Ongoing report

[MRVRSICK]

Let's get down to it.


Most recent trip, 18MAY2020, was to Puddingstone in San Dimas. I live 5 minutes from door to water, so this will be the place I will be focusing on. I didn't catch anything, no nibbles. Didn't see anything on the surface, no baitfish action either. The water was calm and muddy (1-2 ft visibility). Fished sailboat cove from the lifeguard docks to the sailboat launch, from about 5-7. I threw a weightless fluke and a weightless creature bait (pretty much all my gear is currently unavailable). I saw a guy going for catfish, as well as bass on a drop shot (with a bobber). I don't think he caught anything either.


I'll likely be going every other evening or so, and will try to report on here more often than not.

[drifter023]

Thanks for the update haven’t fished there in a long time keep the updates coming.

[MRVRSICK]

20MAY2021



Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 5:30 PM. The weather was funky for socal: windy, little bit of drizzle, and chilly. The water was pretty warm to the touch, pretty choppy due to the wind, and muddy (1-2 ft visibility). I fished from the south east pier headed west until just north of the cove, until about 7:00 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: https://usa.fishermap.org/depth-map/...-reservoir-ca/



I started going after panfish around the pier with my telescopic rod, throwing a trout worm on a hook that I had found during the previous outing. Wind made it just about impossible to lay the worm out, but I noticed my first surface feeding (big carp) and figured it wasn't going to happen. I tried out the weightless fluke and a weightless creature bait again, nothing really happening. Early on, I found a popper on the bank and tied it on. Threw it and the creature bait the rest of the day. I saw some bait fish running around the SE cove, but they didn't want the popper in either popped or run presentations. I didn't tie the fluke back on.



I also picked up a bunch of junk from around this part, seems like the people coming here are very lazy. I did score some great stuff though: the popper mentioned earlier, a trick worm, a jar of salmon eggs, and best of all, a frog tied on to about 40 yards of perfect 4lb mono. I actually tied it as backing to my pathetic spinning reel, which had a leader tied on to about 30 yards of used, unknown braid. Now I can make an actual cast if I tie on some weight!



I saw a guy fishing that said he had some luck on the rocky shelf, he was tossing a heavy carolina rig with a grub. He claimed that he caught 3 fish in his first 10 casts: a 3lb, 8lb, and a 5lb. I'm not going to call him a liar, but those are good fish for this lake.

[LocalParksGuy]

Ty for the report. Been thinking about hitting that place again soon. That lake is always hard and it is a hit or miss for me, 50/50 chance. I took a friend out to try to get him his first bass about 3 weeks ago, but he skunked. I ended up getting lucky and caught a bass between sailboat cove and the swim beach on a texas rigged senko. It hit the worm on the drop as I was messing with my line, felt a gentle pull on the line so I then set the hook. It was a nice 2.8 lb bass after weighing it. Good luck!

[MRVRSICK]

24MAY2021

Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 6:30 PM. Today was very hot, 90+ during the heat of the day. The water was warm and muddy (1-3 ft visibility). I started at the south east pier headed west until the cove, then at about 8:00 PM went to sailboat cove from the lifeguard dock to the launch ramp, left at 9:00 PM. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: https://usa.fishermap.org/depth-map/...-reservoir-ca/

I started out with the weightless fluke and a Texas rig creature bait, nothing really happening. Lost the T-rig on the first cast, tied another on, and lost it on the very next cast again. There's a rocky bluff that I just got hung up on, last time I cast there! I saw the bait fish running around the SE cove again, this time splashing around a whole lot more than the last. They didn't want the fluke.

Ran into a guy at sailboat that I've seen a few times before, he had done well the day before. I was going to hit up the area and he was going to the area I was in across the lake. I threw the fluke again, and changed it to a curly tail worm on the t-rig. I got a bite casting at about 45 degrees to the launch dock, but my puny little reel wasn't pulling him in fast enough and the hook just really wasn't in enough, and he just jumped and tossed the fluke. I cast a few more times at the surrounding area, but nothing.

[DarkShadow]

Don't get discouraged....once you learn to fish these local ponds that are pressured AF, you'll soon be running circles around other individuals when you fish our larger lakes.

The local pond bite really tests your skills.

Also, realize you have other small bodies of water around you that hold fish. If the Pudd Puzzle gets a bit tough to crack, you can always fish Peck, Legg, even Santa Fe, which IMO, have given up more fish than the Pudd this time of year.

[MRVRSICK]

Don't get discouraged....once you learn to fish these local ponds that are pressured AF, you'll soon be running circles around other individuals when you fish our larger lakes.

The local pond bite really tests your skills.

Also, realize you have other small bodies of water around you that hold fish. If the Pudd Puzzle gets a bit tough to crack, you can always fish Peck, Legg, even Santa Fe, which IMO, have given up more fish than the Pudd this time of year.

Well, I'm honestly a little hesitant to go to peck, as the last time I was there (and that was maybe 10 years ago), there were a ton of homeless people around. Not to mention that someone had actually been found dead in that immediate area, though I remember it was ruled a natural death. Santa Fe is probably next closest, so I might try that sometime soon, but with lines in the water only 5 minutes away at Puddingstone, I'm having a hard time. Also, I've yet to land a fish this year at Puddingstone, and I know that they're just rooting for me!

[MRVRSICK]

25MAY2021

Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 7:00 PM. Warm day, but cloudy by the time I got on the water, which was warm and stained (2-5 ft visibility). I started at the south east cove and headed towards the east pier. Then at about 8:15 PM went to sailboat cove and was only able to fish the launch ramp before the sheriff came at about 8:35 PM and told us they were going to lock up, which was kind of early for it being a full moon. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: https://usa.fishermap.org/depth-map/...-reservoir-ca/

I started out with the weightless fluke and a Texas rig curly tail worm, nothing really happening. I saw the bait fish really pooling around the SE cove again, this time catching a peek at the tiny fish in the water. No bites on the fluke, and I saw a ton of other people throwing stuff out in the cove to no avail. I swapped the fluke for a weightless stick bait, no takers.
Moving up the shallow waters, I might have had one bite on the stick bait, but it was on my puny, pathetic reel and whippy rod, and I just couldn't hook on. Sail boat cove was 6 casts total, only 1 on the stick bait, the rest on the worm, and then an unexpectedly early departure.

[MRVRSICK]

31MAY2021

First of all, belated Memorial day to all. Heart goes out to all of the military men and women that have lost their lives both on and off the battlefield.

Back to Puddingstone, line in the water at about 7:00 PM. Warm day, and very likely a very pressured (and harassed) weekend. The water was warm and stained (3-5 ft visibility). I started at the south swim beach and headed towards sail boat cove. I was out until about 8:55 PM as the light was fading, and when I got to my car, I was surprised that there were still people in the park, though the Sheriff was causing a ruckus and kicking everybody out. For anyone wondering, this is the lake: https://usa.fishermap.org/depth-map/...-reservoir-ca/

I Finally got my hands on all of my gear, so first casts were with the lipless crank bait, and a Texas rig curly tail worm was the follow-up. Unfortunately, nothing really happening with either. I saw the bait fish running around the cover by the north end of the swim beach, but no bites. I didn't see anyone else fishing on the side I was on, only a handful of people on the other side of the lake.
After a while, I tied on the weightless stick bait and continued to throw the curly tail, but nothing on either. I finally started to head back to the car well after twilight.

[MRVRSICK]

01JUN2021

Finally, a different body of water! Crystal Lake it is, high up in the San Gabriel Mountains. My intention was to fish trout on the west fork trail for a few miles, it was actually closed off completely. I figured it was early enough that I'd just drive up to the lake and check it out, if even just to teach some worms how to swim (good thing I brought some bass poles!). I got to the lake parking lot at maybe 10:00 AM, I was the only one there. In my experience, the road to the lot is usually closed, so it was a bit of a surprise to see that I could drive up, and I was even more surprised that there wasn't anyone there. As I was tying up my rigs, two guys that came from the beach and Norco arrived, and I just gave them some info about the lake and we walked down to the water. It was a hot day, over 90, with some wind and intense cloud cover, which was sporadic. The water was relatively clear (15+ ft visibility), though there was a lot of vegetation that was growing all around the edge of the lake, creating a mat of very leafy weeds extending 10 to 20+ft in most places, with occasional openings. The water level was very low, but not as alarmingly low as I had seen it maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I started at the north end and headed west, finishing at almost the 7 o'clock position of the lake. For anyone wondering, this video gives a good idea of the lake and vegetation level of the lake: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aZ4LGGpo8I

I started with square bill crank bait, and I was immediately getting a lot of action. Most of what I had were very small bass (3-5 inches) coming up and trying to eat it, and it wasn't long before I accidentally hooked one while trying to find some bigger bass a little bit towards the central deeper waters. I hooked and landed a few between 4-7 inches, but in seeing that I was only attracting small fish, I switched to a big Texas rig curly tail worm and a weightless stick bait. I landed another small bass on the stick bait, and the worm got its tail chewed up pretty good, but no hooks were set in lips.
After about an hour and a half, I decided it was time to go and grab some breakfast, and I was back in the car by 12:15 PM.