It's been a while since I've posted a fishing report. Mostly because I've been out of action since around Dec. 1.

But traditionally I've set the date of Feb. 15 as the time I begin my yearly attack on the Lagoon. So besides the cold weather forecast I was determined to give it a shot and get back into action today as planned.

Man was it cold. The website I always check the weather on, weatherforyou.com, ( http://www.weatherforyou.com/cgi-bin/hw3/hw3.cgi?nc=config%2Cforecast%2Cpands%2Ccountry&forecast=zandh&pands=Castaic+CA&submit=Go ) said the wind chill was 32 and there was slight 3 mph wind from the north, barometer was 30.03 and falling. When I got out to my car at 5:30 AM my windshield was completely frozen over.


OK, I know you guys from the North and East are probably laughing pretty good right now but hey man!!!! This is LA I'm talking about here.

Anyway, since my defogger on the '92 Bonneville was disconnected a ways back I knew I was gonna have to drive 20 miles, all the way to Castaic with the windows rolled down.

But what the heck, I wasn't gonna let a little detail like that stop me from opening my season on schedule. So off I went.

When I did get to the Lagoon I was fairly wide awake, got my gear out of the trunk and made my way down to my spot... yep the air temp was 32 alright. Threw the thermometer in the water and began casting out my cinnamon purple flake Bass Pro Shops Tournament Series worm on my baitcaster rig.


I was fishing this on a 6.5 ft. Medium Hard action rod, Quantum reel, and 8 lb. Maxima fluorocarbon line. Spent most of my time with this rig today.

When I finally went to check the water temp it was 48.

Wow, I could tell it was gonna be a tough one from the shoreline today. But not to worry, it was just the start of my season and I've become used to these sorts of little setbacks at the Lagoon.

My friend the crane didn't seem to mind the cold. Although I noticed he wasn't fishing, just collecting nest building materials today.


A while back I had met up with Butch Brown and I got my daughter to take this pic of me and Butch at the launch ramp.


Butch was showing us some nice sized crappie that he had caught.


While we were conversing there I asked Butch if he had been fishing with the new weedless model Huddleston. He said yeah but that most of the time he was fishing with the big ROF12. He asked me if I had tried them yet and I said no... I was just curious if he thought they were good.

Being the nice guy that he is he gave me one to try out which I was fishing with today. And as always when you see this guy in the neighborhood you know you're in the right spot to catch some big bass.


So I got to try out the new Huddleston weedless today. I rigged it up on the same rod I had been fishing the BPS worm on.


The lure makes a great imitation of the typical stocker trout. This one is the 6" size.


The way it's designed there is a pretty much hollow spot up at the top where the hook is hiding.

And the tie on eyelet is also buried into the nose of the lure so you have to push the plastic of the lure back to tie it on. After you tie on, it sets back into the plastic of the lure for a very natural presentation.


While testing it out today I did notice that it does swim along the bottom and it is quite easy to keep it going just fast enough to keep the tail in action and go along bumping off the top of the rocks without snagging up.

I can see that the lure does have a lot of potential and I'll be spending a lot of time with it on my next outing.

Sorry to say I didn't get any bites today but at least I got out there and gave it my best shot.

It was a good thing that reason got the better part of me and I left the Jack Daniels home and opted for the long thermal underwear. You know, the ones the hunters prefer with the hatch in the back and two more layers of thermal shirts on top of that.

I had to split around noon with a big fat zero. By that time I was beginning to feel some lower back spasms due to standing in the cold for so long. The temperature had clawed it's way up to 52 and the breeze had picked up to about 10. The water was still a chilly 50 when I left.

But come to think of it, after spending half an hour on the freeway at 60 MPH with the windows rolled down, 32 didn't seem to be that cold at the lake after all.

I'll get 'em next time. Good fishing to you guys, later

Nice stuff Geo. Those are some big crappie!!! I heard that you just got snow to make that cold snap even worse!!!!!!!!!!! I think the trailer was delivering some new hudds to you.

Nice report Geo. That's really nice of Butch to give you one of those Hudds... They really do look awesome.

Nice to see that even you guys get some cold weather once in a while...

BC

Thanks guys, yeah Butch is a super nice guy.

I've been very fortunate to get to know him over the six years I've been fishing at Castaic. When he starts talkin' fishing, especially about the Lagoon and trophy bass I am ALL EARS!!

Talk about dedication to the sport and catching huge bass, and on top of it all the guy is so humble. In my opinion he is probably the most likely guy to become the next world record holder for LMB. I will not be at all surprised when that happens.

I see him there all the time, and I have heard that Butch fishes the Lagoon about 300 days per year.

Talking to Butch, sometimes the stories he tells makes the hair stand up on my arms. He has been very encouraging to me, and I have definitely been inspired by him.

Later.......

Way to get out there Geo...I got out for a few hours to the local pond a few weeks ago...Ya Butch is a good guy from everyone who has talked to him...I have yet to talk to him on the lake. But that's awesome he gave you that swimmie...now make it payoff and stick a fish on it.

Take care Brotha...

If I ever make it out to the Castaic I will be looking up all you guys. You all are a terrific and friendly bunch of fisherman. It would be great to meet you all.

You gotta love these videos that Butch made:

If those vids where given to bassmaster magazine, it would be the cover title and the lagoon would be full of non-local fisherman

Geo, keeep that hudd in shape, dont let the line tie area get ripped up like mine

Do you guys want me to remove those videos? I don't want to promote over fishing on your home waters... I just liked watching Butch catch those pigs. I figured because they were on YouTube, what harm could it do posting them here. We only get about 45,000 unique vistors a month here...

Everyone in the area where i live has seen the fish that i have put in the ponds . And asked me where i caught them .Before i knew it 2 of my 4 fishing holes with big bass is alwayz bein fished hard . Before nobody fished it . I'm not mad about it , but i will keep my fishin holes to myself and to out of town friends . Man those are nice fish .

Guys everybody in SoCal that's into bass fishing already knows about Butch Brown and his incredible feats at the Lagoon.

Don't worry about posting the videos. The Lagoon already has a reputation as a notoriously hard lake to fish that can payoff with big bass if you stick with it.

There are a lot of guys who see these videos, go to fish the Lagoon thinking that it is a piece of cake. They get zeroed bad three or four times in a row and never go back.

I was talking to Butch one day and kidding him about rumors I had heard that he had been fishing with live shad. He laughed and said, "Geo, even I like to CATCH fish once in a while."

Butch has told me that he goes out sometimes four, five, six, even ten days in a row without a strike!!! There is a price to pay for those big fish.

If you are up to it psychologically and willing to spend the time like he does on the lake then the Lagoon may be for you.

The Lagoon has been a real heart breaker for many.... even pros get skunked there all the time.

That's a great observation Geo. With bass that size you have to wonder how often they feed. If they take a big trout, how long will that trout sustain them? I had always heard that bigger bass would rather eat 1 big meal than several small meals. They maximize their intake and minimize the energy exerted. Hence the saying "big baits catch big fish".

That must play a big part in ones success on the water.

That's what I like about this board...great people..willing to share info and help each other out...

Ya it would an awesome day out...even if we didn't catch anything I know we would all have a blast...


Like I posted in an earlier post on another topic...this group of people would be awesome to sit around a campfire and bs with...

get yourself some mend it...it will keep your bait looking like new

yeah, i dont want my weedless to break

the only reason i stuck to the lagoon is because i know there are bass there. i have been there more than 30 times and the bass are VERY hard to catch. i have only caught a couple. but the ones i catch are GOOD size. have seen people go there once and say to me there are no fish there.

Roboworm99, I'm gonna try and get some of that mend it stuff.

swimbait101, don't give up on the Lagoon. Check the fishing reports and when you see that the LMB are bitting shallow... go with some smaller dropshots and stick with light (5 lb. or less) fluorocarbon line till you get some colors dialed in.

Once you do that you'll be getting bit more often.

Here is a tip...split shot a shad gold flake 3.5" Roboworm Zipper Grub. Everyone drop shots and yes you can drop shot this bait too...but trust me...get a mojo sinker place it about 24" up your line and drag it slow across the bottom...


Link:

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageSFGROBO-RW35ZG.html#

Thanks for the tip Roboworm99.

This brings up an interesting question which I have never quite understood and that is the difference between the split shot technique and the Carolina rig.

I always thought that using split shot put krimps in your line and weakened the breaking strength somewhat. And that although rigging the Carolina is more complicated it was safer.

Is one really better than the other and if so why?

Split shot lighter line,more finesse technique...same principal really...but I dont crimp a shot on...either use the old rubber core sinkers (aaron marten tip) or use the mojo sinkers with the rubber peg its...also I use mono and not fluoro...because i want a slower fall and have the bait float more, so a light wire hook, I use the Re-Bar hooks

Thanks Roboworm99, I'll have to try that out.

Hey, I wanted to ask you if you had used that actual color shad gold flake Roboworm Zipper grub at the Lagoon.

Hi Geo,
Plan on going up to the lagoon tomorrow and do some tube fishing. Have you heard from anyone that is catching anything and what are they using? Plan on wearing long johns as I know the water is around 45-49 degrees.
Cheers,
Ron

Ron, from what I've been hearing some small bass are being caught with curly tail worms on dropshots.

You will need some extra warmth if you are going to be tubing. Your water temp figures are probably very close to what it will be.

There has been a lot of water let in from the upper lake. The Lagoon is pretty much full right now. I didn't mention the water level but it was going over the spillway at the south end when I was there.

Good luck out there. I won't be able to get up there again till next week, probably I'll try to give it another shot on Saturday. I may do a sundowner this time.

Man I used to dread when they pumped water into the goon...because its the cold water from the Upper that gets put it..

Ray,

I couldn't agree more. The folks who tend to consistantly hang around our boards are all good guys/gals. Throw a few beers into the mix and we'd all have a lot of laughs for sure.

BC

Ron...where you able to get out there?

No ended up having to take my dog to the vet so it messed up most of the early morning stuff. Possibly going toward the end of the week if it doesn't rain...I'll post what happens good or bad.

ok...for me, i notice this time of year, the afternoons are better...if you go try the area by the rip rap and the if you have a depth finder..back off the swimbeach and you will see a good area

this weekend looks pretty good, i might go on sat with my new canoe

I may be up there also. I'd like to say 'Hi'. What's your canoe look like? I will be in blue cat 4 float tube by paradise cove and across the front of the rip rap.

my canoe is a old town guide 147. it is dark green
there will be two people a dad a nd a son, i am the son, i am sitting in the front

I will be at the Lagoon Sat. 2/28 from around 3:00 PM till sundown with my son Mikie. Today is the last day that my yearly pass is good.

Anyway I plan to be along the shoreline somewhere between the buoy line and the pier on the south end. We are going to be shooting some video for a reel covers tip tidbit and doing a little fishing of course.

Like always I'll be wearing my camo outfit with gloves. If you guys are around come over and say hello.

Later...........

Hi Swimbait 101 & Geo,
Just returned from the lagoon. Didn't get your messages in time so I didn't know you were up there or planning to go. I went with my tube and it was so windy that I decided to leave around 11:30 plus the girl scouts were there doing training in their canoes and sailboats so it was getting real crowded by paradise cove area. Only had a couple good strikes but no fish to show for it. Catch you guys next time....let me know when you are going.

saw you Ron, know i know what you look like

sorry if we were to close to you