Need help first time at santa Ana river lake

[steve_rod99]

I'm fishing Santa Ana rive lake next week. What kind of bait or lures should I take. Should I fish from shore or boat. Haven't fished there yet. Excited to fish there Any advice whould be great...thnx....

[Marley]

Wow, first post. Welcome!
SARL is a fun place. There are a couple of spots that are as close to can't miss as you can get that require a boat to get to and since I won't give those up (I'll let you have the reward of finding those!) your best bet is to fish from the shore. Not a bad thing, since 100% of SARL is accesible to shoreline fishing.
Three spots, order of preference: La Palma Point, Sandy Beach, Levitz Corner. All three places are on the lake map at the tackle shop. Get in line as early as you possibly can and if you're fishing a Saturday or Sunday, that means a night's stay in line is not too early.
NOTHING heavier than 4-lb. I use straight 2-lb. Ande and if you're used to using light line, you won't go wrong with the 2-lb. Light drags. There are BIG fish in there and while you probably won't catch a 20-pounder, you might.
These are hatchery fish that spent their entire livs in less than 8 feet of water. Most of them will stay there which means they will be close to the shoreline. SARL is an old sand pit with banks that go straight to the bottom so a pitch of an honest 20 feet is the right spot for one of your rods. You can play with the other one as far as depth, lures, jigs, whatever.
Your close-in line should have half a nightcrawler, blown up and fished 16" off the bottom. Forget the Fluoro; it's expensive and needless at SARL (IMHO you don't need it anywhere.) Use just enough lead to get your line to where you want it. If you smoke, use a scent mask. Pro Cure garlic is my favorite.
Nitro does not work, don't waste your money. Power Bait if you use the dough. A sleeper bait that might work if the water is clear enough is Velveeta cheese. But the water has to be pretty clear, and it hasn't been in a month.
M&M is a great bait there and could catch you trout or catfish.
Hope that helps.
Good luck, let us know how you do!

[MATUKA]

Everything Marley said is correct!!! Except he left out dont get discuraged if you dont catch anything...
SARL holds the fish in nets and only lets out a certain amount of fish after thet stock!!! you might get lucky
and catch 3-4 fish but dont be suprised if you get skunked!

[Thisfool]

Everything Marley said is correct!!! Except he left out dont get discuraged if you dont catch anything...
SARL holds the fish in nets and only lets out a certain amount of fish after thet stock!!! you might get lucky
and catch 3-4 fish but dont be suprised if you get skunked!

not entirely true. they do use nets yes but almost all the fish go into the lake and a few get left in the nets to be loaded up into there own stocking trailer so that they may put fish in other parts of the lake.

her is a quote from write up by SARL/Corona from the link below

"Additionally, we have found in the past, that the nets are not necessary at Corona Lake, because the lake is a very old lake with lots of natural underwater structure, which gives the fish a lot of cover. And with that structure, the majority of the fish stocked will not be caught on the first or second day after each stocking. However, with Corona Lake’s water being as low as it is currently, the fish are being caught much faster than when the Lake is full. Santa Ana River Lakes on the other hand, has no natural underwater structure or cover for the fish to disperse into and are usually caught much quicker after a stocking than at Corona Lake."

and if im correct they stock on Wenda's and that quote confirms my theory's about SARL the fish go in and have nowhere to go besides out via some ones hooks or to the 5 places in the lake with structure. (they are all the spots pointed out on the map provided by the staff at the lake) and by Saturday the fish left are holding tight to the structure and its hard fishing unless your lucky enough to be in one of those 5 spots.

http://www.fishinglakes.com/nets.htm

[BigBass777]

This subject of holding pens comes up a lot. The next you know the thread is closed. If you've been to the lake you know what goes on. I watched it with my own eyes.

[Marley]

Holding pens is one of the best things SARL has done, making sure there are fish in the water for the weekend and after. Ever wonder how those big fish are caught throughout the week and not just the day or two after a plant? Net pens.
I have been on the water numerous times when they release a pen of fish and can tell you that they quickly disperse and bite almost immediately. Given the number of people who fish there, using the pens is a great practice.