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Colten Graham

Los Banos Creek Reservoir is a relaxing place to fish.

Fishing is a pass time for many in the Los Banos area.

The local fishing locations in Los Banos range from the local reservoir, canals and the D dam. This gives a wide range of different game to catch. The most prevalent fish in the canals are large mouth bass catfish. The local Los Banos Creek Reservoir, off of Canyon Road has trout, crappie, and bluegill. They also hold bass fishing derbies pretty regularly. The O’Neill Fore bay has several different species of bass ranging from striped bass to spotted bass. Then last but not least is the San Luis Reservoir which has lots of large mouth bass.

With so many spots, people think it must be easy to go out and catch something on their first try, but a lot of factors go into fishing. The first would be the rig or how you have your bait suspended. There are countless ways to set up the rig, but the most widely used one in this area is the Carolina rig. The Carolina rig is a plastic bait rig with the weight fixed above the hook, instead of sliding down to it. This specific rig is designed to help fishermen catch bottom feeding fish, particularly bass fish. Then there’s tons of different baits ranging from chicken to sardines, so use what works for you.

Dusty Norris, (12),  fishes for fun with his dad on weekends. He prefers going night fishing in Dos Palos. The most common catch in those canals is catfish. Dusty and his dad always eat whatever they catch after properly cleaning and processing it. Depending on the size they will either just cook the fillets or they’ll cook the smaller fish into a fish chowder.

“Fishing is really peaceful, and if you go with the right people, it doesn’t matter if you catch a big fish or no fish. It’s time spent together,” Dusty Norris said.