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Lopez Lake and Reports

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Saturday, November 24th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 61

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: A trip to the lopes after a pretty long absence.
    A brisk morning when I hit the water and was glad that I had gloves! Certainly needed them today. Headed towards the back by Vasquez and elected to try a jig near the rock walls to the east of the Vasquez inlet. Started with a black/blue set-up with a blue smallie beaver as a trailer. Hit on a nice chunky 2to 2-1/2 pounder then within a few minutes, another nice keeper pushing the 3+ weight. Switched to a Osprey Talon near points but didn't get a hit so went back to the jig. Yanked on another nice 2-1/2 heavy making me happy I went back to the jig selectionMoved off looking for other spots and stopped in the small cove adjacent to Whittenburg but no toakers today. Headed to the back by the bridge but only managed a small smallie. Went back to the dam area and tried a slow retrive smallie beaver with no action. Went back to a brown/watermelon jig and finally got a taker that was pushing close to 4#. Then yikes --- trolling motor decided to give me fits and I called it an early day. Was just a loose set screw that let the gear nut unscrew. Oh well, never know till ya jerk it apart and take a look-see. All in all -- a nice day even if it was short
    City: SM

    Tips: Slow retrive a jig near the rock walls. Seem to be where the fish were holding in about 17 to 25 foot. Top water wasn't working yet.

Friday, November 9th, 2007

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    Water Temp: didn't check

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Excellent fishing! Not sure why but everyone else complained that it was hard, and called it the dead sea. We seemed to catch fish anywhere from 2' to 60' Spoons, dropshots, and jigs. Go point to point on the main lake and look for bait with fish slashing from 15-60'. Drop spoon and hold tight, red hooks seemed to help, but not sure if the feathers helped or not. Big Brown and purple jigs with super hog trailers in 47 feet worked well.
    Fish are FAT and heavy, barfing shad. We probably caught 40 keepers and 20 shorties.
    Shad colored dropshot worms with a #4 or #6 nose hook
    City: SoCal

    Tips: Look for bait and jerk a spoon above and below the bait.

Friday, October 26th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 65

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Launched just before sunrise. Concentrated on mainlake points with sharp drop offs. Got four fish (1 smallie, 3 largemouth) in about 30 minutes on the buzzbait. Scratched two more fish on wacky rigged 5" senko in pumpkin. All fish were legal with the biggest about 3#.Off the lake at 10:00 when the wind kicked up.

Saturday, October 6th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: We got some pretty nice bass up there. It beats sitting around the Dunes all day long on my 4 wheeler. We were into the slow bite given the post-front conditions. Larger, slow plastics and jigs were bit the best. We caught fish shallow. Didn't get fish deeper that 15 feet or so. The sunfish populations are on fire.
    City: Pismo Dunes

    Tips: Look for the big gills out of the Whittenberg area.

Friday, September 21st, 2007

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    Water Temp: 70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Stayed there on vacation for a week fished alot by the dam first thing in the morning caught 4 keepers one was 4 pounder.then moved down into lopez arm through worms drop shotting caught a few more nothing really big.Most of my big ones came on crank baits.
    City: taft

Tuesday, August 21st, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Got on the water late around 8:45 started flipping the shrubs at the burg couple bites early then died off wind came up around 9:30 stuck it out a bit and hit a three and half at 10:30. moved to the east side of the marina and hit two more about 2 lbs both very shallow and light colored they might have been deaper earlier. Had fun anyways....... better than working
    City: sm

    Tips: Not sure havent been up ther much latley but if I had to guess i would say 10 to 20 feet of water on humps or points..

Friday, July 20th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Dont for get to come to the Gold coast open and have some fun if you what more info contact Bryan Oakley at 805 347 1312 or Glen newman at 805 925 4002 or Randy Claborn at 805 598 8689 come all and come to have fun lots of raffles and a BBQ after
    City: Santa Maria

Tuesday, July 17th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Thanks for the info, See ya there
    City: SM

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Gold Coast Bass Club is hosting. You can contact Glenn Newman @ 925-4002.

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Just wondering who is hosting the Lopez open and when and where I can sign up?
    City: sm

Sunday, July 15th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 71-73

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Got to the lake at 0630, not in a big hurry, as I wanted to mostly run the motor to clean out the 2 months worth of sitting. Anyhow, pretty dismal day, only caught 2 fish; 1 about 16, the other a dink. Roboworms seemed to work. Moved to bridge and lost a quality fish as it pulled alot of drag before it cut the line on the rocks. Would have been nice to see it. Guy I was with lost a quality on as well earlier in the day. Left around 1100 winds just to much.
    City: Lompoc

    Tips: Pick a different day when the water clears to stained

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    Water Temp: 67o

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Water clarity today was better but still pretty dismal as not to many people saying they were hitting good. A few smallies near the dam and 1 small large [10"] back by Vasquez. Hit a huge blue gill on my shad liplessand three more in a small cove across from Vasquez. Moved off as that isn't what I was looking for. Worked the walls back in Lopez Canyon with minimal success on drops, cranks and weightless. Moved back to the marina and headed to the bridge arwa, looking for areas to work. Picked up the lipless shad and tossed it for a good 1/2 hour with only one decent taker. Wind was up again and it was a pretty blustery day on the main lake and seemed worse in the marina with many boaters having real problems in loading up. Called it quits at noon being tired of the wind and a trolling motor battery that was pretty used up.
    City: SANTA MARIA

    Tips: Going to be a tough road come this next weekend for the Lopex Open.

Sunday, July 8th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 63

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Algea bloom has stopped but the water clarity was still pretty dismal Sunday as I went out in search of possible locations for the upcoming Lopez Open. Put a few smallies in the boat but nothing of any size. Charted fish from 10 to 45 feet with only a few interested takers on the lures and spots that usually payoff at the Lopes. Headed to the back past the last dock and in the stick-ups with jigs and hit a few smallies but seemed like that was all that was home. Worked the walls with cranks and top's early and nothing. Tossed a drop with several different colors, weights and hook size with no takers. Headed in with a dismall day and the wind still up.
    City: Santa Maria

    Tips: Will hit it again Sunday and see how the changes have been hoping that the larger critters move closer in but with this front coming, it may be the same.

Thursday, July 5th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: JUST A REMINDER TO ALL BASSER'S.. THE ANNUAL LOPEZ 'OPEN' IS COMING ON 21 JULY SO PUT THIS DOWN ON YOUR CALANDER! SOME GREAT RAFFLE GIFTS AND 80% PAYPACK SO MAKE THIS MEET FOR SURE. OPEN TO ALL. $100 PER BOAT
    City: Santa Maria

Friday, May 18th, 2007

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    Water Temp: mid to upper 60

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Just got back from weekend camping trip with my co-workers. First time at Lopez and this place is WINDY! Got there Friday at noon and trolled leadcore (2 colors) and did the best with orange/pearl needlefish. We didn't get alot but managed to land two for dinner. Got on the water about 10am Sat. with boat full of people. With only 2 leadcore rigs everyone else had to use weighted monofilament, which ended up being the best setup right now. The trout are all still on the surface and the leadline goes to deep. People fishing monofilament out fished leadcore this weekend. I had them stop the boat once to try to cast a shaded spot but we couldn't hold the boat in the wind. Saw a guy at the boat launch hauling in a catfish at least 35 or 40 pounds Saturday morning when we were going out. Kelly, I did see some suspect shore fishers with large coolers but saw nothing illegal. All in all we had fun, caught 12 trout Saturday and narrowlly missed being sprayed by the camp skunk. It sucks being trapped in a tent when you have to go to the bathroom!
    City: Carp

    Tips: Trout are all very shallow. Orange and pearl needlefish. If you camp there, empty your trash nightly or you will have stinky visitors.

Wednesday, May 16th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: It was windy as usual until 6pm. The fishing was good to average. The best spots were shaded areas and any place that had sticks. The fish really seem to rush towards the shallows as the sun in going down.

    Tips: I recommend lipless crankbaits for searching for fish. My preference is the LV-500. If the fish are very active cranking can be productive. If it is slower and the fish are suspending , I recommend drop shotting or a Carolina rig. Straight tail Robo's, craws or small jerk baits work well.

Monday, April 30th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Just a reminder for next year. For those that do tournements at Lopez --- Reports have it that Lopez will be issuing only ONE PERMIT PER WEEK for bass clubs. In other words, 1 weekend, 1 club! I know, that sounds dumb but I hear citizens are complaining that we are 'raping' the lake and not allowing them [the citizens] to launch. Well, my feeling is that we pay gate fees and permit fees to fish which is far beyond what they pay and we wait in line just like they do but the difference being, we don't take fish out! IT REALLY DOESN'T SOUND FAIR TO US BASSIN PEOPLE but unfortunately, It may be something that all lakes will be doing sooner than later. Anyway, all you club fishers may want to get in touch with the lake and start making your meets for next season as it going to change and you may be left out in the cold. It will take a permit to hold a meet now and if you don't have one, your not going to be able to fish and if you came from a distance, your going to be pretty upset!
    City: SM

Wednesday, April 18th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: This is not a report but rather a heads up if you plan on fishing the lake. There currently is a perceived problem on this lake concerning over harvesting and or illegal fishing practices. If you are going to go to the lake it would be much appreciated if you would write down this name and number. Terri Hickey 805-782-9963. This is the person from the dept. of fish and game in charge of this area. It only takes a minute to write this down and carry with you on the water where a phone call will have them at the lake in minutes. The on going problem you will be a witness to involves one or several boats that take multiple fisherman and children to an area that cannot be accessed by foot and drops them off and then will go to another site to fish. They use walkie talkies and are in constant communication with one another and they fill buckets and stringers with fish while filling out limits for all. The DFG has been unable to cite these folks as they have licenses and have not been observed in the act of doing anything illegal HOWEVER : If you see anything that should be reported please call the above number as this warden lives 10 minutes from the lake. Thank you for helping to preserve our resources for enjoyment and recreational use of all.
    City: Santa Barbara

    Tips: If you observe a child hooking a fish and an adult taking over to reel in and land this fish it would not be legal if that adult has already got a limit. Please help if you can, Thanks

Saturday, March 24th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 57-61

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished for four days. Fished the large zoom brush hog in watermellon candy pitched tight to the brush. Most strikes came immediatly. All fish on the hog were at least 2-3lbs or better. Wittenburgh and Arroyo produced the bulk of our good fish. Found a few bed fish that wanted to go in back of the coves in the brush pockets. Crank bite was very good DD22 in fire tiger or the new slick color produced alot of good fish over 3lbs. After it warmed up the texas bite on 8" dark colored worms were successfull. Thowse brush hog fish were alot of fun to catch! Chartruse blades were also good for a few keepers.
    City: Baldwin Park, Ca

    Tips: DD22 fished down until it hits bottom and pause it. Wham your bit on the pause. Brush hogs need to hit the base of the brush or inside the pockets. Fish heavy line if you want to keep those fish from wrapping you up!

Saturday, March 10th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 60

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: After a two year hiatious I came back to my favorite lake. I took along a newbie and there were 6 boats out there when I launched and I was first through the pay gate. Based on assumptions that I made from the last post I went after the fish while I had newbie fish a senko. I fished jigs,blades,cranks.....I flipped I pitched...NOTHING! I was shocked....O well to save the day I took out the drop-shot and put 23 in the boat along with newbie's 9. I did get two largemouth and a smallmouth on cranks in the evening. The crank was a splatterback dd-14 Norman and the worm was a 6 inch fat robo-oxblood light red flake. Worms were pitched into 4 feet and shook like hell in one place. drag and repeat. Most bites were away from the bank but tight to the brush. Just males up thinking about it. Two crank fish happened on one point wham largemouth/ wham smallmouth....the third I made a great cast into some nasty stuff and cranked the back of the cove starting in 2 feet and I only got two cranks on the handle and got just crushed by the best fish of the day. I talked to fish and game about the obvious fish for cash thing going on at lopez...Operators put folks on the bank and set them up with crawdads for bait while they use a walkie talike to communactes with another boat. Stuff like that is shady at best but she ( the warden ) has her hands full trying to actually catch them at anything as they are busy destroying evidence as she is pulling in and would have to scuff up the boat driving it right up on the suspected problem ( over harvest ) before they can cut it loose or throw back the under size fish. I always like to drive my boat over the top of the structure they are fishing so they have a nice day on the water instead of limit fishing for 9 adults and 6 children= 75 fish. evn the cormorants don't wipe the joint out as bad. Have a fun trip, be same around the other boats...Trout fishermen were having a ball in a circle by the dam right on top. Good size too!
    City: Santa Barbara

    Tips: Water clarity is not an issue it's about slowing down and fishing tight. In retrospect I'd be up lake fishing in the very backs of the little cuts and fishing mainlake points uphill from deeper for the females first light. I was shocked at the non-existant reaction bite. I saw some guys catch a few on a crank or worm but it didn't fish like I expected...Give it time and you'll find the fish