Where'd they put the Pudd?

[Cartman]

Fished the Pudd today in the heat, and wow was I ever surprised. I have never seen the lake so low. I took some pics with my cell phone, but you can't tell much from them. A couple of guys I ran into told me they had drained the lake two feet. Two feet translated to some really low water. As if the weeds weren't bad enough! Sand bars surfaced where none had been before, and you could walk across places that have always been fishable. I saw a heron walk across places where I usually fish hardly getting his feet wet. I have no idea why they would do such a thing, but I don't see how it could be good for the fish to have so much of their habitat sucked away. I will check the lake from other angles, but for now it looks like I'm gonna have to find some place else to fish. And I have a parking pass :Bawling: .

[Jeremy Wade Jr]

I was going to post the same thing, took a couple of pictures as well:

http://www.sublogic.net/fishing/puddingstone/low.jpg

http://www.sublogic.net/fishing/puddingstone/low2.jpg

I talked to the super intendent of the park today, apparently they're trying to extend some of the docking ramps and in order for them to do so, they had to lower the water that low.. the real kicker is that they're not planning to raise the water levels back to normal any time soon.. apparently they're going to let mother nature do all the work and wait for the rain to bring the levels back up to par. :Head Bang:

[white belt]

:Shocked: How crazy is that?? Cool pics thanks for sharing. Guess I won't be going back to the pudd this year.

[BALLERONBUDGET]

quik 10min stop north shore same thing!! way low even worse water looks like coca cola and foul smelling, no fresh water coming in so its stagnant nasty , lake lice, flies and ants everywhere... few boats seen in pm hrs... good luck with new stink hole they created....

[Cartman]

Great pics, Jeremy. I tried taking the exact same picture as your second one with the shopping cart out there. Turns out it was there all along, just on it's side. Somebody walked or slogged out there and turned it up like it is now. Wow, that used to be a great place to fish. It's going to take some getting used to for sure. Maybe it's the burned out pier they're planning on working on. I think they should partially refund our parking permits. Have you been around the lake enough to find any place that is still fishable from the bank? I'm thinking behind sailboat cove closer to the dam maybe. Give it a few days, and you won't be wading to get to the middle of the lake almost anywhere. I don't think they have any choice but to let mother nature do all the work. As far as I know there isn't any way to get water into the lake until the rains come anyway.

On the positive side, there may be some nice tackle to be retrieved. I actually found one of my pole floats I had lost to an underwater snag up on the high and dry.

[smokehound]

good opportunity to mark down some excellent structure. this will definitely cause a fish kill. A bad one, too.

[Cartman]

good opportunity to mark down some excellent structure. this will definitely cause a fish kill. A bad one, too.

That's a good point, Smokehound. I already saw structure I had no idea existed. It's still a big lake even though it's shallow. With this heat, however, I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of fish floating up...or walking out.

[Jeremy Wade Jr]

They're extending the docks along the North Shore launch ramp, I asked him if they had plans to repair the East Shore dock any time soon, his response: the budget still sucks and it would cost up to $150,000 to repair that dock alone. :Rolls Eyes:

I also asked him whatever happened to the boat that collects all the moss, he said it had broken down and gave me another BS estimate of how much it would cost to fix it.

As far as fishable areas, the area near the life guard house with all the pylons is still fishable, you can actually walk around the tree line now, the area in the picture (swim beach area) is fishable along the shore line now.. the cove area around the corner isn't though.. very shallow and lots of weeds.

I did find a couple of plastics and old rusty hooks, nothing of value though. I'm also making a mental note of all the structure for future reference. Nothing really so far except for that mysterious shopping cart and some half sized pylons near the other pylons.

I will try again later and post more pics.

[DarkShadow]

Know I know what "Pudd" is short for.

"Puddle."

[Cartman]

Know I know what "Pudd" is short for.

"Puddle."

:ROFL: :Bawling:

[old pudd fisher]

Good post Jon... I in fact seen it much much lower then that in the 1960's, kind of wierd to see it like that.

[BALLERONBUDGET]

car annual gets u: castaic,santa fe , puddingstone.... ; boating pass gets same aswell

[Trial and Error]

Shouldnt hurt the fishing all that much... I mean, how worse can the fishing at that hole?

[vortec_cruiser]

Good post Jon... I in fact seen it much much lower then that in the 1960's, kind of wierd to see it like that.

Yeah, that was when they drained it.

[VIVID_FLY]

Check out these photos of even lower levels at the Pudd 12-02-2009 when they were working on the CHLORINE PUMPS of SWIM BEACH.

BURNED OUT PIER

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y316/vivid_fly/PUDD%2012%2003%202009/DSCF9126.jpg

SAILBOAT RAMP

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y316/vivid_fly/PUDD%2012%2003%202009/DSCF9155.jpg

Looking towards the BOAT HOUSE

http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y316/vivid_fly/PUDD%2012%2003%202009/DSCF9171.jpg

Sailboat cove Bay
http://i1025.photobucket.com/albums/y316/vivid_fly/PUDD%2012%2003%202009/DSCF9180.jpg

[Cartman]

Wow, that's some low water, but it doesn't look overgrown like it does now. You'd have had to break the law and caminar en el agua to get any fishing done. Lowering the water to put in the chlorine pumps :Head Bang: It seems completely crazy to be pumping chlorine into a fishing lake for that little swim beach RIGHT NEXT TO RAGING WATERS.

[allIdoIsfish]

wow i leave for a week and this happens! Does anyone know if boats are still able to launch?

[Whiteleather]

wish me luck.......gonna try there this evening since I live right next to the place

[PUDD MASTER BAITER]

if things couldnt be worst this year for even pan fish i go over the dam earlier in the week and they had the drains full force. me and the other 2 fly fishing amigos have never had such bad success for pan fish.one thing i noticed this year is the amount of juvenile bass.ive been catching them almost every cast.as far as like last year.not one big red ear caught on the 2wt and 3wt.im going to take advantage of the lower levels using my big topwater poppers using my 2- 8wts....before the season is gone..

[Cartman]

if things couldnt be worst this year for even pan fish i go over the dam earlier in the week and they had the drains full force. me and the other 2 fly fishing amigos have never had such bad success for pan fish.one thing i noticed this year is the amount of juvenile bass.ive been catching them almost every cast.as far as like last year.not one big red ear caught on the 2wt and 3wt.im going to take advantage of the lower levels using my big topwater poppers using my 2- 8wts....before the season is gone..

Doesn't it seem like a lot of fish would get sucked out when they drain so much so fast. I guess the deepest water is that nearest the dam. With fish taking refuge from the heat by going deep, there would be even more than usual right there where the water could suck them out.

[Cartman]

wish me luck.......gonna try there this evening since I live right next to the place

So, tell us how you did. Where'd you fish and how many did you catch?

[allIdoIsfish]

I went to pudd today, I talked to the head lifeguard and he said they only drained one vertical foot of water. I didnt think he was telling the truth cause on the cliff you could see the old water line and the drop look to be 2 1/2 vertical feet. the water is low but the fish are still there. i managed 6 before 11am

[Whiteleather]

Fished at the Pudd for about 4 hours on Saturday out near Sailboat cove. Only caught 2 panfish and a few baby bass.......released all of them to swim and live another day. Encouraging how many baby bass are in that lake though.......now if I can only learn how to fish for their mamas!

[VIVID_FLY]

Fished there today 09 13 2011 hung around the Pipes and caught many "micro bass" on Brown Midge pattern. went over to high pier saw some nice 12inch bass hanging around the weed line but no hook ups. Headed over to the middle pier and fished the point. many suspended 2-4 inch redear and very aggressive til they learned my pattern. Switch over to RED MIDGE and fooled some more on the hook. Headed back to the Grove and spotted so many micro bass ... as soon as the fly hit the water they are on .. move to the Rails and fished some more small reds and micro bass . considering the levels .. and weeds .. fishing not too bad when you find the open POOLS or ALLEYs

[MRVRSICK]

Went tonight, first cast out to the weed line, hooked up with a 3 pounder... Haven't been in months, and I can definitely say that it is about 5 vertical feet lower than the beginning of summer.

[TUNAVIC]

Better Days!http://s779photobucket.com