Lake Casitas Fishing Report

Casitas is awesome right now. Bass are keying in hard on shad all over the lake, and shad imitation baits are the absolute ticket. Whether it's Flukes, Bass Trix, Karachis or even live bait... folks are catching big numbers of quality fish, with some 8+ pounders reported. A local angler recently reported a 70-fish day working baits from the shoreline out to 30 feet of water. A few shore anglers are getting some decent action as well on dropshots and Senkos near brush. The panfish bite has also been very good... some hand-sized redear being caught on red worms and mealworms in the backs of quiet coves.

The spawn is over at Casitas and bass have fully transitioned into hunting shad. Water temps are now in the low 70s, and shad are schooling up all over the lake. Some anglers are reporting 20+ fish days running underspins, jerkbaits, Keitech swimbaits, and A-rigs. Bass seem to be all over the water column... some in open water, others holding off points and transition zones, and even some pushing into the backs of coves. No matter where you decide to fish, shad is the color and lure pattern. Most fish are 1–2 pounds, but reports also mention some bigger ones, up to 7 pounds. It may seem obvious, but if you can get live shad, it's the ultimate bait for both numbers and size right now.

Anglers have been waiting all March on the bass bite at Casitas to full take off, and with water temps now sitting in the mid-60s, that wait is over. Bass are pushing hard into the shallows and feeding aggressively, primarily in prespawn mode, but some fish are getting onto beds.

The bulk of fish are coming in the 1-2 pound range off shallow cover on T-rigged Senkos and dropshots, with the occasional 4-5 pound fish mixed in. Early morning topwater has been productive too, with prop baits (Chappo) drawing strikes in the backs of coves before the sun gets up (3-4 pound fish). The real giant females are still in 20-30 feet of water but should be making their move shallow soon. Front-facing sonar guys are chasing these fish deep in the meantime.

A giant 3 pound, 17 inch black crappie was caught off one of the docks last week. And carp guys are hooking some big ones late in the day.