Post spawn swimcricketing
Fished Margarita today by myself in the boat. I didn't get there until 11am, and fished until 7:45pm. The lake looks beautiful. The water is clear, the grass is growing like gangbusters, small bluegill and shad are showing, and it just looks like a bass paradise right now.
The first hour or so was slow. I saw some fish swimming around shallow but those fish were all very wary. Instead of wasting time looking I just went and fished. This resulted in a 6.1lber and another one around 5 that I missed. An hour later I got cracked good and got another decent fish that went 6.2lbs.
There was that thought that perhaps today would be the day to catch 25 or 30lbs, but instead I ran up the river - and it was lousy. I always go up there and seldom get anything. Guess I'm a main lake guy :)
Went back down and tried for topwater. Couldn't get it going. It was chilly out with wind from the ocean. Saw a nice spot where I've never caught a fish before but often tried. Today was the lucky day because I got a nice bite on it and got one more fish at 5.1lbs.
Along the way somewhere in there I caught a 2lber on a bed. There was another one that I could have got but didn't feel like spending more than 3 minutes on. Pretty nice day overall. I'm hoping for more topwater next time.
Margarita Post Spawn Fishing
Headed to Margarita Saturday for some fun fishing. Slept in and didn't get on the water until 9:45am. It was hot and calm. By the time I launched though a 5knt type wind was blowing, which continued on and off for the rest of the day. The water is 6-7 foot vis in most places and whiskey colored. Temps were 67-69 degrees.
I thought there would be a lot of bed fish but the lake felt very post spawn. Fry balls were present in most of the coves, and there were a lot of 5-7lb females that were set up on areas that indicated they were on their way back out to the lake. You'd see them, get one cast, and they'd leave - that sort of thing.
There was a tournament going, I think Angler's Choice. So the lake was crowded. I fished until about 5pm. Along the way I picked up two small keepers on beds, one 3lb fry guard, one 3lb drop shot fish, one about 7 on a swimbait, and a trout on a drop shot. Missed two 4's on swimbaits as well, they just didn't get their little mouths around the bait and both of them fell off after about 2 cranks.
So it was a nice day on the water. The fishing wasn't very solid, but there were some bites to be had at least. There's a lot of shad up now, and the lake looks healthy. I hope to get a few topwater trips in soon :)
Santa Margarita, 3/21
My first Friday off for a while so headed up to Santa Margatita.
Lake level it topped off from the winter rains. Water temp was about 57* with a visabliliy of about 6' in some areas. A calm morning but the wind picked up pretty early and blew hard. I caught 4 average sized Margarita fish on a drop shot. Lots of boats and campers with Spring break and Easter weekend.
