BY MIKE STEVENS
PERRIS— Lake Perris largemouth are all over the water column, and while it can take a while to figure out where they are and what they want, the overall consistency of the fishing is increasing. There was also a trophy bass caught that shifted a lot of “Spawn Watch 2024!” eyeballs toward Perris.
That fish was a 10.75 pounder caught by Anglers Marine staffer Dave Burrows who was working a Berkley Power Switch which recently launched as part of Berkley’s new “FFS Optimized” line of baits designed specifically for competitive anglers using forward-facing sonar.
“There were two of them down there hanging about 10 feet down in 20 feet of water, and I flicked that thing (1/4-ounce Power Switch) out there, and one just came up and ate it,” Burrows said.
Other than that hog, most bass at Perris are picking up worms and the occasional blade bait, it’s just a matter of determining how deep the fish are and how they want a bait presented on a given day.
“Perris bass are biting from 1 to 45 (feet deep), It’s weird right now,” said lake regular, James Montes. “I’m catching most of my fish on the fly, tailspins and ice jigs from 30 to 45. Up shallow you can get the occasional spinnerbait fish, but they are eating Texas-rigged Plastics really good and 1 to 15. Some days they want the shallow stuff to be dead sticked, other days they want it moving. It all depends on the day.”
The flies Montes is referring to are Producer Flies (ProducerFly.com) that he is trolling on leadcore line. Despite the effectiveness of the technique, most bass anglers don’t get into it and opt for standard basic-bass-bro tactics. But “flycoring” has a proven track record, especially at Perris, and anglers who put it in play also tend to connect to striped bass, giant panfish and even the occasional catfish.
Other reports are reflecting a good drop-shot bite for anglers sending 6-inch straight tails down in 12 to 25 feet of water.
