Hello everyone, new guy here with a couple questions.
I fish saltwater and really like fishing plastics. I throw them in the surf, harbors jettys and on sportfishing boats.

Now that that season is winding down I would like keep throwing plastics as in swimbaits at casitas and cachuma.
No boat so it will be shore fishing. Casitas has a lot of snags along the shore. What kind and sizes of swimbaits would I use at casitas? I have fished casitas a few times but only for trout.
I like cachuma because I have had more luck there with the variety of fish in that lake. So what kind of swimbaits would I throw at cachuma?
All I want to do is walk the shorelines and cast, cast and cast.
Its the submerged brush at casitas that has me worried about losing my tackle.
So I would like to know how to fish these areas with swimbaits. I'm not really looking to throw the big swimbaits mainly like 4 to 6 inch baits like big hammers but I'm all ears to any variety of swimbaits.
I have the gear to throw a variety of sizes just would like some suggestions on technics (sp) and application.
I am familiar with saltwater bass fishing but not freshwater bass fishing. I've only caught some while fishing for trout.
Thanks guys, appreciate any help.
Have a great day!!

Nicco
I have a 15 1/2 fiberglass bass boat that I need to sell and it is complete. Give me a call if you want and we can talk about Casitas. I live 10 minutes from the lake and have been fishing it about 8 years. Their is some shoreline fishing potential but over 90% you need a boat to get to.
Rich
CELL (805) 407-3331
HOME (805) 649-1689

pretty much the same deal @ cachuma,most of the shoreline you need a boat for ,and the parts you can get to by hiking are all hammered by the locals etc..either place a rental boat or otherwise is a good idea ,@ cachuma theres some nice smallies that are hella fun to catch.
good luck let us know how you did.

Brian

>pretty much the same deal @ cachuma,most of the shoreline you
>need a boat for ,and the parts you can get to by hiking are
>all hammered by the locals etc..either place a rental boat or
>otherwise is a good idea ,@ cachuma theres some nice smallies
>that are hella fun to catch.
>good luck let us know how you did.
>
>Brian

hi brian, ive had a little luck on the smallmouth from shore at cachuma. on the swimbaites that i listed that i bought on the thread in the trophy section, would those baits work on the smallmouth?

cachuma has lots of shoreline and i came across more when i took that trail over behind the nature center.

i dont mind walking to find fish, wondering if they will eat a 6 inch swimbait...

how is the witer bite there at cachuma??
thanks

hi rich, i couldnt maintain or afford a boat right now...

i hear what you say about shoreline there at casitas, but there is enough, isnt there??

i might be able to go up there on friday, if i can talk my way out of waiting in line at best buy for 4 hoursx(

are you down to go to the lake and show me how its done:7 ??

Nicco
I would be up for that, the unfortunate part is that I work a 72 hr shift for the FD in Riverside County fri > sun. Dont get me wrong I love my job and could not imagine doing anything else but my days off are mon > thu. I would let that boat go for $ 2,500.00 and it is very cheap to maintain. It has a good troll motor, electronics and you can fish 4 days a week on that 10 gal tank of gas not to mention that I used to tow it by a 4 cylinder Mazda pickup no problem. If you can do a tue, wed or thu that would work out as it takes me about 4 hours to get home from work and be on the water, usually by noon. There is accessible shoreline, the easiest is very shallow water. The deeper water would be in Deep Cat and coves. Both the coves on both sides of the Coyote ramp have deeper water and you can fish from the 2 fishing piers as well. One of those piers is east of the main ramp and can be driven to, it is right before the Wadleigh arm on the northeast corner of the lake. The other pier is just east of the Coyote ramp. I suggest you get a good map from Fishing Hot spots as it shows much of this. A lot of the north end of the lake can be accesed by the campgrounds. If you drive around the north end of the lake on the highway you will notice in 2 spots the lake extends north of the highway. This water is not accessible from the lake or is it legal to fish. I know of folks who have hiked in, you just have to find a decent spot to park and take a backpack, I also suggest a collapsible rod as sometimes you have to go through thick brush. These are virtually unfished waters that can be real hot especially at night, not that I am telling you to go fish there if you get my drift
Peace Rich

> Nicco
> I would be up for that, the unfortunate part is that I work
>a 72 hr shift for the FD in Riverside County fri > sun. Dont
>get me wrong I love my job and could not imagine doing
>anything else but my days off are mon > thu. I would let that
>boat go for $ 2,500.00 and it is very cheap to maintain. It
>has a good troll motor, electronics and you can fish 4 days a
>week on that 10 gal tank of gas not to mention that I used to
>tow it by a 4 cylinder Mazda pickup no problem. If you can do
>a tue, wed or thu that would work out as it takes me about 4
>hours to get home from work and be on the water, usually by
>noon. There is accessible shoreline, the easiest is very
>shallow water. The deeper water would be in Deep Cat and
>coves. Both the coves on both sides of the Coyote ramp have
>deeper water and you can fish from the 2 fishing piers as
>well. One of those piers is east of the main ramp and can be
>driven to, it is right before the Wadleigh arm on the
>northeast corner of the lake. The other pier is just east of
>the Coyote ramp. I suggest you get a good map from Fishing Hot
>spots as it shows much of this. A lot of the north end of the
>lake can be accesed by the campgrounds. If you drive around
>the north end of the lake on the highway you will notice in 2
>spots the lake extends north of the highway. This water is not
>accessible from the lake or is it legal to fish. I know of
>folks who have hiked in, you just have to find a decent spot
>to park and take a backpack, I also suggest a collapsible rod
>as sometimes you have to go through thick brush. These are
>virtually unfished waters that can be real hot especially at
>night, not that I am telling you to go fish there if you get
>my drift
> Peace Rich

oh, are you talking about the area where you can see the usfs helitak station? night fishing is not allowed right?

i work rotating shifts so maybe after graveyards i can get up to the lake.

i have fished off those piers with my kids before and i remember seeing lots of snags, weeds and stuff but i guess thats were the bass are huh??

sounds like a killer deal on that boat there rich. would probably make a nice sierra boat also. financially its just not the right time

:-(

im sure one of these days we can meet up there rich. :-)

That is station 51 of the Ojai district and the area in front is called Station Canyon, I presume for the same reason. That area is not very accessible unless you hike in from the highway and maybe go through some barbed wire. I was talking about Deep Cat which is the next cove east on the north end of the lake and it can be accessed if you hike to it from east to west I think from campground H. You can access everything on the north side except for the extreme east and west coves. Those coves are Station to the west and Wadleigh to the east. The majority of the lake is full of stick ups. The best swimbait fishing seems to be main lake points, humps, flats with deep water access and wood in my experience as well as thick reeds but those are out of the water now. The water is down about 25'. Usually when I hook a big fish it is from a well placed cast that lands about a foot from shore or when the bait comes by a piece of structure. Bass love to ambush and unless you are trolling live bait they like to hit bigger baits when part of their prey's escape route is cut off. Imagine trying to catch a chicken in an open field as compared to a pen. You would try to corner it, bass often do the same thing which is why they get the bait running the shore.
Good Luck Rich

deep cat, yeah i know where it is, wide open on turtles! well, it was the one time i fished it:7
im going to give casitas and probably cachuma a try this weekend. I have the okay to fish one day without the family and one day with the family....lucky me :)

thanks!!

the big hammers will work on bass,I'm not sure what size baits you have but i imagine something to match the shad/minnow/bluegill or redear size/color would work well.I float tube Lopez every once in a while ,or boat rental @ cachuma your welcome to fish with me then.I think i read in another post you got some swimbait gear ,its getting to be the time of year were they will get bit well espcially @ Casitas.The winter bite @ Cachuma can be fair for bass and good for trout.
let us know how it goes, tight lines,
Brian

thanks Brian...just maybe we can meet at Cachuma or Casutas and get a rental. I would like to fish with someone with experince.