Showing posts with label socal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label socal. Show all posts
Hitting the Salt in San Diego for Sand Bass
Spent the weekend in San Diego recently. Wow, what a neat city, especially for anglers! There is plenty of lakes, creeks, and, of course, the ocean to fish. I decided to try light rock fishing near a popular fishing pier in one of the bays and had a blast. The barred sand bass were all fairly small but put up a fantastic fight on ultralite tackle. I landed 5 of them in less than an hour and lost a few more, all on artificial lures. Water was fairly clear and most of the fish hit close to the shore. Enjoy the video!
Golden Trout Fishing in SoCal?
Fishing for wild trout in Angeles National Forest mountains. Hooked and landed some very colorful and interesting trout. These had a much more golden hue to them than the other trout.
Catch and release is the only way to go when fishing for these wild beauties. It's amazing to find such large trout in a mountain stream so near to Los Angeles, yet they will not last if people don't respect them and their habitat.
Crappie in Small Creeks in Southern California
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!
Fall Fishing at Silverwood for Trout Video
Hiked the shoreline of Silverwood during a trip this November. The striper action wasn't happening from the shore, but I did tie into this nice rainbow trout. Scenery was fantastic and weather just right for a decent hike.
Fall Fishing: Silverwood Stripers Video
I fished the dusk bite at Silverwood Reservoir on an evening in October and had a blast. The boils were not as numerous as I had hoped, however, the topwater bite was still on. A cold wind made the water surface somewhat choppy, probably hurting action. Even still, I landed three healthy striped bass, two 18''s and one smaller striper. Absolutely amazing to watch them explore on the surface, engulfing my Kinami Shad topwater lure. The trick was to fish it "Walk the Dog" style, just like you would fish a Lucky Craft Sammy. Cast, splash, twitch, pause, twitch, pause...BOOM! I can't wait to go back!
Drag-Pulling.
Drag-Pulling.
Urban Creek Bass Blast Video!
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!
Ford Park Fishin'
Nothing crazy. Just a quick late afternoon fishing trip at Ford Park. Love this little place, even if the fish are hard to catch and usually small. Topwater action on my favorite ultralite lure, the Yo-Zuri Kilifish (the best!) and a solid largemouth on a soft plastic as well. Tight lines!
Diamond Valley Lake Microbass
Wow, these pics are almost a year old! I forgot to post them on the blog, after a fun trip to Diamond Valley Lake. The fish were all dinks, largest was maybe 14'', but they were really fun to catch. DVL is a tough lake to fish from the shore but at times it can be very rewarding!
Summer Los Angeles Trout Fishing in the Mountains
A little over one month ago, I took my longest hike into the San Gabriel Mountains. This was deep in the Angeles National Forest, and I hiked and fished to my hearts content at a tiny, secret mountain stream.
The secret creek I explored meandered between cliffs and forests, partially hidden from the intense Southern California summer heat. Gear was pretty simple: ultralite rod/spinning reel, 2lb mono, micro jigs with plastic trout worms and plenty of water.
I truly lost track of how many beautiful, wild rainbow trout I hooked and landed.
(Video and more after the jump)
(Video and more after the jump)
Every pool contained stealthy shadows of wary fish, requiring a careful approach and exquisite casting technique.
The dense thicket overhead forced me to primarily flip, pitch or side-cast to place my lure in just the right spot.
I reflected on this fantastic trip as the sun set and I hiked back to my vehicle. It was definitely one of my best small stream trout fishing experiences in SoCal.
Some of the fish were quite large, especially by wild trout standards in this region of the world. My largest was roughly 14'', safety released back into the wild after a quick photograph.
I hope you enjoy the video I've put together showcasing this fantastic trip, piano music and all.
Tight lines!
New SoCal Urban Creek Green Sunfish
Thanks to a sweet tip from a fellow angler, I found a new urban creek to explore. It's actually more of a canal, but hold water year round and is absolutely loaded with chunky green sunfish, up to 12 inches. I lost track of how many scrappy greenies I landed in a short afternoon fishing session at this Inland Empire creek.
Since then, I've returned several times, always landing loads of these sunfish. I've also spotted a couple of turtles, many mosquito fish, and a couple small largemouth, along with the obligatory pile of litter and trash. Urban creek fishing at its finest hmm?
San Dimas Reservoir Fishing Exploration Video
San Dimas Reservoir, in the Los Angeles National Forest, is in the hills above San Dimas, California. It's a fairly small reservoir, when compared to the nearby San Gabriel, Morris and Big Dalton reservoirs (only one of those is open for fishing, sadly). This region was hit pretty hard by the Williams Fire, several years back. I've heard the fire resulted in a lot of soot and other debris being deposited in San Dimas Reservoir, and that, along with recent draining and dredging, supposedly killed the most of the fishery that previously existed. Reports from local fishing websites described trout, bass, sunfish and catfish being caught at San Dimas Reservoir prior to that fire, but I hadn't seen any new reports in a long time. Still, the reservoir is listed as open for fishing online and that was enough for me to go check it out.(More on the legal status of fishing at this reservoir below).
I was able to shoot some footage while overlooking the reservoir and you can watch it on YouTube here. As you can see from the video, the lake is pretty far down a steep cliff from the main public road. The only paved path down to the lake is fenced off. Supposedly, this used to be popular way to access the lake and it used to be ok for the public to use it. You will also notice that there is not any signs forbidding fishing or hiking along the shore of the reservoir, it's just boating, swimming and wading that is prohibited.
Unfortunately, accessing the shore is not easy. If you don't want to scale the cliff from the road, you'll have to drive down the end of San Dimas Canyon road, park near the fire station and hike in from the north side of the reservoir, along the creek, not a short treck. There is also no maintained public access in this area, but there are some rough hiking trails that I spotted on this side of the reservoir.
Now, for the really interesting part. I did a LOT of calling around and inquiring about the actual status of fishingat San Dimas Reservoir. I initially spoke with the Angeles National Forest rangers; they told me the following:
1. They are not aware of any restrictions on hiking or fishing in that area, aside from the off-limits experimental forest at the far north end of San Dimas Canyon Road.
2. While the Angeles National Forest rangers oversee the area of San Dimas Reservoir, the actual reservoir falls under the operation of the Los Angeles Flood Control people.
Thus, I ended up contacting the previously-mentioned department. Annoyingly, they first told me:
"The reservoir is not open to the public. Additionally, the reservoir is not stocked with fish and is routinely drained on an annual basis. The side slopes between the reservoir and San Dimas Canyon Road are very steep and can be dangerous. Please note that there are two trail heads used by hikers on the easterly side of the San Dimas Canyon Road which lead away from the reservoir area and up into the easterly hills. Thank you for the inquiry."
However, after replying to their email asking for further information, I received the following:
"My apology for the confusion. Los Angeles County Code indeed states that fishing is allowed at San Dimas Reservoir (unless signs are posted to indicate otherwise). For the current status of San Dimas Reservoir, Department of Fish and Game has stopped stocking fish in the reservoir for at least the past three years due to our maintenance activities at the facility which require the draining of the reservoir. In 2008 & 2009, accumulated sediment in the reservoir were removed. Two maintenance projects at the dam followed which require continuous draining of the reservoir. The first one has been completed and we anticipate the 2nd maintenance project to start by summer and finish by the end of this year. The hiking trails outside the reservoir area is under the jurisdiction of the US Forest Service."
If anyone is interested, I believe the actual county code they are referring to is "20.92.030 Fishing restrictions"
"A person shall not fish in the waters of any reservoir, debris basin or spreading grounds owned by or under the control of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District, except that fishing will be permitted from the banks of Puddingstone Reservoir, San Dimas Reservoir, San Gabriel No. 1 Reservoir, and Cogswell Reservoir (unless such reservoirs are posted to the contrary by signs plainly visible from the banks thereof), and from boats on Puddingstone Reservoir, San Dimas Reservoir, Big Tujunga Reservoir, San Gabriel No. 1 Reservoir and Cogswell Reservoir by persons having valid boat permits under Section 20.92.020 of this chapter, all within the regularly designated fishing season as established by the California State Fish and Game Commission, or by other competent authority, and in compliance with the terms and conditions and during the hours specified in the boat permit hereinabove referred to. (Ord. 10280 § 1, 1971: Ord. 4700 § 3, 1946.)"
Finally, I found a pretty fascinating document showing the Los Angeles Public Works department request to do further maintenance on the dam and reservoir. The actual document is very large (be warned), but for those interested it contains a wealth of information on the fish species observed at this reservoir and below it, future plans for development and more. It's definitely worth looking through, even if you have just a passing interesting in San Dimas Reservoir. Here is the direct link to the .PDF for the whole project.
Now, there is a tiny creek (San Dimas Creek?) that supplies the reservoir. It does appear to have a few very small fish, but has very limited places to fish from and the water is quite fast.
Overall, San Dimas Reservoir looks like a very interesting and relatively secluded lake with very little fishing pressure. I'm still not clear about what fish may remain in this little lake, given the draining and development, but I would like to return sometime soon for further exploration of this mountain reservoir.
Cali Urban Creek Bass and Green Sunfish Fishing Action
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!
