Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass:

High winds closed the lake on and off this week along with air temps pushing 96 by mid-week. The Bass bite remains pretty solid despite high angling pressure and recreational boat traffic. 5″ Yamamoto Senko’s in Green Pumpkin/Black Flake fished weightless on a Gamakatsu Finesse wide gap hook and o-ring are our primary presentation. Quality fish are also coming on the C3 Baits Shimmys in the Neptune Shad and Watermelon Candy patterns, fished on a 6lb finesse Carolina Rig in deeper water. There are lots of male bass bedding and we’ve seen a couple of bruiser fish moving up to spawn on next week’s full moon. Fishing has been better in the morning in the calmer, clear water. By afternoon the wake boats have pretty much muddied up the shallow water zones. Necktie Canyon and Old S.S. are good places to start.

Striped Bass:

The Striper bite has been hit and miss again this week. Trolling with the fly-coring/Producer Fly technique is getting a few fish although the biters are pretty well spread out. The fish that are being caught are nice and healthy. As we head into May and water temps continue to rise, this bite will only get stronger. The bulk of the Shad have moved up in the water column and can be found in the 20′ – 30′ range.

Castaic Afterbay:

Lots of big fish moving shallow to spawn here but they are easy to spook in the ultra-clear water. This is where stealth and distance casting can pay off. Weightless Senko’s cast to the shallows from long range will get some quality grabs. Dropshot and splitshot rigs in the slightly deeper water will pay dividends as well. C3 Baits Ice Picks in Neptune Shad and Watermelon Candy are great baits for the dropshot with Shimmy’s getting the nod for the splitshot rig in the same color patterns. Try to avoid the weekends here as this lake doesn’t fish well under pressure.

Castaic Lake Conditions:

Water Temp Surface:

62° – 68°

Water Temp at 25′:

55°

Water Clarity:

15′ visibility. Mainly clear

Water Level:

5’ down 

Jim – 661 Fishing