Ep. 130: Fred Klinshaw on Freshwater Bass Guiding, Lake Selection, and the Salt-to-Fresh Crossover

Guests: Fred Klinshaw (Fred Klinshaw Fishing)

Hosts: Daniel Dahlin ([FISH]rx), El Charly, Luke Dean (Bait Slingers / Artemis Charters)

Freshwater bass guide Fred Klinshaw has been running charters on Castaic, Pyramid, and Casitas for 11 years full-time and he has not skunked a full calendar year. That kind of consistency doesn’t happen by luck. It happens because Fred understands how bass behavior shifts from lake to lake, season to season, and exactly how coastal proximity changes the timing of everything.

This episode, recorded live on May 19, 2026, is worth your time whether you fish salt or fresh or both.

In This Episode

• How coastal proximity shifts spawn timing across Casitas, Castaic, and Pyramid — and why Fred’s operation can always offer you a different phase of the bite
• The shad spawn post-spawn pattern at Casitas right now, and why A-rigs loaded with shad-profile baits are lights out in open water
• Why tournament fishing is 100% decision-making and you’re really only fishing against yourself
• Fred’s breakdown of big bait seasons — bottom baits and spooning in winter, pre-spawn glides, shad and A-rigs post-spawn, top water and stripers heading into fall
• The rod versatility conversation: why the iRod Genesis Junior Swimbait is showing up in both fresh and salt, from spotties to calico to 20 lb stripers
• Espetit top water breakdown — popper profile on light line, how it differs from a traditional popper, and why guides are throwing it across species
• Why Fred cuts the hook off when pre-fishing for clients and what that says about how he thinks about the job
• Getting kids into fishing: the gas station trick that worked, and why it stopped working on the second trip

The coast tells you where to start

The thing that makes Fred’s operation different is geography. Casitas sits close enough to the Ventura coastline that it functions almost like a coastal lake. It sees warmer water earlier. The spawn starts earlier. Fred had bass fry in March this year because the water never dropped below 58 degrees all winter.

Castaic sits 40 miles inland. Pyramid further still. As you move away from the coast, the same seasonal progression plays out later. That means if you know which phase you want to fish, Fred can usually put you on it somewhere. Pre-spawn female chasing a big swimbait, active fish on beds, or post-spawn open water shad fish on a multi-arm rig. Right now all three scenarios exist across his three lakes simultaneously.

That’s not an accident. That’s the whole program.

Post-spawn is not a slow period if you read the shad

After the spawn, bass come off beds skinny. They need protein and the shad provide it. At Casitas right now, Fred is throwing A-rigs loaded with shad-profile swimbaits in open water, targeting fish suspended between 10 and 30 feet. The depth of the water column doesn’t matter as much as finding where the fish are sitting within it.

This is one of the more transferable patterns Fred talked about. The idea of reading what bait is present, matching the profile, and moving through open water rather than staying tight to structure shows up in salt just as much as fresh. The conversation kept coming back to how much of what freshwater bass guys figured out has filtered into SoCal inshore fishing. Crankbaits on calico. Texas-rigged plastics on spotties. A-rigs on calico at the wall. It goes one direction and Fred has watched it happen over a long career.

Decision-making is what separates tournament anglers

Fred has been fishing tournaments at Casitas for years and he’s the tournament director at Cachuma. His take on competition is worth sitting with. The same 25 boats, 50 guys, all showing up with the same knowledge base every time. Nobody in that field is a pushover. What actually separates outcomes is decision-making, specifically whether you commit to the point you’re thinking about before somebody else gets there first.

The connection to tournament prep in tighter formats like Spotty Bowl is the same idea. Fish pressure, spawn timing, and shifting locations all require the same mental process: read the situation, make the call, go. Slow days are information. Missed fish tell you something. Spotty Bowl came up in the episode and the point Fred made carries over directly: if you’re thinking about a spot, you’re probably right, and hesitation is the thing that costs you.

Rod versatility: one rod across both worlds

The iRod Genesis Junior Swimbait kept coming up from both Fred and Luke as the rod that crosses over cleanest between fresh and salt. Fred is throwing it for big glide baits and A-rigs in fresh. Luke has been running it on calico. The reason is the tip profile: it loads well on longer casts, gives enough head to work larger presentations, but the shut-off point keeps it from blowing up the hookset on reactive bites.

The conversation also covered mono versus braid on top water, specifically on large baits where a surprise striper bite can hit like a freight car. Fred’s point was practical: the stretch in mono on a bigger top water isn’t about line shyness, it’s about protecting your hookset when something 20 pounds hammers a surface bait you weren’t expecting. On lighter poppers and smaller Espetit presentations, straight braid is fine. Know the bait, know the situation, choose accordingly.

Why This Episode Matters

red has fished these lakes for a long time and guided them for 11 years. What he’s built is a system that uses geographic and seasonal staging to put clients on the right fish at the right time. The way he talks about the coastal-to-inland spawn progression is the clearest explanation of SoCal freshwater bass timing I’ve heard on this show. If you’ve been curious about freshwater and wondering when to go and what to throw, this episode answers it directly.

The other thread that ran through the whole conversation was the shared language between salt and fresh. Calos on a jig with a double-wide beaver. Crankbaits for steelhead. A-rigs pulled at Casitas with the same rigs running at MDR. The overlap is real and it goes mostly one direction. Guys who fish bass tend to figure out everything else faster because the foundation is there.

Fred is on the water 364 days a year. He’s not going to be on Instagram much. But the knowledge is there. This episode is a good reason to reach out directly or book a trip and learn it in person.

Watch the full episode on the Time On The Water YouTube channel. New episodes every Tuesday at 6 PM.