Fairmount Park Crappie Fishing

Fairmount Park is a very tough place to catch fish at consistently. The water is usually quite murky and the anglers fishing with every lure known to man hit the water each day. Fortunately, most anglers are doing the "bait 'n wait" for catfish and carp, but there is a sizable population of lure anglers targetting other warmwater species here. The worst part is the number of anglers that keep everything they catch at Fairmount, ignoring the obviously foul water in hopes of some muddy water fish-fry. I strictly practice Catch-Photo-Release (CPR) at this local city park, be it for bass, carp or sunfish. Fairmount is no longer stocked by the State and it's a pretty limited fishery overall.

The sunfish population at Fairmount can offer a nice break from the challenge of catching largemouth. Still, it can be difficult to locate them as well, given the high fishing pressure and large amount of water. Fortunately, my last fishing trip to Fairmount worked out pretty well. I fished a variety of lures, including a Bass Pro Shops micro jerkbait, a Jet Tackle jerkbait, and micro jigs/plastic worm combos. I ran into a small school of tiny crappie, averaging 6-8 inches, with some bluegill and green sunfish mixed in. These guys were a blast to catch, although the school quickly dissipated to other regions of the lake at the onset of dusk. If you do go to Fairmount, please fish responsibly and practice catch and release.

Fairmount Park Fall Fishing

Fairmount Park, in Riverside, California, is one of the largest urban parks in the Inland Empire region. It has a rather interesting history, as it was originally dedicated in 1898 as a park. In 1911, Frederick Law Olmsted Sr, famous for his design of Central Park in New York, created the plans for the layout of Fairmount Park’s landscaping. 

There's also an odd military tank, on a pedestal, at the west side of the park. Apparently, such tanks were built in the Riverside region for use in WWII (over 500). There’s an excellent writeup about the complete history behind Fairmount Park at the Riverside Parks website, (PDF format). 

I have been fishing Fairmount on and off over the last month. Unlike visits during other times of the year, these recent trips have produced fish consistently. Granted, they have all been fairly small. However, it’s always fun to land something at Fairmount, given my history of getting skunked at this park. I have been catching largemouth bass, green sunfish and bluegill on a variety of lures. My most recent trip saw two fish landed on a dropshot rig with a Zipper-style worm. However, most of my fish have been on small jerkbaits. I had two bass at Fairmount Park on a recent trip chase my jerkbait back to the shore, unfortunately, the smaller one managed to get it first before it’s larger friend (2-3lbs?) caught up. Anyway, here are a few photos of bass and sunfish from Fairmount Park. Tight lines!

Something's Fishy

Despite my astounding lack of updates to this blog, I have been fishing. Unfortunately, the bass bite hasn't been the best for me as of late. Still, whenever that happens, I turn over to my friends the sunfish. Fishing at dusk with topwaters is my preferred method for angling for sunfish. While they don't inhale a lure with quite as much strength as a beasty largemouth bass, they are certainly plentiful and fun! Dry flys, homemade topwater jigs, Yo-Zuri lures and soft plastics have all been my go-to lures for these plate-shaped fish.

 

Check out the fantastic colors on this Fairmount Park sunfish I landed!

Here's a few more fun bluegill from the last few weeks.

While I haven't been doing too stellar on the bass, I did manage this hefty chunk from Fairmount Park in Riverside, California. I didn't get to weight it, but it was around 15'' long. Got him right near the bank on a senko, far side, and he put up a super fight before I landed him.

Here is one of my best bluegills of the year, landed at a private reservoir in East Highland. Got him on a dry fly, wow, what a fighter! Measurements were 10 inches long, certainly not the biggest but still a great fish compared to others I've caught there.

Fairmount Park Piggies

 Fished Fairmount Park yesterday and today. The water is warm, still murky (but nothing like last month's chocolate milk lake), and the fish are active. Carp are visible all around the lake, the sunfish are coming out of their hiding places, and the bass...are biting. Jackall Flick Shake worms were the ticket.

 Catch and release fishing is something many people cannot seem to wrap their brains around, especially at parks like Fairmount. On my first fish of today, a family asked me to give it to them. I politely declined, letting them know I release my bass. However, they couldn't undertstand this and kept shouting and yelling, asking me to give them the fish "for their dad." As I unhooked the bass and lowered it back into the water, one of the girls in the group went ballistic, screaming, "No, no, no! Give it to us!"
You want a fish from Fairmount that badly? Sheesh. Pony up $4 and grab a largemouth at 99 Ranch Market, fresh. Leave the dirty city park fish alone. DFG doesn't stock Fairmount routinely with bass, and there certainly isn't enough to go around feeding all of Riverside.

 My third crappie from Fairmount. Little guy couldn't resist a slowly-retrieved Yo-Zuri!

Riverside Bass Fishing

Updates? Here's one. Life has been oh so busy but I'm still fishing. Fairmount Park, Seccombe, Ford, Perris, even a trip to Diamond Valley Lake. I have piles of photos on my computer from the trips, but haven't uploaded them. It used to be that I was thrilled to fish, get home and show the trophy pictures to my friends
I was hunting crappie at Fairmount Park in Riverside, Dirty IE, California, scratched one crappie off the roots, then moved to the "other" pond at the park. Was fishing with one of my buds, he was throwing bass gear and I was working the panfish gear (light tackle, 4lb mono, collapsible spinning rod/reel). I'm always amazed at how crazy Fairmount is. As we were fishing, the police pulled over a car 5ft from our spot, then proceeded to arrest the driver and haul off the car. As this was going down,I felt the faintest tap, then another. Set the hook, and boom, I'm into something that's definitely not a crappie. Tries to take me into the lily pads (good luck on 4lb test, right?), but he eventually plays nice and comes to the shore. Quick photo-op, place him back in the water, grab the pliers to unhook him, and he takes off-snap! At least I got the pic. Not a terribly huge bass, but a nice for for the 'mount.
Fairmount has really been better for me these last few months. Previously, it was almost a guaranteed skunk here. Glad to shake that season off.

Hunting at Fairmount Park

Night fishing has proven to be a tricky beast for me to tackle. I only have the confidence to fish a select few lures, mostly topwaters. I desperately need to branch out and try some other approaches, but the excitement of late night surface explosions keeps bringing me back. It's hard to beat the rush from a massive strike when it's pitch black outside.

(More after the jump)

Fairmount is a real pain of a park to fish at. It's pretty much guaranteed that I'll run into some very strange characters or equally suspicious activity while I'm out fishing this park in Riverside, especially at night. Secondly, the bass are usually too smart for me, I've been skunked most of the times out at this SoCal fishing spot. Lastly, the water quality is abysmal. It's almost always super murky and techniques suited for highly-pressured waters (i.e. ultralight) don't seem to get the fish's attention. On the flip side, the poor visibility helps keep the fish away from your usual city park trash (snaggers and netters). Still, I love this park, because it's free, it's relatively close, has some interesting cover, and there is a lot of water (three interconnected ponds).
Back to the subject of topwater at night-catching toads like this quality fish keeps bringing me back, especially when it's from a hard place like Fairmount. Had one of my best nights at this park last week, with three hooked and one landed, all on the same topwater lure. The funny thing is, I went back two other nights, with very similar weather and water conditions. Tried the same tactic, same general area, couldn't get a single splash or strike.

Fairmount Park in Riverside Largemouth Bass

Fairmount Park in Riverside offers loads of water, lots of cover and absurdly well-educated largemouth bass. They'll just laugh at your pathetic attempts to catch them, no matter how realistic your lure is. Such was the case for me at this city park in California. My first trip to Fairmount landed me one largemouth (last year), but I haven't been able to catch one since, until tonight.

Oh, I do love a good topwater explosion. Best part of bass fishing, IMHO.

Thanks, Fairmount.