Fishing Santa Margarita Lake

John White had been eying this patch of reeds all afternoon.
From the opposite side of the lake, he would make a couple casts, retrieve and look over to new growth tucked away toward the back of his favorite cove, wondering just how many bass were buried under those pads.
As his boat drifted closer and closer to the sticks, White became giddy than a child on Christmas Eve.
“I always pull a big one out of here,” he said confidently, flippin’ his favorite plastic crawfish about as his boat entered the cove.
Once he finally reached the reeds, White was so wound up he was off his game, missing targeted holes with his initial pitches.
White circled the 25-foot wide island of weeds in a slow, counter clock-wise pass, but completed the swoop without a bite.
“One more pass,” he said in a determined tone as if he needed to say a word.
This was a section that had to house the “whopper of the day.”
Tons of cover. Warm, clean water. Frogs, crawfish and bluegills everywhere. This was hawg heaven.
Wham!
“There we go,” White exclaimed, arching his back and raising his heavyweight bass rod high above his head.
Once the bass realized it was hooked, the brut bulldozed through the reeds and nearly tied his rod in a knot.
But White, fishing with line that was nearly as thick as the reeds he was pitchin’ through, powered the largemouth out of the brush and into the an open section of the cove. He slowly guided the fish toward the surface and scooped his trophy from the water.
“Look at that! Whadaya think? Five or six pounds?” he sandbagged.
At least. Fish like this midday monster hadn’t been seen around these parts in a couple years.
In fact, the section that White was fishing was dry as bone only a couple months earlier as three years of drought parched the inflowing Salinas River.
“It’s been a long time coming,” he said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the lake look this good.”
Crystal-clear water. Lush green hills. Wildlife sprinkled about the lake’s edges, and large schools of baitfish darting about the shallows.
It’s easy to see why locals are calling their favorite reservoir “Margaritaville” again.
A near-record rainfall during the 2004-05 rain season helped breath new life into the once forgotten fishery. A reservoir that in September 2005 had dropped below 30 percent of its capacity for the first time in more than a decade.
Santa Margarita, which supplies drinking water for the City of San Luis Obispo, had been reduced to a puddle and local water managers feared a major drought would starve the area like those of the late 1980s and early 90s.
By fall 2004, much of the marina was high and dry. Both launching ramps were unusable. Trout plants were halted. Bass tournaments canceled. Aside from the weekend kayaker and the occasional shore fishermen, the lake had become useless for recreational purposes.
No rain, no gain
Then, as if she’d been listening to anglers' prayers and watching the rain dances of the lake’s ranger staff, Mother Nature quenched the reservoir’s thirst with one of the soggiest rain years the area has has ever seen.
San Luis Obispo County receives close to 41 inches or rain during the 2004-05 rain season (which runs from July 1 through June 30). It was the seventh-highest rainfall total since records were kept beginning in 1869, some 17 inches above the county average.
Unofficial weather watchers in Santa Margarita recorded more than 53 inches during the season, nearly 20 more inches of rain than Seattle, known as one of the soggiest places in the country, received during the same time span.
Before anglers knew it, the reservoir was at maximum capacity for the first time in seven years and was as high as 105 percent in March 2005.
Santa Margarita went on to enjoy one of its most fruitful spring and summer seasons.
The launch ramps were up and running. Trout plants returned. Bass tournaments were being held every other weekend.
And after going two years without a marina store, Don and Sandra Lopez came in and unveiled a new-and-improved marina in May. Their full-service outfit includes boat reports, a half-dozen rental boats, and, most importantly, tackle and first-hand fish reports from around the lake.
“It’s the best I’ve seen it,” said Brad Austin, who grew up in nearby Atascadero in regularly competes in weekend bass tournaments at his hometown water. “It looks like a different lake. There’s almost too much water in there. Now the tough part is finding where the fish are nowadays.”
New habitat, new methods
Santa Margarita Lake is nestled in the west coastal foothills about 12 miles east of San Luis Obispo.
The large 1,100-acre lake was created in 1941 by the construction of the Salinas River Dam, designed to provide water to Camp San Luis Obispo. The lake is still a major water source for San Luis Obispo, which is why swimming, skiing and other water contact sports are prohibited.
That’s why Margaritaville is an ideal getaway for die-hard bassers. Fewer skiers/recreational boaters usually translates into better fishing opportunites for anglers, which is why it seems like there's a bass tourney going on there every other weekend.
And with all of the new-fangled structure and fish habitat, local bass anglers are still trying to get a feel for what the lake’s resident largemouth bass population prefers.
The lake’s been up for almost a year now, and many of the lake’s best bass fishermen still differ in their opinions about what approach works best for quality bass.
White prefers flippin’ plastics, like the dark purple crayfish he pitched into the “pads” to pick up that 6-pound potbelly last spring.
Dave Widger is of the same school of thought and calls the Yum Craw Bug his go-to flip bait.
Tournament tested bass veterans like Mark Hinson and Joey Davis also live and die by flippin’ around the “bush and stickups.”
Austin, on the other hand, he’s a fool for throwing Texas-rigged Brush Hog near rocky structure.
Matthew Kohl turns to green Senkos and Roboworms or pumpkin seed-colored Berkley plastic worms around the launch ramps, docks or other structure found around the perimeter.
Then there are those who believe color is overrated. That was the feeling last July when the local team of Pat Fadeley and Kevin Rayner struck out on curly tailed and flecked worms of various colors but made killing on plain, brown plastic worms en route to a victory at a Tri Valley Bass Club competition at the lake.
Then there are those who swear by crankbaits (Jim McKenzie fishes Rat-L-Traps in the morning), Jig and Pig (Steven Dubiel prefers a jig with a blue trailer) and spinnerbaits (Marty Sette had his best day of fishing last spring on an orange and black spinnerbait of all things).
Springing into action
While few agree on the best way to catch quality largemouth, nearly everyone will agree now’s the best time to do it.
When spring arrives, Santa Margarita bass begin to make their seasonal move into the new shallow breaks in search of nesting sites. Some will begin to spawn early in the warmer sections of lake, but for the most part these northern-strains are in their prespawn feeding mode until summer-like temperatures hit the lake for a good week or so without any major cold fronts to stir things up in between.
“It seems like everything will work in the spring,” White said. “Top water, worms off the points and I know guys will be flippin’ all year with all of the cover up there.”
In the spring, White and his tourney counterparts will pitch and flip dark plastics around the permiter with their hefty 8-foot rods and 30-pound test.
Anglers looking for quantity rather than quality will do best with top-water lures in the early morning, drop-shot worms and small spinnerbaits (white Beetle Spins are local favorite for both crappies and bass) in the afternoon, and hard baits once the sun ducks over the hills.
The best hard baits resemble shad or small rainbow trout, are slow moving and make plenty of noise. Top shallow-water options include lipless baits like a Rat-L-Trap, Strike King Diamond Shad Premier, Cotton Cordell Super Spot, small-lipped Rapalas such as a Fat Rap, Stanford Cedar Shad or an Abu Garcia Tormentor.
Topwater baits such as poppers, walkers and frogs work well at sunset. And while night fishing is not permitted at Santa Margarita, the ranger staff allows anglers to fish up to a half-hour after sunset – which is often the best bite of the day.
“Crankbaits have been the best bait around sunset,” said former head ranger Chuck Woodard, who still fishes the lake on occassion. “When there is no moon, it seems like the bass are going crazy for crankbaits and hard baits in the shallows.”
Stocked full of trout
The Department of Fish and Game stocks medium-sized rainbow trout in the lake every couple weeks in the spring. When the DFG is providing stocks, the Santa Margarita Lake staff turns to the Calaveras Trout Farm for bigger fish in the 1- to 2-pound range. A typical plant from the Calaveras plant is around 1,000 pounds, which can be made up of some 700 trout (with fish averaging around 1.4 pounds).
Three or four days after a plant, trout usually head for deeper water. But for the first couple days, trout can be hauled in on spinners and traditional scented baits.
The bass bite will also pick up a few days after a plant for anglers pitching rainbow trout swimbaits.
Shore fishermen cruising the lake’s 22 miles of shoreline in search of trout usually stick with ultra-light tackle such as Kastmasters, Roostertails, Super Dupers and Panther Martins on 4- to 6-pound test. Bait anglers cast into deeper water with salmon eggs, rainbow PowerBait and night crawlers.
Trollers do best on large yellow or white Roostertails, gold or silver Kastmasters, or light-colored Needlefish in The Narrows, the stretch in front of the marina and down near the dam.
Trout can usually be found down at 20 to 25 feet.
Tough-luck crappies
The only species that tougher to figure out than the bass are the crappies.
One day you’ll enjoy a 30-fish day. The next day there’s none to be had.
Santa Margarita’s black crappies can be tough to locate, but once you get a handle on their tendencies, the crappie bite here is as good as anywhere in the state.
The key to finding a nice school is locating the right temperature and cover.
It’s no secret slab sides, a warmwater fish, prefer just that, warmer water. That’s why float tubers are often the most successful crappie fishermen. Tubers have the advantage because they can get a better feel for changes in water temperatures as they kick along. If the lake is hovering around 60-63 degrees, belly boaters will kick until the find a brush-laden cove in the mid- to upper-60s. If the inlet is in full sunlight and is protected from the wind, you’ve found the perfect spot.
Keep dropping crappie jigs, grubs, minnows or night crawlers in and around brush piles and it’s only a matter of time before you hit the strike zone.
“The crappie catches have been amazing,” Woodard said. “There’s guys catching 30-plus fish in a day. The key is finding the schools.”
King of the catfish
Santa Margarita’s Roy Baro is known as the lake’s resident catfish expert.
Back in 2000, Baro made it his goal to catch 100 catfish and he reached his target with plenty of time to spare.
Baro uses a nasty stink bait he prepares himself and consists of chicken liver he leaves out in the sun the day or two before his trip.
And “the stinkier the better,” he says.
Whiskerfish in the 20-pound class can be caught down near the dam all year long. The catfish spread out all over the lake in the fall and can be caught down in shallower water near the marina or the White Oak portion of the lake.
Most catfish anglers use night crawlers, mackerel and anchovies for bait.