More uRbAn CrEeK Fishing Fun: Bass and Green Sunfish + Underwater Video

[Video report, report with new photos!]

Will I ever get tired of urban creek fishing? Tired of fish eager to bite, the thrill of finding a new spot smack dab in the middle of suburbia with no other anglers in sight? Tired of bass and sunfish fishing that doesn't cost me a ridiculous $12-$15 (cough Diamond Valley Lake cough) just to fish?

Received a friendly tip on this new urban creek from a great fellow angler. Tales of eager bass were readily received and I quickly hit the road. The creek had recently overflowed its banks, spilling the trash of modern wasteful life across the banks and leaving gross suds in the water. Still, the fish were incredibly eager to bite. I had a hit on my first cast, with a black  Mangler 4'' swimbait (not my favorite lure but it got the job done), then landed another on the swimbait on my second cast. Nothing amazing, just typical urban creek bass (10'' or so).

I continued fishing the rest of the afternoon, catching green sunfish and largemouth bass with wild abandon. The greenies were everywhere, tearing up the bugs on the surface, chasing minnows and other forage in the shallows, competing with the bass for food. I didn't manage to land any massive fish, although I witnessed a fellow angler land a nice 20'' common carp (he promptly kept it for eating which was pretty disgusting considering the water quality) and I had two large bass chase my Mangler swimbait near the shore. I also used the Strike King Bitsy Pond Minnow (best lure for urban creek fishing, period!) extensively, landing the majority of my bass and sunfish on this versatile micro crankbait, 2lb mono fishing line and ultralite rod/reel. Here's a video I've put together, with underwater footage of one of the fish, of the trip to this urban fishing creek.

Graffiti and the other trash that people who don't respect the environment left were all over the place. One of my goals with these urban creek videos is to help raise awareness of the plight of many of these tiny watersheds; often turned into a dump heap or concrete gutter by individuals and authorities. With proper care and resources, these could be sparkling streams, free of litter and accessible for fishing and hiking to a public that knows how to properly dispose of their garbage. Sadly, that is not the case, at least not yet. Maybe, one day...

New SoCal Urban Creek Green Sunfish

Thanks to a sweet tip from a fellow angler, I found a new urban creek to explore. It's actually more of a canal, but hold water year round and is absolutely loaded with chunky green sunfish, up to 12 inches. I lost track of how many scrappy greenies I landed in a short afternoon fishing session at this Inland Empire creek.

Fairmount Park Crappie Fishing

Fairmount Park is a very tough place to catch fish at consistently. The water is usually quite murky and the anglers fishing with every lure known to man hit the water each day. Fortunately, most anglers are doing the "bait 'n wait" for catfish and carp, but there is a sizable population of lure anglers targetting other warmwater species here. The worst part is the number of anglers that keep everything they catch at Fairmount, ignoring the obviously foul water in hopes of some muddy water fish-fry. I strictly practice Catch-Photo-Release (CPR) at this local city park, be it for bass, carp or sunfish. Fairmount is no longer stocked by the State and it's a pretty limited fishery overall.

The sunfish population at Fairmount can offer a nice break from the challenge of catching largemouth. Still, it can be difficult to locate them as well, given the high fishing pressure and large amount of water. Fortunately, my last fishing trip to Fairmount worked out pretty well. I fished a variety of lures, including a Bass Pro Shops micro jerkbait, a Jet Tackle jerkbait, and micro jigs/plastic worm combos. I ran into a small school of tiny crappie, averaging 6-8 inches, with some bluegill and green sunfish mixed in. These guys were a blast to catch, although the school quickly dissipated to other regions of the lake at the onset of dusk. If you do go to Fairmount, please fish responsibly and practice catch and release.

Urban Creek Underwater Fishing Footage

Ever wondered what's under the surface of a dirty urban stream? Dive into the murky depths and check out my latest YouTube video, of urban creek baitfish and green sunfish. Shot it with the help of a Lewis N. Clark Waterproof Camera Case, with my Kodak Zx1 cam. It's a multi-seal waterproof bag/case with clear sides for cameras, iPhones, video cameras, etc, pretty happy to get it for cheap on Amazon. No audio in this video though, I took it out, just a load of minnows to enjoy.

Riverside County Urban Creek Bass Fishing

Had a few hours to enjoy last Sunday. Not worth spending the $$$ to fish for such a short period of time at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet. No way was I going to fight the skunk at city park lakes like Fairmount or Seccombe. Didn't care to try and catch deep water (50+ feet?) largemouth and sunfish from the shore at Lake Perris. Wasn't interested in chasing stocker trout or wild 'bows in the San Bernardino Mountains. Still, I needed a fishing fix, close by and with a fun bite. Solution?

Urban creek fishing time!

The action wasn't fast and furious, but I caught 4 fish of two different species (largemouth bass and green sunfish) on small jigs in a little over an hour. Hey, it's January, and I'm catching warmwater fish, I can't complain. This last one (also in the video above), put up a nice fight on 2lb test monofilament. This particular urban creek also had a lot of used fishing lure wrappers on the ground, a new find compared to the regular dirty plastic bags, pop bottles and housing debris floating past. Pack it out!