Casitas?

[Otay Michael]

I'm headed up to Casitas in search of 'some healthy fish' in a couple of days and have only been there once!!! Any tips? Any areas? PM preferred.

[DougH]

lol, I'm sure this thread will be loaded for you Mike...

But that said, it's is a bit tough right now, hoping the weather will continue.

You can get dropshot and spoon fish, and some swimbait fish too in the right spots.
Nothing big on small baits.
They're not going to start biting well until the 25th or so...

[Rob Cummings]

Good luck gettin info right now with the HBC next week. Net shad, your best bet for not leaving with a new found hatred for Casitas.

[tunaman]

Net shad, your best bet for not leaving with a new found hatred for Casitas.

Boy, isn't that the truth!!! I blanked for a day-and-a-half over Christmas, and seeing the reports in WON since indicates that it hasn't changed much since, although Chief seems to have been able to scratch up a couple of really nice fish.

Looking forward to struggling during my stay next week... if you've got to struggle, can't think of anywhere I'd rather be while blanking.

Roger

[John Barron]

Michael:
Make sure your boat is Clean and Dry! I would hate to see you drive all the way from your area only to be turned away. Make sure your plug is out and your livewells have been wiped clean. One guy has already been escorted out of the park so take the precautions make sure you are Clean and Dry!
jb

[Oldschool]

Casitas can be a bitch in January, unless it's raining.
Suggest you start at the north end of the east shoreline and pound it all the way to dead horse, then fish the corners of the big island. That should keep you busy for the morning and give you a shot at some quality fish. Try the hambergers.
Tom

[C J]

Now this might be extremely old school, but try the split-shot rig with a 3 to 4" salt and pepper worm and a long leader along major points and shelves on the west end of the lake. Don't be afraid to throw shallow and work out if the water has even a little color.

There was a time when everyone in So Cal relied on the split-shot, then it got " too finesse" for the hard-core, then it was eclipsed by the drop-shot, then many forgot about it entirely (or entered the game after it's relevant time) and yet it still can be a major remedy to the " Dead Sea Blues"............don't be surprised if it isn't a factor in the standings of the HBC....or maybe the 8" T-Rig stitched..

[Otay Michael]

Thanks John. Yeah, the boat is dry from lack of use but even moreso because of what I read about their requirements. Thanks for the fishing tips guys, I've heard it's been tough but the time I was there for one afternoon last summer I really liked the look of the place, less all that smoke that was in the background. Got a real nice buzzbait fish, about a sixer, to the boat and watched her laugh it right back out at me. I know where she lives.

[swimbait]

John,

Any thoughts for guys with open boats? Reason I ask is that last time I went to Casitas, I drove through the rain in the morning to get there. Most of it dried by the time I got to the lake but there was some water around the plug. After some inspection, and a quick dry off with a rag in the drain plug hole, the guy let me in anyway.

But I cannot see any way possible to keep my drain plug, or the floor of my aluminum boat dry if it's raining on the way to the lake.

[C J]

Rob, it's not like there are any easy answers to "Keep it Dry" remember that fear is the MF' er that keeps all of rural Cali afraid of Urban Cali politico....

I read your concerns about possible float tube infestation on your site (calfishing.com is still the BEST indie website) and agree that Devil Mussels are bigger than our imaginations.... I'd love to see you bring your concerns to this site as well... Dude don't hide your insight and passion.....see you at calfishing soon..CJ

[John Barron]

The staff at Casitas has also been instructed to use something that's a little uncommon these days "common sense"

Brian Rooney and Ranger Rob have done a great job of instructing the staff and the rain issue has been addressed, if it's raining that will be taken into consideration. Your live wells lids will be closed so they should still be dry. Remember when you wipe out your livewells take all of the debris that's left in the well, that part is just as important as anything else.
"Clean and Dry" use this in all of your posts.
jb

[Oldschool]

Thanks John. Yeah, the boat is dry from lack of use but even moreso because of what I read about their requirements. Thanks for the fishing tips guys, I've heard it's been tough but the time I was there for one afternoon last summer I really liked the look of the place, less all that smoke that was in the background. Got a real nice buzzbait fish, about a sixer, to the boat and watched her laugh it right back out at me. I know where she lives.

Casitas has a good population of bass between 6 to 12 lbs and the upcoming HBT should have several of those bass brought to the scales. At this time the lake has thermoclines at 14 and 29 feet and that is the zone you should be targeting.
Tom

[mark poulson]

Maybe they can cross breed a largemouth with a shellcracker, and we can all wind up using Quagga Mussel lures.
Seriously, I think it's not if, it's when, in terms of the mussels making their way to all of our lakes.
Still, taking all possible precautions will help to keep the politicians and bureaucrats from blaming boaters, and closing the lakes to outside boats, so doing all we can makes good sense.
Maybe, if you carry a bottle of bleach in your boat, you can wipe out any wet areas with that, and that will kill the larvae. If you run it through you livewell system, it will kill them there, too.
I don't know if bleach will hurt the seals in the system, but I immagine a diluted mix that's run through, and then flushed with fresh water, wouldn't hurt.

[John Barron]

Mark it's not a matter of when----they will not get in our lakes if we are vigilent and do our part.

If everybody will read the information on the DFG website and you will be able understand what it is you need to do to do your part to keep them out of our lakes.

What you may not realize is that the first lake to close will set of a chain reaction that will lead to other closures. Many of you may remember when Castaic was in danger of closing. This will be a great excuse to push that agenda again. It's up to us to stay on top of this problem and it's a major problem. If we don't we stand a real chance to loose our lakes.
jb
"Dry and Clean"

[Oldschool]

Casitas has a good population of "shell crackers" ie; redear sunfish.
We must take the quagga mussel threat seriously to be able to continue fishing Casitas and any other lake where the officals demand dry & clean boats.
Casitas, like most of our water storage reservoirs, the water is generally clear with low levels of algea and not the ideal enviornment for zebra/quagga mussels to thrieve over a long time period. However it's the short term explosion of these mussels that we must deal and live with until the quagga mussel reaches a point where they are considered a nuisensce and not a threat to our water storage system.
Tom

[mark poulson]

John,
I hope you're right. I just have faith in the ability of the "pelagic" fish eating birds, like cormorants and seagulls, to spread the larvae. Those birds make a trophy run of the local lakes, moving from one to another to eat. Their inner feathers stay damp, which sounds like a great transportation system for mussel larvae.
Likewise, ocean going ships that off load their cargos in Stockton run the risk of introducing alien species to our aquaduct system every day. They carry lots of goodies in their balast water.
I fully intend to do everything in my power to forestall the invasion.

[John Barron]

not to be able to get the word out on how to prevent the transportation of this potentially devastating issue. Education of all of us is key. When we talk with staff at the lake or water board members or the community in general we can help educate them, teach them what to look for.

Enlightment is the best defense against this attack. If we know what to do we can help teach the lake staff what to look for not only in bass boats but in pleasure boats. If a boat is going to carry the problem to our lakes it will most likely be a pleasure boat and there are several reason why that would be the case.
John Barron
"Clean and Dry"

[Oldschool]

With the 28 day quarantine it would be difficult for a San Diego area boat to fish Casitas at this time, without a prior yellow slip.
Tom

[Otay Michael]

Well, I was at Miramar lately and now it's been added to the list. No water had gotten in the boat, it was as dry as when I had launched. Only the motor and that had been drained. Darn. I was going to go with John Kerr to help him pre-fish as his boat had been to San V., which nixed it from Casitas too. Darn.

So, it's El Cap for me. Thanks anyways to those that PM'd me.

[Byron]

How are the ballast tanks in the P.O.S. wakeboarding boats going to get checked?? They are all over the Colorado river chain then they tear up Piru, Castaic, etc.

[bazzman wes]

Heading to Casitas at the end of march. what is the 28 days thing you are all referring to? Also, birds will spread the mussels long before the boats will.

[bazzman wes]

NEVERMIND saw the answer down the line farther!

[Kelly Ripa]

the mussels or am I wrong. I know Mark has repeatedly pointed out that the birds will spread the mussels,,,,Which is it? Is this a case of "got it from the toilet seat" urban legend or is it a fact??? that birds are spreading the mussels???? Just wondering? My thoughts are.... no the birds don't spread them. Have we got an expert in the crowd ? A Final word from Mike on this?? So we as bass fishermen can represent the facts to other boaters and no more.

[mark poulson]

Rip,
I'm just guessing, based on the birds that I've seen patrolling our lakes and that I've actually handled when they've gotten on my line by accident. Not recommended, for sure. Amazing how many sharp parts they have.
I see cormorant flocks at some of the smaller ponds locally, but they are here today, gone for a week or two, back again, gone again. Same with sea gulls.
Birds have layers of down to keep themselves warm, and it gets wet. Even though they preen to clean themselves, I doubt they can clean all of the water off there down. Wet and warm. Sounds like the perfect livewell to me.
My guess is that there is no data on birds, because the Audubon Society and bird watchers are too well connected politically to be challenged. It's much easier to blame boaters than to look at birds as a possible carrier. After all, there is no way to stop birds from going from lake to lake, so that would mean the water people would have to address the issue of the mussel now, instead of waiting for it to get established and harder to deal with.
I just ultimate faith in politicians and bureaucrats to do the easiest thing, instead of the right thing.

[John Barron]

According to Mike Giusti "there are no recorded cases of birds spreading the mussel whatsoever." He also said that birds are "waterproof" water can not get to their skin. The aquatic birds we are talking about are very susceptible to pneumonia and die in short order if they were to get wet. So carrying them externally would be a extremely low probability.

The other issue is eating the mussel. The quagga is very soft and would be crushed while being eaten, promptly killing the mussel. Even if one made it to the bird’s stomach the digestive fluids in the birds digestive tract would kill the mussel immeditely. They would not have a chance to survive being eating whether being crushed to death or digested. So carrying the mussel internally just can't happen.

jb
"Clean and Dry"