Originally Posted by
CL SmooV
Reminds me of a pattern I learned back in the summer of 2011.
Maybe someone can confirm the name of the vegetation that grows long vertically....is it Milfoil? Coontail? I don't know which.
Anywho....an old fishing buddy and I fished Lower Castaic one day.....my first time out on the lagoon in a boat. I was amazed by the vertical vegetation. It was abundant and LONG. Every 2-4 feet there would be a space, or an opening, where you cold present your lure vertical and catch one here and there. I could feel my lure hit the bottom, in some cases, 15-18 feet down. Mostly 8-10 feet though. I didnt realize the length of these things fishing from shore. It gave me some ideas on how to fish the lake, seeing what I observed from a boaters perspective for the first time.
The following weekend, I headed back to the lagoon-- at night. I walked over to a location not too far from where we caught a couple fish on the boat the weekend before. This was the area where I had observed every 2-4 feet, there was an opening in between the thick vertical vegetation. I told myself on the boat, that I am going to come back at night and toss a senko down one of these "openings". I felt that the boat and trolling motor spooked most big bass so our presentations would only entice smaller fish for the most that used the vegetataion for cover. But at night, and from the bank, I felt I could present with better stealth.
I was unsuccessful finding an "opening" in the veg 80% of the time after a cast. My senko didnt sink at all. But when I made the right placement, I could feel my senko falling perfectly in between them. As deep as 8 to 10 feet or so. After 15 mins or so of rying to get that perfect cast -- I get ROCKED! Set the hook hard. I knew it was a giant. Never felt a head shake like that. It surfaced, jumped, and the splash was loud! After 2-3 more jumps, a camper (hint to my location), heard the splash and came down with his kid to see what I had hooked on. They watch me try to get this thing out of the veggies. It was hard. I kept saying out loud that this fish isn't gonne get through! After 3 or 4 minutes, I felt a pop, and the fish began to swim out of the veg, and I muscled it in to the shoreline.
Result? My first DD. A 10.2. As I lifted the fish out of the water, the mans' kid bolted back up the trail to their camp site. The fish scared him!
After this night, I became more inclined to fish thick vegetation. I was reserved from getting "in the middle" of the stuff before. And after this summer night, I would go back to multiple locations, fishing the veggies with a top water, senko of course, and a heavy jig or punch bait. Early mornings, the top water dominated, and as the day went on senko would get the job done. The heavy jig or punch bait didn't pan as much, as goon fish are over-pressured, and the heavy baits made em swim off most of the time I guessed.
Good memories!