SPRINGTIME
laKe san antonio
by ken sauret
Story & Photo
SuccESS
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an antonio lake is located in southern Monterey County. When the lake is full, it is 17-miles long with over 5,500 surface acres of water, and approximately 65-miles of shoreline. The lake is located 25-miles northwest of Paso robles. For those en route to San antonio or other fisher- ies in the Monterey and San luis obispo Counties with their boat in tow, a quagga mussels inspection will be required prior to launch. to expedite the process, be sure that your boat is clean and dry with the plug out when you come. a trio of bass that include largemouth, small- mouth and stripers will greet the fishermen at San antonio.
on San Antonio
you find the bait, the stripers are not far away. tie on a Heddon Sonic to mimic the shad and get the stripers that are feeding down deep.
LARGEMOUTH & SMALLMOUTH
during the summer the largemouth and small- mouth on San antonio can be caught; but it’s usually best at dawn and dusk. all the normal bass tackle can catch fish; but like any lake, you will have to figure out what the best technique is when you arrive. in late February as the days get longer, the water starts to warm up, and the smallmouth appear from the depths to start their prespawn ritual. The small- mouth in this lake respond real well to a ripbait. Start looking on main lake points and as spring days length- en, when the water warms and the males show up, you will know it is only a couple of weeks until those outside points will hold the heavier females. These fish will be feeding and will also want to be in the warmer surface water to get their metabolism going in preparation for the rigors of the spawn. Sometime in March the male smallmouth will move inside small coves into shallower, warm water and stake out their territory to prepare spawning beds. Sight fishing is fun; but when you see the beds and there is only one fish on it, this will be the male and the heavier females are on those staging points where you caught the rip fish a couple weeks ago. So if you are trying to put the most weight in your bag, target the females.
STRIPERS
The stripers start showing up around May and then go deep for the winter sometime in late Sep- tember or october. The weekend angler can have some hot and heavy action during the summer when the stripers are in big schools chasing threadfin shad. There are times when striper boils will last for 15-min- utes and at other times a couple single fish come up, giving away their location. Zara Spooks almost always get these fish when they are active on top; but they don’t feed on the sur- face every day. on those days when you don’t see the boils, get on your lowrance HdS unit and cover water. You will be looking for schools of shad because when
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