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Thread: Ongoing report

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Pomona (Ganesha Hills)
    Posts
    37

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    Crystal Lake is the only natural lake in the San Gabriel Mountains. Couple decades ago we made a run at restoration, but the Angeles National Forest people were uninterested. They make a fortune off leasing space for media/telephone antennae on Mount Wilson and public recreation is just a nuisance to them.....

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    sa bernardino
    Posts
    803

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    Quote Originally Posted by Old Hooker View Post
    Crystal Lake is the only natural lake in the San Gabriel Mountains. Couple decades ago we made a run at restoration, but the Angeles National Forest people were uninterested. They make a fortune off leasing space for media/telephone antennae on Mount Wilson and public recreation is just a nuisance to them.....
    Isint Crystal lake almost dried up?

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Pomona (Ganesha Hills)
    Posts
    37

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    Historically Crystal Lake was fed from a spring with the water transported by pipe to the lake to supplement snow melt. It was renamed Crystal Lake because the water was “crystal clear.” There is a fissure at the bottom of the lake that causes water losses which had been offset by the spring water. We had a proposal to rebuild the spring water piping and have it cascade into the lake to further oxygenate the water. The initial costs were minimal but increasing popularity means trash collection and supervision and the ongoing expenses would have been substantial. By 1990 the Forest Service basically abandoned the area because they felt it wasn’t worth the effort or expense. Just another lost natural treasure.....
    Last edited by Old Hooker; 06-05-2021 at 12:11 PM.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Covina, CA
    Posts
    34

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    Yeah, the area is/was beautiful when I first saw it (the opening after that big fire). I have even hunted out of there, though the immediate area surrounding is off limits to hunting.

    Anyway, when I went a few days after I heard it from the Glendora ranger that they were going to open the road back up in the mid 2000's, water levels were pretty high, there were so many deer around and they likely had never seen a human before. In the lake were a ton of really big green sunfish, I'm talking well over a pound each. Also, there were some good-sized bass, over 2 pounds. You could catch those all day long on anything, right up to the edge of the water.

    Maybe 8 years ago I saw that they had installed some sort of pump and had it working well, the water was clean and levels were decent. Then water levels got low, and I'm guessing the pump stopped working.

    The biggest tragedy there, and in the rivers below as well, is that there is a lot of use and abuse. Trash is everywhere, so every time I go, I purposely take a backpacking pack and take out as much trash as I can. This time was no different, though I think I accidentally contributed by leaving my freshly-opened crankbait on the ground. It was chart/blue, and it was what I was using when I caught a good few bass, but I'm sure that the guy that I was talking to probably saw it and picked it up.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Covina, CA
    Posts
    34

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    06JUN2021

    Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 6:00 PM. Cloudy day, and very likely a very pressured (and harassed) weekend. The water was warm and relatively clear (5+ ft visibility). I started at sail boat cove, west of the lifeguard docks towards the dam. I was out until about 8:30 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: https://usa.fishermap.org/depth-map/...-reservoir-ca/

    I started each spot with the lipless crank bait and a Texas rig curly tail worm as the follow-up, finishing with a weightless stick bait. I saw the bait fish running around again once the sun set over the dam, at which point I switched to a fluke. I saw a pretty big blow-up, picturesque like when you get to see the whole bass out of the water. Didn't get a bite on anything.

    I didn't get to fish the last few parts of the water as there was a pair of guys drinking and smoking and causing a bit of a ruckus. I figured I'd just stay on the other side of the trees and maybe come back the next day to clean up anything in the area. I did catch a bunch of line and someone's T-rig, which was relatively new as the hook looked good and the worm was only slightly discolored. I also broke my sunglasses (RIP Uranium Foakly jawbreakers) on a tree limb, and got hit by a bat in the ear.
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  6. #16
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Covina, CA
    Posts
    34

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    07JUN2021

    Once again at Puddingstone, line in the water at about 6:00 PM. Cloudy day leading to some sunshine, but windy towards the evening. The water was warm and relatively clear (5+ ft visibility). I started at sail boat cove, close to the dam. I was out until about 7:30 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: https://usa.fishermap.org/depth-map/...-reservoir-ca/

    I fished mostly a 40 yard shoreline with the lipless crank bait, a Texas rig curly tail worm (later switched the curly for a trick worm), a weightless stick bait, and this time a fourth rod with the rig that I had been purposely avoiding.

    "What rig is that?", you may ask? Well, it's my most productive rig on this lake, and what I used to land my PB of honestly over 8-9 pounds: the drop shot. I had been trying to stay away from it, but after so many hours without a fish, I found myself falling back on that crutch. I tied on old reliable, a 3 inch shad, and later a 4 inch worm, but I told myself that I'd limit it to only 5 casts, so on the 5th cast and retrieve, I put it away.

    I saw the bait fish running around again once the sun set over the dam. I saw a good number of blow-ups kind of far out where I think there used to be some sort of floating dock or other structure. Didn't get a bite on anything.

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Covina, CA
    Posts
    34

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    09JUN2021

    This time, I headed to Santa Fe Dam, line in the water at about 6:45 PM. Clear day and windy towards the water. The water was warm and relatively clear (5+ ft visibility). I started at the very west end of the dam, hoping to fish the "northern half" that has some cover. I was out until about 8:00 PM, when the sheriff came around on the PA and told everyone to leave. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: https://parks.lacounty.gov/santa-fe-...eational-area/

    I fished mostly a 60 yard shoreline with the lipless crank bait, a Texas rig trick worm, a weightless stick bait, and the drop shot with a small worm.

    I saw some bait fish running being chased by very small bass, and got a few nibbles on the drop shot, but no landed fish. I ran into a guy and chatted quite a bit, he said that he fishes there very regularly, and that he had some nibbles on the drop shot as well.

    Some things to note:
    I got a really bad wind knot in the crank rig, a really bad backlash on the baitcaster, and later lost the really pretty red shad trick worm that I had found (along with a lead weight and a gama hook).

    I also noticed that I have two rods that look pretty similar. One I paid about $30, the other was over $300. Can you guess which is which?
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  8. #18
    Join Date
    Dec 2006
    Location
    Covina, CA
    Posts
    34

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    13JUN2021

    This time, I headed to a super secret body of water. Line in the water at about 6:45 AM. It was to be a hot day, so I went out early and before the sun baked me to a crisp. The water was warm and stained (2-4 ft visibility). I fished a cove, moving around the bank as the super huge ants were trying to take off with pieces of footwear and clothing.

    I fished mostly a 60 yard shoreline with a weightless stick bait and a super cheap square(ish)-billed crank.

    I saw some massive carp swimming around and blowing up on the surface. I'm going to guess they were well over 10 lbs. I caught about 5 fish, 3 on the crank and 2 on the stick bait. Pictured is the first one, which was the smallest at about 10 inches. The rest were bigger, and the biggest was about 3 lbs and was on the stick bait.

    I was only there for about 1 hr, and made it back to the car to go back home for a nap and to nurse the slight hangover I had from the night before.Click image for larger version. 

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  9. #19
    Join Date
    Jun 2010
    Location
    Apple Valley,CA.
    Posts
    760

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    Nice job there finally getting some fish.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Feb 2021
    Location
    Orange County
    Posts
    23

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    Wanted to add on to this since it has been on going.

    I been wanting to check this lake out again since I last went in Feb. Took my buddy out for the first time to Puddingstone this past Saturday (06/19/2021, 7ish AM). Instead of starting near sailboat cove, I decided for the both of us to try the East Shore at the closed down pier furthest east. We fished that area for a good hour and decided to move more towards the right (facing the shore). We ended up at a point on the east shore between the broken pier and the rv camp. We didn't really see anybody catching and the bass boats weren't getting any action too. I was throwing a spinnerbait for awhile, chatterbait, texas rigged senko, and drop shot fluke. My buddy was throwing a handful of things too.

    My friend finally decides to throw a new bait he bought called Chasebaits Flacid Shad. We both thought it was an odd but interesting looking bait that he saw advertised on social media. Its action is a swimbait fish swimming on its side. We were joking about quitting bass fishing if he caught anything on it. After his 4th or 5th cast into the lake he hooks a nice bass that started to fight. He reeled it in and we both weighed it at 2.8 lbs. We let it go and fished the area for another 20 minutes before the jet skiers started coming onto the lake and making huge wakes. We finally move to the final pier on the left that was still open. We fished it for a good 20 minutes until we decided we were hungry and it was getting hot by then (11 AM).

    He ended up with 1 bass and I ended up skunking but I was glad he was able to get a bass first time at the lake. Funny thing was he used to go to college down the street at Poly Pomona but never fished at all at the lake until now.
    Last edited by LocalParksGuy; 06-20-2021 at 08:14 PM.

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