Hey guys. New southern California member looking for new places to fish

[riverbud55]

Thomas welcome to the boc, as Tim has said if you want some good cat fishing head to the river got lots of channels and some big flats to be found and there not stockers and its free just a 200 mile drive.

As far as fishing the vine bluehunter has the info on that, one other thing fishing on the vine with live bait is a no no , only place to fish with live bait in so cal is the river

[CatfishSeeker]

I'm a new guy to the forum and this is my first post. Unfortunately it's a negative one.

Went out to Irvine lake here in Southern California, lookin for some catfish. Ran over to a small area that I knew I could catch some bluegill, and I ended up with one. I motored over to the middle of the lake about 50 yards from the dam. I threw out the bluegill on a 5/0 Circle hook and waited. I baited up my second rod with some mackerel and waited. After an hour I switched the second rod to Catmando(chicken liver flavor) and again nothin. Overall, I ended the day with a skunk :( The bluegill didnt count cuz the hook missed his mouth and I got him in the belly.

Is there anyone in here from SoCal? I'd like to find some lakes for catfish, because all I have here is "pay to play" lakes and they're no good to fish at anyway. Very frustrating.


Seeker

[Desperado]

Welcome to the site!!

[laidbck111]

I do not know the area just wanted to say WELCOME TO THE BOC

[FishMan]

welcome to you....just dive in

[kycatman01]

Welcome to the BOC!!

[Pastor E]

Welcome to the BOC Thats why we call it fishing not catching we all get skunked some more than they want to admit:waaaht:

[Nightprowler]

Hey Tom welcome to the B.O.C,alot of great people and alot of info to be had here.

[SeedTick]

Hey Thomas, welcome to the Brotherhood. We've got some folks from California that ought to check in with you shortly. We're glad to have you in the family and you just make yourself at home.

st

[vini]

Welcome Thomas to BOC theres a few southerners here they 'll get at you as they show up.

I was going to suggest you look around some but it seems they've CLEAN SWEEPED our board here of old threads, least thats whats seems to have happened......

[truckin4x4]

can't help you for places to fish but welcome to the boc man. you could try the cali forum though

[Cherokee]

Welcome to the BOC!!

[crayzeecade]

My advice being a newbie as well is don't go to Silverwood Lake in late summer like around Labor Day. I went there with my girlfriend and we didnt catch anything all day. Even rented a boat for 3 hours and not a thing. I used corn, powerbait liver, nightcrawlers, nightcrawler eggs, jigs, and an immitation minnow... nothing at all.. even did some bank fishing for a few hours and that was ruined because of all the bees on the shore near the beaches. Other that that its a pay lake too.

Near here is Puddingstone Lake and I really don't hear much good fishing there either. Santa Fe Dam is a nice peaceful place to try that I havent. If you plan on doing serious fishing and doing it on pay lakes I reccommend buying the 150 dollar yearly pass to all pay lakes in California. I think thats how it goes. Let me know if you want to fish sometime it would work out better to do pay lakes if there is another to split the expenses. I go to college right now at Mt Sac and its tough to get away.

[askins00]

Hey welcome to the B.O.C. I live in the area and lake perris isn't that bad of a spot since they lowered the lake levels. It is also much cheaper than those pay lakes and the fishing is much better. hope this helps.

[teaysvalleyguy]

Welcome to the BOC, always great to have another new member.

[tigger_tat_55]

hi there,

welcome to the site.

as far as places to fish. if you dont want to pay. the Colorado river is the place to be.

I will be back in cali in a few weeks and will be heading down that way trying to get a few flats. if you would like to give it try let me know. the imperial valley is another good place for cats.

[janton311]

Welcome to the BOC Thomas...:cool2:

[riverbud55]

Thomas welcome to the boc, as Tim has said if you want some good cat fishing head to the river got lots of channels and some big flats to be found and there not stockers and its free just a 200 mile drive.

As far as fishing the vine bluehunter has the info on that, one other thing fishing on the vine with live bait is a no no , only place to fish with live bait in so cal is the river

< had to repost this post from last week, once again my post from last week ended up with a date posted 8/14/ 03 the # 1 post lol >

[gcarlin]

Catfishseeker,welcome To The Brotherhood. Have Fun And Looking Forward To Reading Your Posts. Good Luck .

[whiskers77]

Welcome to the BOC Thomas, there are a few of us from southern California here but not too many. Dale is right on about the Colorado river, some real good catfishing through there. The Channel cat on my avatar and profile pic came out of there at the Parker Strip. Closer to home is tough because so many lakes are private and the ones that are not private usually charge to park. Some of the private lakes stock up really good numbers of catfish but they nail you big to get in the gate. Hesperia lake, Corona lake, and Anaheim Lake are all stocking large numbers of catfish each week. Irvine lake is probably the best place to go that want cost you an arm and a leg to get into. I have heard there is a pretty decent catfish bite at Silverwood but I haven't been there in a long time. It can be real hit and miss there, you hear about people doing really well and also about plenty others getting skunked. My suggestion would be to stick it out at Irvine, I've seen a lot of pictures of some nice kitties coming out of there lately. Good luck to you, please post your reports on the BOC.

[billcatfish]

welcome to the boc you will find some pople on here that will help you out good luck hope to see you around

[riverbud55]

yep irvine has been kicking out some nice cats as of late, catmando just hooked up a 60lb blue last fri.. been some good channels got out of there also

[plumbertom1]

Be extremely cautious about what you use for bait, bluegill are classed as game fish in Ca. and are illegal to use as bait any where except the Colorado River. If you think its expensive to pay to fish wait until you get a F&G fine, you wont believe it.

[bluehunter]

You do not have to worry about the DFG at the Vine but still Irvine does not allow that to be used as a private lake as bait. Too bad as they make excellent bait but better pan fry IMO. Irvine is a lake that you have to learn and go at the right time at the right spot. I been fishing that lake since the mid 80's and I know what up at that lake and where to fish. You want to concentrate in the flats in the summer months and then go to deeper water during the fall and winter.

There are also other good cat lakes in So cal and I would suggest reading western outdoor news to keep up with the reports. There are plenty of other lakes that are not pay to play like the ones in San Diego, Casista, isabella, Skinner, Silverwood, etc. Just keep up on the reports.

[Vulture]

First I like to say WELCOME Thomas. You'll find good info on this site along with alot of BOC memebers who are willing to share their expertise. I heard from the cat vine that there maybe a gathering taking place at the river some time soon. It's still in the works but keep your eye open for the post. As Riverbud said the river is the way to go....both flatties and channels. We knocked them out last summer and we are still learning.