Captain Cali

Accident. The lake is part of the California aqueduct system which stripers swim in. In the mid 90's they drained the lake some to do maintenance on the dam and check on the "screens" which were supposed to keep foreign fish and other crap out of the lake. They found that one of the screens was completely out of place...which allowed stripers to come in from the aqueduct. The rest is history... :'( :'( :'( It's believed the '94 Northridge earthquake is what shook the screen loose. Northridge is only about 20 miles from Castaic. I'll try to find the link to the article.

Castaic fell off the map because of striped bass not because of cross bredding. Keeping stripers out is the key.

The main reason Castaic fell off the map in the early to mid 1990's was the introduction of striped bass into the lake. It wasn't meant to happen but it did. Since then the stripers compete with largemouth for food, including stocked trout. 20-30 pound stripers are known to come out of the lake on a regular basis. If there were no stripers who knows what LMB weights would be at. In my mind the record would have been broken there. The lagoon is another story... If Dixon can stay "Striper Free" there is a good shot there. To late for DVL as stripers are already in there also...but who knows what can happen.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0525948635/sr=8-1/qid=1140667348/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-4498879-8284768?%5Fencoding=UTF8

Roger, if that's true, wouldn't a heavier lure saver be better than no treble hook? I looked at them but figure on getting the 20lb ones... I'll lose drag long before they let go but I can still pull the hook off a snag if I have to. It sure would work but I just don't trust them anymore, especially when fishing for big bass. 2-3 pound fish breaking of 10# luresavers? And the drag was not clamped down. What would a 10# fish do with 20# luresavers with the drag clamped? I'd risk losing a bait rather than losing a fish of a life time.

Don't use a treble hook if you're worried about losing one. You'll be missing short strikes but will help keep the bait out of snags. If the bass are striking hard on the bait you really don't need one. It just helps when the bass are nipping at the belly and turning to run with it. From my experience so far the baby bass series don't need treble hooks as much as the bluegill series do.

That's a BIG BASS!!

Has anyone besides Matt_Fly and myself seen trout being stocked in California? Or are you just going by what the Backwoods article states? Lets see...article from Illinois or anglers from California...who would know better? : Forget it...I'm done with this.

Where do you get your info dude?? From the link that rattletrap posted. If you have time read it please. That information is just not accurate. You can look at it that way but it's not accurate.

::)I'm not here to get into a #%@! flinging contest. I'm just trying to state the facts. I'm not saying trout don't help bass get big. But the fact is people seem to think trout are planted for bass to eat. That is just not the case. Since the can of worms has been opened...do breeding programs count as "UNNATURAL"?? I guess not since it's big texas we're talking about.

Where do you get your info dude??

I always wonder what the fish see and how they perceive things.

Here is some information on California's Largemouth Bass. http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fishing/html/AnglerRecognition/TrophyBass/TrophyBlackBass_0.htm I'm looking for information on when the trout plants started. There is little doubt in my mind Texas would have 20# bass if the waters were stocked with trout.

:o You mean other states stock lakes with fish??? :o Say it ain't so!! ;D If it is true let the asterik debate begin!! ;D

That's a sweet looking crank dude!! Good job!!

I've had good luck this winter with anything red, orange, or brown in it. I think lure presentation is more important than color though.

What lure costs $60?????? Seriously...I want to know, so I can buy one. ;D Do you really want to know?? Just check out some of the swimbaits at TW.

I hate it man!! It's like throwing my wallet into the lake. The Ultimate Luresavers do work. Sometimes they work too well. I've had a 3 fish shake off the hook. One shook off when the fish jumped and took the a treble. > Another came off when I tried horsing the fish out of the water instead of lipping it out. > The other I had landed but one hook was released during the fight and in the upper lip of the fish. Each time I was using the 10# U.Luresavers and each fish was 1-3 pounds. :-? I have some 12# U.luresavers to try but I wont be using them on any lakes that are known for big fish.

That is where what you read & heard is wrong. California does NOT stock rainbow trout to increase the size of bass. Rainbow trout are stocked because people fish for them and the state makes more $$$ from those anglers. There would be no trout stocking if no one fished for them. When we call the stocked trout "bass food" or thank the DFG for feeding our bass it's a joke. While we do appreciate our trout planting program it's not in place to increase the size of bass. If that were the case we'd be dumping trout into lakes year round. Let me repeat this once again... California does NOT stock rainbow trout to increase the size of bass.

I was going to say Hawai'i but it's freshwater only. 79-85* average air temp year round. I have no clue what the freshwater fishing is like over there. Anywhere warm would work for me. I can't stand the cold, anything below 50.

8-) That's what Im talkin' about!! ;D

Rattletrap, You don't know squat, Cali doesn't have any programs in place for Bass. If you know of some, please post them. What human help? What facts? Cali stock trout in the winter for everday people to catch. IE.....they make alot of money off of park use fees and fishing permits each time you go, not like in my state, you only need a fishing license once. In So Cal., every time you go fishing, you need a day use permit, fishing permit, and a ramp fee if launching a boat. What are the bass eating in the spring, summer, and early fall? Not stocked trout. Only the ones that survived, and most of them averaged a half pound when stocked have grown. So that would eliminate some bass that feed on trout. Those that do survive (trout)go as deep as 70 ft to escape summer temps and that means those super bass would be living that deep also which I don't find hard to believe, cause in the winter we would fish 50ft deep on a regular basis. Those are the facts!!!!!!! And the fact is, yours don't add up. Thank you Matt_Fly.

That is so true. Trophy hunters out here go many days without a single bite. Try getting 0 bites in 5 outings and having the will to do it again on the 6th outing. That's where most people don't have it in them. This has nothing to do with Georgia vs. California. The only time they have anything to do with each other is when California breaks the record some people will say Georgia still holds it because we feed our bass with trout. ;D That is a whole other topic and debate though.

Exactly. They should have a huge asterik for no picture. ;D One would be laughed at today if they tried submitting a record bass now days with out a picture. I wouldn't say I don't believe it but to me it's more of a myth. Bob Crupis' bass is more legit.

Uh oh!!