Got my first chance to go fishing again at Castaic today after not having been fishing for almost a year.

I went to Big 5 and got my license yesterday, proceeded home to get my gear ready and made it up to the shoreline around 6 AM.

It was a bit breezy at first, about 10 mph from the NE. Not too bad as I started out with the dropshot Roboworm. Air temp was 50, water was 48, barometer was 30" and falling slightly. Skies were clear with a very slight high overcast. Water clarity was not so great, 2 ft. at best.

Switched over to the Ika for a while, had no action on the dropshot. At around 7:30 the wind began to pick up big time, the lake got white capped, and it was getting more difficult to cast. At the wind's high point I was facing directly into a 20 MPH wind. 1.5 ft waves were coming into the rock in front of me and I was getting splashed pretty good.

I suffered through a few very hairy backlashes but made some Houdiniesk escapes. When you are casting flylined plastics into a 20 mph headwind that kind of stuff is bound to happen.

Switched off from the Ika and went back to the dropshot with 1/2 oz. egg sinker for added casting distance into the wind. Started picking up some salad on the way back with the heavier weight.

At around 10 am, just when I was beginning to feel like I was done in by the wind, a lull came along. Wind shifted to the SE which flattened out the lake a bit and slowed to between 5 and 10 mph and stayed that way till I left around 11:30

When the lull came I went back to the Ika and was getting pretty good casting distance because the breeze was now over my right shoulder instead of in my face. The two hours of heavy wave action had kicked up a lot of algae and visibilty was down to less than a foot.

Had only one minor bite from what I believe was a trout that slammed into my Ika near the shoreline next to the buoyline while I was making a fast retrieve to recast it. The lure was way too big for the trout and it just came off. I saw the flash of it's silver belly just as it hit the Ika.

Well that was it for me, good time out there but no bass bites today. Did not see any cruisers near the shore. I had read an article about the black bears coming out of hibernation early so I figured the bass might be getting cranked up early too. Didn't see any bears or bass...... oh well I usually don't get started till Feb. 15 but I was itchy to get out there again and knew I could make good use of the casting practice since I am a little rusty.

On my way out I stopped by the main office on the west side of the Lagoon and got my 2012 parking pass. That lets me fish the upper and lower as much as I want. Luckily that was still only $125. Pretty good deal when you figure the normal entry fee is $11. I will be back soon since I have made a commitment this year to go fishing at least once a week for half a day.

My final observation was this. When you have not been back to a spot as beautiful and exciting as Castaic for as long as I have been gone from it, when you do get back you fully realize just how much you really have missed it.

Good to see you fishing again. And its great to have you back here!

Do you know how long ago we saw water temps at 48? A very long time ago Geo. Great to see you got out there. We missed you. I am going Sunday and our water temp most likely will be 36 - 38

Hey Geo, great to see you back around and out fishing!

Nunz, I'll heading out Sunday too... just be glad that our lakes are not frozen right now!

I think those temps are perfect Nunz, just throw a 24 between them and I'm coming with you to Fort!!

Your lakes do get really cold even when not frozen. I think several things happen to the fish in different areas.

They get adjusted to whatever the coldest temp is in the lake that becomes the winter point for them and they slow down.

They do head away from shore to deeper water when it gets cold and that makes it difficult to reach from the shoreline.

Also I think the depth of the lake makes a huge difference. Some parts of Castaic are close to 400 ft. deep, the Lagoon max is 80 ft. So the fish get to go deeper and come back slower as a result.

I know you can catch good bass all year long. The problem when it's really cold is getting on them and putting something good right in their face.

It seems the effect is minimized when water depths are uniform and shallow. There is one artificial lake nearby where the water depth is a uniform 10 ft. As a result the fish have nowhere to run to and you can catch pretty well from the shoreline all year long.