Castaic Lake Fishing

Largemouth and Smallmouth Bass:

The lake is holding about five feet from full pool and the release of water into and out of the afterbay has ceased. The water in both lakes is clearing rapidly with the onset of high pressure and high air temps with surface readings at the upper lake reaching 72 on Friday. The overall bite has ramped up with the smaller largemouth still dominating the counts. There is a new wave of bass in the shallower rocky areas and our clients have connected with bass pushing seven pounds as a result. Smallmouth bass are showing in good numbers but continue to be mostly incidental catches and hard to target. Our best action is in 5 – 15’ of water in the Fish Arm of the lake. The 5″ Yamamoto – Daiwa Neko Fat worms rigged wacky style and weightless are getting bit for our clients on a regular basis and are outfishing the Senko on the same rig. Dropshots with 4-1/2″ to 7″ RoboWorms will also score numbers of bass fished a little deeper off of main lake and secondary points. Carolina rigged C3 Baits Ice Picks and Shimmies in Neptune Shad and Red Smoke continue to  produce quality fish for our clients. 

Striped Bass:

Stripping Producer flies on our “fly-coring” rigs has come back in a big way this week as the fish are mostly done spawning. We are experiencing almost instant catches with the best action taking place when the lake opens. The Stripers have moved up in the water column with most fish being caught around 30′ deep in the Ski Arm. The lake is setting up perfectly for an epic summer/fall season unless the water gods decide to drastically lower the lake to make room for the snowmelt from this year’s historic Sierra snowpack.

Castaic Afterbay:

The lagoon is clearing up nicely with the stoppage of water coming in from the upper lake. More and bigger fish are continuing to move shallow. There are weedbeds developing and the bass remain active. Early mornings and windy afternoons are proving to be the best windows of opportunity for anglers. The dropshot rigged with C3 Baits Ice Picks in Red Smoke and Neptune Shad is still the main technique with fish also being caught on Senkos. 

Castaic Lake Conditions

Water Temp Surface

72°

Water Temp Bottom at 20’

62° – 67°

Water Clarity

15′

Medium algae bloom

Water Level

5′ Below Full Pool