Fishing continues to be good in the Central Coast lakes and I don’t think anyone would be disappointed fishing any of them right now. San Antonio is still fishing well with Senkos, spinnerbaits, and flipping in the river, topwater everywhere, and some crank fish for good measure. Try flukes in the brush in the main lake while you throw the Senkos and flip. San Antonio will be drawn down badly this year with Monterey County’s plan to protect the Salinas aquifer.
Nacimiento is also producing lots and lots of fish mostly on worms fished your favorite way and some good topwater mostly on Super Spooks and poppers. Senkos are also catching fish and you can go through bags and bags of them.
Santa Margarita seems like it has slowed down a little and when we were up there we saw lots of fry which means post-spawn patterns should work. The river opens today and there should be some good fishing up there and maybe a good bite on the frog!
Lopez has seen some phenomenal fishing in the past week with a small tournament up there Saturday where it took 24 pounds to win. The winners were throwing crankbaits in Wittenberg Arm, the second place team caught dropshot fish in the main lake, and the third place team flipped 2 or 3 limits out of the brush in Wittenberg. The crank bite has been good in the usual spots and when the wind blows try spinnerbaits and rattletraps.
Cachuma has also been fishing well with most reports containing mention of trout bait fish. The Osprey seems to be leading the way followed by the new and beautiful 6 and 9” Castaic Soft trout with a variety of wooden baits catching as well. Rattletraps and spinnerbaits on the flats and dropshot on the ledges and humps are producing and there should be a decent flip bite.
Crappie are biting in Lopez and Santa Margarita and the trout are going nuts in Cachuma, Lopez and Santa Margarita. The rockfish bite has been off and on, my buddy Kevin told me today he only had 3 fish but it was too windy to fish outside. The halibut should be starting soon, don’t wait for the livebait, try plastics and frozen bait. Good Luck everyone, please share some of your experiences with the rest of us!