San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

After picking up some dinks yesterday at Murray, I decided to try somewhere different this morning. With a slightly cooler weather forecast, I headed down to the San Diego river. Last time I was there was in early June and with no launch or permit fees...I figured what the heck. Not much was going on with the worm and then after seeing a couple random splashes, I threw a jerk bait. I cast it right to the shore and a bass slammed it and came off on the first jump. Bummer! Then after a bit I switched over to a fluke and wouldn't you know it a bass grabbed it and came right towards me and shook it off.
0 for 2 now. I continued with different reaction baits and finally landed a small bass on an underspin. That was a relief(to avoid a skunk) and called my buddy Larry to tell him I can now go home...ha ha.
Now it was time to start flippin as I tossed a crawbait on a Tokyo rig over some stickups and felt a tap and set the hook on a fat bass that freight trained deep into the stickups as my rod almost doubled over. Dang thing got got wrapped around some fallen branches and I tried my best to horse it out(50lb braid) and even let slack in the line, then back to tension and then the pulling stopped and she was gone. I was literally shaking after yelling a few words expressing my frustration.
I continued flippin with Tokyo rigs and despite boning(missing) another 2, I managed to pull in 3 more bass including one just over 4lbs.
It was a fun morning and the bass sure do put up a heck of a fight down at the river. I honestly think the bass at the river and also Lake Sutherland fight the hardest of any lake in San Diego. Just my opinion. Anyway....tight lines

a few pics...
Me lifting huge branch to unhook my Tokyo
rig right after losing a very nice bass. I was
bummed!

Way to go! Keep it up=)

Some fat ones! Any pics of the big one?

Fisheromen wrote: Thu Sep 14, 2023 4:27 pm Some fat ones! Any pics of the big one?

The big one got away and haven’t had a bass fight that hard in a long, long time. I honestly doubt it was a catfish.

Nice fish. Isn't it the best thing when you expected nothing or very little and you get surprised?

Early release wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2023 7:52 am Nice fish. Isn't it the best thing when you expected nothing or very little and you get surprised?

I had no bites and was just happy to be fishing, but after I lost my first two fish, I just figured at least I had a fish. When fishing is
tough, that is kind of a consolation prize...ha ha It was so exciting when I landed that that little bugger that hit my underspin. I
felt like I could head home, but chose to stay a little longer. I am sorry to put that "losing a big one" into the post like it ruined
my whole day. It was right after catching that little bass so I guess it was magnified wondering how big it was. Anyway....I had
fun and what is strange is I caught my next 3 bass almost exactly 30 minutes apart. If that is a pattern, I can set my alarm on
my phone, play games or text or call friends and then start start fishing when the alarm goes off.....ha ha.

Hi VinnyBass

I totally took it that you had a great day and maybe even enjoyed the mystery of losing a bigger fish. I lost what must have been a monster earlier this year at Barrett on a deep diving crankbait, but for the few seconds that fish was peeling drag effortlessly (15lb mono), the possibilities were endless, and isn't that part of why we are fishing? Of course when we first lose something like that, we are frustrated, but I think that's part of the excitement. If we landed every fish we caught, we'd probably lose some of the fun that we have. At least that's what I tell myself.

Tight lines,
ER

VinnyBass wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2023 8:12 am

Early release wrote: Fri Sep 15, 2023 7:52 am Nice fish. Isn't it the best thing when you expected nothing or very little and you get surprised?

I had no bites and was just happy to be fishing, but after I lost my first two fish, I just figured at least I had a fish. When fishing is
tough, that is kind of a consolation prize...ha ha It was so exciting when I landed that that little bugger that hit my underspin. I
felt like I could head home, but chose to stay a little longer. I am sorry to put that "losing a big one" into the post like it ruined
my whole day. It was right after catching that little bass so I guess it was magnified wondering how big it was. Anyway....I had
fun and what is strange is I caught my next 3 bass almost exactly 30 minutes apart. If that is a pattern, I can set my alarm on
my phone, play games or text or call friends and then start start fishing when the alarm goes off.....ha ha.

You could always play checkers with the homeless, or maybe play dodge the needles.....! Wear hard sole shoes!

Where do you launch for the sd river?

Kgoodman87 wrote: Tue Sep 19, 2023 7:58 pm Where do you launch for the sd river?

Sent a PM