Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass:

Falling water levels have pulled the Bass off the bank into safer, deeper water. The good news is there are big concentrations of fish in the 15 foot range and they are biting well. Most any rocky shoreline near the main lake will hold fish, as will the bluffs and points. The falling water will continue to be an issue going forward, until lake levels stabilize sometime in July. Dropshot rigs, Ned rigs and finesse Carolina rigs continue to be among the best presentations. There has been a little bit of topwater action on Luckycraft Sammy’s and similar walking baits if you are fortunate to be in the right place at the right time, as wolfpacks of Bass push the Shad out of deeper water and towards the bank. The same scenario goes for netting the Shad for bait.

Striped Bass:

Stripers to eight pounds are biting for anglers putting in the time and targeting the twenty to thirty foot zone with Yak flies on fly-coring rigs. Main lake points in the Fish Arm are a good place to focus your attention, especially when the wind is blowing into these areas. Trolling speed remains essential to getting bites, with 2.0 to 2.2 mph being the preferred speed, any faster and your catch rate will suffer significantly. There are lots of small fish schooled up in the cove mouths that are willing to bite just about anything. This is a great opportunity to get young anglers in on some great action.

Castaic Afterbay:

We have spent a lot of time here recently as the conditions are stable and the fish are biting, despite a lot of fishing pressure on the weekends. The C3 Baits/Carolina Rig combo continues to dominate the bite in the swim beach area and Eastern shoreline in ten to fifteen feet of water. C3 Baits Shimmys and Jobus in Oxblood and Neptune Shad are getting hammered on the inside and outside weed edges. There are schools of micro shad around the weeds and big schools of larger Shad in slightly deeper water. Look for an explosive topwater bite to emerge in the coming weeks if not days. Lots of one to three pound fish here with an occasional five to eight pounder keeping things interesting. 

Castaic Lake Conditions:

Water Temp Surface:

71°

Water Clarity:

15′ to 20′ visibility. Mostly clear.

Water Level:

Down 55′ and falling steadily

Jim – www.661Fishing.com