Tackle Express Castaic Fishing Reports

Bait fishing in ten to seventy feet of water with cut Sardines is still the technique being employed by most anglers right now as the Stripers are in various stages of spawning as well. Elizabeth Canyon and the forebay buoy line have been the hotspots again this week with fish of all sizes making up the counts. There are significant numbers of the smaller one pound fish and getting a bait past them can be frustrating at times.

Fish were moving up shallow until the cold front and rain early in the week pushed them out a little deeper. Quality sized bass are sitting outside the shallows, but there are fish on beds too. The drop shot has been the best technique and the water is clear and starting to grow weeds. The bite here is set to explode as soon as we get a string of stable days.

Daytime temps in the 80’s have the male Bass heading for shallower water for the pre-spawn. It shouldn’t be long before we see some bigger females doing the same. Right now most of them are on the first dropoff in the fifteen foot zone. Ned Rigs and Finesse Carolina rigs are leading the way as far as techniques go and it’s been hard to beat the Neptune Shad C3 Shimmy as the water is extremely clear in most areas. 

Longer days and warming water has a few Bass moving up towards the shoreline. Finesse plastics in the ten to twenty foot range are getting some bites, mainly on a light-line Carolina rig with a 6″ straight tail worm. Cinnamon, Oxblood and pumpkin have been the better colors as the water can be extremely clear in some areas. The bulk of the fish remain deeper and should be moving up to pre-spawn areas in the coming weeks.

Look for the bite to improve in the next month or so when the water warms up a bit with the longer days. The lake level continues to rise and the debris has not been a big issue as long as the North wind doesn’t blow into the marina. The crews have been removing a lot of it with a bulldozer which is helping a lot. Better days ahead for sure.

The lake is currently open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. On March 1st it will be open seven days a week. Bass are being caught in 20- 30′ of water on the usual finesse plastics although the bite can be slow at times. Crappie continue to bite small jigs and spoons around the suspended Shad schools in deeper water.