Kiss My Bass! Lake Perris 22 Years Later!

Kiss My Bass! Lake Perris 22 Years Later!
May 2018, Carl Garrard

Sheesh, it's been about 22 years since Rick Cargo and I have been fishing, but you wouldn't even have known that it's been that long. Rick was kind enough to take me out on Lake Perris today on his (I'm calling it the SS "Patriot") all American themed 18' 2" Nitro Bass boat. Rick and I have been fishing together many times in the past, but today was kind of special. Sometimes life does get in the way and we aren't able to see our friends for a while, but 22 years is a huge gap in time. Needless to say, it was really cool getting back out with Rick on the water, and like always, we kicked some bass. Rick and I always get into fish somehow some way, and work great together as a team. But mostly we have fun when we are out, the jokes and laughs to me are the best part of the day (wait till you see what I did on his boat!).

Cruisin' on The Patriot. Conditions were pretty nice out there. It was more crowded than we both thought it would be on a Wednesday, probably because of anglers wanting to avoid the crowds from the upcoming Memorial Day weekend. The lake is back to its 35mph speed limit with the entire lake open like the ol' glory days. I'm sure skiers and watercrafters will enjoy the water this weekend.

Rick got the biggest fish here of the day. This guy was bagged early in the morning on a jerkbait. Nice job dude!

All in all- it was a great day, Rick caught the big fish of the day at 2lbs 9oz, and three others. I caught nine fish, with four that were pretty nice sized- my biggest at 2lbs 2oz. Fish were aggressive and fought harder than their size justified, similar to last week when I went shore fishing with Brian. Today we caught them on a variety of lures ranging from drop shot worms, to 1/4oz rattle traps. Mix in some topwater jerkbaits, pop'r's, and various plastic worms too, the bass weren't very picky.  Three spots produced fish on the lake, the Island was our first stop, then later near Bernasconi Beach, and finally Rock Climbers cove. Other areas had some dingy water and/or no "vibe" so we didn't waste much time and moved on. Here are some images from the day.

Rick got the first with a dink, hey they all count!

My first, another pretty bass!

My biggest, and best fighter!

Another keeper, 2lbs two nice fish Rick

This guy gave himself away, next cast, got him on topwater

This guy also gave himself away chasing baitfish around, slayed him too!

Conditions were nice on the lake today. Perfect temps (water and air) and overcast till about 11:30am, after that the bite fell off. We had already landed 12 bass by then, so no complaints really (I don't recall seeing anyone else on the lake catching any today). Overall the bass are on a mostly post spawn pattern, guarding fry, and eating early in the morning. They seem to be pretty much anywhere on the lake enjoying all the new shoreline habitat created from the rising water level and 13 years of growth on the formerly exposed shoreline. I notice the water level had risen another half foot or so from last week, water again pouring into the lake at the inlet.

The island has stranded some Mule Deer and Racoons from its former low water level. We saw two mule deer and one racoon while fishing the Island. The lake is just full of wildlife everywhere. I anticipate Lake Perris to be quite an awesome fishery in the coming years, perhaps better than ever!

That said, it was time to leave the lake. And yet another epic bass fishing trip, this time with another old friend. I'm sure it won't be the last either!

-Carl Garrard

P.S. oh wait, I almost forgot. As of today, I started a new tradition with Rick. And that tradition is accidentally dumping the contents of my tackle box all over his boat (last time it was all my weights and hooks!). Fortunately this time I caught myself mid spill, and I just ended up having to reorganize my plastics. Sigh.

Great job Carl. What a rookie thing to do!