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Wednesday, June 25th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 75+

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Another late Afternoon trip with my son, at sub optimal fishing times. I didn't do well as I was mainly tossing spinnerbaits and crankbaits, but lacked the patience or time to drop shot.
    City: Atwater

    Tips: saw evidence of alot of people catching Catfish.

Thursday, June 12th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 73-74

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Low end of the lake was dead...nothing around the dam, rock walls, Ski Cove....then we went up to horseshoe bend in the timber and around that cove....caught 12 Bass...10-14" all on Ripbait (Chartreuse Lucky Craft)...lost a nice one on Top Water. Saw alot of boats up river...I think once the water settles, we'll see better action on the lower end....
    City: Merced, CA

    Tips: Stay Upriver for now. Watch your tail at Horshoe...it's still very shallow on the edges, and right behind the floating bathroom...also Sheriffs are ticketing people for speeding around the bend past the house boats, even though it's the main area, unless your >150 Feet away...Bite seems to improve after 5:00 P.M....

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 74-75

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Caught 6lb Bass at corner of western corner of the dam on Lucky Craft Chartreuse Minnow...must have been the town moron..nothing else in the lower lake area for 2 hours (1pm-3pm)....caught 10+ Bass on rocky points and piles all the way to horseshoe on clear/gold/black/silver flaked senkos hooked wacky-style. Was very windy. One ting I have discovered: Windy=drifting senkos=lots of bass..All my fish were on the connecting waterways between the main lake and horseshoe bend. Saw alot of Trout rolling in the waves and piles of Shad all along the rocks. Fishing shelves was the key.
    City: Merced, CA

    Tips: I think that because the water is rising so fast, the fish are deep, and are going shallow to feed. Thus, look for rocks and sharp drops/shelves/points with deep water. I still throw Senkos 80% of the time and switch to Topwater or ripbaits to mix it up.

Saturday, May 24th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 68-70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Last minute fishing trip opertunity on Saturday. Got up there about 1030 and fished til 400. The light rain and wind wasnt terrible, and didnt push the boat. Lake levels have dramaticaly risen and now the water level is level with the bottom of the tunnels near mclure point. Fishing was poor, perhaps due to the weather and water clarity or perhaps the rising water level.

    Main lake water temp was 68 , but 70 in the coves. Additionaly the grass carp, and bait fish are heavily concentrated up in the cotten creek area.

    Even trolling failed to produce anything.
    City: Atwater

    Tips: the worse than usualy water quality might suggest switching up colors, but with as little sucess as I had I have no tips to give.

Saturday, May 3rd, 2008

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    Water Temp: 65+

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Went out of Barrett up river. Landed lots of fish 1.5+ Found the largemouth in the flat up by Horseshoe. Spots were all over. Also afternoon bite was good in the cove by the houseboats. Everyone on the boat caught 12-15 fish. None over 2.5 lbs
    City: La Grange

    Tips: Split shot on a 3' leader 3/16 oz mojo. Curlytail robos 4-5" holo shad,warmouth, a few on shakyhead craw patterns and cranks - shad and perch pattern.

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

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    Water Temp: 64

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished lower end in Temperance...caught 2 Bass on Lucky Craft Chartreuse Ripbait. Fished along the wall outside Temperance and missed a few. Worked the tree tops in Horse shoe and caught 3 crappie, and two 3#bass on ripbaits...the upper river was
    non-productive. I fished the cove across from the marina that has two large boulders and stream fed. I caught 6 nice 2-3# on my new favorite Senko: Brown/purple/green/gold flake. The best fishing was along the rock walls between horseshoe and the main lake. I spotted numerous bass staging below shelves in 10-15 feet of water, and caught 12 along the wall using natural shad senkos.
    I hit the point near the houseboats on the way in and caught 3 more on DD20 Crankbaits. All in all a good day, but still not quite as active as last year. The cold nights are still keeping the bass down, but maybe with hot weather, things will fire up.
    City: Merced, CA

    Tips: Senkos, ripbaits, and plastics in Crawdad with green, and hit submerged structure. You could see fish coming up and feeding, then going back down. Catch and Release!!!

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 61

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fishing:Good
    Young and smallish spotted bass are on ALL main lake rocky points. Wasnt able to find anything bigger than 15" so maybe a slower soft plastic ((Senko)) presentation will provide better results. Trolling for trout also working out well on needlefish.
    City: Atwater

    Tips: Fishing was good , desipite a tournament going on. White spinner baits and a shad lipless crankbait worked well.

Monday, April 21st, 2008

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    Water Temp: 57-63

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished from 4/15 to 4/19. Windy, windy most of the time. The water temp started out at 57 and by Saturday was was 63. The majority of the fish were caught on senko's, some by drifting live minnows, and a few on spinner baits. There were approx 10 of us fishing and we probably has 25 keepers total. Most were 14 3/4. Not many bass were at the shore, most were in 30 feet of water.
    City: Rough and Ready

    Tips: Rainbow trout, clear/ red/ black flake and rootbeer colored senko's worked the best. The live minnows caught approx half of the keepers and approx 12 crappies. The wind was not our friend!!!

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 58-60 (Up river

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Started at 0630 this morning...again tried my usual areas: Dam, rock wall on west side, Portugese Cove, opening of Cottonwood, only one fish on topwater in Portugese Cove...about 12 inches..decided if upriver was going to be good again, and WOW! was it ever. The wind was again blowing 15-20mph, and basically I just drifted with the wind along the rocky wall on the left side just past the submerged tree area (about 1/2 mile long)...I alternated throwing pearl/gold/black flake and natural shad 5" senkos hooked wacky style, and a Pointer Chartreuse Lucky Craft. I would throw in front of the boat, dead stick, then rapid retrieve. I would average about 3-4 fish, fire up the motor, and head to the front of the wall and re-drift. All fish were caught in 5-10 feet of water, usually around submerged boulders. Caught a total of 20 fish..largest 3 pounds, best five went for about 12-13 pounds. Watched trollers hammering the trout as well...they also told me that they caught alot of fat bass as well...my sonar spotted large groups of fish along shelves, and I think they are spawning in this area. I saw large blacks and Spots cruising in patches of clear water, even though most of the time the water was pretty muddy. Strange in April that everything is in the coldest water?
    City: Merced, CA

    Tips: I guess the best advice is to go upriver. To be honest, I haven't seen any fish shallow on the south end...I have gone all the way back to 3' water in coves and I don't see holes, bass, or baby bass, only carp. If you don't mind the wind, the fishing is a blast!!!

Monday, April 14th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 62-64

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Windy, windy, windy...decided to try it out anyways...started out at the Dam and then Cottonwood...no fish seen shallow. Lots of Trout jumping and Carp rolling around in the shallows. Tried along the edges of Temperance, and still no luck...threw Blades, Ripsbaits, Lizards, Dropshot, and Senkos. Went upriver, and found fish in the shallows. The water was colder, but more clear, and I caught 6 1-2 pounders around the corner from Horseshoe on Chartreuse Luckycraft Pointer. Caught 2 bass and 2 trout on pearl/silver/gold Senkos. The wind got so fierce that I wore out my trolling motor, so I went in. Wish I had a swimbait with me. Saw some big fish sitting on nests, and saw probably a 10 pounder tear up a trout I hooked!
    City: Merced, CA

    Tips: The lake being low has really affected the bass fishing this year. The Lake has been inconsistent. One day you think you have hit the post spawn and get fish left and right, the next...tough..I still prefer senkos right now, and as my buddy Anthony Tanochion says...match the hatch...

Saturday, April 5th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 61-62

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Started fishing at 0730, unfortunately, there was a tournament today. Fished the wall on the south end of the lake from the dam. Caught 6 bass in 2 hours, avg 1-2 lbs, on Blades, and Natural Shad Senkos (Wacky Style). After that, the bite dropped off. caught two more slot-sized spots at Temperance. Bad news: No bass seen in the shallows, the Good News: Eyes have turned red, and some had messed up tails. According to one fisherman who I towed in, he saw males swiming in the shallows at cottonwood, hopefully the spawn will be here soon.
    City: Merced, CA

    Tips: Have patience, fish slow, and avoid Saturdays, almost everyone for the next two onths will have a tournament.

Sunday, March 30th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 58

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Out of McClure Point at day break. Overcast with a little chop so we started throwing reaction. Shad colored blade gold/silver,LC Pointer ghost and Aurora Blk; nothing. Changed to dart head worms and gitzits in craw colors and caught a couple small ones in ten feet.
    Moved to Cottonwood and Portugese and caught a few small fish 1.0 lbs at most.
    Threw weightless senkos in the submerged weeds and got bit but still nothing of size.
    City: Hilmar

    Tips: I think these fish must still be suspended off main and secondary points;feeding up for spawn. Saw a couple fish thinking about bedding but would not lock in on anything.
    Use your electronics and see if you can find them on deep structure connecting with spawning areas, they should be biting somewhere out there.

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 62.3

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: At 3:00,I looked around for warmer water and found it at Ski Cove (a smaller version..but the water is rising). Way in the back...I fished along the tree tops in 20' of water, and nailed 2 4 pounders and a couple of slot sized bass. The two larger ones had mangled tails, and were fattened up. I caught them on Natural Shad Senkos-5"..and they crushed them!!! I cruised all the way in and never saw any holes or nests as of yet. Later I fished along the rocky ank of the dam..and took 8 more fish..including a 12 inch Silver Salmon...6 on a Natural Shad Senko, and 2 on a smoke and blake flake Senko...I never saw any fish shallow, but lots of baitfish. ALL fish were caught on shelves leading from 10-12 foot water to 25-30' water.
    City: Merced, CA

    Tips: Look for pockets of warm water. Fish are definitely suspending near structure. I saw lots of fish jumping, and allalong cottonwood, ski cove, and the banks from the dam all the way to Cottonwood have trees and submerged structure. It was nice to see some normal fishing, and the fish look healthy and fat. Water is rising. This is getting to be Senko Time..and I fish wacky style. Get some O-Rings..cause you're going to lose quite a few!!

    Watch out for the Sheriff's Patrol. They pulled us over for going too fast near the house boats. We were outside the bouys, but were still within 150 feet from the houseboats, coming out of the McClure Boat Launch.

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

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    Water Temp: 57

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: had a tough day lunch about 7.00am started throwing jigs on first spot nothing about an hour trew adrop shot two fish back to back.little ones about 14'' both fish same size move on another spot 4fish off a jig a little better size 2#2,2#1,8#1,6#work that spot for about 2/30no more bite on the jig got some more on the drophot nothing size. move a couple more spots nothing.hope it pick up have a tournment in two weeks.
    City: turlock

    Tips: work on points and back of coves try to find warmer water fish jigs for better size fish dropshots for more bites got fish about 20 to35 feet deep notthing shallow for me good luck.

Monday, March 17th, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: sorry about the date.

Friday, March 14th, 2008

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    Water Temp: ???

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Any reports for this lake?
    City: San Jose

Friday, February 29th, 2008

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    Water Temp: mid 50's

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Most bass are being caught at about 10-15ft on berserk jigs or a brush hog. Some are hitting surface lures, ripbaits, and crankbaits. Small ones are able to be caught on dropshotting. Some swimbait fish are out there. Bucks are moving in with a few females too. Its getting better, if you can get a 10lb limit with 5 fish you are doing pretty good. I caught some smallmouth upriver on a brown berserk jig, nothing big pound and a halfers.

    Tips: Brown or brown/green jigs in about 15ft worked slowly or a bait that looks like a crawdad. Reaction baits near the shoreline. www.fishwrangler.net

Friday, February 15th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 52-53

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Windy, Windy, windy....water was pretty rough..caught six total for the day..probably going for 5 pounds. Caught three throwing cinnamon/green flake yamamoto twin tail hula grubs on dart head...1 drop shotting with keeper pearl/blue 4" worm..one on a Lucky Craft rip bait... one on a Watermelon seed/red flake baby brush hog...all were caught five feet from the bank..but fish finder showing most 15-25 feet...saw piles of bait fish all along the old dam, what's left of ski cove, and along the old railroad posts half way to horseshoe...no luck though...everything caught was in the rocks...good news is the lake levels are rising with the old dam three feet showing, and ol' McClure starting to look almost normal again. Saw another Basser hook a 4 pounder on a green pumpkin tube, texas-rigged in Temperance. Forget going up river...water is still 6-8 feet deep a half mile past horseshoe...
    City: Merced

    Tips: I've read that crankin along the creek beds are getting fish..none for me. I still think crawdad colors are the way to go...hula grubs, brush hogs, and tubes...and once the old dam goes under...the fising should improve..plus keep drop shotting. Have patience..it will get better...

Monday, January 21st, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: I've been fishing McClure for the past month and have had success using dropshot in shad patterns and brown 1/2 oz jigs with large trailers. Most success has been coming off of main lake points and drainages with steep drop offs. Have had some success with smaller swimbaits with no great size results but shows that the fish are lookin for bigger food sources.
    City: La Grange

    Tips: Hit drainages and main lake points with jigs and dropshots and follow points and drainages to deeper water, you'll eventually run into something.

Saturday, January 19th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 54-57

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Nor-Cal today and it was cold, started out throwing a 6" Mission Fish for about an hour with not even a follow, switched to DD-22 in Delta Craw and got two off of the creek channel openings;points. Should have stayed with it swiched up to drop shotting a 4" 082 and got bites but no size; again all on rock piles running into the water; 10' or less. Swiched to a dart head to finish a rat limit of 6.48 and come in 7th; fishing was like the days of old at McClure.
    City: Hilmar

    Tips: Crank primary and secondary points early, drop shot and darthead w/082 and browns(grn.pkn)to twenty five feet. If your not getting bit move, they dont seem to be turning all of the sudden, the bites were on each spot in first ten cast.