Will it be the same?

[laserbrn]

With the water levels so low at Castaic will it ever be back to a great fishing spot? I've noticed that most of the reports are from Pyramid so I have to assume that most fishermen are giving up on Castaic Lake for now? I know that fish can still be caught, but when the water levels return to normal with the fish population just be devastated by this?

I don't really fish the lakes anymore because it got so bad and I opted to switch to saltwater, but I sure would like to still have the local lake for days of striper-slayin.

[seal]

The same eventually, probably but impossible to say. Every lake goes thru cycles whether they be caused by drought, die off's or just natural cycles of life. The low water may contribute to the loss of structure which will more than likely expose bait fish and fry to more predation from the stripers and other adult predators but the stripers are going to be just fine and eventually everything will even itself out I'd think but the experts like Kwin, one of the DFW biologist, are much more equipped to answer this question than us yokel's.

[tpfishnfool]

Large mouth will never be the same. Mr stripey will make sure of that.

[flyhigh123]

Large mouth will never be the same. Mr stripey will make sure of that.

With the low water levels i think the strikers will have a harder time reproducing as the suspension time for the eggs and larvae are shorter. This could be a good thing in terms of quality fish and allow the current stock to grow larger.

Let's hope.

[koifish]

Here is what I heard
"The CA Department of Water Resources is the responsible organization for all of the State Water projects water allocations. And it is because of the drought that the majority of the reservoirs are at extremely low water levels. The 2 exceptions are Pyramid Lake on the west branch and Silverwood on the east branch. Both of these lakes are used to operate hydroelectric power plants. In very general terms water from the 2 lakes is used to generate power. Therefore, the water levels must be maintained at higher levels."

[karalm]

So much for Silverwood. Was there Sunday and its down over 15' due to work on the intake tower. All the grass that was there was going to die due to it getting cold but the receding water made it happen faster. Now I hear blue stoneing tomorrow - Friday. Brutal. Blus stone canceled for today, now happening next Tues!!

[seal]

The topwater bite has died down at Silverwood, died early due to lack of weedbead/grass cover I'm assuming. It's gone from tons of bait and fry in shallow to little being seen and water temp is not that low yet. It was a slaughter with most fish that I heard kept had many fry in them, more fry than baitfish. It was a horrible time of the year for the water to be drawn down, it's been down for over a month now. Didn't hear about the bluestoning, guess I'm happy I'm headed to Mead for a couple days. Not whining, I understand it's gonna happen but doesn't make it any easier to take.

[stoned-trout]

I quit freshwater and went purely salt..i can stand on ground where I used to catch fish at most lakes...recovery of such lakes will take years...I have fished most lakes from la area down at one time or another also some by the sierras

[Mister Twister]

Yes, We caught fish too! Might try the salt also. El nino will be a traffic night mare will have little effect on water levels. Tried wood, not a bite. I hate sand,and the smell of a dirty ocean. Good Luck!

[karlow]

Might try the salt also. El nino will be a traffic night mare?
Someone has been sleeping under a rock.

El Nino has resulted in the best local saltwater fishing in 20 years!
Traffic nightmare, you bet at the bait receiver, and on the water.
I was so bad I had to give up fishing out of Dana on Fridays!
You needed to be their at 3AM to get in line to get bad bait. There was no parking there at 7AM.
On the other hand we were catching 25 YFT four miles from the harbor in July. There was a solid YT bite in Box canyon in January, these were 25lb toads all on the iron. FYI, that's the dead of winter.Then there was a month long YT bite out of Long Beach again on the iron.
This year has been a PB wonderland. You did not need a great boat, but you did need a very good bait system to keep the party going!
Anything that floated was out in the chase, fricken trout and bass boats on the 14 I sht you not! It was great weather for small boats most of the year.
Yep you might want to give salt a shot, ps the party is over.... or is it?
Now the weather is not so good, and I'm looking for some lake action, here Mr. Strippy.

[DarkShadow]

....I'd think but the experts like Kwin, one of the DFW biologist, are much more equipped to answer this question than us yokel's.

Kwin,

Have other lakes in SoCal experienced draw downs after the stripers have already made themselves residents, so that the DFW has prior research to gauge their analysis on this recent drought?

If so, can we expect Castaic to rebound to its glory days that it was in the early 90s? And if not, why not?

[fshnritchey]

With the water levels so low at Castaic will it ever be back to a great fishing spot? I've noticed that most of the reports are from Pyramid so I have to assume that most fishermen are giving up on Castaic Lake for now? I know that fish can still be caught, but when the water levels return to normal with the fish population just be devastated by this?

I don't really fish the lakes anymore because it got so bad and I opted to switch to saltwater, but I sure would like to still have the local lake for days of striper-slayin.

When lakes recede as much as Castaic has it definitely takes a toll on the fishing. Especially the LMB on Castaic it seems. There is a plus side to lakes fluctuating and having draw downs, when the soil of the shore is exposed it gets new growth and nutrients in it. When the lake does refill the water is more nutrient rich than it has been since it was last down. This helps the baitfish and fry population a lot and creates new cover for mature fish as water levels rise. BUT a lake does takes quite a few years to bounce back. Usually 10-12 years after major draw downs is when the lake is peaking again.

[fshnritchey]

Kwin,

Have other lakes in SoCal experienced draw downs after the stripers have already made themselves residents, so that the DFW has prior research to gauge their analysis on this recent drought?

If so, can we expect Castaic to rebound to its glory days that it was in the early 90s? And if not, why not?

To DarkShadow, Castaic will NEVER return to the heydays of the early 90's. There was a MUCH smaller population of Stripers in the lake and the lake had a very good crawdad population for the LMB. When they had the last major drawdown before this one is when the lake took a big hit. The crawdad population didn't survive the massive draw down and never bounced back. In the early 90's when there were less stripers in the lake the big LMB didn't have nearly as much competition for the baitfish and planted trout marauding.

[kwin]

Kwin,

Have other lakes in SoCal experienced draw downs after the stripers have already made themselves residents, so that the DFW has prior research to gauge their analysis on this recent drought?

If so, can we expect Castaic to rebound to its glory days that it was in the early 90s? And if not, why not?

All reservoirs in CA have experienced drawdowns and will continue to experience them. Stripers live and spawn in the open water/limnetic niche they fill, as a result are less negatively affected by drawdowns at Castaic to some degree. The pump back water transfer between Pyramid and Castaic likely improved conditions for SB in Castaic through creating more current to spawn/thrive and introducing more eggs/larvae from Pyramid. If you can find it I would read "When is habitat limiting for Striped Bass? Three decades of testing the Temperature-Oxygen Squeeze Hypothesis" by Charles Coutant, AFS Symposium 80:65-91, 2013. It basically breaks down the different habitat requirements for SB during various parts of their life cycle and how different they are at different stages in their lives. Though the data was generated in the southeastern U.S. it pertains to what is happening out here now and is especially important with climate change/drought occurring and the conditions we are experiencing in our reservoirs as they relate to SB.


Littoral dwelling/nesting warmwater species (LMB, BG, BCR etc.) can be more negatively affected by drawdowns during a prolonged and gradual reduction in water. If you are a littoral species that fits in another's mouth and has restricted food options you are in trouble. If you are larger, less likely to fit in another's mouth and or have greater food options you are better off. Periodic drawdowns can be a good thing for littoral species, they allow terrestrial vegetation to grow on the shoreline (future habitat), they limit recruitment during poor spawning years (improved growth rates) and increase the ratio of larger fish in a lake.

I'm not sure what you mean by "glory days" so I can't address that question.

[DarkShadow]

I'm not sure what you mean by "glory days" so I can't address that question.

You know, the glory days:

http://www.bassmaster.com/bassmaster-top-25-largemouth-bass



3

22.0100
Crupi, Robert J.

Castaic, Lake
California
12-Mar-1991


4
21.7500
Arujo, Michael
Castaic, Lake
California
5-Mar-1991


7

21.0100

Crupi, Robert J.
Castaic, Lake
California
9-Mar-1990



9

20.8600
Torres, Leo
Castaic, Lake
California
4-Feb-1990


14

19.5000
Balloid, Mark
Castaic, Lake
California
28-May-1990


23

19.0400
Kadota, Dan T.
Castaic, Lake
California
8-Jan-1989



Can't wait for days like these again!

[kwin]

You know, the glory days:

http://www.bassmaster.com/bassmaster-top-25-largemouth-bass



3

22.0100
Crupi, Robert J.

Castaic, Lake
California
12-Mar-1991


4
21.7500
Arujo, Michael
Castaic, Lake
California
5-Mar-1991


7

21.0100

Crupi, Robert J.
Castaic, Lake
California
9-Mar-1990



9

20.8600
Torres, Leo
Castaic, Lake
California
4-Feb-1990


14

19.5000
Balloid, Mark
Castaic, Lake
California
28-May-1990


23

19.0400
Kadota, Dan T.
Castaic, Lake
California
8-Jan-1989



Can't wait for days like these again!

highly unlikely in that quantity. That happens once for a short window of time which has passed. I doubt the lagoon will produce high teeners anything like it used to either.