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Bass fishing is huge in California. Boaters and kayakers alike have plenty of options to fish up and down the state, where largemouth, smallmouth, spotted, and striped bass species are all among the top targets. Waterways include lakes, rivers, reservoirs and deltas that can all grow fish year-round, with temperatures getting cold in certain months but never particularly frozen.
Unsurprisingly, California is a big bass destination. One of the current International Game Fish Association (IGFA) All-Tackle Length record largemouth bass measures 65 cm (25.59 inches), which George Coniglio caught in Lake Mission Viejo in May 2015. Harold Hardin holds California’s smallmouth bass record, landing a nearly 10-pounder on Pardee Reservoir in July 2007. And the state record largemouth is a 21-pounder from Castaic Lake in 1991…