San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Lake Barrett Fishing: Bass & Crappie Dialed In!


Hey all we are at the finish line! It’s been a great year at the Big B and next year can’t get here soon enough. This report is actually from the previous week, but I will have my finale report for you next week. Hopefully that way at least it seems like Barrett is still open.

Headed out on the water with Early Release for a super fun day. I know that our fishing styles are very different which actually makes it even more fun since we can learn from each other. As you guys know I love fishing the jig and this day was no exception. He headed off to fish his popper and jerk baits and I stuck to the bottom. I know that he picked up a bunch cruising the shore. I stayed in 15-25ft of water fishing rocks. I was rewarded early and often with a ton of bites. I didn’t land them all but had a great time.

I promised myself that I would fish other baits as well on this day. I switched up to a Carolina Rig with a Deps Beckon Craw and hooked up to a massive bass on the first pull of the first cast with that bait. I ended up losing the fish in a tree and was bummed but now have a new bait to fish! I love that craw now as well. It was recommended to me by the guys at Sluggfishing in Poway.

I ended up getting some smaller models on the Wakasagi and Rattlin Rap. While heading to a new location I decided to put
out a crankbait to troll. I immediately hooked up to a crappie. And then another, and another… I ended up getting 10 plus a bass and 2 bluegill. We had a blast out there! Always fun fishing with Dave!


I do have video linked so that you can see all the details (and beverages!) of the day. Cheers and see you out there next year! (Or on other bodies of water)

Awesome vid brotha .....

Terrific video my man. I loved seeing you catch the crappie on the old school lure. Is that jig rod new? What kind is it a Kisler? What length?

1Fishdude wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 7:53 pm Terrific video my man. I loved seeing you catch the crappie on the old school lure. Is that jig rod new? What kind is it a Kisler? What length?

Hey thanks man! It is a newer rod. I have had it for about 6mos. I absolutely love it! So light and sensitive. I got a Nitranium also but like this one better. I also got a slightly heavier version of this one that I was throwing the Carolina Rig on.

Kistler Z Bone Fishing Rod - Casting / 3 LMH Lite Medium Heavy Fast / 7' 0"

As for the lure...I worked in the Fishing and Hunting dept. of the Sportmart in Carmel Mtn. Ranch when it opened back in 1993. At one time all the Mann's 5+, 10+, and 15+ lures went on sale for $1 each. I got A LOT of them at the time and still have a bunch. Some weird colors (like this one) but they still work.

Side Note: I recently (like a couple of weeks ago) decided that I was tired of mashing the barbs on my hooks for Barrett. So I invested in some split ring pliers and Grabber Barbless Hooks. It took about 2 minutes or less per bait but I switched my Barrett baits to those. In the video I had one crappie come unbuttoned and the bait went directly into my thumb to the bone. Wonderfully I had just switched out the hooks to the barbless so it presented zero issue. Thank you barbless hooks! I love those new hooks by the way.

That’s a great point you’re fishing in the beginning. You wouldn’t even know it was there without a graph or low water

camobass wrote: Wed Oct 02, 2024 8:50 pm That’s a great point you’re fishing in the beginning. You wouldn’t even know it was there without a graph or low water

That it is. I have a few go to jig spots and that’s definitely one of them. I remember seeing it when it was a super low water year and realizing how much structure was there and the varied steps of different kinds of structure. It’s fun to have seen the lakes at all levels. I can’t wait till Hodges is back up. I’ve learned a lot there in the last couple of seasons.

Great video Chris and it's always fun fishing with you. I do love the topwater, but if you keep teaching me, I can clearly see some advantages to the jigs. Although, what you have learned is so subtle, I think it does take some time, practice and patience. With my popper it's seldom a soft tap from the fish. If you miss those strikes, well...

Just being out there is great but happy to share the knowledge. Much more to come. Excited for the next adventure.