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t’s been an unusual year for western fisheries,
primarily because much-needed water has entered
the region. The lakes are high just about everywhere in California, especially. While it’s been good news for
everyone, the fishing quality has been slightly off, according
to tournament angler and American Bass Association
tournament director Clara Ricabal. Still, anglers who have
adapted to the changes are finding some success and the
bass are still there.
Ricabal stays in the know about what’s happening
in Northern California and goes fishing often, including
winning a large team event on Don Pedro this summer. She
believes this year’s fall fishing will come down to making
adjustments and sticking with the staples that always seem
to work when autumn rolls into the region.
HIGHER WATER AND UNCERTAIN BITE
Over the past several years, everyone knew California needed a massive wet season to fill the lakes. Well, it happened and nearly every lake in the state is where it needs to be. While it looks good, it has made things a little more challenging on the bass fishing side of things, according to Ricabal.
“It was a long winter and that’s led to a longer spring and summer,” she said. “Everything is still behind and even in July, the snow had not fully melted in the mountains, which has changed everything this year. This year, most of the bass seem to be as confused as the anglers.”
With so much new water in the lakes, the ecosystem has changed and there is plenty more cover to explore, both for the bass and bass anglers looking to catch them.
“I hear from a lot of anglers saying that they don’t even recognize the shorelines anymore because they look so much different,” said Ricabal, adding that there is more opportunity up shallow now than in recent years. “The fish are up on the new structure that’s been submerged, giving way to more shallow water fishing on many lakes. In many instances, it’s like a whole new lake.”
FALL STAPLES
No matter where you live, you can count on some fall fishing staples to come into
play. Topwater, frogs, and finesse fishing are several things that work everywhere and Ricabal plans to use them all this year.
“I’m looking forward to the fall topwater bite, both with walking baits and poppers,” she said. “The frog bite also really kicks off strong on Clear Lake and the Delta this time of year. For topwater, I like the 7-foot, 3-inch medium-heavy rods in several St. Croix lineups. For frogs, the Slop-N-Frog model in the new St. Croix Mojo Bass Trigon is great; it’s a 7-foot, 3-inch heavy rod with a redesigned handle.”
The Mojo Bass Series has been out for years, but they redesigned the handle with a unique feel and size while keeping the lineup affordable. The changes were done after the design team studied anthropometrics, data on ergonomics and how people hold things and then created a slimmer handle. It’s a unique fishing rod design approach, but it appears to have worked.
“Being a woman, someone with smaller hands, I really like how well these rods feel in my hands,” said Ricabal. “They are very comfortable and I never liked cork handles because they felt too bulky. St. Croix put a lot of research and trial and error into getting these just right.”
One of the biggest trends in recent years is forward- facing sonar and many companies are designing lures and gear that make fishing this way easier. The west coast is no exception to the trend and it’s been very popular on the
Fall 2023
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