San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Beautiful morning at the magic lake with a tiny crowd (only 7 names on the list!) and the bass were biting! We nailed 47 and we had lines in at 10:30. Swim senkos early then reapers and drop shot Robo Hologram Shad worms were the ticket. Smaller models today up to 2lb 9oz but no complaints with the steady catch.

Not bad at all. Thanks for the report.

Nice job John. Me and Theo had an all day session yesterday and definitely noticed an uptick in both quantity and quality. We were chasing busters all day, ended with 80 between us. Great day on the water.

Shawnster wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2026 5:26 pm Nice job John. Me and Theo had an all day session yesterday and definitely noticed an uptick in both quantity and quality. We were chasing busters all day, ended with 80 between us. Great day on the water.

Good job guys!! We were seeing/hearing busters today and one or two boats appeared to be chasing. That is fun fishing and hope there’s more of it as the season wraps up

Very nice!
Looks like a lot of fun was had.
Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for the report! I think we should call the area you fish j's rock walls.

Dfishin wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 7:13 am Thanks for the report! I think we should call the area you fish j's rock walls.

LOL We do seem to gravitate to the rocks. Trying to fish the sandy areas more at and outside the grass line. We’ve been getting them there too.

It seems that most of the reports come from success in Hauser, the coves on the left heading back into Pine have been very good to me.....as J Wall says outside the weedline. The fishing will just keep getting better and better and then all of the sudden it is over for another season. Wow time flies.
TommyP

Any noticeable decline in the moss from a few months ago?

Also, just curious, if this El Nino does bring a lot of rain this season, could a huge rise in water levels at Barrett eliminate the moss? Any opinions on this?

Shawnster wrote: Sun Aug 16, 2026 5:26 pm Nice job John. Me and Theo had an all day session yesterday and definitely noticed an uptick in both quantity and quality. We were chasing busters all day, ended with 80 between us. Great day on the water.

So what was Theo's biggest?

Durango wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 11:33 am Any noticeable decline in the moss from a few months ago?

Also, just curious, if this El Nino does bring a lot of rain this season, could a huge rise in water levels at Barrett eliminate the moss? Any opinions on this?

Hey Durango, we have noticed a falloff of the stringy, sticky moss from earlier this year. Not sure if the still-dropping water level (at least 2ft since three weeks ago) has simply dropped past the old moss line or the warmer water has helped. If we pulled up anything, it was the healthier grass shoots growing close to the shore. The water clarity was better this trip as an aside.

As for the second question, the exposed moss has dried up so I don’t think it would come back into play with higher water. But that rise over the winter could give way to a whole new cycle of growth. Just my 2¢

Second hand report from my buddy who fished on Saturday, 8/15. The TW action was going off the hook!

Lots of running and gunning and still able to get them.

Poppers and underspins, bites coming off as soon as the lure hit the water and the reels were just dumping line!

He didn’t give the count numbers other than all clicked double digits before 10:30 am.

Coves and mid lake pop-ups galore!

Season’s ending soon and I think it’s going to get even better!

falafeluver wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 6:18 pm Second hand report from my buddy who fished on Saturday, 8/15. The TW action was going off the hook!

Lots of running and gunning and still able to get them.

Poppers and underspins, bites coming off as soon as the lure hit the water and the reels were just dumping line!

He didn’t give the count numbers other than all clicked double digits before 10:30 am.

Coves and mid lake pop-ups galore!

Season’s ending soon and I think it’s going to get even better!

One thing my usual Barrett partner says is fishing is different every day. We saw and heard busters but compared to past years, it wasn’t enough to chase. And the two chasers we did see eventually settled into bank strategies. But Saturday was likely different and one thing I will say is the fish I saw busting were not dinks!!

JWall wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 8:38 pm

falafeluver wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 6:18 pm Second hand report from my buddy who fished on Saturday, 8/15. The TW action was going off the hook!

Lots of running and gunning and still able to get them.

Poppers and underspins, bites coming off as soon as the lure hit the water and the reels were just dumping line!

He didn’t give the count numbers other than all clicked double digits before 10:30 am.

Coves and mid lake pop-ups galore!

Season’s ending soon and I think it’s going to get even better!

One thing my usual Barrett partner says is fishing is different every day. We saw and heard busters but compared to past years, it wasn’t enough to chase. And the two chasers we did see eventually settled into bank strategies. But Saturday was likely different and one thing I will say is the fish I saw busting were not dinks!!

Did you see open water busters? All we saw were ones on shore and mostly dinks on Saturday.

Surferjohn wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 5:42 am

JWall wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 8:38 pm

falafeluver wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 6:18 pm Second hand report from my buddy who fished on Saturday, 8/15. The TW action was going off the hook!

Lots of running and gunning and still able to get them.

Poppers and underspins, bites coming off as soon as the lure hit the water and the reels were just dumping line!

He didn’t give the count numbers other than all clicked double digits before 10:30 am.

Coves and mid lake pop-ups galore!

Season’s ending soon and I think it’s going to get even better!

One thing my usual Barrett partner says is fishing is different every day. We saw and heard busters but compared to past years, it wasn’t enough to chase. And the two chasers we did see eventually settled into bank strategies. But Saturday was likely different and one thing I will say is the fish I saw busting were not dinks!!

Did you see open water busters? All we saw were ones on shore and mostly dinks on Saturday.

Yes we saw open water busters. Just not enough to commit to them. We saw the usual shoreline guys too, but again not enough to get us fishing on top. Mind you, neither of us are patient or confident enough in topwater to come off what we normally do and that’s slower, finesse presentations. Something about old dogs lol.