Largemouth & Smallmouth Bass:
Bass fishing is transitioning to a Summer pattern as more fish are on their way out of the spawning areas and heading to their deep water Summer haunts. Look for fish on the same secondary points and main points they used on the way in to spawn in the Spring. There are still fish up shallow, mostly fry-guarders, but concentrating on the 15′ to 25′ zone will render you better success. Ned rigs are producing lots of bites as well as the tried and true finesse Carolina rig. Light line is key, 5 or 6lb mono and 6 or 8lb flourocarbon. There is a little bit of topwater action in the morning as well as a decent soft and hard jerkbait bite when the wind kicks up and makes mud lines. Another bait we’ve been having success with is the Megabass Okashira screwhead jig with a 2.8 Keitech in the typical shad colors. This is a fun bait to fish and the Bass love it, especially the Smallmouth.
Striped Bass:
The smaller Stripers are around yet only seem to be biting in small windows. Trolling with the fly-coring/Producer Fly technique is the best way to cover water and find these fish which tend not to be schooled up in any big numbers. The occasional bigger Stripers are making random appearances yet are hard to target at this time. This bite is picking up steam lately and showing good signs of going off in the near future. Not many surface boils yet, just a few small ones at first light, mostly smaller fish.
Castaic Afterbay:
Bass fishing is still good here as most of the fish are heading to deeper water. The finesse Carolina rig and Ned rig are getting most of the bites. C3 Baits Shimmys and Warthogs are great soft plastics to use in these conditions. Lighter line is the rule here as the water is clear. Bluegill are still shallow and can be caught on meal worms or red worms.
Castaic Lake Conditions:
Water Temp Surface:
70° – 76°
Water Temp at 20′:
66°
Water Clarity:
10′ – 20′ visibility.
Mainly clear
Water Level:
3′ down
Jim – 661 Fishing
