Fish Tacos and Water Skiing at Castaic

While hundreds of people flutter to the waters of Santa Monica during summer, in tiny bikinis to take in the ultraviolet rays, you can consider not following the crowd and go for a different type of summer experience at Castaic Lake.

The man-made lake offers visitors diverse spots for fishing, boating, camping and picnicking.

I bought my $11 parking ticket and pulled into the upper lake parking lot, where the 29-mile shoreline glistened in the sun. The opposite side, the lower lake, is restricted to rowing, and swimming under the supervision of a lifeguard.

As I trailed down to the murky waters of the dam, past boulders and little shade to protect me from the violent hands of the sun, I realized that there were no rentals for fishing equipment.

Luckily, there's a gas station doubling as a tackle store just three blocks away, where you can buy all the necessary fishing equipment. But no boat rentals anywhere near, so bring your own.

After my quick expedition, I climbed down to the dock and waited for my companion to insert a worm on the hook, when a lifeguard boat approached the landing. I was told by Jonathan Cardenas, the lifeguard, that fishing from the quay is prohibited, but any other places are fine.

Before he descended onto the dock, I asked him for a few fishing tips. He told me that the best time to come is in the morning and when the sun starts to set; apparently, fish are not big on lunch.

The water is abundant with largemouth bass, some weighting 20 pounds; striper; sea bass and catfish. He told me the largemouth bass population has dwindled with the presence of the aggressive sea bass.

"But people are not really complaining too much because sea bass make excellent fish tacos; it's not even funny," Cardenas said. "The tacos are so delicious, people are just like ah! … It's funny how those guys make all kinds of things out of them. They'll have fish taco omelet in the morning, fish taco salad, and for dinner fish tacos, they're delicious."

I headed to the banks, hoping to build a fortune selling sea bass tacos. And with plenty of picnic tables and barbeque grills along the path, cooking them wouldn't be a problem, but I was in no luck. The only tug I felt was that of seaweed caught in my bait.

From a glance, I was able to see a congregation of anglers sitting on a ramp, and decided to join them, hoping that would change my luck.

My aims were futile. But my neighbor, Daniel Silva, a regular at the lake, let me know that he had not caught anything in the whole day, which relieved my embarrassment at my poor attempts at becoming a trout hunter.

Before leaving, Silva's line sat still in the water. It was there that I realized fishing was beyond me, and any hopes of joining the upcoming Team Bass Tournament on May 24 had to be abandoned.

Perhaps I could practice a little more if I camped for the night, but I didn't have $18 fee, so I headed back to my car.