Is It Worth Owning A Boat In California Anymore

[electric fish]

Fished Diamond Valley when I visited family in Hemet. I had not fished freshwater in Cali since I had moved in 1987. I was caught off guard with all the regulations. We rented a boat and caught a couple. One of the best things my uncle did for me in 1991 was to talk to me about the change in hunting and fishing regulations. He explained that it had changed from the childhood Igrew up with. Talked me into staying in Austin. Sad part is, now the over regulation, is part of Austin and spreading in a Texas. I want to leave because of high taxes and liberal policies.

[TOUCH OF CLASS]

Crazy place to live!

[rjvana]

Skinny, a "move out tax"? Dayum...they tax you before you can escape?!!!!

No they don't

[DaveH]

Ruudawg…. I've fished SoCal lakes for 40 years, Castaic is my home lake. It's a very good fishery, Yes it's not the 20LB bass lake anymore and they are way to many striped bass in the lake, but it is what it is, a water reservoir for the state water project and the heaviest used lake in SoCal.
Do your homework next time with any body of water you go on, I wont even list that, you should know.
If your closer to Castaic than anywhere else lock your boat down for Castaic.
Give me a call or text, I'm there 6 days a week... Dave

[ruudawg]

Well Dave (Horst) not sure what you mean by do my homework next time & you won't even list that?? what does that mean?? Last time I had to do homework was in grade school & didn't know I would have to start again to go fishing on a lake. Remember I was born in Canada & never heard of such a thing as a fishing license until I moved to Michigan. But even in Michigan (owned a 1974 Ranger) we could back the boat into any body of water deep enough to run the motor on, but we were required to have a fishing license. I have done my homework on the lakes here & know that they are run as a business that cost's a ridicules amount of money for a lousy 10 hour day then off the lake you go. You leave the house @ 4am for the 1 hour drive to wait in line off the side of a 2 lane canyon road behind 20 other trucks, some with boats some not. Then when day break hits they open the gate & you follow the line to state run employee shack where you stop & wait again until the lake personnel walk up the line having you sign in & collect $24.00 which buys you until an hour before the sun starts to work on the other side of the world around 5:00pm winter hours. But the wind usually kicks up anytime after 12/1:00pm sending everyone home early because the water can get that rough. Lake Castaic is about 285 to 315 feet deep & can be 50 to 120 feet deep 20 feet from the shore with mostly rocky bottom & trees in the arms of the 2 main bodies of water. The lake is currently about 75% full or down 20 feet, & is a flooded canyon feed from Pyramid Lake & it feeds Castaic Lagoon & Lake Piru. You can launch your boat in the Lagoon, but can only use the electric trolling motor. It is home to Largemouth, Smallmouth & Stripped bass, Carp, Catfish, Bluegill, Crappie & stocked a few times a year with rainbow trout. The Largemouth bass are Florida strained making them very difficult to catch in winter months. The trout are basically just food for the strippers & most are eaten in the first few weeks after there release from the holding truck. The strippers have over run the lake which is too small of a body of water to have planted them in. Is there anything about the Lake I missed?? or did I do my homework. Let me know if I got an A or an A+
Bottom line is this Dave, i'm married to Castaic now & can only fish there without the hassle now that I finally got tagged on it. I would love to take with you about the lake or even see you @ the lake.

[smokewagon]

Well Dave (Horst) not sure what you mean by do my homework next time & you won't even list that?? what does that mean?? Last time I had to do homework was in grade school & didn't know I would have to start again to go fishing on a lake. Remember I was born in Canada & never heard of such a thing as a fishing license until I moved to Michigan. But even in Michigan (owned a 1974 Ranger) we could back the boat into any body of water deep enough to run the motor on, but we were required to have a fishing license. I have done my homework on the lakes here & know that they are run as a business that cost's a ridicules amount of money for a lousy 10 hour day then off the lake you go. You leave the house @ 4am for the 1 hour drive to wait in line off the side of a 2 lane canyon road behind 20 other trucks, some with boats some not. Then when day break hits they open the gate & you follow the line to state run employee shack where you stop & wait again until the lake personnel walk up the line having you sign in & collect $24.00 which buys you until an hour before the sun starts to work on the other side of the world around 5:00pm winter hours. But the wind usually kicks up anytime after 12/1:00pm sending everyone home early because the water can get that rough. Lake Castaic is about 285 to 315 feet deep & can be 50 to 120 feet deep 20 feet from the shore with mostly rocky bottom & trees in the arms of the 2 main bodies of water. The lake is currently about 75% full or down 20 feet, & is a flooded canyon feed from Pyramid Lake & it feeds Castaic Lagoon & Lake Piru. You can launch your boat in the Lagoon, but can only use the electric trolling motor. It is home to Largemouth, Smallmouth & Stripped bass, Carp, Catfish, Bluegill, Crappie & stocked a few times a year with rainbow trout. The Largemouth bass are Florida strained making them very difficult to catch in winter months. The trout are basically just food for the strippers & most are eaten in the first few weeks after there release from the holding truck. The strippers have over run the lake which is too small of a body of water to have planted them in. Is there anything about the Lake I missed?? or did I do my homework. Let me know if I got an A or an A+
Bottom line is this Dave, i'm married to Castaic now & can only fish there without the hassle now that I finally got tagged on it. I would love to take with you about the lake or even see you @ the lake.

Your angry because you didn't do your homework on the mussel regulations for the highly restrictive Southern California lake that you fished? Would you be angry if you got a ticket from the CHP for towing your boat at 80mph or one from DFG for using five hooks on an A-Rig ?

[DaveH]

Well Dave (Horst) not sure what you mean by do my homework next time & you won't even list that?? what does that mean?? Last time I had to do homework was in grade school & didn't know I would have to start again to go fishing on a lake. Remember I was born in Canada & never heard of such a thing as a fishing license until I moved to Michigan. But even in Michigan (owned a 1974 Ranger) we could back the boat into any body of water deep enough to run the motor on, but we were required to have a fishing license. I have done my homework on the lakes here & know that they are run as a business that cost's a ridicules amount of money for a lousy 10 hour day then off the lake you go. You leave the house @ 4am for the 1 hour drive to wait in line off the side of a 2 lane canyon road behind 20 other trucks, some with boats some not. Then when day break hits they open the gate & you follow the line to state run employee shack where you stop & wait again until the lake personnel walk up the line having you sign in & collect $24.00 which buys you until an hour before the sun starts to work on the other side of the world around 5:00pm winter hours. But the wind usually kicks up anytime after 12/1:00pm sending everyone home early because the water can get that rough. Lake Castaic is about 285 to 315 feet deep & can be 50 to 120 feet deep 20 feet from the shore with mostly rocky bottom & trees in the arms of the 2 main bodies of water. The lake is currently about 75% full or down 20 feet, & is a flooded canyon feed from Pyramid Lake & it feeds Castaic Lagoon & Lake Piru. You can launch your boat in the Lagoon, but can only use the electric trolling motor. It is home to Largemouth, Smallmouth & Stripped bass, Carp, Catfish, Bluegill, Crappie & stocked a few times a year with rainbow trout. The Largemouth bass are Florida strained making them very difficult to catch in winter months. The trout are basically just food for the strippers & most are eaten in the first few weeks after there release from the holding truck. The strippers have over run the lake which is too small of a body of water to have planted them in. Is there anything about the Lake I missed?? or did I do my homework. Let me know if I got an A or an A+
Bottom line is this Dave, i'm married to Castaic now & can only fish there without the hassle now that I finally got tagged on it. I would love to take with you about the lake or even see you @ the lake.

You sound really angry, and no, you don't get any points for homework, cause you still don't understand...

The Reservoir is run by Los Angeles Country Parks and Rec. and the people at the gate are just following instructions and its a shame when boaters come in and give them holy hell because of people not understanding what's required of them to launch a vessel at Castaic.

It's a tough lake to fish, lot of people have a hard time catching fish there.

STRIPPERS were not stocked into the lake they came from the Calif. aqueduct and originated from a 1890 introduction into the San Francisco bay.
Water Pyramid and Castaic come from the Calf. state water project and Castaic doesn't feed Piru, which is infected full on with Mussels.

When someone that has been fishing a body of water for over 30 years and reads a "rant" about there home lake your going to get feedback.

I guide, I have a service that provides a chance to catch fish, at time the lake gives and at times it doesn't.
But Good Attitudes go a long way.
Look at the good and bad and just come out and have a fun day and no one can take that away.

[ruudawg]

Dave, I not angry with anyone! I actually have a good attitude with everyone that works there, especially the life gaurds who help at the docks. I get why they do what they do with the boat inspections. What i'm saying is it is shame the what we have to go thru to put a boat on the water here. How would anybody know what you had to do until you bought a boat, believe me since then I have done plenty of home work on the mussel problem & all the lakes & rivers affected. I stand corrected on the Piru being feed from Castaic & the Stripper's being stocked directly into the lake. When i'm wrong i'm wrong. Just hate being married to one lake & dont understand why the tag does'nt work for Pyramid Lake since they are on the same water system. Dont see the simulation between towing a boat @ 80mph & getting a ticket has to do with anything either. I know your a guide also. Just wish I could go to Cachuma, Casitas, Castaic & Pyramid when I wanted to fish them. As it is know it would consume the entire summer season to spend 1 day on each with the between waits & pray that your motor doesnt drip a drop of water when raised & lowered. Just curious, have you ever owned a boat in or taken yours to another state or country? Not trying to be a smart ass, but if you came from the Great Lakes region it's a big wake up call in Southern California.
Big difference in being angry & disappointed.

[ruudawg]

I'm going to Castaic tomorrow Dave Horst if your going out ther also. I will be in a Champion Mean 15/ 90 Merc, Coco brown metal flake top & cream colored hull. If you see me please pull up & introduce yourself, would be glad to meet you.

[dyollpster]

I live in Northern California, fish the delta and the lakes up here. Things are a little different up here, but I have had to do the inspections on some of the lakes. It's not as bad though. I have owned boats in TX and AZ. It's less restrictive in those states, but I believe things are changing. AZ has some of the same mussel issues. It's a real problem, and I bet more and more restrictions are coming. There are pros and cons to each state. I'll take the good weather and awesome bass fishing vs the alternative. I'm not sure how many months out of the year you can even launch a bass boat in Michigan?

[ruudawg]

WoW, I post the facts about what it takes to launch a boat in Southern California compared to pretty much the rest of the country & get accused of being angry & get the weather comparison thrown in my face to boot! I only stated what a day of launching a boat entails here nothing to do with how many days a year I can! Get over it all ready & don't take it so personal. Sorry to burst your bubbles, but it will take the act of god himself for the rest of the country to catch up to California regulations dealing with boating, especially when from one end of the state to the other they differ from lake to lake & considering all the lakes that are contaminated they are either to little to late or just not effective! You stop being to butt hurt & I will stop being so disappointed.
Lets end this post here or just remove it.

[Lea]

I locked it, ruu. Let me know via PM if you want it deleted entirely.