San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

After seeing a full moon last night I knew it may be tough, but decided to go fishing anyway. Did not feel like going to Murray again, so I headed out to the SD river. I worked a couple jerk baits and a crank bait for a while and no takers and then to a spinnerbait and still nothing. The surface was pretty calm so I decided to start flipping. I tied on a Tokyo rig on one rod and a weighted senko on the other. After working the different baits I finally got my first bite after close to 2 hours of fishing. Tap..tap..as a bass grabbed my Tokyo rig and after losing a number of bass last time, I really set the hook hard and the fight in the stick-ups was on. I was so worried I would lose it as it was really digging in and out of the stick ups and relieved as I pulled in a nice healthy 4.75lb bass. I continued to work the Tokyo rig and the weighted senko. I flipped the senko deep in a pocket near some tulles and my line headed towards me and I pulled in another pretty nice bass that stomach was pretty solid from probably filling up on lots of shad or crawdads. Before leaving I got bit on the Tokyo rig with a crawdad trailer and the bass came unbuttoned in some sunken branches. Dang! Oh well.
Anyway, it was a pretty tough morning of fishing, catching 2 bass out of only 3 bites, but no complaints as I had fun.
Oh I almost forgot...there was a consolation prize as I rescued a Whopper Popper
that somebody broke off along the tulles. Sweet!


(No @McFish the Whopper Popper is not yours...ha ha)

Your persistence paid off! Good job.

That's a big ol chunk of bass! Thanks for finding my plopper! Now give it back!

That’s a pig right there!

magic touch.

otaymichael wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 10:17 pm magic touch.

What would be really magic is if I could pull one out with a frog. Seen pics of some huge bass you have caught over the years.
My problem is I just need to throw one for a bit to build up confidence. 5 minutes does not do it.
Tight lines always Michael

VinnyBass wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 9:57 am

otaymichael wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 10:17 pm magic touch.

What would be really magic is if I could pull one out with a frog. Seen pics of some huge bass you have caught over the years.
My problem is I just need to throw one for a bit to build up confidence. 5 minutes does not do it.
Tight lines always Michael

I follow a guy on IG who is always down in the same area of the river in a tube just absolutely smashing them on the frog. Looks like a ton of fun.

Excellent story-telling and photos.
I am curious if there are any shore fishing spots, targeting large mouths on artificials on the river.
I didn't even realize we had a thriving river in SD county.

A couple of nice chunky ones Vinny! I've never been down to the river. Maybe someday. Thanks for the report and pics buddy!

sawheeler52 wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 11:23 am Excellent story-telling and photos.
I am curious if there are any shore fishing spots, targeting large mouths on artificials on the river.
I didn't even realize we had a thriving river in SD county.

Thanks...I tend to blab on and on when I write........ just like the way I talk. I pm'd you

RamonaAngler wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 11:35 am A couple of nice chunky ones Vinny! I've never been down to the river. Maybe someday. Thanks for the report and pics buddy!

Bet you will be hitting San V since Sutherland is closed. Tough year at Sutherland and hope it is better next year.
Tight lines always Brett

VinnyBass wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 11:52 am

RamonaAngler wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 11:35 am A couple of nice chunky ones Vinny! I've never been down to the river. Maybe someday. Thanks for the report and pics buddy!

Bet you will be hitting San V since Sutherland is closed. Tough year at Sutherland and hope it is better next year.
Tight lines always Brett

Yes, very tough year at Sutherland. I'll be heading down to San V this Monday and the Mondays after till at least the end of October.
Hope to see you out there one of these Mondays.....tight lines my friend.

I feel like San V is the only fishery in SD that has been consistently good since springtime. Outside of that, seems like everyplace is just.. off.. I have put in a lot of hours at Cap and caught a ton there but there have been an awful lot of days where I’ve had to grind for one or two fish.

I agree, Sutherland, El Cap, Otay, and Murray have been in a weird funk this year. They are all lakes that had a big influx of water this winter. The consistent lake, San V, had very little change until the last couple months when they were putting Sutherland water in there. I still haven't figured out why the level at San V didn't really change much during our big winter, when all the other lakes were way up! The fish definitely seem happier without all the extra water!

I agree it was pretty weird fishing this year because of the high waters at a few of the lakes and then the high, then low, then lower, then up, then back down again. etc etc....... and finally back up enough to launch at Murray, but never up to where it was last year.
When they released tons of water from El Cap earlier this year it really flooded areas of the San Diego river. The fishing was pretty lame for a long time according to a few guys who fish down at the river. I made the mistake of going down there to test my new lighter kayak(minus all the electronic bells and whistles)around that time. Everywhere was flooded with muddy water flowing pretty strong, so I basically ended up just doing a site seeing tour of the river. Guess it's safe to say that there are some El Cap bass swimming around in the river where there is water between Lakeside and the Ocean.

CorsoEnthusiast wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 10:12 am

VinnyBass wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 9:57 am

otaymichael wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 10:17 pm magic touch.

What would be really magic is if I could pull one out with a frog. Seen pics of some huge bass you have caught over the years.
My problem is I just need to throw one for a bit to build up confidence. 5 minutes does not do it.
Tight lines always Michael

I follow a guy on IG who is always down in the same area of the river in a tube just absolutely smashing them on the frog. Looks like a ton of fun.

The other year I netted a nice bass for a guy named Bill who was in a float tube that was just over 8lbs. He caught it on a frog. He throws
frogs probably 90% of the time and he shared some pics a couple trips back of some of his catches. No answer on why I am not throwing
frogs, but I guess I never built enough confidence in them.... mostly due of a lack of patience(That lack of patience probably keeps me
from tossing lots of swimbaits too). I have had more luck over the years on a white fluke (my frog substitute) tossed in froggy looking
areas or cover...ha ha

VinnyBass wrote: ↑Mon Oct 02, 2023 6:14 am

CorsoEnthusiast wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 10:12 am

VinnyBass wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 9:57 am

otaymichael wrote: ↑Thu Sep 28, 2023 10:17 pm magic touch.

What would be really magic is if I could pull one out with a frog. Seen pics of some huge bass you have caught over the years.
My problem is I just need to throw one for a bit to build up confidence. 5 minutes does not do it.
Tight lines always Michael

I follow a guy on IG who is always down in the same area of the river in a tube just absolutely smashing them on the frog. Looks like a ton of fun.

The other year I netted a nice bass for a guy named Bill who was in a float tube that was just over 8lbs. He caught it on a frog. He throws
frogs probably 90% of the time and he shared some pics a couple trips back of some of his catches. No answer on why I am not throwing
frogs, but I guess I never built enough confidence in them.... mostly due of a lack of patience(That lack of patience probably keeps me
from tossing lots of swimbaits too). I have had more luck over the years on a white fluke (my frog substitute) tossed in froggy looking
areas or cover...ha ha

once I have my tube gear I will check out the on water action down there. I haven’t had any luck fishing from shore cause it seems all the fish are in the tules. Tube will give me a fighting chance to catch ‘em there.