SLO County Weekly Fishing Report — March 31, 2026

Reports from March 23 to 31, 2026. The white bass run at Lake Nacimiento went from winding down to peak spawn to full spawn, and boat rockfish and lingcod open April 1.

Lake Fishing Reports

Lake Nacimiento

• Level: 775.0 ft, 249,500 AF (65% of capacity), CDEC NCM, Mar 31.
• Conditions: Very clear.
• White Bass: Excellent. Big schools on the windy main lake points, on white blade jigs. Excellent every day of the week.
• Spotted Bass: Excellent. On main lake points and creek channels, feeding hard on shad (March 30).
• Largemouth Bass: Excellent. Full pre-spawn on main lake points (15-25 ft), rocky coves and transition zones. Up from "heating up" on March 25. Shallow cranks and Texas-rigged plastics on March 31.
• Crappie: Good. 2-3 inch swimbaits near deep docks and rocky points.
• Catfish: Good. Early and at dusk on chicken liver and cut bait near the creek channels.
• Tip: The wind-blown points at dawn.

Lopez Lake

• Level: 515.5 ft, 43,100 AF (87% of capacity), CDEC LOP, Mar 31.
• Conditions: All boating open.
• Rainbow Trout: Excellent. From shore, chartreuse/rainbow PowerBait near the marina; trollers can pull orange/pink spinners and dodgers.
• Smallmouth Bass: Good. Best in the creek arms, where bass are on shad and crawdads.
• Bass: Good. Shad-colored cranks and jerkbaits on secondary points; drop-shot rigs in 20-30 ft.
• Crappie & Bluegill: Active near the marina and shallow structure on small Rapalas, white jigs and redworms.
• Blue Catfish: Decent. Chicken liver or garlic shrimp near the deeper creek channels.

Santa Margarita Lake

• Conditions: Visibility improving after the storms of the week before.
• Largemouth Bass: Good. Fish staging in 15-25 ft, best on the drop-shot. Senkos, Neko rigs and finesse worms also work.
• Catfish: Excellent. Chicken liver and garlic shrimp.
• Trout: Fair. PowerBait and small spinners near the dam. Up from scattered on March 25.
• Red-ear Sunfish: Good in vegetated coves on crickets or worms.
• Crappie: Active on main lake points on small bright jigs.

Whale Rock Reservoir

• Largemouth Bass: Hot. Bass hugging shore within 10-15 feet, best from 9:00 to 11:00 AM. Ned Rig, Swing Head and Texas-rigged stick bait in natural or green pumpkin.
• Spotted Bass: Active on drop-offs and rocky structure; deep-diving crankbaits doing well.

San Antonio Lake

• Level: 754.3 ft, 212,700 AF (64% of capacity), CDEC ATN, Mar 31.
• Trout: Fair. Chartreuse PowerBait near the narrows. Up from Slow on March 29 and 30.
• Catfish: Good. Chicken liver and garlic shrimp.
• Bass: Improving on shallow cranks and spinnerbaits in the coves.

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Ocean Fishing: Morro Bay

Boat fishing for rockfish, lingcod and other groundfish is closed until April 1 (CDFW).

• Rockfish: Closed. Boat season opens April 1 (CDFW). Shore anglers can still fish the rocks and jetties. Some rockfish bag limits have changed, so check the current CDFW regulations before the opener.
• Lingcod: Closed. Boat season opens April 1 (CDFW).
• Salmon: Closed. The Monterey area season opens April 11 (CDFW).
• Sheephead: Open to boats since March 1 (CDFW).

Quillback and yelloweye rockfish stay closed to retention in California.

Shore and surf

The last beach report was March 25, when calmer surf brought the surfperch back.

• Surfperch: Good. Up from Fair on March 24, when rough surf slowed the beaches.
• Shore Rockfish: Good. Best at low tide near rocks and kelp paddies, especially on the Cayucos to Morro Bay beaches.
• Halibut: Starting to show in shallow sandy areas.
• Water Temp: 60°F (NDBC 46215, Diablo Canyon, morning, Mar 25)

How the week went

• March 24: no new lake reports, and rough surf slowed the Morro Bay and Cayucos beaches.
• March 25: the beaches improved, and a small craft advisory ran from noon through Thursday evening.
• March 27: a heat advisory moved the best lake bites to early morning, with dense sea fog on some mornings.
• March 28: light wind and a warm spell, with Nacimiento white bass at peak spawn.
• March 29: Lopez trout rated excellent and the first Whale Rock report rated largemouth hot.
• March 30: every bass species at Nacimiento rated excellent in very clear water.
• March 31: Nacimiento in full spawn on the eve of the boat groundfish opener.