Lake Balboa Fishing Report

A ton of good action coming out of Balboa over the last week for both bass and tilapia. Plenty of anglers fished over the holiday weekend, and a lot of nice fish were caught. Bass have been locked on Yamamoto baits... Senkos, Ikas, and Yamatanuki have all been catching solid fish in the 2–3 pound range. If you're primarily looking for numbers, nightcrawlers have been killing it for tilapia, with the occasional bass mixed in. Tilapia reported up to 5 pounds this weekend. Look for bite to stay good for the next month as water temps stay in the low-mid 70s.

Balboa’s kicking out plenty of spring bass, although mostly skinny 1–2 pounders. Bigger fish have been hard to come by. Swimbaits and craw-style plastics are getting bit, especially when worked very tight to the shoreline. Water’s stained, so stick to dark, high-contrast colors like black and blue. Catfish are showing here and there, but the tilapia bite has been very good on nightcrawlers.

There’s a lot of bass action at Balboa right now, and not just for dinks. Within the last few weeks, 4, 5, and 7+ pounders were all pulled out of the lake. The cooling water temps are firing up these fish. Crawfish are a major forage currently, so slow-dragging jigs and/or soft-plastic craws has been excellent. Fish are also consistently being caught on a variety of other baits: rattle traps, Keitech swimbaits, drop shots, square-bill crankbaits… and the list goes on. The excellent bite should continue until the first big cold front.