PUDDINGSTONE CONTINUES TO GUARD ITS SECRET.

Byline: Keith Lair Staff Writer

There's a huge largemouth bass lurking in Puddingstone Reservoir.

The question, Bonelli Park employee and fishing expert Jim McGill said, is for the angler to find it. And if the angler does, there's the matter of reporting the catch.

``It's very possible there's a 17- or 18-pounder in here,'' McGill says. ``All of our fishermen are dedicated to bass and practice catch-and-release.''

And as McGill might like to say: catch, release and never tell. He says the lake record is 12 pounds, 18 ounces, ``but I've heard rumors that someone caught a 17-pounder.''

Catching that big a fish at Puddingstone is not improbable, said Dave Plotnik of the American Bass Association.

``Tournament guys use it, but they don't like to talk about it,'' he said. ``It's become a secret, but it's a secret everyone seems to know about, so I don't know why it's a secret.''

Puddingstone gets passed over when talk revolves around great Southern California bass fishing lakes. But then, the numbers reveal why. Of the top 25 bass caught in the United States, 20 have been in Southern California lakes, according to BASSMaster Magazine. When bass fishing is broached, Castaic, Casitas, Dixon, Murray and Perris are the first mentioned.

Castaic is at the top of the heap, thanks to two 1991 catches. Mike Arujo caught a 21-12 bass March 5 and Bob Crupi landed a 22.01-pounder a week later. They are the No. 2 and No. 3 catches in the nation, behind the famous 22-4 catch made by George Washington Perry in 1932 in Georgia's Montgomery Lake.

Besides catch numbers, Puddingstone has another size handicap: lake acreage.

Plotnik said the ABA never will have a tournament on the lake because it's too small at 490 acres. Castaic's lake size is 2,235 acres, Casitas is 2,500 acres and Perris is 2,340 acres. Those three lakes are frequent tournament hosts for the ABA, WONBass and Angler's tours.

``Puddingstone could not support 100-plus boats,'' said Whittier's Darrell Dagdigian, who fishes in the WONBass team tournament series. ``But it's a great place to fish because there's not a lot of pressure.''

But, Dagdigian said, a 20-pound bass might more likely come out of a lake such as Puddingstone than one of the more famous Southern California impounds.

``Tournament fishing is a different style of fishing,'' he said. ``When you're fishing for bigger fish, you use bigger bait and fish slower. You can't fish that way in tournaments because you need your five fish. You need to use those huge trout-like lures. However, more anglers are winning tournaments by using those type of lures.''

McGill said lake staff once planted firs near the tip of the east shore to promote bass growth. Other favorite spots include the two arms near the dam and the cliff area just north of the dam.

``We do have good vegetation, so we know the bass can feed,'' McGill said.

But that might not be enough to land the huge lunkers, Dagdigian said. And that is because of the lake's source.

``Lakes like Castaic have waters that are very fertile,'' he said. ``They get aqueduct (water) and runoff and that seems to be very conducive for growing large fish. It causes plant life to nourish and gives bass a lot of feed. So they can get huge.

``It's just the right combination. They have the fresh water, a top food chain, a lot of vegetation and a huge rock structure.''

But they have their downsides: Notoriety. That's why McGill thinks that next 20-pounder could be caught at Puddingstone.

``There's a lot of fishing pressure at those lakes,'' Dagdigian said. ``I do not think it is as good as it was 10 years ago. The fish are edgy and they're not getting that big because of everyone concentrating on them.''

Which, Plotnik said, is why lakes such as Puddingstone are the ``secrets.''

``There's a lot of panfish there,'' he said. ``Anglers go there in the middle of the week to practice and tune up for tournaments.''

And one day, maybe catch that world-class lunker.