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Oroville Lake and Reports

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Saturday, September 20th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 71-74

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: After doing a video for Western Bass Tuesday, I took out a father-son team today for the son's 12th. birthday this week. We started out in the main body and worked our way up to the North Fork. We found bass all the way up. It was great seeing the birthday boy catch a lot of bass and also the biggest bass for the day. The father- son competition was a lot of fun. They caught around 25 bass for the day and lots of photo-ops. Also, the ramp was pretty good today because the steel tarmack was mostly out of the water and there was no mud.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Most of the bass came on tubes and a few on lipless crank bait.

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 68-73

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I took a couple of guys out Tuesday expecting a great day. After about a 45 min. delay watching the Dept of Water Resources redu the ramp we were able to start fishing. It was a little late to use top water after that, so we started with tubes. One of the guys was bass fishing for the first time so I really wanted him to experience the action. After a few lessons he was catching some nice bass. We targeted points and walls in the lower lake and upper lake and North Fork. About half of the North Fork is now river. We finished the day around 3pm. and had caught around 70+ bass, several over and 2 large mouth in the 2lb+ range. It was a great day.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: The bass were full of pond smelt and shad so we used tubes, drop shot, and rattle traps, in shad colors and senko's in green pumpkin, watermelon and pumpkin colors.

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Went fishing Wed. night from midnight until 6 am. We started catching fish right away. Caught 19 fish between 2 guys with plenty of other missed fish. Action was fairly steady throughout the night. Caught our fish on jigs and texas rigged worms. Not much action on reaction lures. No size to speak of. Maybe 2 over. Had to leave at sun up so we missed out on some prime fishing time but overall a pretty good night.
    City: Y.C.

    Tips: The ramp is terrible right now. One lane dirt and rutted out pretty bad near the water. Damn near needed 4 wheel drive to get out.

Sunday, August 17th, 2008

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    Water Temp: ?

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Non-fish report...Bidwell is the only option for launching now- and it's not much. Down to one muddy lane and a single dock. By 10:00AM there was no parking left in the lower dusty areas and it's a good hoof to the upper parking. Expect at least a 1hr weekend que in the afternoon to leave. Couple of guys on Friday threw punches when the other cut in line.
    City: Roseville

    Tips: Avoid Oroville on the weekends.

Thursday, August 7th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 74

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I had the previlage of taking a wonderful family out fishing Thursday. We started in the main body fishing points and coves. It was just a little late to throw top water lures so I had them start out with tubes. The clear sparkle gitzit was the best producer. Most of the bass had their mouths full of pond smelt. You could see the bass chasing the pond smelt all over the main body. We moved up into the slot area and continued to catch some nice bass. They had around twenty bass with 4 over the largest being 2.7 lbs. and a nice Florida Large Mouth. Good to see these bass showing up more. I thought they did pretty good for a half day and just learning how to fish. The following day, Friday I took a seasoned fisherman out for a half day and the results were about the same with 3 over and another nice Florida Large Mouth.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Tubes, senko's,spinner baits, drop shot all worked. Try the top water lures first thing before the Sun is up. Then start useing the other methods. The Spillway ramp did close this week leaving Bidwell the only ramp open. On the weekends go early to miss the congestion. One ramp,one lane, and one short dock can back up real fast.

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished out of lime saddle in my kickboat. Got on the water at first light and started picking fish up on a spro popper.Switched over and started to finesse fish. Bite was hot and heavy for the first few hours.also threw an lv500 for some wicked reaction bites. Ended the day with 17 fish 5 largemouths, 7 over, and my best 5 goin low 14's. Best two fish were a 4.9 largemouth and a 2.7 spot.

    Tips: smoke/purple plastics and lv500 max in spring craw produced best fish

Thursday, July 24th, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Stopped by the ranger station at Bidwell yesterday. Per the ranger, the main ramp at the dam will be open until August 11th. Bidwell ramp will stay open at least through the end of August. Pray for rain and less water releases next winter.
    City: Oroville

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 73-78

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: I've been out four times this week. One pre- fish two with clients and one all night Anglers Choice Tournament. At best, the fishing has been really good but the smoke was still out in the begining of the week. As of now, the smoke has cleared and you can have a great day on the lake. In the morning we used top water spooks and vixons. They have been very productive and the colors really didn't matter. Tubes, senko's, jigs and drop shots are all working. At night, top water vixons were working as well as the spinner baits in any color. All trips had from 6 to 8 over and the two biggest were 2.5 and 2.9. The whole lake has been fishing well.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: If you have not been fishing any top water, start your morning off and throw some. The bite has been awesome. After the sun hits the water start going deeper with any of the methods above and try some lipless crank bait in the afternoon. You will get some of the hardest hits youv'e had all year.

Friday, July 18th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 70's

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I took my little girls, 5 and 10 years old out in search of salmon and bass. We found 70 feet of water and dropped bait down and immediately hooked a salmon. This went on for two hours until we had 15 of them and we stopped. Awesome time and my little girls reeled their arms off. There was very little waiting for action. The bass fishing started around noon and the only bites I could get were in 20-25 feet when I found bait. We caught a dozen with the last few very close to the dam where the bait was stacked from top to bottom. Bass caught on drop shot 4"worms. I caught 3 largemouth as well and I beieive a real smallmouth too.

    Tips: I don't beleive I burned 2 gallons of boat gas. I just fished the main body points you can see from bidwell.

Monday, July 14th, 2008

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    Water Temp: Bath Water

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Berry Creek is LOADED with largemouth. That's right largemouth! Further up the north fork where the feather river comes in is loaded with BIG spots and some nice little smallmouth. We were sight fishing in the middle of JULY. I LOVE IT.

    Tips: Brush Hogs at Berry and tubes, senkos, roboworms and jigs where the river hits the lake(in the current).

Saturday, June 28th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 75

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Got to go fishing today with my friend Colby and got started at 5am from Lime Saddle. This ramp will probably be out of action within the next 2 weeks so if you plan on launching from there it would be wise to call ahead. We had a top water bite on the smaller spook and prop baits on one of the walls heading out of the marina. Very smoky as you would expect but it kept the sun at bay till around 11. We caught fish on every stop using senkos, tubes and jigs in various colors, the best being green pumpkin. Big fish was just 2.5 with most in the slot and the best 5 right at 9 pounds. If you tolerate the smoke and can get out early the fishing is pretty easy.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Green pumpkin tubes and senkos dart headed in stained water and shad colored tubes dart headed in clearer water. Fish in the lower North Fork and in the main body on points. We were off the water by noon with about 60 fish.

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: June 28 (4pm-8pm)North Fork: Partner and I managed about 15 fish, 4 over. Couldn't see the dam from the bridge! Caught mostly on senkos and worms dragged out from the bank into 25'of water.

    June 29 (8am-2pm) North Fork. Action slowed from the evening before. Only able to find fish on long tapered points and flats near by. Boated 8-10 fish including 4 large mouth. The quality of fish was noteworthy. 4 over the slot! Best fish caught on topwater (spooks). Senkos and worms worked on same type of structure.
    City: Oroville

    Tips: Steep banks and coves not productive for us. Find the tapered banks with chunk rock and work slowly. Sounds like early morning and later in the evening are best bet for numbers. Both Bidwell and the dam have two lanes open. Not bad yet. Don't get lost in the smoke!!!!

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 68-73

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Took the Mrs. out Monday afternoon for some fun fishing and found the bite to be off a little. Although we caught some nice bass the numbers dropped, so I went back out Tuesday morning to see if the morning bite was better. It diffently was a lot better with around 60 bass for the time frame from 7am. to 12:30pm. The top water action has been good, but it was fantastic Tues. morning. We were throwing spooks and vixons and even two 14 3/4 in. on one cast with 7 to 8 over. Some of the bass were spitting up 5 inch salmon that were just planted by Fish and Game. That could be the reason why the bite slowed up. Tubes also were getting bit.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Morning seems to be more productive right now. Start the day with top water lures then move down from there with dart head worms, tubes, senko's, etc. Jigs have slowed up some but always have one tied on for points. We still have water on the ramps, but will be gravel in a couple of weeks. That means it won't be so good for the skiers but the fishing will still be good.

Saturday, June 21st, 2008

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    Water Temp: 65-71

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Took my young fishing partner Tanner to our Paradise Bass Club( also open for new members) Saturday. As before, the morning top water bite was really on. We were both throwing vixons and had blow ups all morning. As the day progressed we started thowing lipless crank baits and continued bass after bass. It did not take long before the pleasure boats had mud lines all over the lake. We then started throwing jigs to finish the day. We had 5 over for the day and about 50+ for ending total.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Take advantage of the morning top water bite. As the day goes on go deeper. The reaction bite is really picking up as well.

Friday, June 20th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 64-70

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Friday I had the pleasure of taking out three over-sees clients here on a buying trip. They were all new to bass fishing but caught on really fast. I started them out with spooks, pop-r's and vixons. Bass were blowing up all morning on the top water lures. As the sun came up we changed to senko's, tubes and blades. They all caught bass on all the methods except the blades. Biggest bass of 18 1/2 inches was on the top water vixon. All of the clients were having a great first experience with high fives and lots of noise. Group photos highlighted the trip.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: As mentioned earlier, the top water action was mostly in the first foot to five feet from the bank. Some of the blow ups came before the ripple left the plug. The tube was a harder method for them, but they finally started to notice the line movement to detect to bite.

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 64-70

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I had the pleasure of taking another father/son out this Thursday. They were camping in the Bidwell Camp Ground and wanted to do some bass fishing. We headed for the upper slot area and then up to the North Fork. I started them out with throwing baby bass spooks with a few blowups and one hook up. Switched to tubes and it was a differnt out come. Both started nailing bass up to 15 inches and one 22 inch catfish. Both had a great time and so did I seeing them have it.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: As for top water, placement is important. Spooks have great action, but need to be up close to the bank for best results right now. When the bass force the bait fish to the top of the water out in the middle then just throw where you see action. The tubes are always a great method and the best color today was watermelon.

Saturday, June 7th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 70

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Couldn't get anybody to go with me so I went on a solo trip. I launched out of the spillway ramp right at 6:00. Got into topwater right away. They seemed to want a chartreuse shad Sammy and nothing else. Only caught 5 on topwater but had at least 15 blowups. Caught most of my fish on dartheads and splitshot. Color didn't seem to matter but I only used Robos in Morning Dawn, Prizm Shad, and MM. Also got one on a rip bait but didn't fish it too much.
    City: Woodland

Thursday, June 5th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 68-72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: After coming back from a trip to Montana where all the rivers and stream were blown out from all the snow melt, it was great to be back on Oroville Lake. We have now reached that dreaded time where the lake has now started to fall for the summer. Three feet down this last week, I hope it doesn't fall any faster. Anyway, I took a young boy out to the Thursday night tounament and although we didn't win, we had a great night of fishing. The jig bite was on right away but I wanted to try some top water vixon. It was the best night I've had with top water. Only a few missed blow-ups but over 30 hooked with the vixon 5 over the bigest being 16+. Lots of other bass caught on what ever we tried.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Almost every thing was working. Jigs, tubes, senko's, spinner baits, lipless crank baits, worms and wake baits. From points to walls to mud lines, it was all happning.

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

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    Water Temp: 68

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Finally had time to make this report. On May 31st, I took a father and son out to Oroville. The trip was a result of David Beltramo making the highest bid for the trip during the CALIFORNIA WATERFOWL ASSOCIATION banquet held in Paradise last fall. The trip was offered by Paradise Duck Club-Butte Creek Ranch. The trip was extra special in that David had never fished with his dad Tom who is a retired farmer. The trip was a success in that we fished from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm and boated an estimated 50 plus fish. Four fish were over the 15 inch mark and two of them were taken by Tom who had never fished for bass. I rigged them both up with drop shot rigs. It was a pleasure watching Tom and David fish together and having the so much fun. Tom was overwelmed with the beauty of the lake and the wildlife we saw. Also a big Congradulations to JIM CARR who on Saturday won the Chico Bass Club T.O.C. tournement on Lake Oroville.
    City: Magalia

    Tips: Go all the way up the middle fork if you want numbers. Drop shop, Top water, sinkos, rip baits, jigs. They all seem to work.

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    Water Temp: 67-70

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I had the kind of trip today that I really enjoy - taking a father and son for their first bass trip! I told them that catching a bass over the slot was a little tougher during post-spawn. We started about 7:30 am in the middle fork. As has happened many times before, the 10 year old's second bass was 15 1/2 inches! He looked at me like "what's so hard about that"?!! I told him that "only pros" have trouble catching those. He was using a MMIII 6" Robo worm. We had some wind blowing in the middle fork, not bad, and it helped the fishing. The boy gets another 16 3/8 inch spot and dad gets a 15 1/4 and loses the biggest of the day at 2 PM! I was trying different color Robos to see what was working best and managed a 17 1/2 inch spot on a 6" morning dawn Robo. She was 2-10 - nice fish. We had the typical 40 to 50 fish day and a limit around 10+ lbs. If dad had only got that big one! We caught fish from 5 to 25 feet. Points seemed to hold most of the fish - even in the bright sun, thanks to the wind.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: One of my favorite areas to fish the lake was holding bass on Sat. They are either there or there're not! I am talking about the vast sandy flats and there are lots of them with the low water. They are usually terraced (look like tiny ledges) and the bass hide in those. The clay banks also produced more for us than boulder areas. Creek channels wern't very good. I showed them how to drop shot a Basstrix Flashtrix minnow and I caught a near 15 incher on the second cast. I'm sure that bite will come on pretty good now. We did not try topwater. One or two bass did spit up crawdads. Jigs, anyone?!!