I had a couple of good days at my two favorite San Diego lakes this past weekend. Reports below:
Miramar (5/16): I haven't been back to Miramar since mid-February, so I didn't really know what to expect from this session, but it turned out to be a pretty good numbers day. I got on the water at about 6 AM with the intention of throwing some topwater and reaction baits, as my winter sessions at Miramar consisted of a lot of drop shotting. There were some signs of life on the surface within the first hour, with a few sporadic busters and a couple of small schools of bass waking on bait. I threw a Karashi and a small popper around for a bit, but I couldn't draw any takes. After no action on topwater or reaction for the first hour, I switched over to the drop shot for the majority of the remainder of the day, while also making some casts parallel to the tules with a neko-rigged senko. I was off the water at about 12:30 and ended the day with 23 fish, but all were under 2 lbs. Most fish were caught in the transition zones at the edges of the grass or in the grass itself, and I was also able to pick off a few while retrieving my drop shot parallel to shore and right up against the tules. I threw a 3-inch Keitech Shad Impact in green pumpkin all day, which left me wondering if that bait is a dink-magnet. Regardless, it catches fish. I'll try something different next session.
Cap (5/17): It was nice to see what was going on over at Miramar the previous day, but I always look forward to days spent at Cap. I was on the water by 5:45 AM, and I fished my way from the ramp all the way across the lake, alternating between an underspin and Karashi. I was surprised that I wasn’t able to draw a bite by the time that I crossed the lake, as I have done well with those baits in the mornings over the past several weeks, and many bass were chasing shad in the shallows. I made my row across the lake and was able to get a few nice fish on a popper, which is quickly becoming my favorite topwater bait. A few weeks ago, most of my blowups came at a long pause between pops, but the fish seemed to prefer quick pops with little to no pause on this particular morning. As the obvious fish activity slowed into the later part of the morning, I decided to try something different and throw a small chatterbait, which ended up being what I got most of my fish on. I was able to land a total of 19 fish, the biggest of which was caught on the small chatterbait and weighed 3 lbs. 14 oz. Overall, it was a solid day with some pretty fast action. I was done fishing by 12:30 and rode the wind back to the ramp. I’ll forego any gripes about the water level, as I’m sure most of you are well-aware of it by now.
Tight lines
Brad
- 3 lbs. 14 oz.
