Though the pace of 20-pounders has slowed, a lot of people still consider this to be the lake where the next world record will be caught. Lake Castaic was already known as a big bass lake, but that 13-month span really put it on the map.Īt present, six of the 25 biggest bass of all time have come from Castaic Lake. For trophy bass fishermen, this lake a short drive north of Los Angeles is essentially the Holy Grail.īetween February 1990 and March 1991, four bass weighing more than 20 pounds were pulled from Castaic, including Bob Crupi’s still-supreme 22-pound, 0.5-ounce state record. There’s no way to talk about bass fishing in California without talking about Castaic Lake. That said, there’s a very good chance that the next world record largemouth bass is hooked in one of the following Southern California lakes.īoats staging for a Wounded Warriors fishing event (Jeffrey Walters photo) To find the best bass lakes in the remaining two thirds of the Golden State, including amazing fisheries like Clear Lake, the California Delta area and at least a dozen more, read the Best Largemouth Bass Lakes in Northern California. This article focuses on the best largemouth bass fishing lakes and reservoirs near Los Angeles, San Diego, and the rest of Southern California. Many have come close, and many more are still hopeful. There followed a flurry of anglers looking to break the 22-pound, 4-ounce record. Those 20-pounders were being caught at an alarming rate, suddenly throwing a national spotlight on places like Castaic Lake and the man-made reservoirs of San Diego County. There was a period of time in the late ’80s and early ’90s when it seemed like that record would be toppled at any moment. Most of those bruisers hail from the lakes we’re about to explore here today, and some came within a hair’s breadth of breaking the world record, caught by George Perry on a small Georgia lake in 1932. Northern largemouth bass started to thrive in SoCal right immediately upon their introduction in the late 1800s, but the arrival of Florida strain largemouth half a century later truly set the fishing world on fire.įlorida largemouths, introduced to California in 1959, grow bigger and faster than their northern cousins, routinely breaking the 10-pound mark and, on occasion, even exceeding 20 pounds. Want proof? Of the 25 biggest bass ever caught, 21 of them have been caught in California. There’s no better place in the world to go fishing for trophy largemouth bass than Southern California.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |