Summer is rolling along and both the fishing and weather was exceptional this week. California DFG continues to keep the lake supplied with Rainbows in the 3/4 to 1 lb range which made for a lot of happy anglers over the holiday week. If you get skunked out there right now, you're probably doing something wrong - the bite is very very good. Angler of the week was a young man named Bobby Gasaway from Yucaipa who scored a 3 lb 9 oz, Photo # 1 beauty early on in the week and then followed that up with a beautiful 4 lb 7 oz 'bow, main photo above on Friday, both on Garlic Powerbait.

The inlets near the back of the lake are pretty thick with pan sized rainbows but nothing of size is showing back there. The channel to the left of the island, the Rock Slide and the west shore near the dam were holding tons of fish this week. Shore anglers did excellent on stocking day and the next morning but after the fish spread out a bit, boaters, tubers and kayakers had a distinct advantage in finding the schools of 'bows.

Not only were the big fish eating the Garlic PB this week (in Rainbow or Green)but plenty of stockers were falling for the stuff as well. Folks also found success using nightcrawlers and mealworms fished under a bubber near the dam or in the back of the lake.

The soft plastics bite is still on a tear at South Lake, especially near the dam and at the Rock Slide, although the only big fish caught this week on the jig was...well...caught & released by myself and weighed approximately 3 lbs. Rainbow sparkle, pink/blue sparkle and firetiger were the best colors. Trout worm aficionados had great success on pink, orange or grasshopper 3" trout worms split-shotted with an 18 to 24" leader.

Not many reports from lure tossers this week but folks out trolling Tazmanian Devils and Thomas Buoyant either on top shallow and in tight to shore, or as deep as 6 colors of leadcore line well off shore, were racking up great catch counts on pan sized Rainbows. This is a sign that the summer pattern is kicking into gear and there are now some good numbers of fish holding in deeper water. Those who love to troll are sure to appreciate this news.

The water level at South Lake finally stabilized however it did just just below the bottom of the launch ramp. The only option for private boaters now is to launch right off the rocky shoreline to the left of the official launch ramp. This process can be sketchy but some folks with smaller boats are giving it a go.