I've noticed a trend.

Rob doesn't post his fishing reports any more. Fish Chris has basically stopped posting his on his web site and Nico hasn't updated his site since May.

I can understand the "why" for not posting them - but I miss them never-the-less. Reading about how a giant bass hits a MS Slammer made me want to go out and buy one. I find little tid bits of helpful information in many of the reports. I started using Assalt Jigs because Rob talked about them so much.

I don't need to know the names of the lakes you're fishing and you don't even have to post pictures, but it sure would be nice to read some reports. I'm more interested in hearing about the techniques used and the conditions that existed on the trips. I don't fish in No. Cal and I don't even care if you mention the names of the lakes you're fishing.

I try to post reports when I get out - but I just don't get out very often.

I have enjoyed this web site and others like it for quite some time... but I'm going through major withdrawls of late because the posting of reports has certainly tailed off.

I know some of the lakes you guys talk about have received increased pressure... I can see why that would make you want to not post reports... but there are those of us who aren't so interested in the "where" - as we are the "how"

I hear what you are saying. Believe me when I say that I didn't stop posting my big bass reports without giving it a lot of thought.

This summer has been my best summer ever for big bass too, which makes it even harder because I do enjoy sharing a report and showing off my catch after I put a lot of hard work into getting my fish. What you have to understand is that I'm not worried about 95% of people coming after my fish. But there is the small percentage of guys who will come after my fish. People aren't dumb. They'll look at the pics, figure out the lakes and even the areas. When the bite gets going, they'll come to the lakes, and even on the decent sized lakes, when you know the lakes well, they fish really really small.

The difference between me getting skunked vs getting one bite during 8 hours of fishing can be the fact that one guy buzzed in too loud on a spot, made some sloppy casts and left. I watched this happen to me not that long ago. One guy in a fast boat, running all the obvious holes and thrashing the water before I got to it. I blanked the day, and I don't have the luxury of being able to go out and fish on a weekday when I can avoid this kind of stuff. Big bass fishing is fine line fishing, and I have to give myself every advantage when I'm out there on the weekends if I'm going to do well. This summer I have kept quiet, and it's been my best summer ever for big bass.

Between July and October I caught fish that weighed 8.4, 9.2, 9.4, 9.8, 13.8, and 15.4 I've been spending a lot of days fishing for one bite, and that's by and large what I've been getting... 0 to 4 bites per trip. All summer long I've never caught 5 keeper bass in one trip, but the bites I'm getting are big, and that's what I'm after. I'm sorry about not posting the reports. I'm being selfish in that I'm taking my personal enjoyment of my day on the water over sharing info. It's too bad we can't go back to the days of Jamon and Rob's fishing page :) Being popular has it's drawbacks. That's for sure.

I can certainly understand your position. It's disappointing - but I guess I'm being selfish too.

I'd be happy if you didn't even post pics. How about a summary of HOW you caught your fish over the summer? What kind of conditions? What kind of baits?

If that's too much to ask, I'll understand. I know what you mean by wanting to maximize every trip you have - especially when you don't get out as often as you'd like to.

Regardless, I still appreciate this site very much.

SJ, I sent you an email for what it's worth. As far as what I'm getting them on, I've been getting them on swimbaits. Big swimbaits. 9" Stocker Trout, Optimum, and the original Castaic Hardbait trout (it's about 10"). I'm fishing my same setups. Calstar 800L with CTE400/30lb triple fish silicon w/ sugoi 30lb florocarbon leader. Also the Rainshadow SW976 with straight 25lb triple fish camo and Cardiff 300 or 25lb triple fish silicon and 30lb sugoi. It's nor-cal. I go big on the rods so when I put the hooks to the fish I can muscle them in quick. I also had a cool trip where I got some night time bass on 5" big hammers. I posted those pics already. I think that's something that could blow up and be a killer deal at night.

One of the biggest lessons I've learned this year (mostly through Brian #1 and his fishing in San Diego) is that what works in Nor-Cal sure doens't work that great in So-Cal and vice versa. I used to sit and read the stories and articles about the So-Cal guys like Long,Gash,Pimentel, etc. All the stuff you read in Bass West. And I was baffled because what they do down there wasn't working all that great for me up here. The last year I kinda started trying to just figure out what worked for ME and really focus on that. What works for me is big baits and bubba gear and fishing hard and fast but at the same time being very stealthy and making key casts on key areas. You ever read how Robert Lee talks about fishing the Delta and how he doesn't waste time poking around between spots? He says he knows his spots, knows where the fish should be holding and he makes those few casts on each area and moves on. I'm starting to see things like that a little more. So I'm finding that when I'm out there, I'm spending about half the time really seriously pounding on the spots that I think the fish are on, and then the rest of the time I'm in kind of a scouting mode where I'm graphing and looking and trying to locate new areas to add to my "hit list". Sometimes I'll get fish while I'm just cruising around, but mostly they come when I'm making a specific cast on a specific spot. Gotta always be fine tuning I guess :) There's still so much to learn every trip you make to the lake.

So here's my take on things right now. My take is that anyone can catch giant bass or become a great tournament fisherman. To become that guy, you need to pay attention to everything that's going on in the fishing world, and try lots of new things, but then you need to find out what works for YOU. You might pick up tips here and techniques there from friends, internet, magazines, etc adding them to your arsenal along the way, and after a few years, you'll find that you have this this arsenal of baits and lakes and areas and time of year and all those things that make you catch fish. The more you build on this, the better it gets and the better you get at catching fish.

So in my opinion, to become a great fisherman, you don't need someone else to tell you the lakes, the spots, or the lures. You'll figure that all out yourself if you put your mind to it and dedicate your time to persuing it. And if you do it this way instead of having it handing it to you, that's like advantage times 10 over everyone else. Keep in mind, I said "you" in this paragraph a lot, but I just mean people in general. When you write your own story, it's the most satisfying experience there is :)

A guy like you SJ is alright right on the right track. You're checking stuff out, trying new things, probably going to different lakes and stuff like that. You've had some success, I remember you talking about getting some jig fish and some crankbait fish. What will really help you out is if you head out to some of the bigger lakes. Even if the bigger lakes are tougher than Eldo or Santa Fe, what you learn there will be more valuable. Then you'll go back to the ponds and it'll seem easier than before. Just a thought :)



-Rob

Rob summed it up pretty well. With the small lakes we fish having success means being the only person on that lake doing what you're doing. And as Rob said, people are smart enough to figure things out even if you don't use lake names. When it comes down to it, the big fish usually seem to be on the most obvious pieces of structure. If one guy decides to throw what I'm throwing and is fishing the same lake, it's going to make a direct and significant decrease in my catch rate. I wish there was a way around it, and I'm still trying to think of one, but for now the reports will be very, very late, or none at all.

And just for you I'm going to do a partial update to my site this afternoon :)

Nico

The good times cant last forever,now you know why us so cal guys dont post what were doing.Those who catch big fish do it for themselfs,not for others.And coming up with a new/different techniqe or spot takes alot of work and time.So it dosent make sense to show everyone just to have your spot/techniqe burnt out.Unless you have finacial gain from the situation or your just a glory hawg .You guys stopping your posts dosent surprise me at all,I could see it coming a mile away.Even though I miss them as well,You guys have pumped me up to go fish and try new things many times.To bad we cant have our cake and eat it to.Still a great site,tight lines fellas.

Thanks for the input and for hearing me out. I've learned a lot from this site and from the various posts, but I'd also say that I get a certain amount of entertainment value from reading the reports as well. They're that good. They're great reading - like picking up an issue of a bass magazine of some sort.

I'm trying to think outside the box and learn as much as I can. It would help if I could get out more often than I do, but I manage with the time I have. I have tried lots of things and I'm gaining confidence in certain things for sure. One thing I know is that I hate senko fishing!

You guys are awesome to share what you do - you go way above and beyond the call of duty. I think you've done a lot to advance the sport and if it wasn't for this site, I'd probably still be soaking some power bait some where looking for hatchery trout. You rescued me from that!

Thanks again.

Me, too. I especially miss the Big fish reports. I'm going to start fishing the MS-Slammer, Castaic Trout, and other Big Fish specialty baits here in San Jose. I know these baits have produced some double digit fish in Coyote Lake. There's a couple more lakes down this way that regularly stock trout during the Winter; however, I'm not sure if the bass that reside in these other lakes can grow like the Florida strain largemouths in Coyote. Are the big fish of southern Cal. Florida strain largemouths, too?

777

Hey SJ whats up, Rob and Nico have a point. You've got to look outside of the box and try things that work for you. Since ive been working at the shop ive had more opportunities to fish the bigger lakes and now when i go back out to fish the ponds i find my catch ratio going up. But im doing things completely different than i used to. I find my catches to be a bit bigger and more frequent. I too, do not post reports anymore for the same reasons. CJ and I can attest
that some of the most basic bites, that not too many fishermen will think of when fishing some of these ponds can get really worn out once the word gets out. Take advantage of the fact that usually everyone that fishes places like eldo, santa fe, legg etc. is basically gonna be throwing the same things day in and day out. Youve have to find something different to present to these fish, and once you find some of those things you'll be amazed. later.

Tsunami

As far as So Cal lakes go, soome lakes have been claimed to hoid northerns (Barrett, Piru, Cachuma) while others claim to hold Florida strain (Casitas, Castiac, SD city Lakes). Hey I'm no expert on the subject but I do tend to believe that many of the lakes here in So Cal and probably Norcal alike have both Northern and Florida strains combined in the form of a hybrid as a result of mix breeding between the two strains.

My favorite waters to fish are ones which contain salt but I do fish a lot of fresh waters too. I fish several times a week on waters big, medium, and small. Big water will build your skills and improve your catch ratio but so will small. I think it's more a matter of big, small, medium, and most importantly new waters that will add variety and enlightenment to your time spent on the water.

I have found it easier to get bit bigger lakes simply because they are deep enough to provide fish with stable water temps and conditions which are generally more stable than in smaller waters with maximum depths of only 15'(Santa, Legg, Eldo, Yorba, and so on). When the bite gets tough on a big lake if you dig deep enough you can ussually find treasure but small park waters are ussually shallow and the fish have no where to run for stable water temps after sudden rises or drops in water temprature. For the fish this means a sudden change in their body temprature sending them in to shock, not to mention the fact that they see lures just about every day of the year. You better believe those fish's jaws will become locked. They're are several keys which may open the door but it's like the others have said it will take something different. If you follow the advice provided by the posts above you will be well on your way to finding the keys.

JerryG

I think some of you have taken my initial post the wrong way. I just miss reading the reports. I'm not looking for anyone's personal secrets at specific lakes - I just like reading reports. It's educational and many of them are entertaining as well.

I'm fully aware of how tough a bite can be at small lakes, etc. I fish Eldo throughout the year.

In any case - I appreciate all the input and feedback.