California Fishing Reports

Twin Lakes has been fishing well, helped by multiple trout plants over the past few weeks. A confirmed double-digit brown was landed recently on a scatter rap, with plenty of action on fish in the 2 to 4-pound range. Several 6-pounders were also reported. Shore anglers are doing best with bait, with an occasional lure hookup, while boaters are finding steady action trolling Rapalas, Kastmasters, and needlefish. With cold weather and a chance of snow in the forecast, conditions are setting up nicely for more big browns to come out and feed.

Ken’s Sporting Goods reports mixed results on the East Walker River, which is flowing around 90 cfs. The “Miracle Mile” still seems to be recovering from last year’s fish kill, with most anglers struggling in that stretch. Better action came downstream, especially from below the bridge down to Murphy’s Pond. Anglers finding success were mostly drifting nymphs, with a few fish taken on streamers. Productive patterns included rainbow warriors, San Juan worms, squirmy wormies, perdigons, copper Johns, drag queens, dead drift crayfish, and sculpzillas. A bump in flows could help push more fish back into the Mile.

Bridgeport Reservoir kicked out some impressive numbers this week, with Ken’s Sporting Goods reporting very good fishing from both shore and boat anglers. Trollers had the edge, pulling in limits with Rapalas, Kastmasters, Thomas Buoyants, needlefish, and speedy shiners. A few shore anglers tossing Rapalas also did well, but bait fishing from the bank was slower overall. That said, the ones who did score on bait were using pinched crawlers, mice tails, or nightcrawlers. Big fish topped out around 5 pounds, with plenty in the 3 to 4.5 pound range showing up throughout the day.

Jim Taibi from 611 Fishing reports that bass fishing at Castaic slowed a bit this week after cold weather and rain temporarily stalled the spawn. Smallmouth are post-spawn and aggressive, willing to hit a variety of presentations. Largemouth actions is mostly one to two pound males guarding beds, but some three to five pound fish are showing up. Carolina rigs and dropshots are producing well, while wacky-rigged 5” Senkos in Green Pumpkin or Natural Shad have been getting the bigger bites. Jim notes using darker colors on cloudy days and natural shad tones when it’s sunny.

For striped bass, bait schools are moving into the backs of coves, which is a good thing, but the Stripers are still in pre-spawn mode, so the bite will have to wait a bit.

Water clarity remains excellent, with visibility up to 20 feet in some areas. Surface temps are running 62 to 66 degrees.

No fishing today....but still went out for some boat / water time. We have TONS of babies today! 4 days ago there was nothing. Today, we have a huge cloud of babies! With papa close by, keeping them corraled to their nest. Hard to believe that only 1 out of 1000 will reach adulthood. But, for the next few weeks, papa is gonna have a full plate, looking after his brood. Nature is an amazing show.

I fished the NTAC Tournament on Saturday, 4/26/2025. It pretty much rained/sprinkled all day from Sun Up to around 4pm. Fishing was GREAT! I caught tons of fish, especially trout, with a few spotted bass and crappie mixed in, which were released. The fish were in the top 20' of water, no matter what the depth was. Pink seemed to be the color of choice.
I even caught myself, which was a biotch! LOL! It happened early in the morning, but I just cut the curve of the hook, leaving the barb in my thumb and continued to fish the tournament, looking for that BIG trout :-)
There were a lot of trout caught, with the winning weight going over 9lbs. There were a few 7lbers as well, with lots of 3 and 2 lbers being caught. I caught a lot of trout but nothing going over 3lbs. I got the hook removed when I got home :-)

Clear Lake bass action has been hit or miss, depending on the day. Water clarity remains poor near the Oaks, but improves on the north end, with visibility up to 5 feet depending on the area. Stay clear of runoff zones and find protected water. Surface temps are ranging from 63–67 but the current cold front will likely drop things a few degrees.

Bass are spawning, but activity is inconsistent... some shallow docks and tule edges are holding fish, while other prime areas still feel empty. Clear water pockets are key. Dropshots, underspins, and A-rigs are producing decent numbers, while glide baits are pulling better fish. Topwater remains spotty, with just a few spook bites showing up and no frog bite yet.

Meanwhile, the crappie bite has fully exploded. Big numbers of quality fish are stacked on brush piles and rock piles in 10–15 feet, and action is about as easy and consistent as it gets. Catfish bite has been solid as well.

Lake level is creeping toward 8.0 on the Rumsey, so expect the quarter-mile offshore no-wake zone to activate soon. Mussel inspections are strict.