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Eastman Lake and Reports

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Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 58-59

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Beautiful day out. Caught 21 fish. Best 5 went 10.8 Fish were aggressive, except for larger fish. First time I have not caught better quality. Fished from 10am to 3:30pm. Great to be out on the water.
    City: Madera Ranchos

    Tips: Look for same patterns and baits as previous posts.

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 61-63

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: The bite is really subtle. If you are not watching your line you will not even know they were there. Fished with my friend from Pacific Grove. Caught 22 fish. Best 5, 14 lbs with the largest 3.8 Had 35+ bites, but missed alot of fish and could not keep a few buttoned. 6 fish before noon, 16 between 1 and 5:30pm No kicker fish today
    City: Madera Ranchos

    Tips: Same patterns as listed in previous posts. You have to read your electronics and position your boat correctly. Look for structure or flats in 8-15ft that have deep adjacent water. Present the bait so that it comes down the fall line. They will eat it on the fall. If not, let it sit for 30 seconds+ deadsticking it. Twitch it and they will eat it. Watch your line for anything abnormal. They are not hammering the bait. Switch from offset wide gap hooks to straight shank. You will have better hook ups.

Saturday, October 31st, 2009

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    Water Temp: 61

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Sat 31st and Sunday Nov 1. Had to work super hard to catch anything. Caught 3 on Sat, all 3lbs, 2 at the exact same time Sun, one went 3.0 and the other 1.5. Fished damn area, some coves. One cove was full of fish but couldnt get any takers. Go every weekend and this was about the worst and Sunday, i havent seen that many boats on the water since we have been going there, every point, cove and inch of the damn was occupied. Not to mention the shore fisherman...without their licenses...where is the rangers????
    City: Clovis

    Tips: Took all on pink 7" worms and a weightless brown senko. Think the water is so cold, gonna have to land it right on their head and make em mad to bite. Threw swim baits, spinners, lots of cranks and every color plastic imaginable. Got most on drifting in open water, a few near the damn opposite swimming area.

Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 62-63

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Water has cooled a few degrees with windy system that just blew through. Still lots of granular algae in the water. Rising barometer and other atmospheric conditions factored into a tough bite. Had to work for them. 10 rigs out on the water. Most I have seen the whole year. Fished from 9:30am to 6 pm. 13 fish with two shorts. Best five went 15 lbs with a 3.65 leading the way.
    City: Madera

    Tips: All fish came on brush hogs. Had to really fish slow to the point of deadsticking and then twitching the bait in place. Only a couple ate it on the move. 10-20 ft either on structure or long sandy flats. Healthy fish. No takers on slow rolling spinnerbaits, swimbaits, crankbaits, or worms of any kind. Next week is back in the stable mid 70's. Bite should improve

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

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    Water Temp: 66-68

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Water is clearing but still has lots of fine algae particles. High sun all day. Fished from 10:30 am to 6;30 pm
    Caught 30 fish. 4 keepers and the rest 2 lbs and up with the largest 3.13 Had one that would have gone 5+ but flourocarbon line frayed on a rock. Best 5 went 16lbs. No big fish today, but lots of 2's and 3's.
    City: Madera

    Tips: Brush hogs and few on finesse worm. Got bit a few times on a swmimbait but could not keep them buttoned. Most fish came in 10-15 ft with a few 5-8ft. Two seperate patterns. Open lake structure like rock outcroppings. Also long sandy flats with no structure, 8-15 ft of depth. the fish are gorging for the winter and are healthy.

Friday, October 16th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 67

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished from 7 am to 1 pm. 10 bites. 1 miss, 1 breakoff of a 4 lber. Best 5 went 2.3, 2.10, 3.3, 3.7, 6.13 for a total of 18lbs 4oz. Overall not a bad day. Fog finally burned off around 10:30
    City: Madera

    Tips: All fish came on brush hogs except for one on a weightless senko style worm. The fish are gorging on baitfish, baby bass etc. I watched several fish come after a baby bass jerkbait, would nose it, but would not eat it. Through crankbaits, swimbaits etc, but no takers. Still alot of fine green algae in the water. You have to be methodical. Cooler temps will help when we get them. The window will be short.

Wednesday, October 7th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 67

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Water is clearing quickly with colder nights. Low air temps are now reaching the 40's with low to mid 80's for highs.
    Tough bite. Full moon week combined with cooler temps have locked them up a little. Smaller fish overall. Caught 15 with the best 5 going 11 lbs. Fall patterns are starting to kick in. It should get good in the next two weeks as fish will start to gorge for winter.
    City: Madera

    Tips: Threw alot at them, but all fish were taken on baby brushogs except for two which were on 4" worms. 5-12 ft. Once the fish start the pre-winter gorge, you need to have swimbaits, ripbaits, and cranks that imitate baitfish and are 3-5 inches long and suspend. Go even larger for the big girls, but you will get fewer strikes. Look for shallow structure that is adjacent to deep water. Lake is really down. There is not enough room to get my boat at WOT, fully trimmed, and at top speed. I can do about 67 mph tournament loaded and I had to shut it down at 55 mph. Be careful. Lots of shallow areas with rocks. They are marked, but I don't want to see someone lose their lower end.

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: where are all the fish caught? went yesterday caught 5 small ones and a 16 incher, all on green pumpkin brush hogs. been there a couple other times this month and caught a few from 14-18 inches but cant seem to have the success that other anglers are. maybe im not locating all the fish? any tips? or better lure/worm suggestions?
    City: fresno

    Tips: what color rip baits to use? and where at?

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

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    Water Temp: N/A

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: WE FISH THIS LAKE ALOT,TWO TO THREE TIMES A WEEK.RECENTLY AFTER THE WATER HAS STABILIZED WE STARTED CATCHING BIGGER FISH.3 TO 4LBS,IN GOOD NUMBERS.BUT TODAY WE ENDED UP WITH A 12.5LBER,8 LBER,A COUPLE OF 5'S JUST A GREAT DAY ON EASTMAN.
    City: PLANADA

    Tips: ALL FISH WERE CAUGHT ON RIP BAITS LIKE LUCKY CRAFT SUSPENDED MODELS. WORK IT VERY SLOW

Monday, September 21st, 2009

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    Water Temp: 75-78

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Hit the water Early and started off a point. Picked one up about 1.5lbs on the crank bait. I kept at it but no more takers. I moved around and kept using the crankbait and tried the brush hog. Not getting many bites. I moved to the dam and it was good for me. I got one on a senko and then I went back to the crank bait, switching between a couple different ones. I got a few more fish and moved on. Biggest was a 3lbr most around the 2lb class. Would have had a 9-11lb bag. I am still waiting to find a big fish here. I have been fishing here about once a week lately and I have been doing okay with the crank baits and some times with the plastics. The green slime is not as bad as it was last Wed when the entire lake was like pea soup. There were places a 6inch senko would not sink through the slime. A lot less On Monday but its still there.
    City: Fresno

    Tips: Keep cranking and change the lure from time to time.

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 75

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Started at 6am to 12 noon. Tough bite. Big moon, labor day pounding, and 10 degree weather change may have had an effect. 8 bites total. Best 5 went 12 lbs.
    City: Madera

    Tips: Algae is the worst its been over the last two weeks. Fish are stout and eating well. Very healthy. Fish are all over the place. Look for structure. All fish went on brushogs. Could not get any fish deep. Everything was in 3-5 ft of water.

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

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    Water Temp: 76

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Another great day. 22 fish. Largest 5 went 17lbs. 4-3's and 1-5. Busted off a bigger fish because I was stupid and did not re-tie. On the water at 6am off at 11am.
    City: Madera

    Tips: Fish are everywhere. Caught them as deep as 20ft and as shallow as 2ft. No shorts. Lots of 2-2.5 lb fish. Brushhogs and stick worms today. Water still has fine algae particles. Go with green pumpkin and darker colors. Find structure.

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 77

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Fine green algae everywhere. Fished from 5:30 am to noon. 26 fish with the best 5, 18 lbs. One big breakoff. Who knows. No fish on topwater. Only one fish undersized. Started to slow down about 11am
    City: Madera

    Tips: Baby brush hogs (pumpkin), Dropshot MMIII roboworm, finesse worm with tiny splitshot at head, jigs.

    Look for algae building up on surface in areas where the wind is blowing into. All fish were caught in less than 10ft of water with many caught in 2ft. They are under the thick algae crap chasing baitfish which are everywhere. Also on rocky points in shallow water.

Monday, August 17th, 2009

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The water has been shut off and the lake is holding at 13,000 arce feet for now. BIG BASS of the week was 10 pounds caught by richard meza of madera. Most bass fisherman are reporting bass being caught are from 1 to 2 pounds with and occasional 3 pounder being caught.Bass are being caught from depths of 8 to 25 feet of water. Jigs, senko's, brushogs, and crankbaits are all working here right now. FOR MORE INFO 559-689-3255
    City: madera ca

    Tips: For me ill stay with swimming a jig 1/4 oz bullet head jig /light watermelon skirt w/(208)yamamoto 5"single tail grub as my trailer.
    AREAS TO HIT
    Dam area ( crankbaits & jigs )
    Rock pile areas ( jigs,senko's,crankbaits )
    Brush piles areas ( jigs,brushogs,senko,s )
    Dropoffs ( jigs )
    Hump and flats ( jigs & crankbaits )

    Best time to hit the lake early morning or late afternoon til dark.

Monday, August 10th, 2009

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: there some nice fish to 3 pound being caught right now a small tournament this weekend produce a 22 and 20 pound limit of bass 1st and second place and there were a couple of 6 lbs and one 7 lbs caught this past week. Depending on who you talk to some say it slow. lake was at 14,000 acre feet as of sunday morning with water still being released. It tuff to get any info for the fear of traffic on the lake. it get much better in sept and oct on eastman even with the water being as low as it is.
    City: madera ca.ch

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

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    Water Temp: ??

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: What's up at Eastman? Is no one on this site hitting it anymore? Is water extremely low? I'm thinking of heading up in a couple weeks curious as to what's happening since i was here in June??

    Anyone?
    City: Pacific Grove

    Tips: Would love some

Sunday, June 14th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 74-76

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Crystal Clear Water. Temperature absolutely perfect for active bass. Bite was wierd. Out of 3 days of fishing we had very few bites, very few fish. We were at least 90% in the bite to catch ratio. Lost a couple of nice ones in there too. We caught only on plastics - worms, double tail grubs, etc. Not as much as a bump on cranks, spinnerbaits or topwaters.
    Fish caught were in 18-23 ft of water with an occasional fish in shallow (10 ft or less). Lite bite too... they were not pounding it like they normally do at Eastman this time of year. TONS of fry on the lake... in fact, we keyed in on the only pattern we could muster up - the were feeding heavily on those fry. They would chase a school of fry to surface or bank... fry would be busting water, than a bass would roll on the school gorging away. We were able to throw to that sometimes and get a bite/fish.
    City: Pacific Grove

    Tips: Every fish we did manage to catch was spitting out tons of the said fry... clearly, they were after the easy gorge meal and not too into my cool collection of lures. In hindsight, I should have brought up a bucket of those gulp minnows to match the tiny hatch. Normally, I can always do real good here; this trip was strange. Temps were wierd too... full moon over the weekend... all could have played a factor... then again, maybe my gameplan sucked... most guys i talked to were getting similar action... 1 or 2 here and there.
    Lake sure was beautiful though - saw an eagle and saw a coyote Saturday morning at 5am cruising around launch ramp area.

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

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    Water Temp: 76

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished from 1:30pm to 7pm. Lots of boats for a wed. Found out there was a tournament with about 10 boats. I had to work for them but got 8, 7 on jigs in 15-20ft and 1 on a spook. Best 5 went 11 lbs and had 1 break me off that was probably around 7. The fish are there. Fry are around the banks and the post spawners are recovering out in deeper water.
    City: Madera

    Tips: Find submerged structure in 20ft and position your boat several different ways to present the bait differently. Work across points both sides of the drop.

Saturday, May 16th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 68?

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Lake looks fantastic. Making a 4 day trip up in a few weeks, just had to come take an early look. Got at lake by 6 and walked shoreline left of the day use launch. Caught 3 on worms. Moved to other side caught 3 more on worms. Nothing on swimbaits or cranks. It was hot, split by 11. Can't wait to get back up in the boat to fish it right. Fry everywhere as earlier post indicated. I Fished slow and shallow and in 3-6 ft. Water is in great shape; crystal clear and no algae bloom... yet.
    City: Pacific Grove

    Tips: Fish a lot.

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

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    Water Temp: 70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fry everywhere. Lots of bucks caught. You can catch them with whatever your favorite bait is. They are not partial. Mama's are still stressed and recovering. They may need another week. Water still low. 20%
    City: Madera