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Lake Barrett Fly Fishing Opener Bass & BlueGill

Saturday was the opener for one of the best bass fishing lakes in Southern California, Lake Barrett.  Maybe one of the best bass fishing lakes in the country.  It has a pure strain of Northern Black Bass that love to eat anything that swims, flies, or crawls.  This is the one place where fishing is, well, ……..easy!  But getting an opportunity to fish this lake is anything but.

   In order to fish here, you must be one of the very fortunate ones to acquire a ticket thru ticketmaster.  This can be like trying to get front row seats when Jay Z comes to town.  It’s pretty much safe to say, that if you don’t click “purchase now” at exactly 12:01am, you can forget about fishing here.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but after all, it is California.
 
 Eric Warner, a photographer who shoots for the Drake Magazine and Fly Fish Journal, was one of the lucky ones to score tickets to this amazing fishery.  He invited one his buddies, Nick, and myself to come spend the day with him fishing and documenting the journey of the trip.
 
 When the gates opened at 5am, there was a mad dash to the boat dock for the closest available rental boat.  After getting all the gear loaded into the boat, we made our way as fast as you can in a boat with an 8 horsepower motor, to the very first cove we found with a rocky shoreline and the wind blowing into it.  Immediately upon arrival, we could see the bass pushing shad literally up onto the shoreline.  It was so intense that a foam line started to form from where all the mayhem was taking place.  In less than 5 casts, the first fish was brought to the boat.  That pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day.  Although we caught way too many fish to count, there was still a certain way you had to feed them.  Since the bass had the shad pinned along the shoreline, your fly had to be placed on dry land, then stripped back into the stick-ups where the bass were waiting in ambush.  That was a distance of only about 3 feet from the bank.  After that, it was pick up and cast again.  Only if you didn’t loose your fly in the bushes, or to a fish that wrapped himself and the leader like a snake around the bushes. Flies that represented sunfish and shad with a weed guard attached to them, were the only thing necessary.  
   
At about high noon, when it was close to 100 degrees, and without a breath of wind, the fast and furious action came to halt.  We decided to break out the spinning rods and bobbers, and relive our childhood memories, by catching the very first fish that got us into this sport.  That’s something that is truly sentimental to me, and I will never forget my roots.  We continued to fish for a few more hours, catching some of the biggest panfish that exist on this planet.
Pan Fish San Diego Fishing
   All in all, it was a truly remarkable day.  We might not have won the lottery, but at least we got the ticket! 

(all photos by Eric Warner) Check out more info on the fishery at – SDfish
Lake Barret Fishing report Opener