Bakersfield.com Outdoor / Fishing

May 17 fish report

Thu, 16 May 2013 23:20:12 PDT

Kern County, southern San Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: The crappie bite remains good, but the bite is a little tougher with fewer limits, but a lot of nice fish from 1-8 to 2-8 showing for both shore, float tube and boat anglers in Boulder Gulch, Paradise Cove, Rocky Point and Piney Point. The best bite has been on live minnows, but fish are also showing on crappie jigs, especially when tipped with a bait or Crappie Nibble. The catfish bite is also good. Bass action is fair to good, and quite a few bluegill are also being caught.

Steve Merlo: With all the chirping, how can anyone sleep?

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:50:46 PDT

Since March, male birds, decked out in their finest colors, have been singing, chirping or cooing while trying to seduce prospective females into selecting their perfect mate. Now, in late spring, the rituals, nest building and egg laying are over and parents are scrambling to feed their newly hatched offspring. The month of May stands a busy time with Mom and Dad working from dawn to dusk to fulfill the chicks' ravenous need for feed. But, at the same time, my sleep time goes into the trash can, and I don't like it.

At our house, the yard seems to be the neighborhood focal point for a lot of different types of birds working to sate their offspring. My wife and I don't deliberately feed them, but they still incessantly invade our yard, trees and shrubs hunting for insects, seeds, worms and other whatnots, and, like it or not, we have to put up with their noise and poop deposits.

Steve Merlo: Rockfish season opens on the Central Coast

Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00:02 PDT

I wrangled an ocean-fishing invitation from some friends last week, going out of Morro Bay on their private boat to do battle with some rockfish. The season had officially opened a few days before and we were eager to find some filets for the freezer.

The ocean stood relatively calm with only a light breeze when we started, so we made for some of the underwater rock structures only a few miles from the estuary's entrance to try our hands with relatively light tackle. Once fishing, we found a few rockfish, including gophers, chinas, vermilions and a handful of short ling cod that were fun to catch but had to be released (ling cod must be 22 inches from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail to keep.).

May 10 fish report

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:58:04 PDT

Kern County, So. San Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: The crappie bite remains wide open here again this week. Limits of fish from 1-8 to 2-8 showing for both shore, float tube and boat anglers in Boulder Gulch, Paradise Cove, Rocky Point and Piney Point. The best bite has been on live minnows, but fish are also showing on crappie jigs, especially when tipped with a bait or Crappie Nibble. The catfish bite is also good . The bass action is fair to good, mostly on plastics and reaction baits and quite a few bluegill are also being caught.

Steve Merlo: Ridgecrest angler snags $10K trout at Isabella

Thu, 02 May 2013 20:50:06 PDT

After the Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce decided to extend the time limit for catching 10 big-money trout swimming in Isabella Lake (holdovers from the recent derby), hundreds of already-registered derby participants continued their quest for some fast cash.

On Wednesday, Ridgecrest angler Edward Davis, while fishing from the main dam area, hooked a trout wearing, you guessed it, tag #0404, and went home $10,000 richer. Davis enticed the 18-inch trout while dunking green PowerBait.

May 3 fish report

Thu, 02 May 2013 23:37:35 PDT

Kern County, So. San Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: It's crappie mania again here this week. The crappie bite has been wide open in the past few days with limits of fish from 1-8 to 2-8 showing for both shore, float tube and boat anglers in Boulder Gulch, Paradise Cove, Rocky Point and Piney Point. The best bite has been on live minnows, but fish are also showing on crappie jigs, especially when tipped with a bait or Crappie Nibble. The catfish bite is also fair to good on shad and minnows with fish to 8 pounds, but most pan-sized.

Steve Merlo: Derby officials extend time to catch big-money trout

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:30:35 PDT

Unforeseen environmental conditions, including increasingly high barometric pressure and fluctuating water temperatures put last weekend's Isabella Lake Trout Derby to bed without any big money winners. With more than 20,000 recently planted trout swimming in the lake, only a very few made it on to anglers' stringers and of those, very few were tagged fish. Not only were fishermen disappointed, but tourney officials, wishing to give away as much tagged-fish money as possible, were also saddened by the dismal fish counts.

In an unprecedented move to ensure fairness for all fishermen entered into the event, derby committee chairman and President of the Kern River Valley Chamber of Commerce Fred Roach decided to extend the time limit for reeling in one of the 10 big-money fish still swimming in the lake until Labor Day. People originally entered into the derby will still be able to take home some serious cash by latching onto one of the 10 tagged fish originally worth from $10,000-20,000. The new amounts for the fish will be: Any of the nine $10,000 tagged fish will now be worth $1,000 and the single $20,000 fish will still be worth a cool $10,000.

April 26 fish report

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 22:37:17 PDT

Kern County, southernSan Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: It's crappie mania here this week. The crappie bite has been wide open in the past few days. A report can be found in Steve Melo's column on the facing page.

Steve Merlo: Plenty of tagged trout at Isabella fishing derby

Thu, 18 Apr 2013 23:22:54 PDT

This weekend's Isabella Lake Fishing Derby, despite near-record low lake levels, will go on as advertised, and plenty of room will be available for anglers vying for the 1,000 tagged trout planted in the Kern River Valley impoundment.

Promoters of the popular event claim the lake will have nearly 100,000 acre feet by tournament time, making the lake one of the largest bodies of water in California.

Steve Merlo: Sharpshooters set to compete in 33rd Ken Barnes Open

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:28:28 PDT

Ken Barnes and I have been hunting partners for nearly 40 years, chasing ducks, geese, doves and other game birds across Canada and the US. Now, I'm a fairly decent shot with a shotgun; not nearly as good as he is, you understand, but still good enough that the two of us don't often miss an easy set-up, in, say, a duck or goose blind.

We have a ton of fun shooting together, but, believe it or not, I can easily count the shots he's missed over the years on my 10 fingers. On the other hand, I would never try to document my misses. Let's just say I buy boxes of shells while he buys but one carton at a time. That's a high percentage of hits for him, folks, and one has to wonder how he got to be so good with a scatter-gun.

April 12 fish report

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 23:27:37 PDT

Kern county, southernSan Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: In spite of low water levels, the crappie action broke open this week with a lot of fish from two to three pounds reported off the bank in Paradise Cove. Most anglers are getting the fish on small minnows or small crappie jigs tipped with Crappie Nibbles. The bass action is getting better as the fish move up to spawn, and a few more trout are starting to show in the dam area. The 24th Annual Lake Isabella Fishing Derby will be held April 20-22 and there will be over $250,000 in potential prizes, including one tagged trout worth $20,000 and nine others worth $10,000 if caught during the event. Registration is $20 per person or $45 per family (husband and wife and up to three kids with additional kids just $5 each). More derby information at isabellafishingderby.com or by calling (866) 578-4386. The catfish bite has also been pretty fair, but no reports on bluegill or carp.

Steve Merlo: Crappie fishing starting to take shape at Isabella

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:27:39 PDT

Some giant crappies have finally moved shallower from their 25-35-foot haunts this week at Lake Isabella in the Kern River Valley. Anglers are reporting fish weighing in excess of 2 pounds each and some as large as 3 as the long awaited spawning run commences with the great weather. Crappie need 60-62-degree water temperatures to begin the spawning process and indications are that the magical temperatures have finally arrived.

Anglers will first notice an upsurge in males heading to the 4- to 8-foot shallows to dig and fan out their nests (called redds), followed closely by the egg-laden females. Right now, most of the fish remain deeper than 12 feet, but along with the warming weather, the schools will begin making more and more sojourns into the shallows to check out possible nesting areas. Because the spawning process is so strenuous, these offshore schools will also be feeding heavily to put on fat stores for the reproduction event, a plus to fishermen seeking to make regular contact with the papermouths.

April 5 fish report

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 19:06:07 PDT

Kern County, southern San Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: Check out Steve Merlo's column on facing page for report on crappie. Aside from crappie, the low water and windy conditions have made for less-than-ideal fishing. The best action has been for catfish, but that bite is just fair. Largemouth bass are mostly slow.

March 29 fish report

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 23:25:05 PDT

Kern County, southern San Joaquin Valley

LAKE ISABELLA: Overall pretty tough fishing with windy conditions much of the week. The best action has been for catfish, but that bite is just fair. The only crappie reports have been from boat anglers fishing deeper water with live minnows, and those reports have been scanty. Even the largemouth bass are mostly slow. No trout reports.

Steve Merlo: Pointers on removing fish hooks from trout

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 20:40:38 PDT

We've all seen the guys and gals catching and tossing back bleeding trout caught on bait so they can continue fishing. With the Kern River Valley's Trout Derby on the horizon April 20-22, concerned folks are e-mailing me with questions about getting the hook out of a trout that has swallowed the hook so they can release the fish.

My answer is simple: A bleeding trout is definitely a dying trout, so I cannot recommend any method of hook removal for live release. However, most lip-caught trout, carefully handled, can be immediately returned to the water, as in the case of trout caught on lures or other artificials. Retrieving a hook from the tummy of a trout is a simple procedure: use either a hook-disgorger or one of the new hook removal guns (far and away the best of the two) to get your hook back.