Tackle Express Castaic Fishing Reports

fter yet another Trout plant, the bigger fish are still in the deeper water around the main basin/marina area. The bite has yet to fully materialize but a few quality fish are being had on topwater baits like Lunker Punkers and Lucky Craft Sammy 128’s. 8″ Huddleston Trout and Deps glidebaits are also getting the attention of some quality fish. 

Topwater walking baits like Lucky Craft Sammy 100’s, small Zoom Flukes, Dropshots and Carolina rigs are also working for those fishing with artificials. We are concentrating our efforts in the bigger coves on the East side of the Ski Arm along with the area between Kong Island and Necktie Canyon (Ski Cove).

The area between Kong Island and Necktie Canyon (Ski Cove) has lots of willing biters along with the buoy line area at the North end of the Ski Arm. Small poppers with a feathered treble on the rear along with the Tiny Fluke/water bubble rig will get you into lots of action. We are still catching the occasional bigger Striper on live Shad while Bass fishing although they are still hard to target at this time.

Dropshot and Carolina rigs are still getting bit for anglers sticking it out in the triple digit heat. The best areas continue to be the coves where fish are visually feeding. The bigger coves on East side of the Ski Arm and the East side of the Fish Arm have been the better areas. Look for shorelines that have wind blowing into them as that is where the bulk of the bait fish and Bass are.  

The use of live Shad for bait continues to deliver excellent days of Bass fishing for both numbers and size. Bass are averaging one to three pounds, with some in the four to five pound range. Anglers can expect around fifteen fish in the typical five hour half day. Otherwise the bite on anything else has slowed down as the majority of fish are roaming the coves looking for Shad schools.

Small Lucky Craft Gunfish and weightless Zoom Tiny Fluke’s are getting the attention of Bass chasing the one inch Shad that have turned up in huge numbers along the grassy flats and gravel shorelines. Otherwise, the standard offerings of 5″ wacky-rigged Senkos, Dropshot and Carolina rigged C3 Baits Shimmys and Roboworms continue to excel during the day.