Ventura County Fishing Reports

Casitas continues to turn out excellent bass action on two main patterns. Some fish are pinned tight to heavy brush and submerged cover. Slow-falling soft plastics pitched deep into snaggy spots are getting bites from high-quality fish (up to 7 lbs). The tighter and deeper into cover, the better. Alternatively, bass are chasing shad schools out in open water. Live shad, A rigs, and swimbaits are doing most of the work. Topwater baits are also getting crushed early when bass push bait to the surface.

Reports are that catfish are starting to really chew for bank anglers on mackerel, chicken liver, and live nightcrawlers.

Bass fishing at Piru has been wide open lately, with schools of largemouth staying active and feeding aggressively throughout the day. Most fish are on the smaller side... plenty in the 1-pound range... but the aggression and sheer numbers make up for it. A few 3 to 4 pounders are showing as well. Anglers watching their graphs are spotting clusters tight to structure or just off points in 10–20 feet and picking them off with small underspins, swimbaits, and finesse plastics. Topwater and shallow reaction bites have been productive in the early morning, with poppers and squarebills doing the most damage.

Casitas is in easing into summer mode, and the bass bite is one of the best in the region right now. Anglers are reporting high numbers of 1 to 3 pound fish, with plenty of big ones (6+), showing up as well. Shad are active throughout the lake, and bass are starting to really dial in on schools. Small swimbaits, spinnerbaits, and topwater baits (poppers, walking baits) are all producing, especially during low-light periods. Glide baits have accounted for two of the biggest fish this week (7 and 8 pounders).

Finesse soft plastics like Roboworms, flukes, and Senkos are also working well fished near submerged structure or depth transitions, but mostly for smaller fish. Bass are being picked off all throughout the water column, from the shallows down to 30 feet.

The crappie bite has slowed, but still remains worth targeting. Jigging around submerged brush and cover is what's getting them. Bluegill action is wide open, they seem to be everywhere, perfect for limits or kid fishing.