Tackle Express Castaic Fishing Reports

Bass fishing remains steady on one to four pound fish. The water has come down five feet in the past week resulting in the Shad pulling out of the backs of the coves as the rocks that were covered in their food source, algae and moss, were left high and dry with the receeding water.

The Striped Bass were hard to locate again this week as the huge schools of baitfish were found anywhere from twenty to eighty feet deep. We did have some quality bites trolling Producer Flies and 661 KastMasters about thirty feet deep on leadcore line for linesides to seven pounds, but the activity window was short, only lasting for about a half hour when the lake first opened. No surface boils to report but hopefully that will change when they realize the coves are full of Shad.

The Fall transition is in full swing as “wolf packs” of Bass are moving from open water to the bigger coves  and creek arms in search of Shad and Silverside minnows. They are not sitting on structure spots like in the Spring, but instead are roaming the area following the bait schools. When they find the bait they feed heavily, often causing dramatic surface boils. We are fishing live Shad every day as it is very difficult to get these fish to bite otherwise. The bait fish are small, in the one to two inch range and are plentiful in almost every cove.

Bass fishing is trending towards the fall transition as the schools of open water fish are starting to move into the bigger coves  and creek arms. There continues to be good action on surface poppers and fly-lined Flukes early and late but “matching the hatch” on the small Shad and Silverside Minnows is proving frustrating for most anglers. A better pattern seems to be the dropshot and Ned rig in deeper water off main lake points and bluff walls. We have started fishing live Shad again and the bite is instant and continuous throughout the day.

Quality sized Stripers have been boiling on Shad and Silversides throughout the day. They are only popping up for about 30 seconds making luck a prime resource. Producer flies, KastMasters and small swimbaits are putting fish to 7 pounds on the deck trolling at 15′ to 30′ when the fish aren’t busting the surface. The Stripers are pretty much spread out all over the main lake from the forebay buoy line all the way around to Old S.S. cove in the fish arm. Look for birds and boats in the middle of the lake and you’ll find the schools.

Stripers were hit and miss this week, with some days better than others. Glassy conditions mid-week saw the bite slow significantly. Windy days are better as the fish feed actively in these conditions, sometimes throughout the day. Producer flies, KastMasters and the Fluke/Scrounger head combo are getting grabs trolling at 15′ to 25′ when the fish aren’t busting the surface. The best  area continues to be the deeper water from Kong Island to Necktie Canyon, with the fish pretty much spread out all over the middle of the Ski Arm and up to the forebay buoy line on certain days. There has also been some surface action in the West end of the Fish Arm during the first hour or so of the morning.