Tackle Express Castaic Fishing Reports

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. 

Good surface action on smaller fish, with some bigger models mixed in. The schools that are in the coves have the bigger fish than the ones in the main lake and are more likely to bite normal sized lures, whereas the smaller fish are keyed in on micro Shad which are hard to match size-wise. The same lures used for the Bass are working on the Stripers as well.

The surface boils continue with the smaller fish, but there are some big ones mixed in, as well as some big Largemouth Bass in some of the schools. Smaller Lucky Craft Gunfish and Sammy’s are getting the schoolies, with bigger versions of the same lures getting the attention of the occasional larger fish below them.

Bass are biting on most any plastic bait presentations. 5″ wacky-rigged Senkos, Carolina rigged C3 Baits Shimmys, 4-1/2″ Roboworms and Ned rigs are all getting bit by fish averaging one to two pounds with some in the four to six pound range.

Lucky Craft Gunfish and Sammy’s will get the bigger bites while small 2″ swimbaits and poppers are getting bit by the smaller schoolies. Adding a feathered treble hook to the surface baits will do double duty as the bigger bait appeals to the larger fish and the feathered treble is the size of the smaller Shad being hammered by the small Stripers.