San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Got out at 0430 to a pleasant warm morning, with already a hint of daylight coming. Water was already 73F at the surface and wind was light and variable. Decided to go long and get to Hauser right away. Also decided to focus on topwater, because, well, topwater. Bite was intermittent and a lot of short strikes on the popper. The crawler never seems to disappoint though. Fish get angry at that thing. Played with some other top water lures. I am unimpressed with the Imakatsu Uma Death Roll swimbait. It gets no attention at all, but I still think it looks good. I had that on one rod and the whopper plopper on another. I cast the DeathRoll at a prime spot, and nothing. Whopper plopper in same spot and instant action. Also tried the ancient (and proven) Jitterbug. It also didn't produce. Lastly I did some chunky crankbaitish thing from 6th Sense that stays on the surface, it got hits, but never hooked anyone. Whopper plopper, Pompadour and a smaller Rapala Popper were the winners for me.

Went to a deeper area, where I guess I was across from John Wall and he said he called to me, but I never heard him. That was a good jig spot and I found out later, he thought so too. Thanks to Chris ( Pourboy) and Joe (Slurp) for teaching me how to use jigs. Went to the rear of Hauser on the North side and cast the little popper, the #5 Rapala and the X70 megabass for a bit and had a lot of fun with the 1-3 pound fish on light line.

Ran into John, and chatted a bit before they headed to the main lake, I shorepounded the south side of Hauser, catching about a dozen fish on my way back. Also caught a lot of the grass, there's a lot of it near the shore. Wind wasn't bad but I had a lunch date, so I headed back and was at pigs by 1100. Water temp was up to 77F, I think the air might have been about 90F.

Thanks for the report! Looking for some top water on Wednesday.

Great seeing you out there and sharing 411. I just cant figure out why our jitterbugs dont get bit. They look to have all the elements of the Barrett topwater favorites.

John, I agree on the Jitterbug. I think it looks great and the motion isn't that much different than the other crawlers. I think it may be the shiny lip on the front. I am going to paint the lip flat black and try it again. I'll let you know.