I first want to give an shout out to Big Bob for pushing me over the edge to fish Lake Hodges again! (I was following the reports for weeks, but just couldn't pull the trigger) Fun fact about me fishing Lake Hodges. I have the record for the biggest gap of time in fishing Lake Hodges guaranteed. (yea right your thinking!) How do I know I have the record? Because unless you fished the opening day in the late 1970's and fished there yesterday, you only tied me! Yea I was there opening day and hadn't gone back there till yesterday March 8 2020! Lol I had a plan to fish West first and then work my way East. Everyone I talked too said the fish were West and the bite was over by 11:00 am. (more bad information) We fished hard West till 11 and had only an #5 pound LMB to show for our efforts! We then checked out the East and found a whole fleet of boats catching Crappie in the Narrows! If you don't know where that is I'll tell you! Lol Launch your boat and go East for about a mile and when you find the Floating bathroom you are there! By the way, the Bathroom doesn't work!
We got there late to the party and still caught some very nice Crappie! If you are looking for a quiet bite (which we looked for West) forget get it!!!! (it's a ---- show) Boats trolling every where and every direction, boats blasting into a 5 mph speed zone at 30 mph. Kayaks drifting and trolling right in the best zones etc! If you could stand all that and the rinky dink operation the way the lake is run! (com on down) Let me talk about the rinky dink operation for a minute. (I'm trying to clue you in, so you don't go down there and get PO) The Lake is suppose to open at 6:00 am, they open the gates at 6 to let you drive in the place. But they then make everybody wait another 40 minutes before they let you buy your permits etc. Don't count on buying any Crappie size minnows there! (limited size and they sell out quick) If your planning on renting a boat, they have only 8 motor boats and 1 row boat to rent and the boats are pricey! Did I scare you off yet? Lol Well if I didn't, it goes to prove my old saying. If the fishing is that good, people will make a deal with Satan himself! Lol About the Minnows which very few people had. If you want to buy some from the only reliable source. East County bait and tackle in Lakeside Ca is the only reliable place to get them!
On to the fishing in the Narrows.
3 ways were working to catch the Crappie. Trolling very slow, minnow type lures. People who did that all day, had between 5-12 Crappie per boat if they were any good! Drifting with minnows between 10-20 feet deep right down the middle! (the depth in the middle is 20 feet) Or with Mini Jigs in the same area. The water is stained at Lake Hodges, so bright colors on the Mini Jigs is a good idea.
If you want to give it a go, I gave you a pretty good road map to use!
Good Luck!