Always good to be home (or hearing about it). Let me know what going on, especially in SoCal. Would enjoy hearing fishing reports about Lake Perris. Will be back home on vacation in November.
Hey guys, been fishin for the gills for a few months now... Only caught 1 good sized one!!!!! I fish in Lower Castaic Lake in California, If you guys know any other lakes near there that have bluegill in them, could you message me and tell me where its at? Thanks =)
Just started fishing again in the Fresno area. Be a few weeks till I'm out there regularly but I'll be there. Being a cook I'm looking forward to what I can do with these fun fish :)
Anyone maintain a pond on their property? Looking for pond manegemant ideas and conditions. Need to get some fun and sustainable food out at the ranch :)
This weekend I get to run through my grandfathers gear that has been in boxes for at least 20 years... Hope to find some useable gear :) Will see what happens Sunday :)
That reminds me of the stuff my grandfather had. It was quite old, and my mom sold it all when I was too young to realize I should have said "Stooooppppp!!!" :(
But some of the stuff I remember is a bamboo baitcasting rod, with reel and black braided line, a Creek Chub Pikie Minnow, in its box, with a small Creek Chub catalog that came in the box as well, plus a few other Creek Chub lures, also mostly in their original boxes, and various hooks and sinkers. Some of those I actually used myself as a kid. It was in a brown metal tackle box.
There was also an old side-by-side 12-gauge that she sold. He was an excellent hunter and fisherman - the pictures of him with his friends and lots of fish and came still amaze me - but I never knew him. He died young, before my parents had even met.
And then there was his marble collection, oh my goodness! The agates were real agate, and the glass marbles were truly spectacular, you couldn't get stuff like that anymore even when I was a kid. That was all sold long ago, too :-( Wish I had it today to show my own kids and pass it down.
All i can say about california fishing for big bluegills is, LAKE SKINNER. All my giants are out of that lake. I can go out tomorrow and land 60+ in a few hours all large. By the way i am heading out there tomorrow. I'll post a report tomorrow.
Hrmm I might have to hit that lake up over the Christmas holiday while I'm in San Diego. If it is that productive of a lake for bluegill how can I not go? =). What do you use to catch them? Are they holding very deep this time of year?
Getting my fishing licence tomorow and will be out looking for the fishies next week, busy week comming up... Will be taking out some of grandpa's gear for a test run.
Hi Everyone... I live in the Palm Springs area... fish Lake Perris as often as I can... would love to found out info about Skinner... never fished there.
Look forward to contributing to this group
Rob
Fished Bethany Reservoir (Byron, California) yesterday. Things are still slow out there. I caught 4 (4 on my fly rod), my wife caught 4 (one was a nice 10" redear, her personal best), and one of our kids caught one. The females were all full of eggs, no sign of the spawn in progress yet. Shallow areas nearly devoid of fish. Of our 9, one was taken in a shallow area, the others were all taken immediately adjacent to deeper water or in the shallows at or after sunset.
Water still felt fairly cool when I was wading, but somewhat warmer than when I was there a week and a half ago. Sorry, no water thermometer :-) At this rate, the spawn might not happen until June :p
Nobody's posted in this group since last July, anybody been out bluegillng in the NorCal/San Jose/Delta area? Weather's warming up and I'm starting to feel the need. Coming off an injury that kept me from fishing at all or driving much for months, but I hope I'm in the last few weeks of that. Bought my license last week, better be able to use it soon :)
I fished a little areound the Tracy area when I was younger. I grew up in the Sacremento area,My best friend had family in Tracy and I would go with them on fishing trips.
I remember we use to fish in a couple of small ponds and some creeks.
Bluegill Chaser, are you still around? If not, Chris and I might be the only California Bluegillers at this end of the state, and we live too far away from each other to fish together practically :-(
If you are still around, maybe we could get together for some fishing this spring? I got a boat recently, c'mon out to Bethany and fill the other seat :-)
Chris, if you'd really drive that far, I think I definitely owe you a seat in a boat :-) Be forewarned, however, that it will be my first time launching or recovering a boat, so there is risk of embarrassment by association at my antics ;-)
I haven't had it out yet, it's been kind of chilly and there are a few things left to do on the boat (install my fish finder, pick up a battery for the trolling motor, get an anchor). Those things will be happening in the rest of March/early April.
I'm figuring on Bethany for my first outing. It's kind of my favorite spot out in the Delta, has been a decent BG lake and also has the other usual fish for the area. Small launch ramp and dock, but there's typically little to no other boat traffic on the lake. 4 trailers in the parking lot is a busy day.
There are several deep coves on the far side of the lake that are only reachable by boat, I'm looking forward to exploring those.
You would be surprised how far I would be willing to drive for some fishing. Then add fishing from a boat into the mix. Oh yea. I get goose bumps thinking about a trip like that.
would even care if I caught no fish.
My theory. A bad day fishing. Is better than a good day at work.
Hey JBplusThuy, I am still around, just been a crazy year without enough fishing. Targeted bass every time but once when I've been out (had a 30 lb bag, my best, in the spring). I did spend 7 or 8 hours chasing bluegill and red ear around late July/early August with a 1lb+ red ear out of 20 ft of water and numerous 1/2 lb bluegill, but nothing larger. If you still have a backseat open from time to time, let me know. I've been itching to get back to the Delta and have never checked out Bethany.
Good to see you're still out there, BC. 30 pound bag of bass, that's really nice! I haven't caught that many pounds of bass in my whole life :-) I hear you about the crazy year of not fishing. My wife finished cosmetology school and got her cosmetelogist and barber licences, which means she now works on Saturday and Sunday and I haven't seen much water other than what comes out of my tap this year.
We'll be moving south to San Diego in a couple months or so. Have to think about whether the boat goes or gets sold. I want to keep it; it's a cool boat and Livingston's aren't common in CA, but don't know how often I'll get to use it. Haven't actually really been using it this year, either :-(
I'm not really in that area (live in San Jose) and it's hard to commit to anything because my wife's days off and mine don't normally overlap (but sometimes do), but I'm sort of a long-term-novice fly fisher and would love to fish with you for some BG somewhere if possible. PM me and let's see if we can work something out.
I moved from San Diego, a few great BG and bass lakes down there. If you're going to have time to fish I'd suggest keeping the boat if possible for places like San Vicente and others.
Small world, BC. San Diego's my home town. San Vicente isn't due to re-open until ~2017 (dam raise project, and there'll be a new marina and park, etc.). I can't wait to get on the water there and encounter generations of bluegill that have never seen a hook before :-)
I tend to favor Lake Murray because it's only about a 10 minute drive from my neighborhood in SD. Shore fishing can be a difficult proposition there, but from a boat or float tube it can be a decent bluegill lake. I haven't caught any large BG there, but I know there are some good-sized BG and RES in there; earlier this year somebody caught a huge RES there, ever 3 pounds if I recall correctly. After I'm settled in, I'll try to get out there as often as I can and poke around with a fish finder and see what the structure looks like and try to get at some of the larger BG.
Chirs (member of this group) lives in Lemoore, I think that's far closer than any of the rest of us to Lathrop. That might be your best bet for a fishing partner.
Actually, I don't even have a license right now. I'm planning on moving to western NY, maybe next summer. I was able to do some fishing there last summer, and that's when I became a bit obsessed with sunfish...
But years ago my dad would take me to Castaic Lake, Lake Casitas, Lake Pyramid, Lake Piru, and especially Trout Dale!
We never had very much luck- except at Trout Dale ;-)
Anybody here fish in the San Fernando Valley? There are only two spots I know of- Reseda Park (where I first went fishing at the age of 5) and Balboa Lake. I first tried Balboa Lake this September (Free Fishing Day!) and I had a great time, although not one bite.
I was thinking about buying a license after that but- all my tackle's in NY except one spin-casting rod! :-D
Mike the last time I fished the Delta was back in the late 70's
and it sucked back then as well. The only place on the delta I ever caught any thing, was a place called Discovery Park.
during the salmon run we would troll and catch a few each year. During the shad run we would catch 20 to 30 each weekend they ranged 5 to 10 pounds each. then we would spend the next month and a half smoking them.
Fishing isn't easy in California, that's for sure. We probably have less acres of water per capita than any other state. The population is over 33 million and most of California is either high desert, low desert, or just otherwise dry.
I don't know the delta well, but I've done well on bluegill at Bethany Reservoir, which is not connected to the delta proper, but is in the area, and also at Italian Slough around Clifton Court Forebay.
Not to say those were generally big bluegill and redear, although my wife and I each caught a 9" RES at Bethany. Hers was slightly larger, at 9.5. My was 9.0 even.
The toughness of the fishing in California generally is why, when going on family road trip vacations as a kid and into my teens, I would typically catch more and larger fish on vacation, fishing a BOW I'd never seen before and knew nothing about, than I would at home in California.
The places I've done best in California, both back in the seventies, were Lake Shasta (which was near full pool at the time) and the Kern River near Bakersfield. I used to also do pretty well in a small pond pond in San Diego that was a stock pond long ago. The water was reasonably clear and it had lots of BG and a good number of 12-inch class LMB. When I checked it a few years ago, despite having dual aerators, it didn't seem to have any fish left, to speak of. Neither saw nor caught a bluegill. Don't know if it just got fished out (small pond in the middle of a residential area) or if there was some kind of die-off. I saw no LMB either, although the water is much less clear than it was, so it could be they are there but unseen.
So yeah, for fishing I'd take Florida or just about anywhere over California too, but this is where I live so I have to make the best of it :p
I did not think you were putting Ca. fishing down. You were just stating a fact. The fishing here is hard. I wish we had more area to fish, but over the last 30 years, building houses and such has become more important to people than having places to fish.
When I was a kid I had a great pond to fish at. I always caught more sunfish than I shake a stick at. Now there is 20 or so houses built where the pond once was.
However hard it is to find a good fishing spot, I have always managed to find a place to fish.
But I do not always find fish. lately I have only caught fish on 1 out of every 7 trip out.
This has no stopped me from fishing, it is making me rethink my way of fishing.
Lately my way of thinking has not produced many fish. LOL
As you come south, San Diego County offers many resouvoirs that offer some incredible fishing not only for bluegills, readear and crappies, but trout, catfish and largemouth bass.
I'm officially once again a San Diegan of residence, not just in spirit :-)
Mostly, but not completely, unpacked. There's enough to do that fishing isn't on the near horizon, but it's floating around in my mind. Can't wait to get on the water!
Well JBplusThuy.. Since you are now in San Diego, you NEED to fish nearby Lake Barrett for those trophy WORLD CLASS Bluegill! Simply unbelievable! My favorite place for Big Bluegill fishing! (Of course then you have my local go-to spot "down the street", Lake Perris)
Jeff Soto
Aug 28, 2009
Steve Crowder
Aug 29, 2009
Bluegill Chaser
Sep 3, 2009
Maison
Sep 29, 2009
Shawn
Oct 4, 2009
Steve Crowder
Oct 5, 2009
Shawn
Oct 6, 2009
Steve Crowder
Oct 6, 2009
Shawn
Oct 12, 2009
Shawn
Oct 16, 2009
Steve Crowder
Oct 17, 2009
JBplusThuy
But some of the stuff I remember is a bamboo baitcasting rod, with reel and black braided line, a Creek Chub Pikie Minnow, in its box, with a small Creek Chub catalog that came in the box as well, plus a few other Creek Chub lures, also mostly in their original boxes, and various hooks and sinkers. Some of those I actually used myself as a kid. It was in a brown metal tackle box.
There was also an old side-by-side 12-gauge that she sold. He was an excellent hunter and fisherman - the pictures of him with his friends and lots of fish and came still amaze me - but I never knew him. He died young, before my parents had even met.
And then there was his marble collection, oh my goodness! The agates were real agate, and the glass marbles were truly spectacular, you couldn't get stuff like that anymore even when I was a kid. That was all sold long ago, too :-( Wish I had it today to show my own kids and pass it down.
Nov 23, 2009
Chris Salmon
Dec 7, 2009
Bluegill Chaser
Hrmm I might have to hit that lake up over the Christmas holiday while I'm in San Diego. If it is that productive of a lake for bluegill how can I not go? =). What do you use to catch them? Are they holding very deep this time of year?
Dec 8, 2009
Shawn
Jan 11, 2010
crappiemike
[IMG]http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm81/crappiemike/securedownload.jpg[/IMG]
Jan 17, 2010
Chris Salmon
Jan 29, 2010
robsabloke
Look forward to contributing to this group
Rob
Mar 13, 2010
Chris Salmon
Apr 1, 2010
JBplusThuy
Water still felt fairly cool when I was wading, but somewhat warmer than when I was there a week and a half ago. Sorry, no water thermometer :-) At this rate, the spawn might not happen until June :p
May 16, 2010
Jim (Ike) Isaac
Cute kids!
May 16, 2010
JBplusThuy
Apr 4, 2011
chris
Hello, My name is Chris. I joined the form yesterday. I
live in Lemoore Ca. about 35 miles south of Fresno Ca. I mainly fish on the Kings river. I enjoy almost any type of fishing. However
the Gills are my passion. They have been my favorite fish as long as I have been fishing. Are there any other members in my area in
the group ?
Feb 10, 2012
JBplusThuy
Hi, Chris, and welcome to the group!
I think I'm the closest one to you, I live in San Jose and usually fish out in the Tracy area.
Feb 10, 2012
chris
Hi, JBplusThuy. Thanks for replying.
I fished a little areound the Tracy area when I was younger.
I grew up in the Sacremento area,My best friend had family in Tracy and I would go with them on fishing trips.
I remember we use to fish in a couple of small ponds and some creeks.
Feb 10, 2012
JBplusThuy
Bluegill Chaser, are you still around? If not, Chris and I might be the only California Bluegillers at this end of the state, and we live too far away from each other to fish together practically :-(
If you are still around, maybe we could get together for some fishing this spring? I got a boat recently, c'mon out to Bethany and fill the other seat :-)
Mar 14, 2012
chris
Boy for a fishing trip in a boat I may make the drive.
You are only 21/2 hours away. Not that far for a day of fishing LOL
Have you been able to put your new boat into the water yet ??
Cant wait to see pictures of boat loads of gills.
Mar 14, 2012
JBplusThuy
Chris, if you'd really drive that far, I think I definitely owe you a seat in a boat :-) Be forewarned, however, that it will be my first time launching or recovering a boat, so there is risk of embarrassment by association at my antics ;-)
I haven't had it out yet, it's been kind of chilly and there are a few things left to do on the boat (install my fish finder, pick up a battery for the trolling motor, get an anchor). Those things will be happening in the rest of March/early April.
I'm figuring on Bethany for my first outing. It's kind of my favorite spot out in the Delta, has been a decent BG lake and also has the other usual fish for the area. Small launch ramp and dock, but there's typically little to no other boat traffic on the lake. 4 trailers in the parking lot is a busy day.
There are several deep coves on the far side of the lake that are only reachable by boat, I'm looking forward to exploring those.
We can PM to set up the details.
Jonathan
Mar 17, 2012
chris
JBplusThuy.
You would be surprised how far I would be willing to drive for some fishing. Then add fishing from a boat into the mix. Oh yea. I get goose bumps thinking about a trip like that.
would even care if I caught no fish.
My theory. A bad day fishing. Is better than a good day at work.
Work is a curse for the fishing class.
Mar 23, 2012
Bluegill Chaser
Hey JBplusThuy, I am still around, just been a crazy year without enough fishing. Targeted bass every time but once when I've been out (had a 30 lb bag, my best, in the spring). I did spend 7 or 8 hours chasing bluegill and red ear around late July/early August with a 1lb+ red ear out of 20 ft of water and numerous 1/2 lb bluegill, but nothing larger. If you still have a backseat open from time to time, let me know. I've been itching to get back to the Delta and have never checked out Bethany.
Aug 30, 2012
JBplusThuy
Good to see you're still out there, BC. 30 pound bag of bass, that's really nice! I haven't caught that many pounds of bass in my whole life :-) I hear you about the crazy year of not fishing. My wife finished cosmetology school and got her cosmetelogist and barber licences, which means she now works on Saturday and Sunday and I haven't seen much water other than what comes out of my tap this year.
We'll be moving south to San Diego in a couple months or so. Have to think about whether the boat goes or gets sold. I want to keep it; it's a cool boat and Livingston's aren't common in CA, but don't know how often I'll get to use it. Haven't actually really been using it this year, either :-(
JB
Sep 2, 2012
JBplusThuy
Hey Mike,
I'm not really in that area (live in San Jose) and it's hard to commit to anything because my wife's days off and mine don't normally overlap (but sometimes do), but I'm sort of a long-term-novice fly fisher and would love to fish with you for some BG somewhere if possible. PM me and let's see if we can work something out.
JB
Sep 2, 2012
JBplusThuy
Chris, I haven't forgotten you either, just haven't been able to get out fishing :-(
JB
Sep 2, 2012
Bluegill Chaser
JBplusThuy,
I moved from San Diego, a few great BG and bass lakes down there. If you're going to have time to fish I'd suggest keeping the boat if possible for places like San Vicente and others.
Sep 3, 2012
JBplusThuy
Small world, BC. San Diego's my home town. San Vicente isn't due to re-open until ~2017 (dam raise project, and there'll be a new marina and park, etc.). I can't wait to get on the water there and encounter generations of bluegill that have never seen a hook before :-)
I tend to favor Lake Murray because it's only about a 10 minute drive from my neighborhood in SD. Shore fishing can be a difficult proposition there, but from a boat or float tube it can be a decent bluegill lake. I haven't caught any large BG there, but I know there are some good-sized BG and RES in there; earlier this year somebody caught a huge RES there, ever 3 pounds if I recall correctly. After I'm settled in, I'll try to get out there as often as I can and poke around with a fish finder and see what the structure looks like and try to get at some of the larger BG.
Sep 3, 2012
JBplusThuy
Hey Mike,
Chirs (member of this group) lives in Lemoore, I think that's far closer than any of the rest of us to Lathrop. That might be your best bet for a fishing partner.
Cheers,
Jonathan
Sep 10, 2012
chris
I live about 2 1/2 hours south of Lathrop.
I would enjoy hooking up with a new fishing buddy.
my problem is, I have family comming in from out of state
this week. they will be here for most of the time Mike will be here in Ca. my time is booked solid for the next 2 weeks.
sure wish I could find time to slip away for some fishing.
Sep 11, 2012
JBplusThuy
Welcome to our (very) quiet little group, Suzanne!
Where do you fish for BG around the San Fernando Valley?
Oct 3, 2012
Suzanne Lazar
Hi Everybody!
Actually, I don't even have a license right now. I'm planning on moving to western NY, maybe next summer. I was able to do some fishing there last summer, and that's when I became a bit obsessed with sunfish...
But years ago my dad would take me to Castaic Lake, Lake Casitas, Lake Pyramid, Lake Piru, and especially Trout Dale!
We never had very much luck- except at Trout Dale ;-)
Anybody here fish in the San Fernando Valley? There are only two spots I know of- Reseda Park (where I first went fishing at the age of 5) and Balboa Lake. I first tried Balboa Lake this September (Free Fishing Day!) and I had a great time, although not one bite.
I was thinking about buying a license after that but- all my tackle's in NY except one spin-casting rod! :-D
Oct 4, 2012
Suzanne Lazar
I found this comment about Balboa Lake...
Nov 4, 2012
chris
Mike the last time I fished the Delta was back in the late 70's
and it sucked back then as well. The only place on the delta I ever caught any thing, was a place called Discovery Park.
during the salmon run we would troll and catch a few each year. During the shad run we would catch 20 to 30 each weekend they ranged 5 to 10 pounds each. then we would spend the next month and a half smoking them.
Nov 13, 2012
JBplusThuy
Fishing isn't easy in California, that's for sure. We probably have less acres of water per capita than any other state. The population is over 33 million and most of California is either high desert, low desert, or just otherwise dry.
I don't know the delta well, but I've done well on bluegill at Bethany Reservoir, which is not connected to the delta proper, but is in the area, and also at Italian Slough around Clifton Court Forebay.
Not to say those were generally big bluegill and redear, although my wife and I each caught a 9" RES at Bethany. Hers was slightly larger, at 9.5. My was 9.0 even.
The toughness of the fishing in California generally is why, when going on family road trip vacations as a kid and into my teens, I would typically catch more and larger fish on vacation, fishing a BOW I'd never seen before and knew nothing about, than I would at home in California.
The places I've done best in California, both back in the seventies, were Lake Shasta (which was near full pool at the time) and the Kern River near Bakersfield. I used to also do pretty well in a small pond pond in San Diego that was a stock pond long ago. The water was reasonably clear and it had lots of BG and a good number of 12-inch class LMB. When I checked it a few years ago, despite having dual aerators, it didn't seem to have any fish left, to speak of. Neither saw nor caught a bluegill. Don't know if it just got fished out (small pond in the middle of a residential area) or if there was some kind of die-off. I saw no LMB either, although the water is much less clear than it was, so it could be they are there but unseen.
So yeah, for fishing I'd take Florida or just about anywhere over California too, but this is where I live so I have to make the best of it :p
Jonathan
Nov 13, 2012
chris
I did not think you were putting Ca. fishing down. You were just stating a fact. The fishing here is hard. I wish we had more area to fish, but over the last 30 years, building houses and such has become more important to people than having places to fish.
When I was a kid I had a great pond to fish at. I always caught more sunfish than I shake a stick at. Now there is 20 or so houses built where the pond once was.
However hard it is to find a good fishing spot, I have always managed to find a place to fish.
But I do not always find fish. lately I have only caught fish on 1 out of every 7 trip out.
This has no stopped me from fishing, it is making me rethink my way of fishing.
Lately my way of thinking has not produced many fish. LOL
Nov 14, 2012
Jack Kline
As you come south, San Diego County offers many resouvoirs that offer some incredible fishing not only for bluegills, readear and crappies, but trout, catfish and largemouth bass.
Nov 14, 2012
JBplusThuy
I'm officially once again a San Diegan of residence, not just in spirit :-)
Mostly, but not completely, unpacked. There's enough to do that fishing isn't on the near horizon, but it's floating around in my mind. Can't wait to get on the water!
Nov 23, 2012
Jeff Soto
Well JBplusThuy.. Since you are now in San Diego, you NEED to fish nearby Lake Barrett for those trophy WORLD CLASS Bluegill! Simply unbelievable! My favorite place for Big Bluegill fishing! (Of course then you have my local go-to spot "down the street", Lake Perris)
Nov 23, 2012