San Bernardino National Forest Rainbow Trout Creek Fishing

Not much to share here, except amazing scenery, beautiful fish and another lasting set of memories from trout fishing in the San Bernardino National Forest. All fish 100% Catch and Release.
Oh, and how about a little video from the trip? Check it out below.

Mangler Lure 4'' Swimbait Review

I’m always on the lookout for good alternatives to more expensive lures. One that recently caught my eye was the Mangler 4’’ swimbait, available for just $2.75. For fans of smaller swimbaits, it should be apparent that the Mangler 4’’ swimbait is very similar to incredibly popular Megabait Charlieswimbait (ICAST Best New Lure Winner and reviewed at Tackle Tour). I noticed this immediately and this was one of the main reasons I was interested in this lure. I’ve caught a lot of quality largemouth bass on the Megabait Charlie, including some very hefty fish and I curious to see if the Mangler’s version would be a viable alternative.

See that swimbait in the mouth? This is a 5lb largemouth I caught on the Megabait Charlie swimbait

Mangler 4'' Swimbait Action

San Dimas Reservoir Fishing Exploration Video

San Dimas Reservoir, in the Los Angeles National Forest, is in the hills above San Dimas, California. It's a fairly small reservoir, when compared to the nearby San Gabriel, Morris and Big Dalton reservoirs (only one of those is open for fishing, sadly). This region was hit pretty hard by the Williams Fire, several years back. I've heard the fire resulted in a lot of soot and other debris being deposited in San Dimas Reservoir, and that, along with recent draining and dredging, supposedly killed the most of the fishery that previously existed. Reports from local fishing websites described trout, bass, sunfish and catfish being caught at San Dimas Reservoir prior to that fire, but I hadn't seen any new reports in a long time. Still, the reservoir is listed as open for fishing online and that was enough for me to go check it out.(More on the legal status of fishing at this reservoir below).

Mackerel Attack!

I usually go fishing for freshwater species. However, at times I'll get to fish the mighty Pacific Ocean, usually from various piers and jetties scattered across the coast. Laguna, Dana Point, Newport and so on-all offer some fun fishing opportunities for a wide variety of species. I'm still working on improving my lure skills in saltwater; I usually do better with cut pieces of shrimp, but I have manged a few nice catches on jigs.
Recently went out to one of my favorite jetties and had a ball catching mackerel all afternoon. To be honest, the mack bite wasn't as wild as it sometimes is, but it was still fun. I and my friend managed to land close to 20 mackerel in a few hours. We kept the largest 4; they are quite tasty if prepared correctly. It was really fun to watch the pelicans crash into the surf, as they divebombed schools of macks and other fish.