San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

It's been about a month since I fished the SD River. A buddy who fishes the river often told me last night that he has caught only
one bass after 3 trips and his buddy got skunked yesterday. I figured what the heck.. and so for a change of pace I decided to fish
it for a few hours this morning before the hot weather rolls in. Even though I get up early, I start doing things around the house,
then watch a few YouTube videos and enjoyed a cup of coffee while eating a biscotti for breakfast. So as usual I never get that
early of a start and finally started fishing right around 7am.
Threw a spinnerbait for a bit and a chatterbait, but the sun was already up so I started working worms. I was flippin' Tokyo rigs,
then Texas rigged worms. No action at all so after a while I went to Texas rigged craw baits. I finally got bit deep in cover and
landed a small bass. Continued flippin' the craw bait and had a bass come unbuttoned as he wrapped me around a sunken branch
in front of some tulles.
It already was getting hot and was not planning to stay much longer and decided to toss on something bigger since the water is
pretty stained in hopes of a bass seeing it better. So I put a large Texas rigged Brush Hog(3 times bigger than any one @Mcfish would toss or even own) and started working that. I was on final stretch of shoreline before leaving and I flipped it in between
a few sunken branches and the shore and a bass hit in on my second twitch. I landed that bass and then decided to head home after
making a few more final casts. I had fun as it was a tough morning, but felt pretty lucky to land 2 bass on 3 bites.

That is a big brush hog. Your persistence pays off again.

Big C wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2024 4:24 am That is a big brush hog. Your persistence pays off again.

Most of my persistence was to try not to get skunked....ha ha.
Even since they dumped tons of water from El Cap into the river which flooded things and moved tons of
floating tulle islands all over the place it has been tougher than other years. The huge tulle islands or clumps and
other debris got pushed and blown against the shorelines which in most cases blocks and prevents you from making casts
to the river bank. There are opening don't get me wrong, but hardly any areas to flip right along the shore like in the past
where there are better chances of a bite.
Sometimes when you are old, you get a little spoiled when things change and don't get wrong as I am just happy I can
fish and do not have to pay for a fishing permit. (so I can buy more tackle....ha ha)

I followed the SD River on Google Earth to its path to El Cap.

How did you guys find your spots? Trial and error or did you get some guidance? It seems like any pooled up section could hold bass.

Good job!

Decades ago before they built up all the businesses, condos. town homes, etc in Mission Valley there was tons of access to fishing. You
could park around Mission Center or on Qualcomm Way which back then was known as Texas street and fish right off the road or go along
the south side of the river heading down towards Mission Center road. Or go east of Texas street and fish down that side also. My father
and I used to fish Mission Valley often and found that the best fishing was a few hours up until it got dark. Later when I started driving,
I went there a lot which was a lot of fun and caught lots of bass. Over near the old Mission you could walk on both sides and find plenty
of fishing areas back then also. After all the developing and tow away parking lots, and lots of sketchy folks also the river, I have not
fished much at all down there. Most spots over recent years have been found by actually exploring different areas of the river. Heck I
have walked all over areas trying to find access to fishing. You can get lost at times, but if you search hard enough you can find openings
here and there especially if you fish from shore. Many locals who fish certain parts of the river keep pretty tight lipped. I have kept a
promise to a SDFish member(you know who you are) and a few locals to keep one small access area along the river quiet and I have
kept my word. Again, if you really want to fish the river you need to go down and explore, because there are areas to fish that can
be found but prepare yourself to do a lot of waking to get there and just be cautious of your surrounding with some folks along the river.

I seem to remember a saying from when I was a kid. Two out of Three ain’t bad! Way better than my Sailfish record….0 - 6 or my Tarpon Record… 1 - 12.

bendopolo 44+ wrote: Fri Jun 07, 2024 2:41 pm I seem to remember a saying from when I was a kid. Two out of Three ain’t bad! Way better than my Sailfish record….0 - 6 or my Tarpon Record… 1 - 12.

Ha ha...if it was baseball 2 for 3 is not bad. I never caught a sailfish or a Tarpon. At least you landed a Tarpon.

The saying in Florida is: “Tarp-on ….. Tarp - off”

Awesome as always Vinny