CALIFORNIA'S ONLY SPORTSMAN'S NEWS SINCE 1953
Most Recent
ON THE SPOT FEATURE
Untitled Page
If bluegill are your bag, the Santee Lakes can help you fill it
BY BRADLEY SCHWEIT/WON Staff WriterPublished: Jul 02, 2009
SANTEE — The last thing I expected to be doing when I 
ventured to the Santee Lakes this past Thursday, June 25, was dangling a minijig in the face of a bedding bluegill, but, as I discovered, when the bass aren’t biting, these scrappy little panfish can indeed make a big difference.
Summer made its appearance known this past week, and when I arrived at the lakes, my in-car temperature gauge read a rather warm 95 degrees.
After taking a brief walk around lake 5 to assess the conditions (a habit I picked up from local big-bass expert Mike Long of Poway), I figured I’d begin by giving topwater a try. A rather thick mat of weed growth had taken up residence all around the shoreline (and even in the shallower mid-lake areas), and shad schools were darting in and out of the cover. I figured the bass would be hiding amongst the mats to ambush the baitfish as they cruised by — hence the choice of a Zara Puppy.
Without a strike or follow to show for my half-hour of casting, I switched over to a Yo-Zuri Pins Minnow in the hope of presenting a more accurate shad imitation. Unfortunately, such was not the case, as once again, I had not a single follow to show for my efforts.
Even the drop-shot Oxblood plastics and Berkley creature baits went unmolested, so after a few hours of fruitless casting, I waved my proverbial white flag and made the executive decision to switch over to bluegill — something I can honestly say I hadn’t done for years.
In retrospect, I should have made the switch much earlier in the day, as after landing my first ’gill, I was reminded of how fun it is to catch those lil’ guys.
Most of the fish were small, however, in amongst the dinks were a few hand-sized specimens. And the panfish were literally everywhere. Kids were handlining them using tiny nightcrawler pieces on diminutive baitholder hooks. I enjoyed merely watching them have a blast.
After getting my fill of ’gills, I called it an afternoon and headed back towards the beach and cooler climes.
If you don’t mind the heat, and a stringer or bucket of bluegill is your goal, now’s the time to hit the Santee Lakes and take advantage of the summer bite.
In addition to the outstanding bluegill action, the Santee Lakes are also currently playing host to a great catfish bite, with near-weekly stockings of the whiskerfish. Night fishing is also back, and on July 16 and 30, fishing will be allowed in lakes 1 thru 4 from 5 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. August dates are the 13th and 27th, and in September, night fishing will be slated for the 10th and 24th.
For more information on fishing or camping at the Santee Lakes, call (619) 596-3141 or visit their Web site at www.santeelakes.com.
|
||||
|
SANTEE — The last thing I expected to be doing when I ventured to the Santee Lakes this past Thursday, June 25, was dangling a minijig in the face of a bedding bluegill, but, as I discovered, when the bass aren’t biting, these scrappy little panfish can indeed make a big difference.Summer made its appearance known this past week, and when I arrived at the lakes, my in-car temperature gauge read a rather warm 95 degrees. After taking a brief walk around lake 5 to assess the conditions (a habit I picked up from local big-bass expert Mike Long of Poway), I figured I’d begin by giving topwater a try. A rather thick mat of weed growth had taken up residence all around the shoreline (and even in the shallower mid-lake areas), and shad schools were darting in and out of the cover. I figured the bass would be hiding amongst the mats to ambush the baitfish as they cruised by — hence the choice of a Zara Puppy. Without a strike or follow to show for my half-hour of casting, I switched over to a Yo-Zuri Pins Minnow in the hope of presenting a more accurate shad imitation. Unfortunately, such was not the case, as once again, I had not a single follow to show for my efforts. Even the drop-shot Oxblood plastics and Berkley creature baits went unmolested, so after a few hours of fruitless casting, I waved my proverbial white flag and made the executive decision to switch over to bluegill — something I can honestly say I hadn’t done for years. In retrospect, I should have made the switch much earlier in the day, as after landing my first ’gill, I was reminded of how fun it is to catch those lil’ guys. Most of the fish were small, however, in amongst the dinks were a few hand-sized specimens. And the panfish were literally everywhere. Kids were handlining them using tiny nightcrawler pieces on diminutive baitholder hooks. I enjoyed merely watching them have a blast. After getting my fill of ’gills, I called it an afternoon and headed back towards the beach and cooler climes. If you don’t mind the heat, and a stringer or bucket of bluegill is your goal, now’s the time to hit the Santee Lakes and take advantage of the summer bite. In addition to the outstanding bluegill action, the Santee Lakes are also currently playing host to a great catfish bite, with near-weekly stockings of the whiskerfish. Night fishing is also back, and on July 16 and 30, fishing will be allowed in lakes 1 thru 4 from 5 p.m. until 11:30 p.m. August dates are the 13th and 27th, and in September, night fishing will be slated for the 10th and 24th. For more information on fishing or camping at the Santee Lakes, call (619) 596-3141 or visit their Web site at www.santeelakes.com. |
||||
Digg This Article
