Kern River Valley Bulletin Board

Hi all Cherokee here with a Friday fishing report for Lake Isabella from Steve Merlo:

Kern County, southern San Joaquin Valley

BOB'S BAIT CARP DERBY: The month-long Bob's Bait Carp Derby kicked off June 1 with a $100 cash prize going to the angler who weighs in the biggest carp during June at Bob's Bait in Bakersfield. The current leader is Pablo Quintero, Bakersfield, with a 5-pound carp he caught at Lake Isabella.

LAKE ISABELLA: The largemouth bass bite has really started to take off with a lot of fish, and some quality fish to 8 pounds, showing on cranks, Senko-type baits, and plastics. The catfish action also remains very good at Engineer Point and the Camp 9 region with the best bite on frozen shad with lots of fish from two pounds and up. The crappie action is still pretty fair with the best bite for boat anglers on live minnows with fewer fish coming from shore or on jigs as this action winds down. Most are 3/4-pounders. Trout action is still fair to good at the auxiliary dam on Power Bait and nightcrawlers. Bluegill still spotty.

I have a couple of photos to share that were in today's paper, first was of a LMB caught at Lake Santa Margarita as follows: Dennis Polm shows off his first-place, tournament-winning "Big Fish" taken from Santa Margarita Lake last weekend during the May Golden Empire Bass Club monthly tournament. Polm caught the 11.39-pound lunker on a Senko.

Second photo is of another LMB caught at a private lake in Tejon Ranch as follows: Patrick Murphy, 17, caught this 11.1-pound largemouth bass April 16 on a private boat at Reservoir No. 2 on Tejon Ranch. He used a smoke-colored Senko for bait.

Hope you all have a great weekend, should be a good one for fishing

Cherokee