Love Them Northern Largemouth

[DarkShadow]

Had the opportunity to fish Barrett Lake, an amazing little fishery nestled in the Cleveland National Forest near the town of Dulzura, on opening Saturday.


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BARRETT LAKE


A few buddies of mine and I fished the lake hard from opening to closing, and managed 2 fish shy of 200 for our 3 man boat. I concentrated throwing baits that I have the most fun with, that being wire baits like spinnerblades and buzzbaits. I even managed some frog fish as well, which is an exciting method of catching these fish.

My 2 other friends ran the gamut as far as other presentations were concerned, but found lots of success fishing Senkos™ in skinny water. I'm sure there are other presentations that would have put fish on the boat, and the possibilities are endless at a lake like this.

Remember to crimp your barbs and catch, photograph, and release.


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ALBERT'S DROPSHOT FISH




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ONE OF MANY TRIPLE HOOKUPS




http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/1148/buzzbaitfish2fz3.jpg
QUALITY BUZZARD BAIT FISH




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CHUNKY NORTHERN


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MY BIG FISH



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DOUBLE HOOKUP


Putting fish in the boat and hanging out with friends. What more can one ask for.

[rusty6]

sorry to sound ignorant, but how do you tell the difference between northern and florida strain?

[City Dad]

Dude, when did you take up fishing? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! YEAH! I TOTALLY BEAT EVERYONE TO THE PUNCH ON THAT ONE!!!
But seriously, folks, check out the crop circles in the upper right corner. How can anyone deny that we are, like, totally not alone?



http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/3710/barrettfnnvq0.jpg
BARRETT LAKE

[DarkShadow]

sorry to sound ignorant, but how do you tell the difference between northern and florida strain?

Aside from DNA scale sampling, you cannot be 100% sure. DFG samples have confirmed the presence of northern strain largemouth at Barrett, and according to them, they want to keep it this way. I'm surely positive that Piru and Pyramid has a good population of northerns, versus the Florida strain that exist in lakes like Castaic and DVL.

A "good-sized" Florida strain largemouth caught in Florida, Texas or California can easily exceed 16 to 18 pounds. A "huge" northern largemouth can be up in the 10 pound range, and rarely over that. There are other details that can be brought up, including the acute placements of fins, and general 'personality', and water tolerances of each species.

Your average individual won't be able to tell the strain just by visual analysis.

[BakoBassin]

Those bass from that lake are looking better and better.

[DarkShadow]

Those bass from that lake are looking better and better.

Yep, the addition of threadfin about 4 or 5 years ago has finally shown its positive affects. Most of the fish we lipped were regurgitating forage, and weren't the skinny fish that we were accustomed to 3 or 4 years ago. We caught a few crappie that pushed 2 pounds, and those were the 'average' size of the ones that managed to eat our offerings. The bluegills also made an appearance, and when you're catching them on spinnerblades, and 5" Senkos™, you know they must have some attitude and size to them.

[skildfisher]

Nice job out there. Senkos rock and I like pepsi too. I only had 20ish fish the other day but none went below 3 and the best was a 7.36. 30lb test and 3+ozs was the ticket.

Next up- August mats

[05sti]

im going on the 31st i cant wait to return to barrett! awesome pictures. you guys going back any time soon?

[DarkShadow]

awesome pictures. you guys going back any time soon?

Unfortunately, we didn't get any tickets for June.

July and August are hotter than Hades, so we avoid going then. The last few weeks of the season aren't bad either.

Good luck out there!

[reelhigh]

Very nice, that lake looks beautiful.

[troutdog]

Barrett is an awesome place to fish, nice job out there DS. We went at the beginning of June one year and I got a real nice tan, er sunburn and heatstroke. Thanks for the post and pics.


TD

[DarkShadow]

Barrett is an awesome place to fish, nice job out there DS. We went at the beginning of June one year and I got a real nice tan, er sunburn and heatstroke. Thanks for the post and pics.


TD

TD,

I did a late July trip once.

First off, I couldn't even find 3 people to roll with me. Everyone I talked to said, "You must be crazy."

I got there at 6 am. By 10 am, the weather had already hit triple digits. I was out when the first train left the lake. Sitting inside the concave aluminum boats made me feel like I was baking.

But get out there in May or the last 2 weeks of the year and you'll have a lot of fun.

[HEMAN]

awesome post and pictures.. i got my reservations for the 21st of June.. hopefully it won't be tooo hot yet.. but we'll see i guess...

i'm super excited about this trip... starting to plan what i need.. and how much tackle, water, food, etc to bring.

[DarkShadow]

awesome post and pictures.. i got my reservations for the 21st of June.. hopefully it won't be tooo hot yet.. but we'll see i guess...

i'm super excited about this trip... starting to plan what i need.. and how much tackle, water, food, etc to bring.

Will it be your first time visiting Barrett?

[Troutman65]

Hey DS, Nice report. And a pic. of yourself to boot. I guess your not Fisherman57 or Sansou's alter ego.:ROFL:;)


Thanks for the post.


TM65

[steve092]

Nice fish!

That lake is awesome.

[THROWBACK RANGER]

Damm Bro That Place Looks Bad ***!!!good Job It Looks Like You Had A Nice Trip. I've Been Wanting To Fish That Lake For A While(i've Heard A Lot Of Stories About That Lake)thanks For The Report!!!