Diamond Valley Lake Fish Report 06-04-07

Diamond Valley Lake - Hemet, CA (Riverside County)


by Jeff Leatherman
6-4-2007
(951) 926-7201
Website

Lake Elevation: 1740
Surface water temp: 70 - 75 degrees
Fish Plants: Rainbow trout, 2,400 pounds May 17th.
Lake Hours: 6:00 am - 6:30 pm.
Weather:??There has been dense fog in the morning, burning off by 10am. Highs this week were in the 90's. Mild to moderate winds in the afternoons.

Bass: ??It was another week of good bass fishing at DVL, but with the full moon phase fishing has slowed across the board. 1-2 pound bass have been prevalent in the backs of coves and along the dams as well as larger fish being picked up on the points. For those seeking a larger catch, fishing deeper has been effective. The most effective bait has been live shad. DFG does permit the use of one scoop of live shad from a regulation dip net. The shad have been packed thick in the backs of coves all over the lake. Dipping shad can be difficult, so the use of shad replica lures is highly advised. When fishing in a bait school try your best to match the size and color of the bait. Topwater, Suspending Jerk Baits, Lipless Cranks, and Tailspins have been great baits for fishing bait schools. The most reported artificial baits for bass have been Yamamoto Senkos and Ikas in watermelon or green pumpkin as well as Carolina or Texas rigged plastics 6-10" with purple, green, or shad pattern being the most reported colors. There have been many anglers getting hefty limits drop shotting 4" morning dawn Roboworms on the points 25 feet down.

Rawson Cove has been the most reported bass cove this week, with the third cove of the shoreline fishing area, the north corner of the east dam, the west dam, and around the saddle dam also producing well. Shoreline anglers have had consistent catches, but with less success than the boat anglers.

Cody Parrish of Huntington Beach got his biggest bass a 5.48 pounds using live shad in the quarry. Jeff Travis of Placentia got a 6.58 pound bass on a shad lure while fishing by the saddle dam.

Trout: There has been a consistent trout bite at DVL. Boaters have done considerably better than shore anglers. Trout have been spread throughout the water column. Reports have trout being caught from 10 - 40 feet either by trolling spoons or cranks, or drifting night crawlers or live shad. Hot lures for trolling are Needlefish, Kastmasters, Team Diawa minnow lures, and shad pattern Rapalas. The west dam, east dam, and near the wave attenuator have been the most reported trout areas.??

There has been a spectacular trout bite at DVL. There have been wide open limits for recently stocked trout; with shore anglers have the most success. The hottest lure for the stockers has been the rooster tail with night crawlers or Powerbait also being consistent baits. Holdover trout have been spread throughout the water column. Reports have trout being caught from 10 - 40 feet either by trolling spoons or cranks, or drifting night crawlers or live shad. Hot lures for trolling are Needlefish, Kastmasters, Team Diawa minnow lures, and shad pattern Rapalas. The west dam, east dam, and near the wave attenuator have been the most reported trout areas.????Jim Bush of Sun City got a 5.6 pound trout trolling a Needlefish by the rock quarry. Three year old Audrey Bixter of Hemet got a 2 pound trout trolling Powerbait on the west dam. Chuck Keith of Winchester got a 6.45 pound trout trolling a Rapala at 20 feet on the east dam. R.J. Nissen of San Jacinto got a 4.48 pound trout while trolling the west dam at 40 feet with a Needlefish. Jesse Dinkins and John Bolduc of Hemet both got stiff limits trolling needlefish at 25 feet on the west dam. David Conroy of rancho Santa Margarita got a 5.15 pound trout trolling mid lake at 40 feet with a Needlefish. The best report of the week came from the ISWAC fishing club of Orange County. The team of four anglers got their limits for a combined total of 50 pounds. They were trolling Needlefish on the north shore. Mitch Marone and Bob Caffey released scores of fish between 3-4 pounds, but kept the big fish weighing 7.2 pounds. They were trolling on the east side with cranks. Jesse and James Dinkins got some trout between 2-3 pounds trolling with jointed Rapalas on the west dam at 40 feet.

Striper: Matt Thompson of Hemet got a 9 pound striper fishing in the marina with a plug. Sean Colt of Hemet got a 7 pound striper also fishing in the marina with a plug.

Catfish: Johnny Neal of San Jacinto got 50 pounds of catfish using night crawlers, but declined to divulge his spot.

Panfish: There were massive amounts of crappie and blue gill catches this week. The east dam, the rock quarry, and the wave attenuator have been the most reported spots.

Lake Records:

Lake Record Striper November 11, 2005: Art Berry of Hemet; 29.77 lb. striper caught at East Dam using swimbait.

Lake Record Largemouth Bass March 16th 2007: DVL would like to congratulate Mike Long of Poway who became the new Largemouth bass record holder this week with a 16.43 pound bass. He was fishing the west dam with a 6" "Real Trout" Rago swimbait.

Lake Record Crappie: 3.0 pounds landed by Keith Thomas. He was fishing with shad.

Lake Record Blue Gill: John Arganda, of?? Menifee, broke the lake pan fish record by bringing in a 3.06 pound blue gill. He got it on a night crawler fishing near the saddle dam.

Lake Record Catfish January 19, 2007: Congratulations to Doug Hagadorn of Valley Center! He caught a 32.80 pound catfish. He was fishing at 60 feet with a Pig N' Jig around the first island on the north shore.

Lake Record Trout, March 12, 2005: Shawn Luhmann got a 11.30 pound rainbow trout on on the shoreline fishing area.


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