THE BEAUTIFUL SOUND OF SILENCE; TEJON LAKE OFFERS A TRANQUIL SETTING, PLENTY OF BASS.Byline: Jim Matthews James R. "Jim" Matthews is an elected public official in Pennsylvania. Matthews is a member of the Republican Party. He currently serves on the Board of Commissioners of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Special to the Daily News The yennn-yennn-yennn-yennn whine of the jet skis circling is not a happy sound to the ears of many bass anglers. The thundering roar of a full-blown race boat jumping to full throttle Full Throttle can refer to:
And the crafts' wakes slap up against bass boats and nearly upend float tube or fill waders while the anglers try to maintain balance. Oh, the yearning for a little quiet and solitude, the desire to have a section of shoreline just to yourself to fish. Aw, Tejon Lake beckons. Nestled in the oak foothills of the Tehachapi Mountains Te·hach·a·pi Mountains A range of southern California extending from east to west between the Sierra Nevada and the Coast Ranges north of Los Angeles. , the private facility located near the Southwestern Kern County town of Lebec is home to Florida-strain largemouth bass largemouth bass see micropterus salmoides. that are generously stocked and receive little fishing pressure. Though labeled on maps as Castac Lake, the body of water's name was changed last year by the Tejon Ranch Tejon Ranch Company is the largest private landowner in California. It was incorporated in 1936 to organise the ownership of a large tract of land originally comprised of four Mexican land grants, and began ranching in the 1840's. Co. to avoid confusion with its famous neighbor to the south, Castaic Lake Castaic Lake is a lake on Castaic Creek formed by Castaic Dam, in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, near the town of Castaic. The 323,700 acre foot lake (399,000,000 m³) is the terminus of the West Branch of the California Aqueduct, though some comes from the 154 mi² , which has a habit of producing oversize o·ver·size n. 1. A size that is larger than usual. 2. An oversize article or object. adj. o·ver·size also o·ver·sized Larger in size than usual or necessary. Adj. 1. trophy largemouth. Most people see Tejon Lake's posted signs and assume it is off-limits. Fishermen see it and dream. There are no boats, no jet skis, no noise. But Tejon is different from many private ranches. It sits on 280,000 acres and has a diverse range of businesses, from cattle ranching and farming to providing set locations for Hollywood bigwigs and arranging tours of California poppies to hosting special hunts and a new fishing program. For $35 a day, anglers can enjoy a quality experience . . . with a piece of peace. If there is a breeze up the pass, anglers wetting lines along the shores of Tejon Lake can faintly hear the distant hum of truck traffic on Interstate 5. But on a still morning or evening, the din is drowned out Drowned Out is a 2002 documentary by Franny Armstrong about the controversial Sardar Sarovar Project. It closely follows a family that is unwilling to leave its village home as the water levels of the Narmada River, mostly because the government provides them no viable by calling quail and splashing coots. The bass act as though the plastic worm A plastic worm (or trout worm) is a plastic fishing lure, generally made to simulate an earthworm. Plastic worms can carry a variety of shapes, colors and sizes, and are made from a variety of synthetic polymers. Some even are scented to simulate live bait. cast their way is the first thing resembling a meal they've seen in months and immediately run off with the bait. Set the hook and a formidable bucketmouth will surge to the surface to throw water into the air. I have caught bass at Lake Perris and never heard any of the fight because of the drone of boats and other background noise. A hooked bass pulling against a bait-casting rod and thrashing about Tejon Lake, however, creates joyous sounds that carry across a cove to your fishing partner. If he doesn't hear the splashes, he'll hear your gleeful glee·ful adj. Full of jubilant delight; joyful. glee  ful·ly adv.glee whoops Whoops Slang for the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS), which made the record books with the largest municipal bond default in history. Notes: During the 1970s and 80s, the WPPSS financed the construction of five nuclear power plants through the issuance of . On a cool, drizzly Friday afternoon of shore-fishing recently, my brother-in-law and I caught over 50 bass between us - the largest a five-pounder. The fishing was terrific, on par with the best bass action I've experienced at places like Barrett Lake in San Diego County and Mexico's Huites Lake. Others seem to agree. ``It was the best single day of bass fishing in my life,'' said Terry Lintz of Palmdale during a recent trip to Tejon Lake. Although an admitted amateur who hadn't had many bass-fishing days, he did have seven hookups and landed four fish in the short time he was there. Lintz said he didn't mind spending the lake fee and viewed it as a fishing investment. Handsome dividends have already been returned. The best place about my trip to Tejon is that we had the place to ourselves. Really, we were the only two guys there. And this spot is less than 75 miles from Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or - a 90-minute drive, depending on traffic. Some 15 years ago, Tejon Lake was dry, but it has held water - quite a lot of it - for the past eight or nine years. A few years back, it was stocked with bass by the overseers of Tejon Ranch. This year, rains have swelled the lake to cover more than 800 acres. Don Geivet, the manager of the game and fish program for the Tejon Ranch Co., notes that bass to 13 pounds have been caught in the past year but that they only received pressure from a couple of hundred anglers, many of them ranch staff. The lake is managed with a slot limit and artificial lures are encouraged. Anglers can keep three bass under 12 inches for the pan or a single trophy specimen measuring more than 22 inches. Reservations are required by calling (805) 248-6774, and the ranch will limit the number of fishermen allowed per day if it reaches a point at which numbers could impact the quality adventure managers are selling. Family season-fishing passes are available from February through August for $750. Float tubes are allowed, as are small boats, but anglers must obey a ``no wake'' rule and use trolling motors only. Best of all, jet skis aren't allowed. WHAT`S IN A NAME? Some local fishing waters have odd and oddly similar names. Ask somebody where they're going angling. When they reply ``Casitas'' or ``Castaic'' or ``Cachuma,'' you may be obligated ob·li·gate tr.v. ob·li·gat·ed, ob·li·gat·ing, ob·li·gates 1. To bind, compel, or constrain by a social, legal, or moral tie. See Synonyms at force. 2. To cause to be grateful or indebted; oblige. to respond with a ``Gesundheit ge·sund·heit interj. Used to wish good health to a person who has just sneezed. [German, health, from Middle High German gesuntheit, from gesunt, healthy .'' And such conversations can get perplexing per·plex tr.v. per·plexed, per·plex·ing, per·plex·es 1. To confuse or trouble with uncertainty or doubt. See Synonyms at puzzle. 2. To make confusedly intricate; complicate. , especially to the uninformed - sort of like the old Abbott and Costello Abbott and Costello (kŏstĕl`ō), American comedy team of William Alexander "Bud" Abbott, 1895–1974, b. Asbury Park, N.J., and Lou Costello, 1906–59, b. Paterson, N.J., as Louis Francis Cristillo. routine ``Who's on First?'' A typical work-place discussion could go like this: ``So, I hear you're fishing this weekend?'' ``Otay!'' ``OK what?'' ``Otay's the best bass lake in San Diego County.'' ``Marina there?'' ``Yeah, Morena's also in San Diego County, but it's not near as good.'' Up in this neck of the woods, confusion reigns over Castaic and Castac - lakes separated only by a 25-mile stretch of Interstate 5, the boundary between Los Angeles and Kern counties and the letter ``i.'' That's why Castac's proprietors, Tejon Ranch Co., changed the name of their private lake. Castac, pronounced Cas-TACK, is now Tejon Lake, pronounced Tay-HONE. Meanwhile, Castaic is still Castaic . . . and the pronunciation hasn't changed, either - Cas-TAY-ick. On another front, the famous fishing lure Rapala, which used to be pronounced Ra-PALL-a is now more correctly pronounced RAP-a-la. Somehow I think that all relates to what we're talking about here. So many questions. So much to ponder. Now you know what fishermen think about when we're on the water. --- Jim Matthews CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Map, Box PHOTO (1--Color) San Bernardino angler R.G. Fann hoists a stocky largemouth bass from Tejon Lake, formerly known as Castac Lake. (2--Color) The waters of Tejon Lake offer peace, quiet and little fishing pressure on the resident largemouth bass. Jim Matthews/Special to the Daily News MAP: (Color) LAKE WITH NEW NAME Dionisio Munoz/Daily News BOX: WHAT`S IN A NAME? (see text) |
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