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Secret Pond. Big Crappie. Success! Nailed on a Yamamoto Swim Senko, White.

Amongst the crowded streets and and packed neighborhoods of suburbia are little waterways, sometimes teeming with life. To one such creek I ventured last week, drawn by wanderlust and the hunt for finned adventure. Parts were far too shallow for my scaled quarry to inhabit; yet other portions held them in abundance. The river king they were not, but landing crappie from an urban stream is always a treat!

Earlier this year, during my urban creek rush, I re-visited a small Inland Empire creek. I had initially avoided even dropping a line in it as it didn't appeal to me. However, I'm glad I returned. Despite the brief torrential downpour and suspicious fish, I managed to land several bass and a few green sunfish, all within a couple of hours.  While the creek wasn't very impressive in length, it made up for it in width with several spots allowing full-range of overhead casting.  Check out the photos and video, notice the two fish I scored towards the end on the dropshot + purple worm!

  Bass Attack Urban Creek Bass Fishing with Underwater Shots Last week, I visited one of my favorite urban creeks in California. It's packed with cover and loaded with largemouth bass, green sunfish, carp, catfish and other eager biters. So far, most of the bass I've caught in this creek are tiny. However, this last trip really blew me away-several decent-sized largemouth bass were caught, along with a bunch of chunky green sunfish on an assortment of lures. I was really impressed with this section of the creek. It's relatively un-trashed, when compared to some of the upstream parts of this urban creek. The tree canopy is pretty dense, covering the surface of the water with loads of shade. There is scattered fallen logs and brush along the shore, with fast sections and slow, deep pools. It really feels like a different world from many other urban creeks I've fished. Even better, I had this section of the creek to myself. That's not to say it hadn't been fishe...

There's something about discovering a new spot on Google Maps, driving to it and actually finding it both fish-able and accessible that really turns up the adrenaline. I've scoured the Inland Empire for new spots to try within a reasonable driving distance and just recently came across a really amazing fishing location. Poles and fishing gear in the car, I hit the road, parked in a safe area, find a clear path with apparently public access, and headed in. After a 10 minute hike, I was on the water-and what a spot! Clear, clean water with very little trash on the bank (quite a difference from my usual urban creek fishing spots), and lots of great bank access. It's hard to describe in words just how exhilarating this is. For those living outside of Southern California, let me throw in a little more explanation. When living in an area of high urban density, especially in the more populated regions of Riverside, San Bernardino, etc, finding even a public park to fish in can be ...

Bass Strike on Bitsy Pond Minnow Fishing small urban creek in the L.A., O.C. and I.E. region has become my new-found fishing pastime. Discovering these little concrete gems has been an educational experience, both from a fishing and ecological standpoint. I think it's important for everyone to realize the sad state of disrepair that has befallen most urban streams, thanks to our own greed and poor stewardship. (More after the jump) This past weekend I had the pleasure of tackling one of my favorite local warmwater creeks. Bass, green sunfish and carp all haunt these waters, struggling to survive amidst urban runoff, entrapping debris and the waste of modern society. I've never landed a carp at one of these urban creeks, although I've definitely hooked up with several in the past, losing them on long, panicked runs. This time was different. Bread ball on a hair rig (not too hard to tie once you've practiced it) was the ticket, landing me a wonderful 21'' common...

For the second lure in my series on wLure's Chinese swimbaits, I have the HS145F2 , a jointed, chunky swimbait somewhat shaped after a bluegill. It sells for $5.49 online, with three different color options, length of  5 3/4'', and a weight of 1 2/3oz.  (Continued after the jump) The HS145F2 swimbait is pretty chunky. It's certainly not a "knock-off" of any specific lure I've encountered, and it seems to be a hybrid swimbait/crankbait style lure. The entire lure is hard plastic, complete with a nice set of fins sticking out both dorsally and laterally. However, the tail is a soft plastic/rubber piece, attached by two pins. If any part of this lure was to fail after repeated hits, this may be it. Still, it's fairly well attached and shouldn't present too much of an issue. This swimbait will float, diving around 2-3 ft on retrieve. When using the HS145F2, I found it had excellent action, even at slower retrieval speeds. The added crankbait lip r...

ODS Swimbaits The ODS HS5X374 from wLure is jointed, hardbody trout swimbait, selling for $8.99. It's a completely new bait to me, as I have never seen this model before. I ran into it on the wLure website and couldn't resist asking about it. I have purchased several Chinese knock-off (KO lure) or non-name brand lures in the past and had mixed experiences, so I was a little wary at the time. Thankfully, this swimbait turned out to be quite a keeper, with a great price, great motion in the water and a great design. Size Comparison wLure is a Chinese fishing lure website with a local US branch in Houston, Texas. I recently stumbeled upon their website and was amazed at just how low the prices on their lures was. Also, they offer free shipping, no matter how small the order, which is super nice on top of the low prices. If you do order from wLure, do expect to wait at least 15 days for your order. After all, it's coming over from China and is not going to arrive at your doo...

Had a few hours to enjoy last Sunday. Not worth spending the $$$ to fish for such a short period of time at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet. No way was I going to fight the skunk at city park lakes like Fairmount or Seccombe. Didn't care to try and catch deep water (50+ feet?) largemouth and sunfish from the shore at Lake Perris. Wasn't interested in chasing stocker trout or wild 'bows in the San Bernardino Mountains. Still, I needed a fishing fix, close by and with a fun bite. Solution? Urban creek fishing time! The action wasn't fast and furious, but I caught 4 fish of two different species (largemouth bass and green sunfish) on small jigs in a little over an hour. Hey, it's January, and I'm catching warmwater fish, I can't complain. This last one (also in the video above), put up a nice fight on 2lb test monofilament. This particular urban creek also had a lot of used fishing lure wrappers on the ground, a new find compared to the regular dirty plastic bags,...

All too often I'll go fishing and leave the resulting photos on my computer for months before uploading them. This is one of those scenarios, from a trip back in October 2011. I went hunting for bluegill at a favorite lake spot (let's call it "Hill Lake"). Had to hike in, but it was worth it. Managed to land numerous healthy bluegill on microjigs tipped with mealworms. Getting down to the water can be a challenge, especially at spots like this. I love the fight even small bluegill put up. On ultralight fishing tackle (2lb mono, spinning rod/reel), they are a blast to catch. Tight lines and Happy New Year!

I really enjoy exploring small urban creeks and runoff channels. While often covered in graffiti, heavily polluted and located in questionable locales, these concrete jungle streams can be a fishing shangri-la . Multiple species, all eager to bite and little fishing pressure keeps such trips enjoyable.  Recently, I tried out a new creek in the Inland Empire. I'll keep it a secret for now, given its small size and easy access, but I'll toss out one hint: It's all that remains of an old lake that was a popular local fishing hole. Poison oak, litter and plenty of graffiti kept the trip interesting. Oh, and so did plentiful bites from green sunfish, bluegill and small largemouth bass. Also present were numerous large common carp, but they turned up their proverbial noses at my hardbaits and microjigs. I think the only pressure this spot received was from local kids, tossing earthworms under bobbers. I didn't get to spend much time at this new-found fishing hotspot, but I...

I have been fishing a new spot in Riverside County quite often. The weather has been fantastic, but the water clarity has decreased, keeping the bass fishing a challenge. Little bass, caught on a Yum Dinger. This tarantula was more than happy to pose for the camera. Hairy, eh?