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Updated May 9, 2025

CAHUILLA LAKE— According to Julian Rangel of Desert Valley Outdoors, the trout bite is all but gone,  but a few have been caught floating ‘crawlers. Channel catfish have been biting nightcrawlers, and believe it or not, Mice Tails. Bass are biting around the rock jetty and outlet.

CACHUMA LAKE – The lake received a 5,000 pound trout stock on April 24, and this batch had some fish to 8 pounds. The fishing was solid along the shoreline for the first few days after the fish arrived, but within a week the remaining fish had spread out. Jigs or Thomas Buoyants were the best options immediately after the stock, but after they spread out, bait was the best approach. Drifting nightcrawlers, PowerBait, or Mice Tails got the job done. The bass are shallow, especially on cloudy days or early in the morning. Flipping creature baits or casting Ikas into the shallow brush produced some great bites on fish to 5 pounds. The panfish bite remains slow.

CASITAS LAKE – Fred Klinshaw of fredklinshawfishing.com is reporting an excellent bite on the bass, with the size of fish really impressive too. A recent tournament saw 3 bags weigh in over 30 pounds, which is incredible. Lots of mixed sized fish on Texas rigged plastics, along with some reaction baits like jerkbaits and small swimbaits. Other anglers are reporting that the bass are chasing shad now, and the reaction bite is on here. Anglers should be prepared for fish anywhere from 1-to 6-pounds. A topwater walking bait, like a Sammy, Spook, or Skinner, will get several grabs when worked through the shad schools. Anglers should not forget about the big swimbait bite too, as the females often look for a hearty meal to help them recover from the spawn. “We also did a perch trip with incredible success using small jigs on large schools of quality that very willingly accepted our offerings,” Klinshaw reported. Shore anglers have been finding a decent panfish bite from the dock too.

CASTAIC LAKE – “Bass fishing was great to excellent this week despite the continued cool weather,” Jim Taibi of 661fishing.com is reporting. The bulk of the largemouth are commiting to the upcoming full moon spawning cycle on the 12th and can be found anywhere from 2- to 20-feet deep along secondary points and rocky transition areas. Plenty of one to two pound fish are keeping anglers busy throughout the day with a number of fish from three-to five-pounds, and sometimes larger, in the counts. Dropshot rigs have moved to the top of the productive techniques list as the finesse plastics bite rolls on, although the light-line Carolina rig will still do damage. C3 Baits Shimmys and Ice Picks in the Neptune Shad color pattern have proven effective time and time again. Wacky rigged 5″ Senkos continue to produce some of the bigger fish as they can be seen cruising a few feet below the surface in the spawning coves. Green Pumpkin w/black flake and Natural Shad are great colors and have been consistent all Spring. I use the darker colors on overcast days and the natural baitfish colors on sunny days. The water remains very clear with up to 20′ clarity in most areas. The striped bass still remain slow, as the fish seem to be waiting on the baitfish to move to the back of coves. The lake is open from 630 a.m. to 730 p.m., and all boats have to be off the water by 7 p.m. Launching is also at the West Ramp only.

CUYAMACA LAKE – Unstable weather, as in 50 degrees one day, 70 the next, is keeping any one pattern from emerging here. Anglers are pretty much avoiding the lake anyway, with cold weather and few stocks keeping interest elsewhere. Still, the anglers that do make it out should bring some heavily scented baits, like garlic-scented nightcrawlers, if they want to get a trout. Bass or catfish may take this offering too. Once the weather stabilizes, the bite should really go off.

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