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.
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If you like our Fishing map and information on how to fish this lake, we
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more info, click on this link:
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hunting clubs in California and Oregon for private fishing, hunting clubs, and
exclusive network of hunting ranches found nowhere else, here is a screen
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we have many more fishing maps and
hunting maps at www.freehuntfishmaps.com
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fishing with Hunting Maps.
