BY MIKE STEVENS
WON Staff Writer
SANTA YSABEL— Lake Henshaw stood out as one of the top crappie lakes in San Diego County through the turn of the century, but for whatever reason, it fell off and never quite returned to form on that front. The fish are still there and it still has flashes of its former self if not its potential, but it’s really evolved into a respectable warmwater fishery that flies under the radar as most bass traffic heads for lakes better known as heavy-hitting bass fisheries.
Well, the largemouth bass bite at Henshaw went absolutely bonkers in the month of July, and it was still hot as this issue of WON went to press. North County anglers familiar with the lake are getting the bulk of that action, and there have been a couple club events during this run, but angler traffic remains light for the most part.
“Get your butt up there,” said Lake Henshaw regular, Steve Turigliatto. “Once you find the fish and bait, it’s lights out, and forget about the drop-shot, you’ll be catching them on grown man tackle.”
WON reached out to Turigliatto after he and fishing partner Scott Mayer bagged over 50 Lake Henshaw largemouth. This after other reports picked up by WON reflected catch numbers of over 20, 30 and 40 bass.
Most of the biters are in the 2- to 3-pound range, but there have been some bigger models in the mix including Turigliatto’s 5.6 pounder. The common thread between all these reports is flooded trees and shoreline vegetation. The bass are right up against it if not deep in it, so pitching bulky plastics (craws, lizards, Brush Hawgs, etc.) rigged weedless is a great way to get after it.
