Amongst the crowded streets and and packed neighborhoods of suburbia are little waterways, sometimes teeming with life. To one such creek I ventured last week, drawn by wanderlust and the hunt for finned adventure. Parts were far too shallow for my scaled quarry to inhabit; yet other portions held them in abundance. The river king they were not, but landing crappie from an urban stream is always a treat!
Earlier this year, during my urban creek rush, I re-visited a small Inland Empire creek. I had initially avoided even dropping a line in it as it didn't appeal to me.
However, I'm glad I returned. Despite the brief torrential downpour and suspicious fish, I managed to land several bass and a few green sunfish, all within a couple of hours.
While the creek wasn't very impressive in length, it made up for it in width with several spots allowing full-range of overhead casting.
Check out the photos and video, notice the two fish I scored towards the end on the dropshot + purple worm!
Bass Attack Urban Creek Bass Fishing with Underwater Shots
Last week, I visited one of my favorite urban creeks in California. It's packed with cover and loaded with largemouth bass, green sunfish, carp, catfish and other eager biters. So far, most of the bass I've caught in this creek are tiny. However, this last trip really blew me away-several decent-sized largemouth bass were caught, along with a bunch of chunky green sunfish on an assortment of lures.
I was really impressed with this section of the creek. It's relatively un-trashed, when compared to some of the upstream parts of this urban creek. The tree canopy is pretty dense, covering the surface of the water with loads of shade. There is scattered fallen logs and brush along the shore, with fast sections and slow, deep pools. It really feels like a different world from many other urban creeks I've fished. Even better, I had this section of the creek to myself. That's not to say it hadn't been fished before, as evidenced by a few stray pieces of fishing line and beer bottles.
I started out catching one nice largemouth on a Real Fish Swimbait Hard Shad model. He hit it after a long retrieve in some rapids near a spillway. Catching that fish set the pace for the day. As you can see from the above video, I ended up doing pretty well on this trip. I'm also very pleased with how the video turned out; it's definitely one of my best urban creek YouTube fishing videos so far. The music choice may not be perfect for all audiences (dubstep?) but I hope you still enjoy the fishing!
The last pool I stopped at was absolutely amazing. Landed a healthy largemouth bass on my first cast, with a dropshot Zipper worm. Next up with several more missed strikes on the same worm. Switched over to a Yo-Zuri Snap Bean and was instantly back in the action. The largemouth would chase this tiny micro crankbait, but it was the green sunfish that went wild over it. I lost track of how many of these big-mouthed greenies I landed on this ultralite crankbait, but at one point I was hooking up on every cast. I'll be posting a review series sometime soon of my favorite ultralite crankbaits and jerkbaits, with more on these wonderful micro cranks!
I also landed several fish on the usual assortment of microjigs, crappie jigs and one other lure, a hand-painted blank lure jerkbait from wLure. II don't have an airbrush, but I've still had a fun time hand painting a few blank crankbaits and jerkbaits from wLure. Catching a fish on a lure you've painted yourself is especially rewarding.
The new time change really throws off my fishing schedule, in a good way. I'll have to agree with a recent post over at UrbanFlyVentures-let's Spring Forward and stick with it, no more Fall Backs! I had been fishing for several hours but the sun didn't appear to be anywhere near ready to set. Definitely felt odd, but I'm thrilled to have a longer time to fish each day, at least until next Fall. Sounds like there will be plenty more urban creek fishing adventures to post at Hunting the River King in the near future!
There's something about discovering a new spot on Google Maps, driving to it and actually finding it both fish-able and accessible that really turns up the adrenaline. I've scoured the Inland Empire for new spots to try within a reasonable driving distance and just recently came across a really amazing fishing location. Poles and fishing gear in the car, I hit the road, parked in a safe area, find a clear path with apparently public access, and headed in. After a 10 minute hike, I was on the water-and what a spot! Clear, clean water with very little trash on the bank (quite a difference from my usual urban creek fishing spots), and lots of great bank access. It's hard to describe in words just how exhilarating this is.
For those living outside of Southern California, let me throw in a little more explanation. When living in an area of high urban density, especially in the more populated regions of Riverside, San Bernardino, etc, finding even a public park to fish in can be difficult. The sheer number of people, concrete urban sprawl and amazingly restrictive land access (both public and private) is often overwhelming and leaves anglers with very few places to "discover" as a new, relatively untouched fishing spots. Thus, coming across somewhere new is a special treat, to say the least.
Back to this new spot. There's actually two ponds, with a lot of depth. Casting out with my favorite Bitsy Pond Minnow micro crankbait, I immediately had strikes. I also noticed several large bass warily stalking my lure. Perhaps their hesitance indicated that this pond received more fishing pressure than I first anticipated, perhaps not. Regardless, I worked my way around one pond, working the crankbait for a few small dink bass. Eventually, I switched to a Gary Yamamoto Micro Ika (really unique scaled-down version of the Ika soft plastic) and worked it in cover along the shore. This lure usually scores stubborn bass for me, but it was not be today. Frustrated, I tied on a zipper-style 3'' purple worm on a lightweight jighead and began working it both parallel and straight out from the shore. After two missed hits, I changed spots and immediately hooked into a healthy largemouth bass. He wasn't a beast by any measure, but I was fairly satisfied-good fight on light line, leaping acrobatics and a couple of strong drag-pulling runs, roughly 12-14''.
New spot fishing video
While it was still relatively "urban", this new spot felt like a nice change of pace from some of my usual litter-strewn concrete jungle creek fishing locales. I'll be back as the weather continues to warm up and fish begin to move more and more shallower in the pre-spawn. Tight lines!
Fishing small urban creek in the L.A., O.C. and I.E. region has become my new-found fishing pastime. Discovering these little concrete gems has been an educational experience, both from a fishing and ecological standpoint. I think it's important for everyone to realize the sad state of disrepair that has befallen most urban streams, thanks to our own greed and poor stewardship.
(More after the jump)
This past weekend I had the pleasure of tackling one of my favorite local warmwater creeks. Bass, green sunfish and carp all haunt these waters, struggling to survive amidst urban runoff, entrapping debris and the waste of modern society.
I've never landed a carp at one of these urban creeks, although I've definitely hooked up with several in the past, losing them on long, panicked runs. This time was different.
Bread ball on a hair rig (not too hard to tie once you've practiced it) was the ticket, landing me a wonderful 21'' common carp. If the water levels don't rise soon, he probably won't last.
The creek was dangerously low when I visited, thanks to the very dry winter we have been having in SoCal.
The bass were tiny, poor specimens, but they were still a blast to catch. Watching a school of 'em in a clear portion of the creek was a learning experience, helping me better visualize how these finned beasts adapt to local conditions, current flow and ambush points.
The Strike King Bitsy Pond Minnow was a solid winner on these fish, along with a micro crank from Bass Pro Shops (XPS series?) and a tiny tube jig. For the Bitsy Pond Minnow, I prefer either the Fire Tiger or the Baby Bass patterns. Both have been very solid producers for me, for a variety of warmwater species. It's really annoying how few tackle stores carry them in the area; Wal-Mart used to stock these awesome micro crankbaits but recently stopped. If anyone knows of good places to buy them for a bargain, let me know!
Bass and Carp Urban Creek Fishing Video
Finally, here's a video I put together, with the large carp and several bass caught on film during this urban creek fishing trip. It starts out rather slow (my apologies), but quickly speeds up. I'm still learning to get the best angles and my hatcam was not set just right. However, there is some nice shots of the carp fight in the video, definitely stay for those! Try and watch it at the top resolution for best quality.
For the second lure in my series on wLure's Chinese swimbaits, I have the HS145F2, a jointed, chunky swimbait somewhat shaped after a bluegill. It sells for $5.49 online, with three different color options, length of 5 3/4'', and a weight of 1 2/3oz.
(Continued after the jump)
The HS145F2 swimbait is pretty chunky. It's certainly not a "knock-off" of any specific lure I've encountered, and it seems to be a hybrid swimbait/crankbait style lure. The entire lure is hard plastic, complete with a nice set of fins sticking out both dorsally and laterally. However, the tail is a soft plastic/rubber piece, attached by two pins. If any part of this lure was to fail after repeated hits, this may be it. Still, it's fairly well attached and shouldn't present too much of an issue.
This swimbait will float, diving around 2-3 ft on retrieve. When using the HS145F2, I found it had excellent action, even at slower retrieval speeds. The added crankbait lip really helps increase the bait's enticing wobble action, for the better. Here is a few YouTube videos of the HS145F2 swimbait that I took while trying it out at Ford Park, in Redlands.You'll notice the excellent side to side action upon retrieve.
Details on this lure are fairly impressive. The paint job isn't amazing, but it certainly looks much nicer than many generic Chinese eBay lures. Of the three color options available for this lure, my favorite is the bluegill-style pattern. The other two, a goldfish (?) and a striped bass pattern really don't appeal to me. The finish on the lure seems quite durable and didn't chip, despite some rough handling on rocks on my part. Will it hold up to the smash of a toad largemouth or striper? I'm not sure, but the joints and attachments certainly feel tough.
Overall, I was pretty impressed with the HS145F2 bluegill swimbait. It's cheap, has great action in the water, and looks decent. I'll post updates with how it performs on the toads as the water starts to warm up. Tight lines!
The ODS HS5X374 from wLure is jointed, hardbody trout swimbait, selling for $8.99. It's a completely new bait to me, as I have never seen this model before. I ran into it on the wLure website and couldn't resist asking about it. I have purchased several Chinese knock-off (KO lure) or non-name brand lures in the past and had mixed experiences, so I was a little wary at the time. Thankfully, this swimbait turned out to be quite a keeper, with a great price, great motion in the water and a great design.
Size Comparison
wLure is a Chinese fishing lure website with a local US branch in Houston, Texas. I recently stumbeled upon their website and was amazed at just how low the prices on their lures was. Also, they offer free shipping, no matter how small the order, which is super nice on top of the low prices. If you do order from wLure, do expect to wait at least 15 days for your order. After all, it's coming over from China and is not going to arrive at your doorstep anywhere as fast as a TW or BPS order. Still, I don't mind the wait, as long as I order well in advance of major fishing trips.However, if you would like to avoid waiting roughly 3 weeks, consider ordering this same lure through Amazon, for slightly more (see sidebar). (More after the jump)
Gill detail
The HS5X374 comes in a 6 1/2'' and in 4 different colors/patterns. Behind the front gill joint is a bright red, painted gill, certainly a nice touch. I've included several photos showing how this ODS wLure HS5X374 compares to the sizes of other swimbaits offered by wLure (more reviews on these to come).
There are several internal rattles in this trout swimbait, making it a little louder than the Megabait Charlie's I usually throw. I'm not sure how useful this rattle is, or if it might even be a deterrent to getting wary fish to bite it. I would prefer it to be almost silent, instead of the rattle. However, in some murky conditions this may be a benefit. The ODS swimbait casts quite well and handles well in the water.
Awesome detail
For a little lure trivia, the HS5X374 comes in a "ODS Lure" box. Never having heard of such a brand, I did some research online and found several Chinese eBay sellers offering these ODS lures, including this one, for the same or more than what wLure sold them for. Several foreign wholesale websites offered them in massive bulk lots, and I could find only one US-based retailer also selling them, albeit under a different name (hardbait hitch swimbait). The box comes with English and Russian script, I suppose ODS is a tackle manufacturer in China, selling a affordable line of swimbaits. Learning more about the slowly burgeoning tackle industry in China and looking at the different lures produced there is pretty fascinating. In general, most diehard anglers steer away from generic Chinese lures, but I've started to see a slow increase in quality from these overseas baits.
More awesome detail
The pattern on this swimbait is pretty unique. It's closest to a trout, although not exactly a rainbow trout. There are four patterns to choose from for this exciting swimbait model, including two trout-style ones, a carp/rough fish patter and a baby striped bass pattern. wLure has a taken a photorealistic finish approach to the coating of this swimbait and it looks excellent. Paint job seems to be strong too, with no chipping or cracks despite being bounced around in my swimbait box a little too often.
YouTube video of trout swimbait in action
The HS5X374 swimbait from wLure has a very interesting performance in the water. It is a surface/subsurface swimbait, and looks just like a confused, terrified stocked trout when retrieved a medium to medium fast speed. It has an absolutely wonderful "S" swimming pattern, as you can somewhat see in the following video, where it really comes alive. I also found you could cast the lure, let it sit, then give it quick "walk-the-dog" style jerks to really get a unique action. It will dive from side to side, subsurface, sure to be a hit. It's worth noting that at very slow speeds, or on line that is too light, the lure's swimming action is impacted negatively and doesn't show quite as much motion. I haven't fished with a lure like this before, nor seen one on the market in BPS stores yet.
Second video showing this swimbait in action on top Thanks to gf for video help!
Unfortunately, I haven't gotten a chance to fish this trout swimbait in "real" conditions for striper or largemouth. The trial casts and videos I've posted above are from Ford Park, in Redlands, California (better known for its dog park and large swarms of aggressive waterfowl). While the lure seems durable, only intense use over time will really tell how strong it is. I am curious to see how it holds up to larger fish, as it is certainly designed for heavier fish than the usual city park pond bass. I'll be posting more updates on to how this swimbait works for me as the season progresses.
|Summary| The HS5X374 trout swimbait from wLure is a interesting lure for a very affordable price. It is the the best example of a no-name, generic, Chinese-brand bait that has excellent swimming action and a great selection of lure color patterns that I have used so far. I have no complaints about it, only praise, at least at this early stage. For swimbait collectors, or those interested in trying out a really affordable swimbait for a fraction of the cost of name-brand models, the HS5X374 from wLure may be a good choice.
Want a sneak peak at my next set of fishing lure reviews? Enjoy my Flickr page!
[Update]: I did a little more research online and found the actual producers of this lure. It's from a Chinese company called ODA Fishing Tackle, in Canton, China (southern area of China). They have a fairly extensive line of "photo-finish" lures, and a pretty decent website, located here. It looks like they are trying to break into the US market, with plenty of lure options for anglers. Here is a photo from their website of some of their baits being produced.
Had a few hours to enjoy last Sunday. Not worth spending the $$$ to fish for such a short period of time at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet. No way was I going to fight the skunk at city park lakes like Fairmount or Seccombe. Didn't care to try and catch deep water (50+ feet?) largemouth and sunfish from the shore at Lake Perris. Wasn't interested in chasing stocker trout or wild 'bows in the San Bernardino Mountains. Still, I needed a fishing fix, close by and with a fun bite. Solution?
Urban creek fishing time!
The action wasn't fast and furious, but I caught 4 fish of two different species (largemouth bass and green sunfish) on small jigs in a little over an hour. Hey, it's January, and I'm catching warmwater fish, I can't complain. This last one (also in the video above), put up a nice fight on 2lb test monofilament. This particular urban creek also had a lot of used fishing lure wrappers on the ground, a new find compared to the regular dirty plastic bags, pop bottles and housing debris floating past. Pack it out!
All too often I'll go fishing and leave the resulting photos on my computer for months before uploading them. This is one of those scenarios, from a trip back in October 2011. I went hunting for bluegill at a favorite lake spot (let's call it "Hill Lake"). Had to hike in, but it was worth it. Managed to land numerous healthy bluegill on microjigs tipped with mealworms.
Getting down to the water can be a challenge, especially at spots like this.
I love the fight even small bluegill put up. On ultralight fishing tackle (2lb mono, spinning rod/reel), they are a blast to catch. Tight lines and Happy New Year!
I really enjoy exploring small urban creeks and runoff channels. While often covered in graffiti, heavily polluted and located in questionable locales, these concrete jungle streams can be a fishing shangri-la. Multiple species, all eager to bite and little fishing pressure keeps such trips enjoyable.
Recently, I tried out a new creek in the Inland Empire. I'll keep it a secret for now, given its small size and easy access, but I'll toss out one hint: It's all that remains of an old lake that was a popular local fishing hole.
Poison oak, litter and plenty of graffiti kept the trip interesting. Oh, and so did plentiful bites from green sunfish, bluegill and small largemouth bass. Also present were numerous large common carp, but they turned up their proverbial noses at my hardbaits and microjigs. I think the only pressure this spot received was from local kids, tossing earthworms under bobbers.
I didn't get to spend much time at this new-found fishing hotspot, but I found the short trip really enjoyable. It's amazing the little waterways and channels one may find in the middle of the concrete jungle, sometimes teeming with fishy life!
I have been fishing a new spot in Riverside County quite often. The weather has been fantastic, but the water clarity has decreased, keeping the bass fishing a challenge.
Little bass, caught on a Yum Dinger.
This tarantula was more than happy to pose for the camera. Hairy, eh?
