Barrett Lake 08/17/16

Hi y'all.  I normally tube the salt.  This was my maiden voyage into freshwater territory.  I decided to try Barrett in San Diego after visiting once before in a rental boat last year.  The fishing can be amazing for Northern strain black bass and it is quite user friendly for tubes from what I'd heard and seen.  My first trip was slow for fishing as my Dad and I were trying to get back into freshwater fishing after decades away from it.  This time I returned better prepared and with more game plans and strategies.  It went alright for me by Barrett standards.  I was very satisfied with 26 bass, over 20 bluegill, and a nice angry crappie but these numbers are average compared to some of the regular Barrett anglers.  The morning bite was more consistent and as the heat increased the bite slowed into the afternoon but there was still fish to pick up every now and then.  90% of my bass were caught on a wacky rigged senko and the remainder on t rigged creature baits or finesse worms.  The bluegill were caught on an ultralight rig I brought to throw during slow bassin'.  The bluegill bite is amazing and if just concentrating on that alone one could get easily over 50 or more a day.  They are all nice and plump and give a great fight on the ultralight gear.  I was on the water from about 6 am to 3 pm.  By that time I was tired from lack of sleep from the night before and the heat.  The bass grade was decent with plenty of 1-3 pound clones and a nice 4.5 pounder I got as my big fish for the day.  Plenty of awesome wildlife out there as well with a bald eagle flying all over the lake and foxes even cooling off in the water mid afternoon.  Here's the pic's

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
early morning specimen

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
another one

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
3 pictures of my big one LOL

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
typical 'gill

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
look how fat the head on this one was!

I wanted a picture of the crappie too but he was so feisty he shook away from my grip.  He fought hard enough I thought he was a bass and was surprised when it surfaced.  Really like the way they look.  Will try and get another one if and when I return.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
The lake bathed in afternoon glory

Thanks for sticking with the long read!

Wow, what a great outing. I have heard plenty of great stories about that lake.
Thanks for sharing and good job with the Senko.

Hey nice report David and great photos.  Didn't you hate it when the hot summer sun starts creeping over the hill tops and the cool shade starts to disappear?  I have been to Barrett many times although I have not been there for a few years.  We would make the long dark, early morning drive traveling to the lake from Riverside just to fish for the big Bluegill with ultralight outfits!  They are so big and just so much fun with 2 & 4 lb test and small jigs and lures.  I ended up catching my largest Bluegill there, a 12 inch fish on a small Creme plastic worm-
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Jerdon wrote:Wow, what a great outing. I have heard plenty of great stories about that lake.
Thanks for sharing and good job with the Senko.

Thanks Jerdon. I had a good time in the fresh stuff. The wind can be rought but I like how there's no currents to deal with

Komori wrote:Hey nice report David and great photos.  Didn't you hate it when the hot summer sun starts creeping over the hill tops and the cool shade starts to disappear?  I have been to Barrett many times although I have not been there for a few years.  We would make the long dark, early morning drive traveling to the lake from Riverside just to fish for the big Bluegill with ultralight outfits!  They are so big and just so much fun with 2 & 4 lb test and small jigs and lures.  I ended up catching my largest Bluegill there, a 12 inch fish on a small Creme plastic worm-
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Congrats on that huge Bluegill Komori! I agree with you and will probably pack my ultralight again if and when I go back. Those 'gills were so much fun. With the right gear they were fighting just as hard as the bass were pound for pound, ounce for ounce LOL.

Great report David! I'd love to fish there. I visited the place once but never got around to fishing it.

From your pics it looks nice and serene with the only disturbances being your hooked fish breaking the water surface. Nice.

That's a nice hog you caught!

Now I just want to go fishing. Thanks for a great report!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

David that was an awesome report and the pictures are perfect.glad you and your dad had a good time

bigfish wrote:Great report David! I'd love to fish there. I visited the place once but never got around to fishing it.

From your pics it looks nice and serene with the only disturbances being your hooked fish breaking the water surface. Nice.

That's a nice hog you caught!

Thanks bigfish! It is nice and serene out there. More so because it was a weekday

Now I just want to go fishing. Thanks for a great report!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thanks bigfish! It is nice and serene out there. More so because it was a weekday

Litefoot wrote:David that was an awesome report and the pictures are perfect.glad you and your dad had a good time

Thanks Litefoot! It was fun!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />

BassAttack234 wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />

Yes, that's exactly what happened. Crazy crappies

I need some advice fishing barret lake. I've never been there before but I understand it's not like most lakes I'm used to fishing. I wanna get over there before the season is over. I believe it's open through september. I heard its barbless only. Typically what baits are getting bit? I have a lot of things I use that don't have barbless options. Maybe I can message if that's cool?

Jay PM me and I'll help you however I can

Howdy David,

You said that you were heading over to Barrett Lake .... good call!!
Healthy looking fish and great numbers by my standards ... WTG!!

I have not; as of yet, float tube fished fresh water .... but it looks like fun.

Did your float tube need to be inspected for fresh water mussels prior to launching at the lake ... like Big Bear?
There you have to pay either a daily or a monthly fee to launch your tube.

Thanx for the fish report and for sharing your pops with us!

SP Dan     <"))><