976-FRESH Freshwater Fish Report

Watch the SPECIAL STOCKING of Brooks, Browns and Stealhead for THIS SATURDAY’S event #2 of the Lip RipperZ Takeover Tournament Trail at Irvine Lake!! More details at www.lipripperz.com

EAST WALKER RIVER- The river is flowing at 26 cfs today. We haven’t had very many anglers down there this week, probably because the weather has been a bit more like winter lately. The anglers we have talked to have still been doing pretty well though. Much the same techniques and patterns as the past few weeks, nymphing with small nymphs and midges and some dry action. Most of the anglers we’ve talked to are reporting anywhere from 10 to 30 fish days. Successful patterns include wd-40, flashback emerger, rainbow warrior, zebra midge, para adams, blue wing olive.

TROUT: Trout action is about as good as it gets throughout Southern California with action at all of the stocked waters hitting the mid-season stride that translates into lots of limits of nice fish, along with the chance at a trophy fish. Top bets are western Riverside Countyís Corona Lake, the Orange County trio of Laguna Niguel Park Lake, Irvine Lake, and Santa Ana River Lakes and both the High Desert waters of Hesperia Lake and Jess Ranch. In San Diego County, Poway, Jennings Cuyamaca, Morena, Dixon, and Wohlford are all pretty good bets. Other top bets include all the San Bernardino County Park Lakes. Check the water-by-water reports for details, but the bites are good just about everywhere trout are planted now. The sleeper pick remains the Colorado River from Laughlin to Big Bend where this seasonís plants and holdover fish to six pounds are showing in good numbers. The Sierra general trout season is over, but fly anglers are experiencing excellent action in the year-around stretch of the Upper Owens on fish up to five or six pounds and the East Walker River has been very good, too.

BLACK BASS: Most of the lakes in the region are moving into a pre-spawn bite very early this year. Three patterns are worth noting. First, the warm weather has some fish up in less than 10 feet of water cruising around. This is especially true in lower-elevation waters like Lower Otay, Perris, Diamond Valley, and Casitas. Cachuma and Santa Margarita have also been improving. The early fish are usually bigger fish, too. Second, in lakes getting trout plants there are some bigger bass on trout-like swimbaits. This is best after DFG plants (because these trout are usually smaller than the fish from the private hatcheries). Last, the deeper water bass bite is pretty good for finesse anglers who know how to fish ice jigs, jigging spoons, and small plastics. So, that means you need to be prepared to fish from top to bottom. Top bet is probably Diamond Valley with the fish in eight to 30 feet, mostly feeding on sculpin right on the bottom in good cover.

STRIPED BASS: Striper bites all are very spotty right now. There are still fish showing at all the usual places — Diamond Valley, Castaic, Pyramid, Skinner, and Silverwood — but there are two types of action. There are some bigger fish up chasing trout in the top 20 feet of the water column or in water from 40 to 80 feet hanging on structure or under balls of bait. Itís usually bigger fish on the trout and smaller, school-size fish in deep water where they are showing on cut baits. Keep an eye on the trout plants and fish within the first two or three days after a plant. The top bet may be the California aqueduct near Taft, which has been producing a lot of fish to four to eight pounds. On the Colorado River, there have been a few quality fish to 20 pounds or better at Willow Beach. Havasu is fair in the main body of the lake and toward the dam and the fish are still focused on shad.

PANFISH: Top picks for crappie in a scanty field are Cachuma Lake, with a fair bite on quality fish over a pound, the Buena Vista Lakes, which has continued to produce some nice fish on small minnows, and Lake Silverwood off the marina docks. The Salton Sea tilapia bite has been getting better and better the last three weeks and was producing catches of up to 40 fish per angler this past week. Itís time. The Perris panfish bite is tougher again this week and there werenít any crappie reports, but the redear anglers are still getting fish. Few other panfish bites are of note in this region. On the Central Coast, Lopez and Santa Margarita have been producing some quality crappie, but no big numbers, and these bites have slowed.

CATFISH: There continues to be reports of some nice catfish at Lake Skinner, but it seems like all the reports are coming from one angler with fish to 12 pounds reported. The Colorado River and local drainage ditches slowed with the annual drawdown of these canals, but the canals are back up, and thereís been fair action in the main river on channels. Flatheads are very slow but a few good fish were reported this past week.

1. OK, itís time to start heading out to the Salton Sea for tilapia. The rain forecast for this weekend might slow this bite down, but the warm days have warmed up the sea enough to kick this bite into gear early. This same thing happened three years ago, and the action never slowed down. Anglers have been reporting 15 to 40 fish days and the fish have been running up to 1 1/2 pounds. Most anglers are fishing the Salton Sea State Recreation Area headquarters jetty or the jetty at the refurbished Salton Sea Yacht Club (just north of the state park headquarters). The bite has been exclusively on small nightcrawler pieces fished right on or near the bottom. For an update on the action, call the newly open Visitor Center (open daily 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) at 760-393-3810.

2. Trout action is universally good throughout Southern Californiaís planted lakes, but the two top picks are Laguna Niguel Park Lake and Corona Lake. Laguna produced a new lake record at 17-10 and Corona cranked out a 21 1/2-pounder. The usual array of small trout jigs, trout plastics, and floating dough baits are working at both lakes (all the SoCal lakes for that matter), but there are still people who donít use light enough leaders to entice strikes. Think two to four-pound test, with lighter being better. For an update on these bites, call Laguna Niguel at 949-362-3885 or Corona Lake at 951-277-3321.

3. Diamond Valley Lakeís largemouth bass bite is staying in the top picks this week because the fish have continued to move up as though the spawn is about to being. The fish are showing in the backs of the coves on swimbaits, and then out if 18 to 25 feet on four-inch drop-shot plastics that sort-of imitate the sculpin in the lake. The biggest bass are coming on the bigger, trout-like swimbaits. Check with the staff at Last Chance Bait and Tackle in Hemet for an update on this bite at 951-658-7410.

Barring adverse weather, water or road conditions, the following lakes and streams, listed by county, will be restocked with catchable-size rainbow trout from the Department of Fish and Game hatcheries this week. For updates in Southern California and the Eastern Sierra Nevada, you can call the DFG recording at 562-594-7268, or for updates in the Western Sierra, you can call 559-243-4005, x183. For trout plants statewide, you can visit the DFG’s web site at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fish/Hatcheries/FishPlanting/index.asp.

LOS ANGELES: Castaic Lake, El Dorado Park Lakes, Elizabeth Lake, Hansen Lake, Legg Lake, Peck Road Park Lake, Puddingstone Reservoir, Santa Fe Flood Control Basin.

SAN BERNARDINO: Prado Park Lake.

INYO: Lower Owens river (below Tinemaha Reservoir and Stewart Lane to Laws).

FRESNO: Avocado Lake, Kings River below Pine Flat Reservoir, San Joaquin River below Friant Dam, Woodward Park Lake.

SILVERWOOD: DFG trout went in last week and three weeks ago. The trout action has continued to be good around the launch ramp, marina, Sawpit, and into Cleghorn and Miller canyons. Floating baits, small trout plastics and jigs, and inflated nightcrawlers with scent have all been good bet. Greg Warren, Los Angeles, had four rainbows fishing PowerBait dough off the dock rocks. The fish averaged just over a pound. The crappie bite has improved again with fair action off the dock on small jigs tipped with Crappie Nibbles or meal worms. Wanda Jackson had five crappie on meal worms with her best a three-pounder. A few stripers have been showing around the marina chasing trout with some fish on swimbaits and cut baits. Will Tucker, Ontario, landed an eight-pounder on a nightcrawler off the dock. A few catfish have also continued to show on the same cut baits working for the stripers. The warm weather also seems to have perked the largemouth action, with some fish showing on jigs, plastics, and nightcrawlers in 20 to 40 feet of water. Dock fishing is allowed for $3 for adults, $2 for kids and seniors. The park is closed on Wednesday and Thursday each week now through March (walk-in fishing still allowed). Hours are 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is a petition at the Silverwood Country Store to get the lake opened back up those two days. Information: marina 760-389-2299, state park 760-389-2281, Silverwood Country store 760-389-2423.

BIG BEAR LAKE: The best trout bite shifted from mid-day to morning and evening this past week with the top spots still the aerator, Windy Point, Juniper Point and Serrano. Quite a bite of sheet ice in the mornings, but itís usually gone by 9 a.m. The best bite is in 12 to 18 feet of water with floating baits, mostly Power Bait and Gulp!, on a three-foot leader. Top flavors/colors have been garlic chartreuse, rainbow salmon egg, and chunky cheese garlic. Light fishing pressure. All the marinas are closed until spring. For fishing information: Big Bear Sporting Goods 909-866-3222.

HESPERIA LAKE: Trout plants are weekly and the action has been very good with a lot of quality fish from eight to 12 pounds and some bigger, but most anglers are getting nice stringers of fish averaging about 1 1/2 pounds. Best action on Power Bait and inflated nightcrawlers with the north shore and east bank the top spots. The catfish bite has slowed down with the cold evenings, but the occasional sturgeon continues to show up. Lake hours are 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. with the night session from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Cost is $15 per angler. No state fishing license is required here. Information: 800-521-6332 or 760-244-5951.

JESS RANCH: Trout action has been very good this past week with anglers using Power Bait (salmon peach, salmon egg, garlic, lemon twist), nightcrawlers, jigs and lures to catch lots of limits. Hot spots for trout included the eastern logged shore and western shore (near the drain) of lake 3 as well as the western and south western shores of lake 2. Top fish of the week was a 3-15 landed by Eddie Rodriguez, Whittier, to top off his limit caught on lemon twist Power Bait. Mark Chatham, Riverside, landed a 3-14. Chris Holguin, Los Angeles, had rainbows at 3-13 and 3-2, while Robert Rodriguez, Whittier, landed a 3-11 on a Power Mouse. Robert Gorman, 16, Upland, had a limit with his top fish at 3-5, while his 12-year-old brother Jacob, landed a three-pounder. The catfish, panfish, and bass bites have all be slow. The lake complex is open every Friday through Sunday from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it is stocked with trout each week on Friday from its own hatchery. Lake information: 760-240-1107 or www.jessranchlakesnews.com.

MOJAVE NARROWS: No report. County trout plants are weekly, and there were DFG plants two and four weeks ago. The fourth event in the San Bernardino County Park trout derby series will be held here March 10. Horseshoe Lake is still closed due to flood damage. Pelican Lake is remains open. For lake information: 760-245-2226.

CUCAMONGA-GUASTI: Good action on the planted rainbows with many of the fish in the two to three-pound class. County fish are planted each week and the DFG also planted trout last week and three weeks ago. Most trout are being reported on floating dough baits in rainbow and chartreuse with garlic. Inflated nightcrawlers with garlic are also a good bet and some fish are showing on the small trout jigs and plastics. Information: 909-481-4205.

PRADO: County trout plants are each week and the DFG planted this week and last week. The best bite has been on rainbow, chartreuse, and garlic floating baits, and adding garlic oil or scent to all baits and lures is improving the action. Most of the rainbows are from one to two pounds. The third event in the San Bernardino County Park trout derby series will be held here Feb. 11. Small boats (non-inflatable with a hard bottom) under 16 feet with electric motors are allowed. Information: 909-597-4260.

YUCAIPA: Overall, the trout action has been good with county trout plants each week and DFG trout were planted two and four weeks ago. The best action has been on the small trout jigs and trout plastics, but the usual array of floating dough baits is also taking a lot of fish. Lake information: 909-790-3127.

GLEN HELEN: Good trout action. The county plants are weekly, and there was a DFG trout plant last week. Power Baits, inflated nightcrawlers, and small trout jigs and plastics have all be scoring fish. The last event in the San Bernardino County Park trout derby series will be held here April 14. Information: 909-887-7540.

DIAMOND VALLEY: There will be a Tagged Trout Derby from Jan. 20-29 with each $10 entry getting a raffle ticket and become eligible to claim prizes for tagged fish landed during the 10 days of the event. There will be trout plants from Mt. Lassen this week, and DFG trout next week for the event. Overall, the trout bite has been fair to good with lots of fish on PowerBait, small trout lures, and mini-jigs. The largemouth bass bite has continued to improve with a lot of fish in both shallow and deep water. There has been fair to good action in seven to 15 feet of water in the backs of the coves on the outside edge of brush on Senkos or trout-like swim bait for bigger fish. The drop-shot bite is mostly in 25 to 30 feet of water on small, four-inch brown plastics with green pumpkin and oxblood colors the best. JiggerCraws have been a top bait. More and more fish over five pounds starting to show. The striper bite has slowed with a tough bait bite. A few stripers continue to show on swimbaits, especially right after the trout plants, but overall very tough. The catfish and panfish are getting little pressure right now. Private boats must be inspected for zebra and quagga mussels. Boats with wet lower units will be turned away. For general lake and launch information, call 800-590-LAKE. For fishing and boat rental info call the marina at 951-926-7201 or www.dvmarina.com or Last Chance Bait and Tackle at 951-658-7410 or www.lastchancetackle.com.