San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

I never fished El Cap in the before times so I don’t know how to assess how the lake is fishing. What I do know is that I am catching 20-30 bass every trip this spring. I caught 11 in about 30 minutes at the newly formed island yesterday. I ended with the day with 28.

There are massive schools of shad everywhere in the lake. Both birds and bass aren’t far behind. As a result, I have been sticking with the jerk bait and/or fluke presentation. Most of the bass I have caught over the past month have been on the Megabass X-80 jr on BFS. When the wind picks up, the bite sometimes gets even better but a bit tricky with BFS so I switch up to another well-known pattern with Neko rigs near the rock piles.

As everyone has pointed out, the launch continues to be a challenge but, in my opinion, it’s been worth the effort. [/img]

Thanks for sharing.

Wow! That looks like so much fun. I went on the 20th of last month didn't catch that many but definitely caught a few compared to the last time I was there when the ramp was intact which was 8 years or so ago. Thanks for the report! Stupid question, what does BFS stand for?
Tight lines!

I should get myself down there sometime soon. I don’t even have a long history with the lake, yet I still feel like it’ll be depressing to go down there and see the condition of things after about a month away.

Johnnylh wrote: Mon May 18, 2026 1:16 pm Wow! That looks like so much fun. I went on the 20th of last month didn't catch that many but definitely caught a few compared to the last time I was there when the ramp was intact which was 8 years or so ago. Thanks for the report! Stupid question, what does BFS stand for?
Tight lines!

Bait Finesse System or something like that. Finesse, meaning small baits on light line. It’s my favorite way to fish jerk baits and flukes. Dannicus catches bass and bluegill on finesse crank and jigs. He posts here in the BFS section. He’s the real master.

How’s the wind been in the afternoons up there? Shooting for an evening session this weekend

dbbassin wrote: Tue May 19, 2026 8:39 pm How’s the wind been in the afternoons up there? Shooting for an evening session this weekend

The wind gets a bit rough around 11:00. The early morning bite has been like Barrett so if you can pull it off, that’s what I recommend. It picks back up around noon. There is a bit of a wind-related pattern I have noticed. Find steep banks exposed to the wind, bass seem to like to push schools of shad against the steep, windy banks.

I have never fished the afternoon there but the wind has been quite strong in the afternoon out here in the east county.