October 2023 Santa Margarita fishing Report

 Santa Margarita spawn is on, shallows are thus holding bass.

 Use Spinners and buzz bait as reaction baits are what they strike. Ramp is congested and highwater is making things tricky. Happy problem.

Crappie bite is good just find some brush piles using jigs on a bobber, plenty of  bluegill too.

Live cameras:

805webcams.com/santa-margarita-lake-webcam-california.

April 2023 Santa Margarita Fishing Map, Fishing Report, Hunting Clubs, San Luis Obispo Public land maps

April 2023 Santa Margarita Lake Fishing Map, Fishing Report, Local Kern Hunting Clubs, fishing bass, trout,catfish and Striped Bass:

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Santa Margarita Lake fishing map and fishing report

Santa Margarita Lake Quick Fishing Information: 

Location: Santa Margarita Lake is located just north-east of San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo County. 

From San Francisco, take Highway 101 south and  turn left at Santa Margarita. 

Species: Largemouth bass, striped bass, channel catfish, crappie, bluegill,  Fishing hours: Summer hours are 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.  There is no night fishing allowed.  Boating: Santa Margarita is a drinking water lake and  no water skiing or swimming is allowed.

Camping: Santa Margarita Lake Campground is  located two blocks outside the gate. There are  approximately 200 sites, and about half have complete hook-ups for electrical, sewer and water. There  is also a swimming pool, bathhouses, video room,  laundry, store, small playground and hiking trails.

Santa Margarita Lake fishing map and fishing report

Santa Margarita  Lake in San Luis Obispo County where water skiers are  forbidden and fish are plentiful! 

Solid sport for striped  bass, largemouth, crappie, channel catfish and bluegill.  All kinds of fish are chasing  shad in the coves, and anglers who throw shad-imitation baits  like Rapalas should connect with the fish.  The Lake has only come up one foot this winter, but still there is opportunities for a decent outing.

Catfish seem to be all over the lake, and a lot of people  are catching them from the bank,  live or fresh dead shad is the best bait on the  catfish, channel cats are also chewing up mackerel and  chicken livers.  Stripers are starting to impact the action too, with some  good 6 to 10-pounders hitting hooked shad.

Crappie fishing is also productive.  The recent warm weather has brought shad up shallow, and  gamefish are busy feeding on them. Big stripers are looming  just under the surface, and crappie and catfish are in shallow  water lunching on forage fish.

Early Summer is probably the best time of  the year to be on the lake for these species.  Bass fishermen who use boats will have the best success  as the weeds in along the shoreline make it tough to bank fish.  lt can be done. though. 

Santa Margarita bass are of northern-strain. so don't  expect them to run the size of their Florida-strain cousins  found in some nearby lakes. Most will run 12 to 15 inches,  making Santa Margarita an excellent place to splitshot or use  other techniques designed specifically for light tackle fishing.  Pig-n-jigs, crankbaits and spinnerbaits are all working for  the bass. Our source4s recommend light-colored cranks. 

Bassers will find most of the fish in the top 10 feet.  There is some submerged brush at Santa Margarita. And you’re going  to find the bass concentrated around rocky structure. which is  plentiful. The best way to work this kind of structure is to  systematically fish the rocky points. Set your bass boat outside the coves and pitch worms or crankbaits into the bank.

Bass are most active now in the mornings and evenings,  and that‘s a signal that topwater fishing should be good at  dawn and dusk. Santa Margarita has traditionally been a  topwater lake, and the best areas are usually Swimming Pool  Cove, the cove by the marina, Vaca Flat and the upper end,  but hot spots change, so check at the marina before you go.

 Surface plugs that gel a lot of play are Zara Spooks,  Lunker Buzzes, Devil's Horses and Rapalas.  During midday hours, plastic worms are a solid bet,  especially in black, brown and purple, on leadheads.  The bass and other  species coming out of Santa Margarita arc “fat, clean and  healthy looking," the marina source said.

 Striper fishermen are wrestling fish that average 8 and 9  pounds, but a few in up to 15 pounds.  The biggest share of the boils have been down at the log  boom. They’ll boil for 5 or I0 minutes at a time. Sometimes  you can throw anything out there and they’ll take it_ nd  sometimes they don‘t want to hit anything.

  Not surprisingly, live shad's the best bait for the stripers.  But linesides can also be fooled by imitators like large  rainbow colored Zara Spooks and Shad Raps. 

Santa Margarita is also a good catfish lake, especially  when you figure there is no nightfishing allowed. Fishermen  working by daylight manage to manhandled some real logs.  The two hot spots are right off the swimming pool and a  spot off White Oak, although catfish will also be found up in  the Narrows, feeding at inlet points from the Salinas River.  L

A  17 pounder came in recently, but most of the  catfish average about 2 to 3 pounds The majority are channel  cats. Your best bet for bait is to net shad and fly-line it, but cut  mackerel or anchovies will work too.            

Consider fishing fairly heavy line with lighter leaders, as a  lot of these eats will top 10 pounds.  Catfishing is best from a boat, but bank anglers do get their  fish, especially near the swimming pool. And there is about  seven miles of shoreline you can explore by foot.  One excellent area for bank fishing is off the floats near  White Oak. Take the road down the south side of the lake and  the dirt road that cuts off from there and look for the floats. 

Hit the lake early and late for the best action.  Panfish are also plentiful at Santa Crappie are thick throughout the lake, and there are scads  of bluegill to keep the kids happy.  Bluegills re thick in all the  weedy areas of the lake. Take along some Micro Jigs or 3/64- ounce Mini-Jigs, and tip them with a piece of mealworm for  the bluegill.  The easiest way to fish jigs and worms is about 3 feet under  a bobber.      

  Click on a county for Hunting Clubs & Private Ranches:

ALAMEDA	ALPINE	AMADOR	BUTTE	CALVERAS
COLUSA	CONTRA COSTA	EL DORADO	DEL NORTE	FRESNO
GLENN	HUMBOLDT	IMPERIAL	INYO	KERN
LASSEN	LAKE	LOS ANGELES	MARIN	MENDOCINO
MONTEREY	MERCED	NAPA	PLACER	RIVERSIDE
SACRAMENTO	SANTA CLARA	SANTA BARBARA	SAN BERNADINO	SANTA CRUZ
SAN DIEGO	SAN FRANCISCO	SAN JOAQUIN	SAN LUIS OBISPO	SHASTA
SISKIYOU	SOLANO	SONOMA	TEHAMA	TRINITY
YOLO	YUBA	HUNTING AND FISHING MAPS	HUNTING CLUBS &RANCHES  SITE	CONTACT US

Click on a county for OREGON Hunting Clubs & Private Ranches:

COOS HUNTING FISH	GILLIAM HUNTING FISH	GRANT HUNTING FISH	HARNEY HUNTING FISH	HOOD HUNTING FISHING
KLAMATH HUNTING FISH	MORROW HUNTING FISH	SHERMAN HUNTING FISH	ST.HELENS HUNTING FISH	WHEELER HUNTING FISH
HUNTING FISH	HUNTING FISH	HUNTING CLUBS & RANCHES SITE	HUNTING & FISHING MAPS	CONTACT US

Oregon and California hunting and fishing  maps of hunting clubs, hunting ranches, public and private fishing.

If you like our Fishing map and information on how to fish this lake, we have many more hunting and fishing maps, here is a screen shot, but if you want more info, click on this link:

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Also, if you want very specific county by county information on fishing and hunting clubs in California and Oregon for private fishing, hunting clubs, and exclusive network of hunting ranches found nowhere else, here is a screen shot below, click on this link to go to the site:

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California and Oregon for private fishing, hunting clubs, and exclusive network of hunting ranches

we have many more fishing maps and hunting maps at www.freehuntfishmaps.com

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