouts, catfish & bluegills there in the past but the bass have not given me much love. So 3 fish there, I was happy.

Can't Wait To Fish Lake Barrett Again!

It is now March, 2 more months and Lake Barrett will open. Ending months of waiting to fish it again. I fished Lake Barrett for the first time last year and fished it once more after. First time I fish it, caught a few fish only because I was not familiar with the lake. The second time was so much better, found some great spots. We found a cove that was just loaded with fishes. We were pitching plastics (lizard, worms, creatures, beavers) next to tullies. We were fishing them texas rigged with weights & weight-less on the Senkos. But the most productive was the dropshot rigs with roboworms in margarita mutator color.

Lake Barrett is unique among publicly operated reservoirs, located in locked gates in a remote area of San Diego County. It is one of only two reservoirs in the region that operates under strict regulations to protect both the quality of the fishery and fishing experience. The fishing regulations at this "zero kill" fishery calls for the use of barbless hooks and artificial lures only with all fish release.

This is a great place to fish if you are able to get reservations. Ticketmaster handles all reservations for Lake Barrett fishing. The lake is open only on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays during the fishing season of May through September. Reservations are available a month in advanced, always beginning on the second Tuesday of the month at 7:00 pm. One reservation is good for up to four people and boat & motor included. I found it to be a good idea to bring in a trolling motor & battery with it. The boats are your regular aluminum lake boats which is really not ideal for four anglers, so what usually happens is that 2 people with fish on the boat & the other 2 fish from float tubes or from shore. Also, due to the fact that road to the lake passes through private property, all parties must be escorted on and off the premises. To find out more about Lake Barrett regulations visit http://www.sandiego.gov/water/recreation/barrett.shtml

Springtime is probably the best time to go and also the toughest to get reservations. You will get quantity in the spring (30+ days), but quality in my opinion is during the summer when you get the bigger fishes. The only thing about summertime that people have to deal with is the heat. Temperature can get very hot during the summer season, so we usually go at first train in and out at noon-2pm. There are no concessions at Barrett, so make sure to bring your own food & lots of water.

If you've never fish Lake Barrett before, try it. I guarantee that you'll fall in love with it just as I did!

Awesome Fishing in San Diego Bay

Fun day of fishing with my 2 brother-in-laws, Doug & Bill. We got out on the water at 7:45 am, line on the water by 8:00 am and done fishing by 1:00 pm.  High tide was a 11:15 am, so we hit the incoming tide. Temperature was little cool for San Diego and a little foggy but not much wind so that made for a calm & glassy water condition.

Anyways, started out slow for me and Doug, but Bill started out on fire, he got a few fish right away. It was really funny how it worked out, it was not constant hook up for everyone at the same time, it was like we took turns on getting the hot bites. Like I mentioned, Bill started out hooking up fish then I went on a run and ofcourse, Doug as always had a great finish. We  were all pretty much using the same type of gears. 6 1/2 - 7 foot medium action rods with light spinning reels w/8lb test lines. We were using swimbaits with either red or yellow color leadheads. As far as swimbait colors, we caught them on variety of different colors, we were using ghost shrimp, greens and I had good luck on the salt & pepper curly tail grub, but only brought 3 of them with me so after few fishes they were all torn up.

By 11:30 am, tide stopped moving,  the bite slowed down and ended packing it in at 1:00 pm. Doug and I ended up even at 29 fishes each and Bill at 28, all were spotted bay bass with 1 Halibut for Bill. Even if we didn't catch any fish it would have been fun just being out on the water with the boys, the good fishing just made it so much better! THANKS FOR THE GOOD TIME BROS!