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Oroville Lake and Reports

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Thursday, December 6th, 2012

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Couldn't get the boat out, so shore fished at Lime Saddle. Fished 7:30am to noon. Ended up with 22 spots. Two 15 inch, 2 14 1/2 inch, the rest 12-14 inch. Fished Texas style roboworms 4 1/2 inch. Lots of floating wood in the water. Very few boats out on the lake.
    City: Magalia

Tuesday, December 4th, 2012

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Lake has come up 36 feet since the rains began week ago. Bass must be scattered due top the rise in water. Off to take the boat out Thursday 12/6/12 and see how it goes.
    City: Magalia

Monday, December 3rd, 2012

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Tried a bit of shore fishing today. Wow, lake must be up 15-20 foot or so. Dirty, lots of floating wood. Roboworms texas style. Got 5 spots, most 13-14 inches early. Moved to fish newly flooded flat and picked up a 14 1/2 inch, 15 inch, 16 inch right in a row. Fished 7:45am to 9:30 am.
    City: Magalia

Monday, November 26th, 2012

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished today with my buddy, got 37 spots. One was 16 1/4" great looking fish (released). 2 other 14 1/2, 14 3/4" close, but not winners. All others 12-to 14" Most from 25 to 35 feet deep. 3-4 were red eye bass, and a couple that had a golden brownish look, figured they must have been a small mouth. All on Texas rigged roboworms. We do an odd thing, we also work a Texas rig similar to a drop shot, seems to work for us.
    City: Magalia

Thursday, November 22nd, 2012

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Tried out shore fishing at Lime saddle this am from 7am to 9:30am. Surprised, surprise, 23 spots, 1 15 1/4" 2 14 1/2" the rest 13-14". Nearly ever cast had a hit. Missed maybe 6 or so.
    City: Magalia

    Tips: Fished Texas rigged roboworms slow, light as weight as possible. Better fish are deep.

Friday, November 9th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 60

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Finally - the water is beginning to cool! I had a half-day trip today with a "crowded" boat - 4 from the same family! Grandpa down to the 10 yr old. None had too much fishing experience, so I had my work cut out - in a post-front day - with air temp just above 50 degrees. And just a few bass boats!!! No problem! We started about noon and finished about 4:30 pm. Surprise - the fishing was pretty good. One of the party landed a 2 lb 2 oz spot and another almost 2. Another landed one that I measured several times - 14 7/8. Almost a hero! A few more 14 inchers landed by them and a few dinks chasing baits all the way to the boat! Interesting that all their bass were in the 14 to 17 inch size! I was pretty pleased since three of them caught bass while grandpa lost the 3 or 4 he hooked.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Because of the short time period, we never got too far away from the dam. Most of their bass were caught drop-shotting 6" Robo worms in various colors with a chartreuse tail. Morning dawn was the best, followed by Witches "T". Creek channels with steep rock was our top structure. Average depth was 30 to 40 feet. Glad I'm not night fishing tonight! Brrrr!!!!

Tuesday, November 6th, 2012

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fair day today. My fishing partner and I bagged 20 spots, all in slot, largest 14 inches. Windy early, glass by late morning. Most 15-30 feet of water. Got all on 4 1/2" robo worms, Texas rigged. Also got one coho that was a plant from the week prior, about 8" or so. The small brute put up a fair fight. Released all fish for another day.
    City: Magalia

Friday, October 26th, 2012

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Okay so what kind of Jelly with the Peanutbutter?
    Grape, strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, plum, peach???
    City: Sac

Saturday, October 13th, 2012

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Dana and I fished our regular Tuesday 1/2 day trip. Launched 8am, heading in a tad past noon. Bitter cold wind first couple hours. We ended up with 22 bass, most in 25 to 35 feet of water. Robo worms as our normal bait. Most fish caught in the north fork or the way to it.
    City: Magalia

Saturday, September 22nd, 2012

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    Water Temp: 63-75

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Pre-fished for a tournament on Friday and managed a good limit around 10 pounds. Fished up the Middle Fork and found some quality in the 2-3 pound range on PB&J football heads, 3/8 ounce smoke and purple dart head jigs from Atomic Custom Baits and a few drop-shot fish. Also caught a few on a Bass Buster Jig in 1/2 ounce and same color schemes.

    Tournament day was Saturday and the Middle Fork bite was dead for us, so we headed all the way up the North Fork into the running river water. Managed to win the tournament up there after not finding any fish until 11:00 am. Caught 4 nice keepers holding to the walls and in the current breaks. Also throwing jigs exclusively. They really liked the twin tail Yamamoto grubs in either purple or smoke as trailers on the jigs.
    City: Reno, NV

    Tips: They are still busting bait fish and a few club members found balls for topwater in the morning. I found the key was that smoke/purple/pb&j color. Seemed to really like that. Tried not to give them too much action, but let them drag on the bottom or go with the current.

Sunday, September 2nd, 2012

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    Water Temp: 71-73

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: This week and last weeks trips were about the same with the main difference being water temp and traffic. Water temp has fallen 5-8 degrees in the last week and the Labor Day traffic was as you can exspect was high. It however did not stop the morning bite which was mainly reaction. My clients took many bracket fish on lipless crank baits and swim baits. As the Sun got higher we went to jigs and drop shot to nail some nice spots up to almost 4 lbs. The arms had been fishing better and were cooler but the bite is now balancing out. The bass are chasing pond smelt all over the lake and are coming up with their mouths full of them. The Fall bite should be great this year as the lake is now just under 100 feet below the top. The ramps should hold up until the rains come and fishing only better from now on.
    City: Paradise

Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012

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    Water Temp: 78

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished 5 - 8:30 pm. Great topwater bite mostly on Rico's and spooks. Targeted main lake and secondary points. Highest percentage structure had stickups and/or stumps near or right on the point. Caught around 25 fish with 6 over the slot. Best fish was a 21" LM. Estimated weight 3.5 - 4 lbs. Real fatty!!!
    City: Sierra Foothills

    Tips: What worked for us was throwing right up against the shore. Twitch-twitch = explosion!!! Shaded shorline seemed to be a good choice.

    Ripping accounted for a lot of the smaller fish. Still had to work for all of our fish. Slow down especially around target areas. Great Lake!!!

Monday, August 20th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The reaction bite has been holding steady for the past month. Headed out with Markie G at noon. Fished till 5:30PM. Totaled 50+ most on reaction bates. Go visit Oroville Outdoors and pick up a pointer 78 that mimics the pond smelt and/or baby bass. You will not be disapointed!!! 5 fish over the 15" slot.
    City: East Foothills Oroville

    Tips: Love the Middle Fork but I do not think it matters that much. One you have "ripping" down you will have a hard time going back to soaking worms and dropshotting. Especially this time of year. Love this lake! Take a friend and hold on!!!
    O yea, got a ticket for too fast in 5 mph zone. No mercy!!!!!!

Thursday, July 19th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 73-76

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Last week fishing was good but this week the bite has turned to HOT. My clients Thursday boated an estimated 75 bass from the bracket to a 2 1/2 lb large mouth. Many over the bracket on reaction baits and then senkos and worms in the afternoon with the reaction bite still on. It was a great day with fish all day even with rain in the morning. Hard to beleive it was July.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: I look forward to this time of year for the reaction bite and it is on!!

Friday, June 29th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 70-74

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: This week was filled with fantastic clients from mother/son teams single guys to father/daughter teams. The wind was issue at the begining but we used it to our advantage and put it to our backs and threw blades, lipless crank baits and swim baits. When we could get out of the wind we used drop shot, dart head worms, tubes and finesse jigs as well as swim baits. We took many large mouth and small mouth but of coarse the majority were slot spots. Many 2 lb plus up to 4 lbs this week mainly on the swim baits and on the lipless crank baits. Every day was different and so we had to find out what was going to be best each day. We fished the West Branch, Norh Fork, Slot and Main Body. The best thing however, was how wonderful everyone was.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Keep changing baits to find out what the bass want for that day. It will probably change tomorrow so be willing to change with them. This time of the year reaction baits are working. Worms always work. Colors may change even during the day. Look for shade, mud lines, trees, steep walls and ambush spots of any nature.

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    Water Temp: 73-75

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I was able to provide a half-day trip yesterday for a father/daughter team on an absolutely perfect weather day - not too hot and and a nice cool breeze. We fished from 6:30 to 11:30 am. We fished the middle fork only and found the bite for quality post-spawn spots to be better than expected. Her three best were spotted bass - 15 1/2, 16 and near 17 inches. We didn't weigh them - just measured them. She was very good at fishing green pumpkin Robo worms on a dart head. Dad caught several on 4 inch green pumpkin Berkley Power worms, but his biggest was 14 3/4 inches. So close!! We fished shadows for most of the morning as they are still available until around noon. That will change soon as the lake is dropping a foot a day now. I'm not sure how many they caught - over 20 for sure. They did catch a few dinks (one of her's was as big as the topwater Chug Bug she was using!! Most of their spots were over 13 inches and spitting up pond smelt. Dad even caught a small largemouth. A fun day to be a guide - great people on a great lake with great weather!! And my Ranger Z521 is a great office on the water!!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: We concentrated on flats with a deep drop-off, walls in shadows, and flooded willows. I actually wish I had fished them in the willows earlier as they were full of fish - on the shadow sides. I suggest looking for structure off the bank now. The quality bass were all 20 to 30 feet deep. Clay banks with small rock were providing a lot of their bites.

Wednesday, June 20th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 70-75

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Wed evening I was able to take my good friend Willie Page up to Oroville - a lake he knows well even though he now lives in Mississippi (haven't spelled that in awhile!!). Some of you might remember Willie. I had a thrill netting his 7 lb 1 oz spotted bass at Collins Lake - probably about 10 years ago. We launched out of Lime Saddle so as to take advantage of the floodlights at night, since there is still some floating wood. I didn't expect the bite to be great since they are dumping the lake now. We fished from 7 pm to 2 am. I have no idea how many we caught - somewhere around 50 with 4 "overs" up to 16 inches. Five were largemouth! We fished up and down from the marina but couldn't get bit on the wall opposite from the launching ramp. Weird. Once again, my favorite night bait for Oroville and Berryessa - the 7" black Power Worm could not be ignored by the bass. We caught a few on Yamamoto Flappin' Hogs too. Before dark, the Robo morning dawn worm w/chartreuse tail (6") was magical too. A few hits on topwater but still very slow for the Chug Bug.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Because of the dropping water we focused on steep walls and a few of the off-shore ledges I know. The bite was really good for an hour after dark, then slowed quite a bit, and finally turned on big time after 12:30 am as we worked our way to the hwy 70 bridge. It was weird when the last half-hour produced nearly all 14 to 14 1/2 inch spots! Maybe next year they will reach 15 inches!!!! It looked to me like there was a houseboat spawn this spring also! Hardly any room to fish, LOL!!!

Saturday, June 16th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 68-74

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: This week fished better than last week and topped off with a trip out Sat with a great client that nailed a 4 lb spot on a swim bait up the North Fork. We took another over 3 lbs. and several over 2 lbs mixed with the usual bracket fish. We keyed on incoming water and rocky banks taking bass on blades, swim baits, and jigs. During the middle of the week we took many nice bass from the main body and the slot as well as the West and North Fork with the same patterns including tubes. The top water bite is still off and on and most off unless you fish in the evening.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Seems like the bite was better early and tapered off in the afternoon. Typical for this time of year.

Tuesday, June 12th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 69-73

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: This past week started out with a full moon and lots of weather changes that really had you looking for a pattern that would work. I found that as the week progressed the bite did get better even though the winds got up to 40 mph. Tubes and senkos work well in the first part of the week and the bite seemed to change to a more reaction bite from mid week on. Blades and swim baits working really well on points and ambush spots from 2-5 ft. down to 20 ft. With the full moon we also fund a late spawn bank on the main body and took some really nice large mouth and spots up to 4 lbs with jigs and shacky head worms.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: On tuff weeks or even a tuff day on the lake, if the bite is not happening start changing things like going to a reaction baits.

Friday, June 8th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 75

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: 1st trip here, well worth the drive. on the water at 7:30 off at 1:30 with 32 fish. few on top water in the early am. the rest came on combination of darter head robo worms, senkos, and drop shot. threw a few big baits but no takers-but lost interest soon as the smaller baits were putting fish in the boat
    biggest was a lm at around 3 lbs
    City: cool

    Tips: bigger fish came in deeper water around 30-35 feet smaller fisher were 5-20 feet