Castaic Lagoon Bass Fishing | Topwater Bass on a Rebel Super Pop-R | 9-11-26
🎣 **Castaic Lagoon Bass Fishing | Topwater Pop-R Bass Around the Mats | 9/11/2026**
Today was an **all-topwater morning at Castaic Lagoon (Lower Lake)**. I spent the entire trip fishing around the **inlet and vegetation mats**, and every bass I caught came on a **Rebel Super Pop-R Topwater Popper in Zell’s Baby Bass**.
The pattern was very specific.
I was throwing the Pop-R **along the sides and edges of the vegetation mats and over areas of taller submerged weeds**. The bass were holding underneath or around the vegetation and coming up through the weeds to hit the bait.
The topwater bite stayed productive through the morning but seemed to **shut down around 10:00–10:30 AM**.
Another angler fishing the same general area was throwing a **popping frog** around the vegetation and was also getting hits, which was another good indication that the fish were positioned around the mats and looking up.
I tried a **Heddon Zara Spook** for a little while but couldn’t get a bite on it. Today the **Pop-R was clearly the bait they wanted**, and it was the only lure that produced fish for me.
🌑 **CONDITIONS – 9/11/2026**
Location: Castaic Lagoon / Lower Lake, California
Moon Phase: **New Moon / approximately 0–2% illumination**
New Moon: **September 10 at approximately 8:27 PM**
Days From New Moon: **Less than 1 day**
Moonrise: Approximately **7:09 AM**
Moonset: Approximately **7:22 PM**
Sunrise: Approximately **6:34 AM**
Air Temperature: Morning warming toward the **90s**
Daily High: Approximately **95–97°F**
Water Temperature: Approximately **78°F in the morning, warming toward 81°F later in the day** based on the latest Castaic surface-temperature report
Wind: Generally **SSW/SW, increasing toward roughly 10–20 mph later in the day**
Barometric Pressure: Approximately **29.86 inHg**
Sky: **Mostly sunny / very little cloud cover**
Rain: None
🎣 **TODAY’S PATTERN**
Area: **Inlet**
Cover: **Vegetation mats + tall submerged weeds**
Presentation: **Topwater**
Bait: **Rebel Super Pop-R Topwater Popper**
Color: **Zell’s Baby Bass**
Productive Casts: Along the **sides/edges of the mats and over tall weeds**
Bite Window: Morning through approximately **10:00–10:30 AM**
Secondary Observation: Another angler was getting topwater strikes on a **popping frog**
Zara Spook: Tried briefly with **no bites**
🔥 **WHAT STOOD OUT**
This trip adds another interesting data point to the pattern I’ve been seeing at Castaic Lagoon.
On **August 28**, immediately after the full moon, the better fish were relating to vegetation toward the inlet and coming up through the weeds to hit topwater. That trip produced a **3.4 lb bass at 9:10 AM** along with another quality topwater fish that I lost in the vegetation.
Today was almost the opposite end of the lunar cycle — **less than one day after the New Moon** — and the fish were again concentrated around the **inlet vegetation and willing to come up for topwater**.
The water has also cooled from the approximately **82°F water I experienced in early August** into the upper 70s/low 80s range.
The interesting combination today was:
**New Moon + ~78–81°F Water + Inlet Vegetation + Topwater + Morning Bite**
The fish appeared to stay active on top until roughly **10:00–10:30 AM**, when the surface bite noticeably slowed.
I’m continuing to document my Castaic Lagoon trips and track **moon phase, proximity to the full/new moon, water temperature, barometric pressure, wind, weather, time of day, location, cover, bait and fish size** to see which conditions consistently produce both numbers and bigger bass.
This trip is especially interesting because it falls directly inside the **full/new moon window** I’ve been tracking, while also repeating the vegetation/topwater pattern from the August 28 full-moon trip.
🎣 **BAIT**
Rebel Super Pop-R Topwater Popper
Color: Zell’s Baby Bass
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