El Capitan Reservoir Fishing Report

With water temps jumping into the upper 60s, El Capitan is starting to finally show off some elite spring bass action. The early prespawn bite was hit or miss, but that spawn aggression is kicking in now, with plenty of size to go with it. Surprisingly, small soft plastics have been best for the higher quality fish. 4.5 inch roboworm (pink) drop shots, grubs, and smaller Senkos are all getting fish in the 2-4 pound range. Small spinnerbaits and crankbaits are also picking up bigger fish on the reaction bite. Bigger baits are oddly either being ignore, or hooking smaller fish. Best move is to stay small on lure size until the fish quality drops off, then upsize.

El Captitan is just about to break into prespawn mode. Surface temps are in the low 60s, clarity isn’t great, but anglers are starting to spot and catch fish moving shallow. Creature-style plastics and slower-sinking baits like Senkos and Ikas are finding some active fish in the 1-3 pound range, although the all-out prespawn aggression isn't there yet. The reaction bite has been quiet. Look for the bite to really take off here shortly, as another week of warm weather is forecasted.

Fishing was tough this morning. Cloud cover lingered all day until about noon, and I didn’t get a single bite while it stayed gray. Once the sun came out and a light breeze picked up, the whole lake seemed to wake up. I could actually see bass cruising tight along the bank. That’s when the bite turned on — I hooked into a solid 5-pounder and followed it up with two 4-pound fish. All three came on a watermelon crawfish bait with the claws dipped in chartreuse.