Southern California Transplant Now a Dominant Figure at Lake Don Pedro

December 31, 2008
Back in the early 1980's, Southern California's Castaic Lake was known as the premiere trophy bass lake in the world. It seemed as though 16 and 17 pound bass were being caught almost weekly, with an occasional 21 pounder thrown in for good measure. Castaic Lake was drawing world renowned trophy bass hunters from around the globe in quest of catching a new world record largemouth bass. Even Roland Martin and Bill Dance made appearances. And while most of the attention was given to these big named trophy bass guys, there were a handful of local bass anglers who were on that same quest, yet you never heard a word about them, nor did you even know their names.

Most of these local trophy hunters were in their late teen or early twenties and none of them had any interest whatsoever in the booming bass tournament craze that was sweeping across the country. Instead, these young guns would quietly launch their small aluminum boats and ease over to spots on Castaic Lake that very few others knew about. There they would catch dozens, if not hundreds of trophy size bass while remaining in (and enjoying) near-total anonymity.

One such angler was Danny Gillespie who, at the time, hailed from nearby Sylmar, California. Danny spent countless hours searching for and catching double digit bass on Castaic Lake. One of Danny's favorite and most successful techniques was fishing creek channels with jigs; a technique for which he became quite famous. But like many others at the time, when trout imitating swimbaits were born in Southern California, Danny quickly and successfully became one of the best swimbait anglers in the area, as well. Danny also became well skilled at fishing with live crawdads, on which he caught a hefty 16 pound 2 ounce Castaic Lake largemouth bass.

In the spring of 1997, Danny moved to Sonora, California, which put him a stone's throw away from Lake Don Pedro in the heart of California's historic Mother Lode country. Just as he had done at Castaic Lake years before, Danny quickly began having tremendous success with swimbaits on Don Pedro's big Florida strain largemouth bass. This time, however, he kept his secrets to himself, sharing them with only his closest of friends.

"When I first moved to Sonora, very few guys were throwing swimbaits at Lake Don Pedro," recalls Gillespie. "As a result, the trophy-size fish weren't being pressured very much and it wasn't uncommon to catch several 10 and 11 pounders every time out. But once the word began getting out about how great of a swimbait lake Don Pedro was, more and more guys began throwing them and it started getting tougher to catch double-digit fish on a regular basis. This increased fishing pressure forced me to make adjustments to my fishing techniques. Because of this, I found ways to catch swimbait fish that few others were targeting. This allowed me to continue catching trophy-size fish while others guys were struggling. It also helped me catch a 17 pounder several years ago, too," Gillespie adds.

In 2007, Gillespie retired after spending 30 years in the construction business. This allowed him to spend even more time on Lake Don Pedro and the other Mother Lode country lakes. "When I was working and my fishing time was limited, I would go out there rain or shine, sleet or snow. Now when I wake up to nasty weather, I just roll over and go back to sleep," Gillespie said with a smile.

In February of 2008, Danny began guiding on Lake Don Pedro and other area lakes. His many years fishing experience in both Northern and Southern California and his exceptional skills as a trophy bass angler have quickly made him one of the region's most popular bass guides.

During the last week of November 2008, Danny hooked and landed a monster 17 pound 2 ounce Don Pedro largemouth bass on an 8-inch black and silver ROF-12 Huddleston Deluxe trout.

"I had hooked that same big bass a few days earlier, but it came off half way back to the boat," recalls Gillespie. "A few days later, a little storm front came through and I went back to the same area and caught her on my very first cast of the day. I immediately called my daughter and son-in-law and asked them to grab my grandson Cole and their video camera and meet me at the dock. When they got there, they shot some footage of the fish and I released her back into the lake. It was truly a very special day," said an emotional Gillespie.

Danny was among the 50 anglers entered in HBC-3 at Lake Amistad, Texas, an event which had to be postponed due to the financial crisis that hit our country at that same time. Needless to say, he was ecstatic when he learned that HBC-4 was going to be held at Lake Don Pedro on Friday, March 13, 2009. "You know I'll be at that one," said Gillespie. "There will be several fish over ten pounds weighed in at that tournament. Man, I can't wait!"

For more information on Danny Gillespie's Guide Service call (209) 588-1563.

(Click here to watch Danny Gillespie's "Don Pedro Pig" video)