PH...

[Kelly Ripa]

Does anyone use Ph to make decisions on the water? Back in the 80's there used to be a device called the Color Selector. I think *Spike it* owns this product now. I remember Don Iovino gave a talk at my club those many years ago and his remark was that it was junk as the PH probe was not sensitive enough to make it practical. Now with all this new technology that has come along have any changes come in the measurement of Ph.?
I have to wonder what a good ph meter would show me on Casitas right now. Most likely it would say stay in bed but I wonder really what the numbers are and if they vary enough from area to area in a small western reservoir to make any difference. I assume a neutral ph would be best so I have to also assume with the brush and fire retardant flushed into the lake that the numbers are more than likely quite high this year. I'd like to blame all my current fishing woes on this but I have no experience with ph in my planning. If anybody is using this technology Feel free to fill the gaps in my ignorance please. I'm hopeful WRB has all the answers on this one.

[JL]

I used to have a Color C Lector in the late 80's. I actually really liked it to use on the color side.

[Whoopbass]

What do they say.....most baits are made to catch fisherman and not fish. Fishing is easy when the bastards want to bite......and quite a bit harder when they don't.

[ash]

I would think on larger bodies of water or on the Main Lake the PH doesn't change dramatically. I could see it bouncing in shallow water in the back of the coves. It would take a lot for PH on a larger body of water to swing from 7.0 - 10.0 when i had my own fish tank and teh PH would drop or spike it didn't really affect the fish behavior or feeding, however oxygenation and circulation was an immediately noticeable difference in lethargy and activity. I with that being said any drastic shift in water chemistry will affect fish behavior, but as to which color worm works better with a certain water chemistry is a stretch IMHO.

[WRB]

Dr LORAN Hill introduced the Color C Lector and later added the PH probe. I recall thinking the PH level in our local lakes would be a factor and tested the water. The PH always was between 6.8 to 7.2 or nearly neutral 7.0 in every lake. When you think about it we don’t have acid rain that affected the eastern lakes, our lake are water storage supply used for drinking and irrigation.
Low PH (acidic) is a big problem for fish survival and could be a problem today at lakes Casitas and Castaic caused by massive amounts of debris washed into the reservoirs. The debris is organic and sinks to the bottom or coating brush, rocks etc. when this debris decays it uses up dissolved oxygen and the PH becomes more acidic. The combination of low DO and high PH can cause very lethargic fish behavior that we are experiencing.
Back when Castiac reopened after the launch ramp was cleared enough to launch boats the surface was still littered with floating debris and fishing was very tough. The bit we could find was at the back of creek arms where running water was flowing into the lake. The bass were crowded in small areas that had better DO levels and we had a good frog and Senko bite while the water was flowing aerating the water.
Casitas does have a aeration system and should have it running! Castiac doesn’t have a aeration system but is drawing water that helps to turn the lake over. Both lakes need wind to help aerate the water.
Tom

[Mitch]

I still have my "Color Selector"......somewhere !! If I remember right, it worked on ""Light Penetration" to select the best color to use. I also have a PH Tester...........again, somewhere. I guess you could use a Pool PH Test kit and get that figure too.

[WRB]

PH & DO matters at the depth the bass are located, not at the surface!
Look at the last 5 tournaments at “world class” bass lakes Casitas and Castiac, 7 lbs was the heaviest bag, 3 lbs won the last event! Not academic it’s a Crisis!
Tom

[Kelly Ripa]

Well after fishing Casitas yesterday I can make this one observation. The panfish have exploded. In my quest for just one legal bass I had 5 bluegills over a pound and 4 redear the size of my boats steering wheel. One even took some drag on the hookset.. . The guess is we are going down the exact same road that Cachuma underwent when it spilled after being down to a couple of percent of capacity. The difference will be the lack of stocked trout here. To that end we will never recover the bass population and size from the last 60 years. Billions of bass fry from 2-6 inches now with most being about 4" now. I caught a few of the 6 inch models yesterday and they were as fat as pot bellied pigs. I see many 2 inch crappie on the surface dead/dying in the areas where the bass fry are ganged up. It's fishing like a pond now.

[monte300]

Let’s take a trip down memory lane. Did anyone have one of these? I did!

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DkER27eXrNU/U ... ate_21.JPG

[pd]

Lopez looks very similar this year to what your describing Rip. Massive schools of fry of all sorts, hovering around endless sources of shade and cover. Outstanding year for recruitment that’s for sure. The fish you catch of classic Lopez footballs. Cachuma apparently continues to fish tough.