The fishing at South Lake right now is nothing short of awesome, definitely the best I've seen since 2006 with most anglers reporting excellent catches, both in quantity and quality. Boat anglers are having the best luck by far but there are some folks doing well from shore as well, especially off the rocks by the docks or by the dam. As one would expect, all three inlets in the back of the lake are holding fish, a lot of fish, and they're very active. A lot of Brookies being caught at the inlets in addition to the rainbows. The dam is still holding schools of fish, as is the Rock Slide so there are definitely more spots to hit than just the inlets.

The biggest fish of the year was caught on Friday as angler Robert Yamamoto of Altadena, CA nailed a monster rainbow that weighed in at 7 lbs even on the digital scale. Robert took the advice of South Lake staffers and fished what they refer to as "Old Trusty", aka a split-shotted orange Berkley Powerworm at the Rock Slide. Take the advice of the South Lake staffers folks, they know where to go and what to use - nobody fishes the lake more than they do.

Anglers are having success using a variety of baits and lures but the top producers were artificial presentations - various colors of mini-jigs tipped with an orange or pink Berkley Powerworm, 1/6oz Red/Gold or Blue/Silver Thomas Bouyants (trolled or tossed), and split-shotted pink or orange Gulp! worms were best. I made it out on the water for about 2 hours on Friday and between myself and my brother we caught and released about 30 fish on mini-jigs - it really is that good out there.

Bait dunkers are having success with nightcrawlers fished under a bobber, Salmon Peach PB and Lime Twist PB. With the fishing as good as it is right now, it should be noted that anglers fishing with bait ought to release only lip-hooked trout. Releasing gut-hooked fish, especially if one tries to remove the hook or if the fish is bleeding, will kill the fish every time - there are already several dead fish sitting on the bottom near the inlets from folks practicing catch & release improperly. If folks want to practice C&R, please stick with artificials whenever possible.

Not too many folks out trolling this week but the few who did were nailing them on Olive Wooly Buggers trolled right on top, Thomas Bouyants on top, and No. 2 Red-Dot-Frog Needlefish at 3 colors. The bite at South Lake is not just for spin fisherman right now as fly fishers are doing excellent, especially at the inlets. Stripping Olive Wooly Buggers is very productive right now as is fishing midges or nymphs under a strike indicator. Haven't heard much on the dry fly front but judging by how many mosquitoes are out there, there has to be some surface action going on.