i need help about trolling for trout at cachuma lake, last time i fished there we got all are fish about 20 feet of water behind arrowhead island on powerbait, we saw alot of people trolling and most of them out fished us. i just wanted to know if anyone has caught
any trout latey and on what. and what kind of weight do you use, i usally troll pin minnows or needlefish thanks.

I have done well there using Team Daiwa crankbaits. You can them at Bass World West. Any of the shad imitating crankbaits work well, but the nicer Japanese baits work the best. Go there, and you won't be disappointed. I troll Needlefish in the frog pattern with the gold back. I modify them slightly by giving them a slight bend and adding Lucky Craft scales to the back side of them. You can get the scales at umaxco.com or try Bass World West and maybe they can order them. I have also done well using a Rapala J7. I use them in blue/silver,black/gold,silver/black. Make sure you change the hooks on the Rapalas to the Gamakastu's size 6 I think. Oh and also change the split rings to the Worth brand. This will all make a difference as some of those trout at Cachuma hold-over and tend to have lock jaw on your baits and all the twisting and head shaking will leave you with a bait with no hooks and a fish swimming around with braces. Vary your speed,depth and location. I have also done better in the afternoon when the wind picks up too. The point right near the marina is one of my better spots, the water drops off real fast and there is always current there. I also do better at the damn than the island area of the lake. I use 15 lb leadcore with an ABU 6500C3 and a 6"6 fiberglass crankbait rod. I use 8lb - 10lb for the leader too, nothing lighter. I use anywhere from 8 - 15 feet of leader at Cachuma. The Japanese crankbaits may be expensive, but defintely worth the money if you want to catch fish.

What I'm hearing is either: A small flasher and a crawler way back behind the boat or a needle fish smaller size frog or chrome/red head or "shad like" but smaller size is important.....either way 4 colors, and Santa Cruz Bay are the hot ticket right now. I think that the floating outhouse has a multitude of shad under it.. ergo trout. My .02
Kelly

do you know what kind of weight you need to get to the depth that there at.

You can try going with those keel sinkers that have swivels on either end. To get down 20 feet deep you will have to experiment with speed and lure type. I would go with the 3/4 - 1oz at the very least. You will also want to step up to a baitcasting rod and run a sampo ball bearing swivel on your main line to help cut down on the line twist. I would go with a light action or topwater baitcasting rod to not loose the fish. I use the keel sinkers every now and then and they are ok. The nice thing about them is they catch all the floating debris, weeds ect, on the weight instead of fouling up the lure. Keel weights work best in my opinion, when fishing 30 feet deep or shallower.