Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass:
High winds and lake closures this past week made it tough to find a day to get out. In-between weather events we did make it out for a couple of decent days. The Bass are pretty much spread out all over the main lake. Bluff walls, 45 degree banks and rocky points all hold fish. They are throughout the water column as well, with the twenty to thirty foot zone being a good place to start. Depending on the weather they can be found shallow or suspended on sunny days and holding deeper on cloudy or stormy days. Finesse plastics, Ned rigs, jerkbaits and jigs continue to get the bulk of the bites.
Striped Bass:
The schools we’re marking tend to be a little shallower and more willing to bite in the morning. We are seeing big schools along the bottom in the sixty foot zone along the East side of the fish arm. Some of these are small fish. Once the sun and wind get up the schools tend to leave the bottom and spread out where there is baitfish. This can be anywhere from fifty to a hundred feet and deeper. Trolling is still the way to go with vertical jigging another option when the fish are active. A Trout plant on Thursday and lots of inclement weather should get the bigger swimbait fish willing to play in the coming days if we are able to go out.
Castaic Afterbay:
Some better sized Bass are being caught on the standard finesse Carolina rig with a Neptune Shad C3 Baits Shimmy on the business end. Find the steeper dropoffs mid-lake on either side, in the twenty to thirty foot zone. Otherwise there are Bass and Crappie biting vertically jigged KastMasters and Rapala ice jigs in the South basin. Target the bait schools on your sonar in the forty to fifty foot zone.
Castaic Lake Conditions:
Water Temp Surface:
55°
Water Temp at 20′:
N/A
Water Clarity:
15′ visibility.
Clear.
Water Level:
Down 30+ feet
Jim – www.661Fishing.com
