midnightbite

The Delta and Clear Lake are your two best options, IMO b/c they're about the only two where you can actually stay on lake-front property and possibly catch some fish. The Delta is a fantastic eco system and super fun to fish, but the surroundings are a bit blah. You do need to be an accurate caster on the Delta, which is always tough on me. Clear Lake is in beautiful country. I think it's a great place to visit/vacation, so it would be my choice overall.

The three true giant bass I've caught in my lifetime were all caught on crescent moons with just a little sliver of light, so very close to new moon phase ... two big ones at moon rise and one big one at moon set. But I've caught good ones and been skunked plenty of times on every freaking phase there is. The confidence key for me is rise and set.

THANK YOU!

mcm ... your post threw me for a loop. This little lake we're staying on is fairly small and totally land-locked, so I started to spin out trying to make sure Google maps and/or my reservation info wasn't messed up. After looking into it, I'm pretty sure there are, in fact, two "Manistee Lakes" in Michigan ... and I'm staying at the little bitty one. I'm thankful for your post b/c it just saved me from getting a very wrong idea about the fishing situation. -Dax

Amazing. This is the best fishing forum ever.

What's up SBU! Man, I haven't had anything to post about in a long time ... too busy raising baby #2 to get out and fish, but we have a week long vacation planned for Northern Michigan and I could really use some help. We have a lake house rented on a little inland lake called Manistee, but we'll have access to Traverse Bay, Elk Lake, etc. I'm on a small mouth mission. I'm bringing my 250, weedless Hudds (8 and 68), wake Jr., Rising Sons (bottom and top hooks). Primary questions: 1. What's your go-to bait for smallies? 2. Most likely part of the water column in late July? Bottom bouncers, mid-column, or surface? 3. How worried should I be about having a toothy fish steal my 250? Thank you guys in advance for any and all replies. -Dax

in

In

In

Before I make the 8.5 hour trip up there, THIS is always what I envision happening to me ... no such luck yet. Amazing.

If you're fishing from a boat, you have to either forget about Casitas, or fully commit to Casitas due to their way-over-the-f-ing-top-anti-quagga policies. If shore fishing, Casitas does have a decent amount of fishable shoreline, though I never found those areas to be the best areas to fish on the lake back when I used to fish there regularly. It was easily my favorite SoCal lake to fish and I'm still bitter about the virtual lock out. I understand the big fish population had dwindled as of late, but my god it used to be full of toads. I will forever regret not being a swimbait fisherman back in 2006. It took 40+ lbs to win the night tourneys back then. We would drop shot and weigh in 13 pounds like dumb asses. Pyramid is a fun lake to fish sometimes, but I haven't hit it at all since I converted to 95% swimbait fishing, so I can't offer any help, but I'm hoping to figure it out over the next couple years once my babies grow up a little bit more. I have no clue what you're working with there if you're shore fishing. Castaic. Two primary deals are main lake for Stripers and Lagoon for bass. Many shore fisherman on the main lake just walk the dam during the trout planting season and catch big stripers on swimbaits. If you want to focus on bass, skip the upper lake and focus on the Lagoon. You will get bit eventually and it could be the fish of a lifetime. (See previously mentioned videos by Mr. Butch Brown.) When you add it all up, my advice is to put time in at the Lagoon. Best overall bang for your buck. Just my $.02. Good luck. It's hard to find anyone that will point you in the right direction for SoCal fishing due to the tragedy of the commons and scarcity of resources. -Dax

Perfect transaction. Proceed with confidence. Thank you Wayne! -Dax

Thanks for the 250 Mike!! Do not hesitate to do business with SDBayBassMan. Excellent transaction. Thank you! -Dax

in

Not to get all political here, but I guess we have the f'ing farm lobby to thank for this atrocity against combustion engines, the food supply, and mother earth herself? I know the extreme right wing likes to sit back and blame "environmentalists" for this issue, but I have to believe that most legit tree huggers fully understand by now that ethanol is green house gas POSITIVE. It's a lose/lose across the board for the environment, gas prices, and car/boat owners everywhere. End of the day, the ONLY people benefiting from E10 or E15 have to be GMO corn producers and their indentured workers (i mean farmers, my bad). Someone seriously needs to find a way to put a stop to this massive scheme and crime against the American people. Just ridiculous. Don - I hope for your sake with the new boat (thank god you got it back, btw) and for everyone's sake that gas stations will actually be honest about labeling the E15. -Dax

In

Wake Jr. = 13.11 If I never catch another fish on that Wake Jr. or any other 3:16 bait the rest of my life, I don't care. All the $$$ I've spent on all of them combined will forever be worth it, in exchange for that fish catch. Thank you, 3:16 lure company.

In

I'm like 3 more of these Austin area victories away from moving back to Texas. Congrats Alan! Great fish.

that was stressful to watch.