I know what you mean fishing those canyon lakes with no visable cover
and being 40-50 feet from the bank and being in 50-60 feet of water.
Those swimbaits in Rainbow Trout work well, a c-rig with big lizards,
worms and creature baits, big deep running plugs and jig 'n pig all the
basic stuff work. But to find the bass is the problem, get a good lake
map and the finer the detail the better, study it well, see where the
river/creeks run close to points and sharp bends, find underwater
islands, long points from shore going into deeper water and saddles. I
lived in 1000 Oaks just over the mountain range from that lake and
fished it often and its not an easy lake. Try the forebay its 180 acres
and got some quality bass in it. Also Lake Piru is another option, its
smaller, but still deep and clear. My favorite is Lake Casitas off
highway 101, north of Ventura at Oak View and highway 33. Got some nice
5 to 9 pounders from it years back, t-rigged worms in basic brown works
good. Lake record was 21# 3 oz don't know if its still standing. I'm
living in N CA now and the foothill lakes here are the same canyon lakes
as in S CA. You just got to fish them alot and get used to not seeing
visable cover/structure. Study a good map. use your electronics and
marker bouys to mark the spots while on the water. I live 5-6 miles from
the best bass water in the state now, the CA delta, 1000 square miles of
unlimited cover, and I mostly fish water 2-5 feet deep all year. Man
life is good.. Good luck to you and hang in there, keep at it and you
will get it in time..

sket