Breakwall Angler Diamond Valley Lake Report 4/4/2012

This past January 1, new Marine Protected Areas went into effect in Southern California. My favorite spots along Palos Verdes and Laguna Beach are now off-limits to angling forever. Portions of both are open for spear fishing pelagics, if you’re into that. My Opaleye Point on PV almost was spared but what happened is they were going to close Rocky Point but the Redondo sportfishing fleet, among others, depend on that area for their very being. I suppose it was better they and their thousands of annual passengers had their spot kept open to the sacrifice of one little ol’ me on my side of the hill.

If you look at a map of the closures it’s not even a quarter of the total PV shoreline. The issues is accessibility. The open areas south of Opaleye Point that are good to fish from rocks have no parking unless you want to hike a couple miles before descending the cliff. North of the Long Point - Pt. Vicente closure to Torrance Beach there are hundreds of nice rocks to fish from with ample free parking and relatively easy trails. The accessibility issue is the swell. You really can’t fish from rocks there unless the surf is below three feet and better yet one foot. That whole shoreline gets clobbered by the prevailing swell out of the northwest and there aren’t many days of the year when the water is calm.

The area around Opaleye Point is south facing. It never matters how big the prevailing swell is, it is always calm enough to fish. Even when we have a south-swell episode, Catalina Island is right there breaking most of the waves before they hit PV.

As I reported last October through December, we had a decent opaleye bite happening at Long Point and Opaleye Point during those months. That means more than likely they are all around PV so it didn’t matter my usual spots are closed, I just had to wait for small surf on one of my days off. And I waited and waited and waited. All January and most of February it was five feet or more. Finally on Feb. 22 the swell had calmed to two feet with an occasional sets of three. I loaded up the truck, stopped by my trusty Colorado Lagoon for green bait but the perfect long strands of algae I harvested in December were gone. Nothing. Just mud, no green, which converts to no fish.

And speaking of no green, this season’s lack of rain left us with brown hillsides throughout So. Cal. all winter and spring, which means no wildflower blooms around my neighborhood nor in the desert.

With both my winter and spring pastimes shot to hell I’ve been spending most of my free time preparing my gear for Sierra summer fun. I have four trips planned. It’s sort of a rebuilding year for me I guess, you know, me concentrating on making sure all my camping and fishing gear is solid and each item on the list of necessities I compiled last summer are checked off.

Point in case is at 400,000 miles Li’l Miracle’s engine started to fail. The VZE 3.0 V6 is right now in the shop for the major rebuid; bored cylinders, new pistons and rings, turned crank and bearings, and new (rebuilt) heads, as the original two are too cracked to save. Three of this summer's four planned trips will require four wheel drive off road many miles and one would not want major engine troubles back in there.

Stop bitching and catch a fish already.

My pal Hooky emailed yesterday asking if I’m not busy let’s bass fish Diamond Valley Lake tomorrow. Hooky is a pseudonym for an angler who ditches work and would not like to easily be identified. He knows my usual protocol of only fishing for largemouth during drizzly overcast mornings as opposed to bright, cloudless conditions. Through the years I have caught more when thick stratus is over the water. Pondering his email for five minutes I came up with the conclusion it will be ok to fish today despite the sunshine because the bass should be up in the shallows on their spring spawning beds.

A little after five Hooky showed up at the house and we were at the lake more than a half hour before the gate’s 6:30 opening. To our dismay we were fifteenth in line, which means our first casts will be delayed. Not by much, though, as the man in the pay kiosk was processing vehicles at a rapid pace. Here’s the schedule: parking $7, fishing permit $3, trail access $2. Total for two breakwall-style shore anglers carpooling; $17.

We followed the usual plan of hiking the main dirt road that veers right from the boat ramp, then 10 minutes later around third cove to the far main point. A little after seven we made our firsts casts from a spot a hundred yards inside the cove from the point.

Last spring the lake was filled, flooding the thick stands of mule fat and tree tobacco that had been growing during a five-year low water period. I was forced to switch from the Carolina rigged four-inch curly tail Power Worm to the same bait rigged Texas style with an eighth-ounce bullet weight, which crawls through the thick brush more easily. Now the lake is about six feet lower and all the flora has since died, leaving only bleached-white stickups here and there. A Carolina rig would work but I stuck with my pre-tied Texas, which produced fairly well. After a few casts I felt a tap-tap reverberating up my line and onto the HMG graphite spinning rod. A swing and a miss had me jumping up and down in a fit of frustration.

I moved out towards the point a few more yards and had another tap-tap. I let it take line for a moment and set the hook. It felt big... for about two seconds before it came off. Again I hollered and stomped the ground in a tirade of piss that I missed a critical two because I’m a bit antsy impatient. One must concentrate upon feeling the tap-tap to let the fish take the bait for a slow five-count before attempting the hook set.

I moved more yards toward the point when I heard Hooky shout out from our first spot he nailed a nice one while using a drop-shot worm. So far each bite occurred right up to shore in six feet of water.

I cast out once more to the right and let the lure sink. Just after it hit bottom I saw the line move without me making any kind of jerk motion. I counted to five then set the hook. That was the trick! The two-pound bass jumped twice, shaking its head in an attempt to dislodge the hook but this time I landed it by grabbing its lower jaw to see he was gut hooked. Quick work with the Leatherman disgorged the hook without any blood, I dropped it back into the water, it swam off like nothing happened.

A few casts later as I dragged my worm along the bottom I felt another tap-tap. A count to five and HOOKUP!! It seems now I’m in the groove as I lifted out another two-pounder. Hooky moseyed on over, I said I’m having a fun time along this stretch of shoreline. He just got through over there working what he described as a ‘vendetta fish’, one you see in the water and try to entice to suck in your lure and don’t stop until you lift it out of the water.

Soon, Hooky was on to something of a fighter then proclaimed, “smallie”! He held up a rare smallmouth bass, something you don’t see much around these parts. The two pounder was photographed then released.

All the while with my second rod I was tossing a Huddleston deluxe weedless trout. It sinks slowly so I would cast out as far as I could then make a few casts with the worm rod before slowly jerking in the trout. The lure looks real and sims naturally. I read several reports the past month about anglers doing well with this thing. I looked it up on the web and saw Outdoor World in Cucamonga sells them. I drove over there Tuesday to find nine out of ten Huddleston racks empty. I bought the remaining two for $20 each. These guys really know how to build a lure that hooks fishermen. I sure as heck didn't catch any fish with it today.

After a while we crossed the main point where I spotted my very own vendetta fish along a steep cliff. I would cast out a little past its position then drag the worm practically underneath its belly. The water is so clear you could see the fish turn on its side and aim for the lure. Then the line goes tight, I swing, I miss. Now the vendetta starts. I made twenty attempts, of which the bass carried off the worm five times before I was able to secure the two-pounder into my gunnysack for a later snack.

Field test:

While trekking the Sierra last year I hit the trail with my sixty-something-pound backpack and wanted a photo of myself carrying it as proof I can still do that sort of thing. The first people I encountered on the trail were kind enough to take my camera and snap a pic. The photographer suggested I get a StickPic. This handy little gadget screws into your camera’s tripod mounting hole then you hand press it onto the point of your trek pole. Extend the trek pole out as far as it will go, put the camera on timer then hold it out there while you pose with your catch. You can photograph yourself without the assistance of strangers.

So far since I have had it I haven’t caught a fish and today, now that I have something to show off, I failed to include a trek pole with my gear. All I had to do was break off a six-foot dead mule fat branch, cram it into the Stickpic hole and just like that I took a pic of myself holding a fish. Using the dead branch made it a literal stick pic.

Past the main point we cast to a few other small points and coves. Mostly we were sight fishing, myself casting to three other bass as I saw them. Unlike earlier in the day when the fish would attack the lure, now, at noon, they were swimming off in the other direction once the lure was near. Hooky kept hoofing on for another mile or so. Once we regrouped at a picnic bench under a canopy he reported after that last batch of sight fish he never saw another and while blind fishing had no other bites.

Hooky ended up with six and I three. Nothing huge but big enough to take the edge of the jones.

Lake Elsinore gets stocking of Largemouth Bass

*****

Updated my smoked beef jerky recipe.

Had my truck seat reupholstered

Built a carrying case for my Kaboom

Get your Sierra wilderness permits here

*****

Here's the price for a 2012 fresh and saltwater California fishing license with second rod stamp, purchased online from the DFG site https://www.dfg.ca.gov/licensing/:

2012 - Sport Fishing License (Res) $44.85
2012 - Sport Ocean Enhancement Validation $5.14
2012 - Second-Rod Sport Fishing Validation $13.78

Total: $63.77

Fish News:

South Coast MPA list and regulations

Civilian volunteer groups forming to monitor MPAs

Volunteers clear stray nets off Pt. Vicente MPA, Palos Verdes

New restrictions on calico, barred and spotted sand bass coming soon

Inyo Nat'l Forest campground schedules

20-foot waves hit So. Cal 4/1

Heavy surf hitting the breakwall

Channel Islands anglers found floating near capsized boat

Grandma lands 43-pound 'but