I will be making a trip down to SoCal in a few weeks, and may have the chance to fish either if not both of these lakes. I have never fished SoCal, so have zero clue what to do. If you had to pick one of these to fish, which one would you pick? Also, any tips for either one are greatly appreciated. I am trying to gather as much info as I can before I go down in a few weeks. So what do I have to do to catch them Mid February? Thanks guys.

Both lakes are said too not that great of fishing right now... But by February things might pick up. Just fish slow with finesse. Are you planing on renting a boat? Or fishing from shore?

Fish hound is a good website for looking at weekly fishing reports too. FYI

I would probably tow my boat as its a 15 hour drive from where I live

Both lakes can be great, but in winter they are definitely tough. Castaic has a little more in the realm of deeper drop offs, ledges, etc structure that you would normally try to target in the winter months.

Good luck!

Does Casitas still have the 35 day quarantine for boats? That would make the decision easy on which to fish.

http://www.casitaswater.org/boating-and-fishing/

16 minutes ago, contium said:

Does Casitas still have the 35 day quarantine for boats? That would make the decision easy on which to fish.

http://www.casitaswater.org/boating-and-fishing/

Yup, it does. Made the decision easy for me

May be able to get a reaction bite at Pyramid just up from Castaic.  Offers both green and brown bass as well as the ones with stripes.

You may want to check about Castaic also about quarantine. I believe they do it also. Lake Piru is in that area and does not have a quarantine. Lake Pyramid also I believe. 

Lake Piru has quagga mussel....so you probably don't want to launch there.  Both Pyramid and Castaic have inspections and in normal fashion boats must be clean and dry

11 hours ago, camman said:

Lake Piru has quagga mussel....so you probably don't want to launch there.  Both Pyramid and Castaic have inspections and in normal fashion boats must be clean and dry

Yep honestly if I was you I would drive a couple more hrs to Lopez lake and fish there. It's primarily where I fish and last time I went a couple weeks ago the fishing was slow but still in mid February I'm sure the fishing is going to pick up. There's no quarentten there just a 2 min inspection. Make sure there's not even moisture from the morning air. ( I always wipe the boat out with paper towels) but honestly in my opinion your best bet for southern ca is probably there unless you fish a private pond or something... Pm me and I'll fill you in on more info on the lake if your interested and going to go. 

The way they are stealing our fishing with quarantines and inspections is disgusting. To placate their paranoia, they should offer 24 hour inspections.

Are you still interested in fishing SoCal, it's been over 2 weeks now and missed this thread.

Tom

19 minutes ago, WRB said:

Are you still interested in fishing SoCal, it's been over 2 weeks now and missed this thread.

Tom

 

Unfortunately, I did not get to go down there as planned so the trip was cancelled. But after doing some research, I will be making a trip down there within the next year or two, just for some bass fishing. It sounds like a blast, and I will pick the right time to go and plan it out. Thanks to everyone for the responses! 

March is a good time for several of our SoCal lakes still in pre spawn.

Tom

10 hours ago, WRB said:

March is a good time for several of our SoCal lakes still in pre spawn.

Tom

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