Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass:

The excellent Bass fishing we’ve all been enjoying took a bit of a hit mid-week as high winds, cold nights and rapidly dropping water levels pulled a lot of fish off the bank into safer, deeper water. Surface temps went from 71 to 64 degrees within a couple of days and the fish reacted by heading to the drop-offs or suspending over deep water. While a few areas continue to fish well and some anglers had solid fish counts, most anglers were left scratching their heads. With air temps rebounding this week the bite should straighten itself out and the full moon on Thursday should put them back into spawning mode. The falling water will continue to be an issue going forward, until the fish are done spawning and water temps stabilize. We have gone back to dropshot rigs and finesse Carolina rigs to target the ten to fifteen foot zone. There has been a little bit of topwater action on Luckycraft Sammy’s and Zara Spooks as the Shad get shallower in some areas, preparing to spawn.

Striped Bass:

Yak flies on fly-coring rigs continue to put quality fish to eight pounds in the net for anglers targeting the fifteen to thirty foot zone on main lake points in the Fish Arm. In the Ski Arm, the area around the island is a good place to focus your attention. Trolling speed remains essential to getting bites, with 2.0 to 2.2 mph being the preferred speed. Lots of small fish mixed in with the Jumbo’s.

Castaic Afterbay:

Solid Bass fishing continues here despite lots of fishing pressure. The tried and true C3 Baits/Carolina Rig combo dominates the bite in the swim beach area and adjacent Eastern shoreline in ten to fifteen feet of water. C3 Baits Shimmys and Jobus in Oxblood and Neptune Shad are as good as any bait you can tie on. Weeds are growing fast, reaching the surface in some areas, so concentrating on the outside edge of the grass is a good place to focus your presentation.

Castaic Lake Conditions:

Water Temp Surface:

65 – 71°

Water Clarity:

15′ to 20′ visibility. Mostly clear.

Water Level:

Down 50′ and dropping

Jim – www.661Fishing.com