San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Lake Hodges Fall Fishing: 2024 Final Week!


Hey all it’s that time of the year again. After saying goodbye to Barrett now we have to say goodbye to Hodges for the season. I was lucky enough to make it out one more time during the final week. As I waited in line for the lake to open with Early Release we ended up meeting some cool people from Newtopia Cyder. They knew about my channel and like the content and offered us a couple of new ciders to try. We sat and chatted with them for quite a while and had a great conversation. I think somebody overslept because the lake didn’t open until about 6:45 AM. After several different snafu, we were finally able to get out on the water and start fishing. Honestly, I did not have great expectations for the day since I had heard it had been so tough lately. We tried top water, crank baits, chatterbaits, and just about everything else in the wheelhouse to no avail except for the two smallest fish of the year. Actually, they were just snagged shad. We ended up getting to try the cider which was delicious actually and then headed down the Del Dios arm still trying to find some hungry bass. Finally, I was able to connect with a few fish on Surprise, Surprise a jig. The bitsy bug got the skunk off for the day for me. Dave was able to get one on a small jerk bait I believe and then I ended up getting a few more Bass after he left.

All in all it was kind of an anti-climactic end to an amazing season on this wonderful body of water. We did have lots of fun though some great conversation couple of tasty beverages and a whole lot of good times. I can’t wait to be able to get back there for the opener and apparently I will be invited back on the San Diego Bass Fishing Podcast to tell about how the opener is. If you haven’t gotten a chance to check out the episode with Bruce Smith, please do I’ll put the link for that here as well.

It was just fun getting back out on one of my favorite bodies of water for one last time, and at least we were able to find a few fish. None of the fish were of the quality that the lake has been putting out all year, but they were still fun. Check out the videos if you feel like it. Cheers! See you guys out on the water.

It was a great time and our conversations were mostly uninterrupted by fish, so that's a positive way of looking at it.

I too was at the closing of Hodges for the season. I was throwing plastics and crank baits on the exact same bfs rod the Phenix Classic which i just recieved the day before. I paired it with a new Dark wolf which i really like but it didnt tempt the fish from biting my offerings. I didnt throw any jigs either. Was only there a few hours but said goodbye until next year to my favorite lake close to home. Great video Chris. We gotta show Dave how to fish a jig. Maybe he would if he didn't drink so much. Maybe not.

1Fishdude wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2024 11:40 am I too was at the closing of Hodges for the season. I was throwing plastics and crank baits on the exact same bfs rod the Phenix Classic which i just recieved the day before. I paired it with a new Dark wolf which i really like but it didnt tempt the fish from biting my offerings. I didnt throw any jigs either. Was only there a few hours but said goodbye until next year to my favorite lake close to home. Great video Chris. We gotta show Dave how to fish a jig. Maybe he would if he didn't drink so much. Maybe not.

Hey thanks! I look forward to seeing you out there in the spring. Dave does enjoy his hard baits, though I have to say he did catch a few on jigs at Barrett. Hopefully more to come! Cheers!

Ahaha, I welcome the instruction. I really need help on jigs. Maybe a little help on plastics too. During the learning portion of both, I may have to drink a little more.

So cool! Darn, I missed a last trip there for this year