Any SD Bass fishermen on here? I'm going to lake Barrett tomorrow. WOOT!

Anybody been there recently? If so, what patterns did you have success with?

I hate to say, I haven't even wet a line in 2-3 years so I hope I haven't lost my touch.

For those of you who are not familiar with lake Barrett, it's a lake that was closed to fishing for many years and is now open on a VERY limited basis.

Most lakes in SD, if you catch 5,6,maybe 10 bass in a day you did pretty good. At Barrett there is a very real possibility to catch 50, & I have heard of hotshots catching over 100 bass in a day. I have personally caught close to 40- I lost count after awhile. I have also been skunked there, but when they're feeding at Barrett you come home sore from fighting fish!

I post this partly to find out if anyone's been there lately to find out what's working, but mostly just to say...


Neiner, neiner, neiner.

HA,HA

Nyah, Nyah, Nyah, nya, Nyah, Nyah!!

Lucky! I hear drop shotting has been the hot ticket lately. Chocolate with blue vein has been good to me over the years at all sd lakes. Never fished Barret though. Good Luck!

never been there but have been fortunate enough to know what you are saying about catching fish till your arms hurt. fish till you get a blister then put on a glove and keep going. good luck

Thanks for wishing me luck guys, I feel kinda' bad about the whole "neiner, neiner" thing now. Oh wait, there it passed.

NEINER, NEINER

I won't be diggin' it much at TWO freakin' THIRTY when I'm waking up, but once I start swingin' on fish it'll be all better.

Assuming I don't get skunked, I'll past some pics.

Yea your luck for sure. Be sure to keep us posted. Good luck.

Have to agree on the chocolate blue vien that was mentioned earlier, I have found that to work the best for me. However I am in no way a 'good bass fisherman'....I try and try, but get skunked more often than not. now in cooler temps and trout fishing thats a different story, but the bass have always been a challenge....I guess thats why I like it!


Take some pics! Oh and let a guy (this guy) know when you go again, Ill go! Hell, I know Ian would be game too, we drown some worms together up at cuyamaca recently

heres to you and your 40+ bass days.

aint had a good day like that in a long time...

I won the lottery there about 8-9 years ago.
Spinnerbaits were the ticket at that time..
Seeing as it's later in summer a carolina rigged plastic sounds about right. I am a salt & Pepper with a chartreuse tail kinda guy.. Either that or straight black.
I would drift through the coves at around 15 feet of water and work the plastics.
We had caught about 35 a piece, biggest being a 10lber. Those fish fight 2x harder than the fat pigs in the other lakes. I also believe they are not all hybrids either..
Good luck..
P.S.
By the dam and the farthest north cove were the best spots for us.

Yeah, I ain't countin' them yet. Like I said, I haven't been fishing in awhile (too many hobbies, not enough time) so I have a feeling there will be a few empty hooksets before I get my Mojo back.

I do appreciate the finger though.

We have a saying,,,,No ticky,,,No laundry,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,translated, No pics,,,,no fish

knock'em dead

i fished the closer last season there. purple senko's wacky rigged, or try orange cut tail senko's let em sink, and work em like a drop shot. fish in on rocks/weed beds or shoals. keep an eye out for busting shad, when you see them, rattle trap will kill them.

work the southern shore of houser canyon in the a.m.

Nothing too impressive but we caught a few at Santee Lakes today on drop shot (green and pumpkin shaky heads).

I think it was the second year they opened it up on the lottery I got in, and I was able to take the two friends who had always taken me out and put me on lots of fish, and taught me a lot about fishing. I'll never forget how good it felt to kinda' pay it back a little.

I think that was the best I've done there(or ever, for that matter). All three of us had somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-40 each. I also cought my personal best Bass that day- it taped out to be about 8 lbs., 6 oz., and I firmly believe it was not a hybrid. I'm sure it was a northern- a little more bullet shaped, and not the giant football gut.

I totally agree with about the way those fish fight, it's like they're pissed off! I remember catching quite a few that I thought were good-sized fish, and then you get them to the boat and it's a one pound fish. We called 'em "Pounders" 'cuz they weighed about a pound, and they just pounded your bait.

Must sleep now. Hopefully be back tomorrow to post many pics.

Weaz, that's not bad considering you're fishin' in what is now (if I remember correctly) your backyard, yes?

just to say niener niener back to you i am about to be hitting up a resovoir that is NOT open to the public out here in riverside. i have the hook ups with a buddy that goes with a fish and game warden. says that we should be able to catch up to about 60-80 STRIPERS within 4-5 hours.


also good luck and have fun too.

I've seen you fish and you couldn't catch 60 fish if I threw them to you

looks like a nice lake.
But the web site says (The cost for a reservation is $80.00, plus Ticketmaster's normal fees. One reservation is good for up to four people and includes a boat and motor. Plus each person must purchase a daily fishing permit at the lake for $20.00 per person )
Is that correct?

well, make us jealous now..

When I was a kid my dad and his friend knew of a way to sneak into Barrett and fish. They would take trail bikes and then hide them in the bushes.

I love fishing......but sadly my old man doesn't. Here is a photo of a fish I caught...I was on a boat in the ocean.

That's correct; my share was about $50, plus the food and drinks I took and the gas to get out there and back, and here's what I got for it...



























Wait for it....
























Oh yeah, it was epic.

1 Fish?


I hope you caught more.

It was as tough a day fishing as I've ever had at Barrett.

I guess all the build-up and neiner, neiner stuff was bound to come back and bite me.

I had high hopes in the morning, nice and calm, beautiful sunrise, but we didn't get more than a few short-strikes all morning. My buddy got one fish from
5:30 or 6:00 to about 11:30, and we tried fishin' tules, trees, weedbeds, points, rocks, you name it. We finally got into some fish on this steep rocky shore but right after we got there it got WINDY so it was tough hard work over there too. they weren't really slamming baits like Barrett bass usually do either; a couple of times when I KNEW a fish had picked up my bait and was moving off with it, I swung and got back my hook with a 1-2" piece of my plastic, like they were very carefully mouthing the baits rather than just inhaling them.

I was so happy when i finally got one and knew I wasn't getting skunked, I gave him a little kiss on his fish-lips and sent him on his way.

LOL!!

Sure I chuckle, but at least it wasnt a bust! I've had those days!

Nope, that's it.

I should probably lie (it is fishing after all) but I admit it. I fished all day at an unbelievably productive bass fishery and only caught one fish.

That's a very valuable fish though, I spent about $75.00 on it!

I was starting to get discouraged thinking that I had completely lost my mojo 'cuz I haven't fished in about three years, but we met up with our friends at about noon, and between three of them they only had eight fish, and five of those by the guy who has only fished a few times. Gotta' love the whole beginners luck thing with fishing! The other two guys in their boat fish a lot and are pretty good, and they had one and two fish. Out of all the boats I saw around us all day, I only saw a few fish being caught.

I guess days like this are why it's called fishin' instead of catchin'...

It was still a great day, out in God's country with good friends. We saw Coyotes and Deer... sure would have been nice to see some fish.

How often do you see this?

that is a wild hook up. my craziest hook up was at at castaic lake some time ago. i had a large mouth, maybe 2 lbs, tail hooked. it felt like i had a 15 lb fish on the line! imagine my disapointment once it surfaced as a tailhooked 2lb bass! oh well. a bad day fishing, beats a good day working!

You know what they say, I bad day fishing is better....................


oh and

Got a reservation for Aug 7.
Any tips before we head out? My 2 boys are really into fishing right now so we
hope they are still biting.
I want to camp somewhere the day before to make the drive a bit easier.
Thinking lake Moreno. Anyone know of any other campgrounds close by?

There are more reservations available if anyone wants to go.

This time of year my advice would be to hit them early as possible with some spinner baits...
When the sun comes out and it heats up I would drift a carolina rigged plastic worm..
Look for rocks and drop off's.. By the Dam is good and the rocky coves..
Fishing gets a little slow from 10-4... may want to re-gear up and go for blue gill's and crappie..
Then when the sun goes down, top water and plastic worms..
Be a looooong day, bring lotsa food and water!!
Have a great time!

Nice!.....Caught this in my back yard a couple of weeks ago....

Change of plans.



Going to SAND SEEKER'S back yard.

I fish Diamond Valley Lake pretty regularly. Great bass bite lately. Going next week to try out my new Triple Trout swim bait.

Staying at Lake Moreno on Saturday-fishing at Barrett on Sunday.

You, sir, are a butthead!



But good luck catching tons of fish! Remember - pics, or it didn't happen!!

The boys have been fishing almost everyday this summer. So if i get
skunked it is their fault.

Nice spotty bro! I gotta get my line wet.

thats a crappie not a spottie. i'll show you a spottie....

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spotties are in the ocean.

Wow, I had kinda' forgotten about this thread. Let us now how it goes, good luck.

You are correct on the crappie. But wrong on the Spotted Bass. AKA Kentucky Bass.

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Well we may it down to the lake.
Not a bad day of fishing. 95 degree heat made it tough. Will go again
next year when its cooler.
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Scored 2 tickets for June 3. Hoping for cooler weather and lots of bass.

SHIT! Just saw this and realized this is the second Tuesday. I gotta' get me some tickets.

Let us know how you do.

I guess June is sold out. We have sold our 4 float tube spots.