Santa Margarita Lake Fishing Report

Santa Margarita is sitting at 90%, and there's plenty of cover along the shoreline. Bass are holding shallow in the weeds and tules mostly, although quite a few fish are chasing shad in open water as well. Frogs and punch rigs have been the go-to for working the heavy cover. Mini jigs in baitfish colors are producing well along the same edges. Poppers and glidebaits are getting hit hard at first light (or when cloudy, like the last few days) further out, with the glides pulling some big fish... reports of a 6-pound-plus fish last week.

Crappie action is good around structure and humps in 20 ft on jigs.

Santa Margarita is full and water temps are sitting at an ideal 69 degrees. Bass action has been excellent despite the post-spawn transition... fish are still stacked in the backs of coves and quiet water, guarding fry aggressively and hanging shallow. Flukes, Senkos, or light topwater baits are getting crushed on a soft lob toward those fry balls.

The panfish bite is equally strong. Redear and bluegill are pushing shallow to spawn... look for big slabs bedding on the flats. Crappie have wrapped up their spawn and are now shadowing their fry, much like bass. Find them around submerged structure or where the flats break into deeper water.

Santa Margarita is full with water temps sitting in the low 50s, and reduced visibility following the recent storms. A trout plant went in during the final week of December, but extreme weather kept the trout bite from ever developing. Most of the consistent action has been coming from crappie and catfish. Crappie are suspended on primary points, with bright-colored jigs producing the better fish. A few big catfish pushing 15 pounds have been landed over the past couple of weeks.

Bass fishing has been slow overall, though there have been isolated windows where they have turned on briefly during the day, with multiple fish being caught within minutes of each other. Those bites have come on jigs worked along rocky points and transition areas, but the activity has been short-lived and inconsistent.