Cachuma Lake

George Reed asked about the water level at Cachuma right now. Lake elevation is 726.36 feet, from high capacity of 753 feet above sea level, or 27 feet low. This may sound dismal, but remember that it is a reservoir and is meant to fluctuate. In fact, it makes for great wildlife sightings--deer far out on the shore, birds preening on the mud flats. The kids in the photo are looking at a deer on shore from the tour boat. Been seeing fawns gallivanting around their mothers, and we have an active red-tailed hawk nest in one of the coves.

CRAZY! WHAT A CATCH!!!! Aaron Quarles from Nipomo CA caught this 13.8 Lb rainbow trout last Saturday, April 13 during the Tri-Valley Bass Club trournament! Unbelievable. He said he caught it at the back of Cachuma Bay in 1 foot of water, near shore, on swimbait. Congratulations, Aaron!

Wow! Tagged immature Bald Eagle #84 from Santa Cruz Island did a fly-over on our Cachuma Lake cruise Monday! Jared Dawson got this wonderful photo. Rebecca Coulter brought her birding class up for a special cruise. What a reward. The bird flew over us and perched for photos twice. Go to www.cachuma.com for the full birdlist, and the SB County Birding website to learn more about our trip on 3/25/13.

.I ran into John Williams yesterday, right before he released a beautiful nearly 3 pound female crappie ready to spawn. John has had amazing luck on the lake recently--two weeks ago, 8 am in the narrows, something caught his eye. To his left... on the slopes, deer were bursting from the bushes, madly scrambling in every direction--trying to outrun TWO YOUNG MOUNTAIN LIONS chasing them! The lions had to be youngsters--the deer had no problem evading them. You NEVER know what you're going to see out here! Don't forget: our next TROUT PLANT is TUESDAY, MARCH 19! 4000 lbs of triploid rainbows!

Heidi Norman pulled this beauty out of the lake recently. Get up here this weekend! Folks are also catching their limits on crappie, and the weather is niiiiiiiiicccccce!