Frustrations with Castaic and Southern California Lakes

[Teambernadettebassfishing]

The frustrating thing about trying to fish down here in Socal. Is that the rules they make and choose to enforce, make absolutely no sense..

Castaic is the worst. So, they give me a grace period until Feb. 1st to have the State quagga sticker. But because I dont have last years "Expired" sticker on my boat, I am not allowed to launch.

Why would I still have an expired sticker on my boat?

There is a grace period so what does last years "Expired" sticker have to do with the grace period you are giving?

What if my boat was brand new and I never had a quagga sticker before?

The sole reason you want me to have the sticker is to show I paid my State Fees. But you gave me a grace period to show that. So last years sticker is irrelevant.

People who go to these lake whether to fish or play in the water, are going to have fun and relieve stress. So why is it that Castaic and the lakes down here cause you to stress over all these stupid rules? And a majority of these rules have nothing to do with boating safety. People drive fast in "No Wake Zones", Dont follow the direction of travel lake rules etc. Those rules are rarely enforced. But you can't get on the lake or pass inspection if you have sealed drinking water bottles inside the cooler of your boat or a bag of ice..

I dont understand why common sense can not rule the day in California. Especially Southern California. This State is so backwards its ridiculous. But Castaic 100% has become the worst lake on the planet.

I understand the prevention of the spread of Quagga Mussels. And all of us have done our part to adhere to the rules to help keep our lakes Quagga Free. But it seems like more and more rules and less fun is going on at these lakes. I used to love going to Lake Cachuma, but havent been in over 10 years because you have to get your boat inspected and then wait an additional 30 days after that before you can.put your boat on the water.

Enough is enough. The Fee's keep rising and the Lake hours of use get shorter and shorter. It feels like you are visiting an Inmate at a Correctional Institution the number of hoops and red tape you have to go through, just to be allowed to launch your boat at these lakes.

And some of the attitudes of the people working at the parks are totally rude and obnoxious. Not all of them but alot of the workers. At Castaic many times I have had workers that treat you like they are doing you a favor by allowing you on the lake. And you paid to get in..

I was so frustrated I told a bunch of my fishing buddies who go through the same things. One buddy told me that I should voice my opinion. So thats what I am doing.

We need to start letting our voices be heard and take back our public lakes so that we and future generations can enjoy them as they were intended. To have fun, relieve stress and enjoy the outdoors. Not being crippled by rules that may at one time have a good intent, but are just being enforced because its always been like that when they obviously are not working.

Call and Email Castaic Lake

Tracy Hill
Lake Aquatic Manager, Castaic Lake Recreation Area
County of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation
(661) 257-4050

And Contact Los Angeles County Parks and Recreation
(626) 588-5150

Los Angeles Board of Supervisors
(213) 974-1471

Our Lakes, Our Time to ensure future generations enjoy them....




.

[DaLa]

Crazy about last year's sticker...I take last years stickers off my boat when I put on new stickers.

I find it very rule heavy down here as well, but try to visit castaic on weekdays and it seems ok and staff are maybe not stressed out like on the weekends. it is a small place and gets popular. Part of me thinks they get to lean on these rules to give them reason to decrease the number of boats on the water, idk. I have not had issues with inspection and what not, but did stress out the first couple times preparing my boat. Maybe I have been lucky or had an inspector not on a power trip, but they seem to give it a glance and sign off.

Dave

[Teambernadettebassfishing]

I actually don't even fish Castaic. I haven't fished it in about 2 years. I stopped fishing these lakes down here after attending the big meeting at Castaic when they supposedly found 1 Quagga Mussel in the pipeline coming from Lake Pyramid. That meeting was a joke and everyone there was frustrated. Dept Water and Power and Castaic Lake Brass basically told everyone there they didnt care about fishing or fisherman.

I saw the writing on the wall and decided to fish mainly the Delta and all the Lakes North. These lakes down here are so mismanaged and no one seems to care.

Castaic used to be a World Class fishery and pumped out Largemouth Bass nearing the World Record. Look at it now. In tournaments 6 pounds would win. Now most tournaments don't even fish there because Castaic wanted a cut of the tournament Purses. Ridiculous.

Only reason I went up there this last weekend was to test how my boat was running after service. I didnt even get a chance to do that.

And Castaic wont even open there gate to let people in to the park until 7am. So you have a bunch of anxious anglers rushing to launch there boats so they can attempt to take advantage of the last 10min. of the best morning bite. Its a joke!

But everyone seems to accept whats going on at that lake and no one complains. So I guess we get what we don't ask for...

[gixxer464]

I actually don't even fish Castaic. I haven't fished it in about 2 years. I stopped fishing these lakes down here after attending the big meeting at Castaic when they supposedly found 1 Quagga Mussel in the pipeline coming from Lake Pyramid. That meeting was a joke and everyone there was frustrated. Dept Water and Power and Castaic Lake Brass basically told everyone there they didnt care about fishing or fisherman.

I saw the writing on the wall and decided to fish mainly the Delta and all the Lakes North. These lakes down here are so mismanaged and no one seems to care.

Castaic used to be a World Class fishery and pumped out Largemouth Bass nearing the World Record. Look at it now. In tournaments 6 pounds would win. Now most tournaments don't even fish there because Castaic wanted a cut of the tournament Purses. Ridiculous.

Only reason I went up there this last weekend was to test how my boat was running after service. I didnt even get a chance to do that.

And Castaic wont even open there gate to let people in to the park until 7am. So you have a bunch of anxious anglers rushing to launch there boats so they can attempt to take advantage of the last 10min. of the best morning bite. Its a joke!

But everyone seems to accept whats going on at that lake and no one complains. So I guess we get what we don't ask for...

Trust me plenty of people complain. They just don't care about the fisherman down here in So.Cal. They are all about selling the water. They could care less to let any anglers on the water. That's why there's almost no tournaments on Castaic anymore. The rules,regs. and costs are absurd. Much like yourself, I take my business elsewhere. I'd rather drive 4-8 hours up north and fish the lakes up there. Or head east to Havasu. The fishing down here has declined dramatically. I remember not that long ago, there were tournament's almost every weekend on Castaic. ABA,WON,Anglers Choice, NBW, TBF, BASS Nation, etc. plus a lot of smaller club tournaments. So sad to our home water go to .

[Wrknap]

It’s been awhile since I fished Castaic & Pyramid as I work required me to move north to the Sacramento area about 5 years ago. I remember the quagga inspection to be much more through than up here. Once the inspector found a wet rope in my storage hatch (I washed the boat the day before) he would not allow me on the lake. So I left and removed the rope and returned about 30 min later. I passed the inspection the second time… ridiculous!
My concern is, I’m now retiring and moving back to Ventura. I was hoping to fish Casitas regularly but all indications are I might as well sell my boat. Can anyone in the area of Casitas provide thoughts or tips to get through the inspection & quarantine or should I just put the boat on the market before the move?

[pd]

Don’t sell it! Just get it clean and completely dry and run the inspection. That lake is still good despite the lack of water it’s gotten. Retiring to Lake Casitas? You doin’ alright Holmes!

[Kelly Ripa]

Wrknap....I live in Ojai. I am retiring very soon...No need to sell the boat. I have passed every time but I don't have more than 3 miles to take my Champion to the front gate. I always have some water some where in the stringers and pockets and nooks and crannies in the boat. That is the hard part. Other than that I remove everything from my boat and clean it like I'm going to sell it and then I go get inspected. They are going to blow compressed air through the engine intake so no water! The last time I was inspected the rube I had told me he had to blow air through the livewells and then proceeded to blow air through all the compartments and check to see if water dripped out the back of the boat.

A. my livewells aren't carpeted.

B. If he had managed to get water to come out of the drains for the lockers it would have shown up in the bilge and certainly not enough to flow out the drain plug.

Clean and Dry at ground zero for Californias entire quagga fiasco is Casitas Lake. I find the lake staff to be on par with the other lakes north of here. I stopped fishing Castaic and Piru because of the shear stupidity of the people I had to rub elbows with....the jet skiers/wake board/skiers are just plain deadly stupid every year. When you do get in to Casitas it's like belonging to a private lake in a since. It is a realitivly small batch of tournament anglers ( two different tournamet schedules and the local Ventura bassmasters competing on weekends ) but I never have issues like the lakes down south here. Drop me a line if your stuck on the bank for a bit and if it's after the 1st of April my calender is empty...

Rip

[Wrknap]

Kelly,
All great information. Once I get settled in, I plan to get the boat inspected asap so to get through that 30-day quarantine. That will give me the additional time needed to get the boat and garage organized. I also plan on looking into the possibly joining a club as I don't like to fish alone.
Thanks for the great info! Hopefully, I'll see you on the water sometime this summer!

[Teambernadettebassfishing]

Wrknap....I live in Ojai. I am retiring very soon...No need to sell the boat. I have passed every time but I don't have more than 3 miles to take my Champion to the front gate. I always have some water some where in the stringers and pockets and nooks and crannies in the boat. That is the hard part. Other than that I remove everything from my boat and clean it like I'm going to sell it and then I go get inspected. They are going to blow compressed air through the engine intake so no water! The last time I was inspected the rube I had told me he had to blow air through the livewells and then proceeded to blow air through all the compartments and check to see if water dripped out the back of the boat.

A. my livewells aren't carpeted.

B. If he had managed to get water to come out of the drains for the lockers it would have shown up in the bilge and certainly not enough to flow out the drain plug.

Clean and Dry at ground zero for Californias entire quagga fiasco is Casitas Lake. I find the lake staff to be on par with the other lakes north of here. I stopped fishing Castaic and Piru because of the shear stupidity of the people I had to rub elbows with....the jet skiers/wake board/skiers are just plain deadly stupid every year. When you do get in to Casitas it's like belonging to a private lake in a since. It is a realitivly small batch of tournament anglers ( two different tournamet schedules and the local Ventura bassmasters competing on weekends ) but I never have issues like the lakes down south here. Drop me a line if your stuck on the bank for a bit and if it's after the 1st of April my calender is empty...

Rip

The stupidity of the whole quagga inspection thing is. Castaic has been doing the whole Clean and Dry shenanigans for 10 plus years. And right now as we speak both Castaic and Pyramid are both on the Quagga Infested list.

But they still make you get inspected and be clean and dry to get on the lake. If you go to Diamond Valley and tell them you last fished Castaic. They probably wont let you on the lake unless its been over 14 day and they probably will turn your bost upsidedown looking for water.

Ive never fished Casitas because of the 30 day wait clean and dry they used to have. I dont know if they still do that. I think Cachuma does. But blowing compressed air in your boat is just absurd! If you own a boat and pay luxury taxes. Boat upkeep ect. And the lake sets you up to fail before you even get on the water... SMH

[Kelly Ripa]

Casitas water board is ground zero for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty. Their quagga plan failed so badly that they re-opened the gate to " outside " boats within like 90 days after they shut out all outside boats forever. I got around that by selling my Champion and buying a pontoon boat that was in a slip when they shut the gate. I tore it apart and put in the necessary electronics and trolling motor and kept on fishing. When they rolled over on letting us back in I sold it back to the original owner who was thrilled with his new upgrades and bought another Champion off Western Bass Classifieds and am still in it to this day.
There was a time when we had a ranger here who was top notch in all catagories... If you had a problem you talked to Ranger Rob. Now no longer the case... Sadly the lake has fallen by the wayside as they never patrol it and they don't mark the new hazards that come with a mismanaged water system. They probably spent $100,000 recently to re black top about a mile of the road we have to drive to get to the launch ramp. A cable with a buoy on it that says HAZARD...priceless...Stupidity comes easy to the upper echelon here at Casitas.
My dream:
They build a desalination plant on the coast and fill the ecosystem and recreation area with water. They are to brain dead to understand how to fill it or manage it so we will all have to cross our fingers and pray for another March Miracle to get somewhere back to what we had minus the trout plants of course....

[Teambernadettebassfishing]

Casitas water board is ground zero for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty. Their quagga plan failed so badly that they re-opened the gate to " outside " boats within like 90 days after they shut out all outside boats forever. I got around that by selling my Champion and buying a pontoon boat that was in a slip when they shut the gate. I tore it apart and put in the necessary electronics and trolling motor and kept on fishing. When they rolled over on letting us back in I sold it back to the original owner who was thrilled with his new upgrades and bought another Champion off Western Bass Classifieds and am still in it to this day.
There was a time when we had a ranger here who was top notch in all catagories... If you had a problem you talked to Ranger Rob. Now no longer the case... Sadly the lake has fallen by the wayside as they never patrol it and they don't mark the new hazards that come with a mismanaged water system. They probably spent $100,000 recently to re black top about a mile of the road we have to drive to get to the launch ramp. A cable with a buoy on it that says HAZARD...priceless...Stupidity comes easy to the upper echelon here at Casitas.
My dream:
They build a desalination plant on the coast and fill the ecosystem and recreation area with water. They are to brain dead to understand how to fill it or manage it so we will all have to cross our fingers and pray for another March Miracle to get somewhere back to what we had minus the trout plants of course....

Terrible to hear all these stories from you guys. Guess I'm not the only Angler Fed up and throwing my hands up. I'll just keep doing what Ive been doing the past 7 years. Fishing elsewhere!

"Havasu, Here I Come!"

[Jboutfishn]

Why is Castaic being so anal about inspections when it already has the Quagga infestation. Pyramid has Quagga Mussels and is connected to Castaic by a large pipe. Piru used to have strict entry until it was found to have Quagga Mussels. Now you just pay and enter.

[WRB]

Castiac is easy to pass Quagga mussel inspection and shares tags with Pyramid.
Casitas requires their clean and dry inspection and 35 day waiting period, plus fees. I no longer have a boat, my last inspection was after not using the boat for 2 years and failed inspection when the ranger blew wet compressor air through the engine water pump inlet and holding a paper towel it was damp as a result. I ask if the compressor was drained of condensation prior to running the test. Answer was why, you failed, comeback in 10 days.
Castaic is filling with water, Casitas is draining water and only 30% full.
Tom

[SpookFreak]

It is frustrating to go to the lake and have the tag from the last time you were there not mean anything.
I to removed my sticker but they would not let me in. I found out then the sticker is good through the end of feb which i did not know. So I got turned away. I called the office and they said no sticker no entry. I paid for the sticker on December 27th. and still i do not have it. So i guess i will have to wait.

[Teambernadettebassfishing]

It is frustrating to go to the lake and have the tag from the last time you were there not mean anything.
I to removed my sticker but they would not let me in. I found out then the sticker is good through the end of feb which i did not know. So I got turned away. I called the office and they said no sticker no entry. I paid for the sticker on December 27th. and still i do not have it. So i guess i will have to wait.

Wow!
Makes no sense at all. Castaic and the person running it are brain dead!

I just went to a lake North of Bakersfield. I was launching my boat and the Warden rolled up in me. He was super nice. I showed him my fishing license and then told him I didnt have my State Quagga Sticker but had paid for it, just had not received it in the mail yet. His response was, "Aw, I'm not worried about that.'

Then we ended up having a 20min. Conversation about fishing and how bad things have gotten in California. I told him how Castaic wouldn't even let me on the water without the expired sticker.

And the State DMV really messed with the whole separating the Quagga Sticker fees from when you pay your boat registration. Its totally unclear and confusing. I didnt even know I had to jump thru hoops and pay for it separately until a buddy had told me. The grace period for the sticker should be for six months until June because of how dumb and confusing they made it.

[bassmeister]

I still to this day can't believe the BS situation this quagga mussel has created.
This state (commifornia)
Is truly run by criminals.
They take our money for registration/luxury tax on our boats and MAKE US PAY FOR THESE BS QUAGGA MUSSEL STAMPS SO THE RETARDED LEADERS CAN FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIGHT THE MUSSEL.
What really passes me off is they can sit behind their desks and try to tell us that in no way a migratory duck, goose, or any bird that flies from lake 2 lake, 2 pond, 2 river system's and CAN'T CARRY/transport THE MUSSEL LARVA while my boat that may have sat in my back yard for weeks/months specially during the summer when the supposed mussels/larva would've been cooked to well done status then treat me as a mussel/larva spreader.
Complete BS!!!!
The fools in charge making ridiculous decisions and rules are outta control.
Just like the fools and tree huggers that piss trillions of gallons of water into the Pacific to protect the delta smelt, frog's, salamanders, etc....
Forget the people and save the smelt!
Go figure.
Total bafoonery!!

[Jboutfishn]

outta control.
Just like the fools and tree huggers that piss trillions of gallons of water into the Pacific to protect the delta smelt, frog's, salamanders, etc....
Forget the people and save the smelt!
Go figure.
Total bafoonery!!

It is not just the delta smelt, frogs, and salamanders. What about salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, to name a few others? Some water must be sent to the delta to maintain the eco system. Wake up and look at the big picture.

[Whoopbass]

Yeah, its all the tree huggers fault.
It's all about money. People in power don't give a damn about the environment and that goes for both parties.

That Quagga nonsense is just about money and control. Down South they use it to keep you off "their" lakes and up North in Lake County they make you buy their sticker on top of the one you already purchased.

[bassmeister]

4 jboutfshn,
Why do you think I put delta smelt, salamanders ETC.....!
Covers all of anything protected.
Talk bout WAKE UP!
All those fish, frogs, salamanders ETC......
can all leave the planet for all I care as long as our human race moves forward!!!!
WAKE UP!!!!!!

[Whoopbass]

First the delta smelt goes.....then stripers, and then everything else they consider evasive. Then after they're gone the salmon go. After that they're lies get exposed for what's really causing the decline of every species it will be too late.
Do you know how much extra water is flushed down the rivers for delta smelt? Years back I heard it was 50K acre feet a year. I really don't know what the number is. If you divide that by all the rivers it really isn't that much water. Are they still releasing extra water for the delta smelt? Who knows.....The powers in charge do what they want and we don't have a say or a clue. Court orders don't mean a thing to these politicians. Some of the stuff they've done the last few years makes you scratch your head.
Most towns have a river running through it. Are you okay if that river turns into a seasonal creek and everything that relies on it goes extinct?

[WRB]

Castiac is a cake walk compared to Casitas. My boat before I sold it was tagged and cabled on Casitas. I hadn’t been on the water for 2 years when my son was diving from cancer. When I decided to fish again I went to Casitas to renew my annual permit and they inspected my boat, trailer, engine for any water. Keep in mind I had the tag and cable still on the boat and trailer, why inspect it? They check everything, it’s been garbage for 2 years. When they check the OB, they had me lower it and brought out a air compressor and held a paper towel the opposite side of the water intake ports and spray air into the ports. Water residue showed up on the paper towel and failed inspection!
I told them the moisture was in the air compressor tank, not my dry OB engine that hasn’t been started in2 years! .
You think Castiac is difficult wait to you try Casitas!
Tom
PS, join Friends of Castaic, lots of privileges like not failing inspection plus discounts.
I sold my boat and Kelly stepped up to take me out a few times...thank you!

[Wrknap]

Well this is not good news. I’ve heard the stories and it’s been a concern off mine for some time now.
I’m just getting squared away after our move from the Sacramento area to Ventura.
My boat has not been on the water for about two months.
I’m hoping to get away and experience my 1st inspection at Lake Casitas in the next few weeks.
Wish me luck!

[Lawley]

Is the delta plan
Smelt magically disappear
Oh wait it’s the predator fish eating the smelt
We must save the smelt
Eliminate the the stripers and the largemouth
Yeah that will save the natural smelt being the environmental conscious people we are
The salmon are in great decline in the delta

Once the largemouth are gone. The stripers are removed almost zero salmon are left there will be no more opposition from the fishermen who are in the way
Then we can abuse the environment and sell all the water we can maximizing our profit

Yaaaa democrats