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Oroville Lake and Reports

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Monday, May 26th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 62-69

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I had another father/son team out Monday. The weather was still cloudy and windy but no rain while we were out. I had them throw baby bass spooks fisrt thing on points on the West Branch in the morning with mixed results. Only 4 blow-ups and one to the boat. It was the first time they had thrown top water but they really liked seeing the bass jump all over their lures. We then moved up the North Fork and found lots of feeding bass, all post spawn. The useual tubes and senko's provided them with around 25 bass but only one over. The bite was soft and they missed a lot of bites. All and all it was a great day on the lake. It was hard to believe that it was Memorial Day, there was so few pleasure boats and skiers out there.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Colors on the tubes were watermelon and clear sparkle and the senko's were smoke/purple and pumkpkin and laverder shad. Dart head worms and beavers were also working. The reaction bite is getting better as the water warms up. Some of the bites were right on the bank and others came from 20+feet.

Saturday, May 24th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 60-69

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Took out a father/son team today. Weather was diffenately an issue today. The wind and rain was a nice change from the past week of 100 degrees. I would of liked to have had the guys throw some top water first thing but the wind was to much. Instead I had them throw tubes,senko's and jigs. For the half day, they ended up with about 30 bass with 6 over. We spent most of the time in the West Branch and the top of the main body. The guys had a great time even with the weather change.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Colors on the tubes were clear sparkle and water melon, on the jigs,brown cinnamon/purple, green pumpkin and water melon. And same colors for the senko's

Monday, May 19th, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: hit the south fork up today, on the water by 7 off by noon. 50+ fish, caught them as far back as we could go in the south fork with the low water levels. Caught the fish on senkos (any dark color), tube baits (green), and one on a rip bait for the first cast of the day. 4 over, but nothing over 2. way to get em texas john, i never seem to catch any over 3 pounds, although lost one today on the main body probably around 3-4.
    City: davis

Sunday, May 18th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 62-70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Took two boys out sunday. Started in the middle fork. picked up a few slot fish then headed way up the middle fork into cooler water. Jack pot. Fished for three hours and took approx. 30 fish. The biggest went 3.1 lb. Two other tipped the scale right at 2.0 each. Most fish came on drop shot 2-20 feet. Purple was the key color in 4inch Margarita Mutilator. Some were taken slow rolling a Mike Salca Butte Creek Tackle blade in shad pattern with willow blades. Biggest five fish went 10.75. Never fails when you aren't fishing a tournement. I want to go back up the middle fork (without kids) and try jigs, sinkos, and spoons. Yea I said spoons. The water temp was alot cooler and alot of the fish appeared to still have eggs.
    City: Magalia

    Tips: Remember Oroville is low and you still have the same amount of fish in half the amount of water. Once you locate them piled up, you can pick up a bunch in a short time. Go way up the middle fork and look for a granite wall about two hundred yards long on the left side. Next time I will mark it with my GPS and give you the exact location.

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    Water Temp: 62-69

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the Anglers Choice tournament Sunday. Lots of big bass but lots of small limits came in as well. Best patterns were topwater spooks or vixons, senko's and jigs. Most located post spawn spots on walls and points outside of coves. I did not hear of any bed fish being caught. Big fish was 4lb+, 3lb.+ and several 2.5+ also. Our 8.82lb. bag was in the middle. Top bag 13lb.+ 2nd. 12lb.+
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Start early and use top water plugs. Then start going down the water column with senko's, tubes, dart head and jigs. The reaction bite is also on and will continue to get even better. Top water color in anything in shad color and watermelon and green pumpkin have been the best colors for the tubes,senko's and jigs.

Saturday, May 17th, 2008

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    Water Temp: UNK

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Put in at bidwell and headed to the south arm with a little wind picking up. First point we stopped at bam, 4 fish in the boat in the first half hour...all on senkos, 3 dinks and one 4 lb spot. Moved further in the the south arm with little luck. We went back to the point we started on and again we hooked up, two more one was 3.5 lb spot. Moved to the middle arm and hit random dinks the rest of the day, nothing over 2 lbs. All in all a good day.
    City: Grass Valley

    Tips: Lots of debris in the water so be carefull. Also some of our fish never hit the bait, never moved the line, it was like we threw right in on them and they just sucked it up, went to move the bait and fish on, so always pay attention when moving your bait, might be a fish there.

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    Water Temp: 60-69

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I had the pleasure of taking out a single mom and her 12 year old son today. It was special to see them experience bass fishing for their first time. With them so new to fishing I had them throwing drop shot and senko's. They did fantastic with around 20 bass in half a day. There were plenty of high fives going on. A special day.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Get out there on Lake Oroville. The post spawn bite is happening all over the lake.

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 59-67

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: On Wed. the 14th. I had the pleasure of taking two very good fishermen out to learn the lake for an upcoming tournament. We started the morning with top water spooks with some action. Moved around the lake to find feeding bass and to learn what was happening. The post spawn bite was almost every where. Using senko's and tubes they did great with well over 50 bass with around 5 to 6 over. The next day the 15th. I took out two more guys that where fishing the same tournament. A couple of great guys as well.We started out with top water then move down into the water column. The bite came on about the same as the day before except for the jig bite turned on. The guys had 6 over with 50+ for the day. It was great to take out the two sets of tournament fishermen. They were all great guys.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Its good to start on the top water in the morning then work down the water column with senko's, drop shot, tubes and jigs.

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    Water Temp: 66-70

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I took a couple of good bass anglers to beautiful Oroville Wed. They wanted to learn the lake better so we ran around a lot in addition to fishing. Because of potential wind problems, we stayed in the south and middle forks. We started out with an excellent topwater bite, though the fish were mostly 12 to 14 inches. One of the fellows hooked and lost a big one. We caught bass nearly every place we stopped but the size was disappointing - not sure any were over the slot. Some were just under or just over but we didn't measure. We didn't even count too carefully, but it was the typical "50+" fish day. Two good things happened weather-wise, The north wind came up as predicted - blew for an hour - and then quit! Very strange!! Also, cloud cover moved in during early afternoon and my clients were able to experience an excellent afternoon rip bite on Staycees! Topwater would have probably worked too - should have tried it. Lots of fun!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Senkos didn't work well that day, but drop-shotting and Texas rigging worms did. They brought most of their own stuff so I am not really sure what was best. One of the guys had a worm that was really good. I caught some on several colors of Robo worms. Most bass were at the typical 8 to 20 feet and whatever depth the topwater and rip fish were. Morning topwater bass were right on the bank. I think if the lure landed on a rock - the bass would have jumped out of the water and got it!! I just wish the size had been better.

Sunday, May 11th, 2008

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    Water Temp: ?

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: went back to same fishing spot with the jitterbug. 1st time ive went fishing since last post (i know). still had my 4" inch pink magic worm. its now caught 9 fish, 4 today. running water was just a trickle but two spottys were guarding it, they wouldn't bite. i walked towards the point. caught one largie on the drop. skinny beat up 141/2 incher red tail. then 3 spots on the pt. with all due respect to the jitterbug he saw a " 18"er 21/2 pounder ". had shakeys gd day.
    City: palermo,wat ca

    Tips: get r mojo working

Friday, May 9th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 61 DEGREES

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: MY DAD AND I FISHED THURSDAY NIGHT TOURNMENT OUT OF LIME SADDLE AND WE WON IT WITH A 18.25 SPOTTED BASS AND IT WAS ALMOST 4 LBS. WE CAUGHT 25 BASS. WE CAUGHT THEM ON RUBBER WORMS.
    City: OROVILLE

    Tips: FISH MUD LINES AND USE DARK WORMS.

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    Water Temp: 62+

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished South Fork. Hard to get out of the wind till later in the afternoon. Partner and I caught 15-20 fish, 3 over the slot.
    Senkos, tubes and the first Fluke fish of the year. Very agressive! Fluke fish up against the bank off and/or near tapered points. Senko and tubes mostly in 20ft.
    City: East Foothills Oroville

    Tips: Fish points and stump banks slowly. Sandy banks also held fish at mud line.
    Notice: Bidwell Ramp closed tomorrow (Saturday May 10th). Be safe, warm weather has arrived!!!

Monday, May 5th, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Wife and I fished the first of the weekly evening jack pot tourneys out of Spillway launch. She boated 8 nice spots with a fat 17.5" er for the win. She got'em on Grn. Pmkn. Senko's wackey rigged. 12'-15' depth. Her best five were over 12 lbs. A great limit for Oroville. I stubbornly stayed with tubes and worms and got a few bites but nothing in the boat.

    We had a blast!
    City: Oroville

    Tips: Strikes were very light so pay close attention to line movement. Main body points seemed to produce best for her. Be willing to throw what the fish want not what you want!

Sunday, May 4th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 60's plus

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Well, its only fair to report when we do bad in a tournament and just not all the good ones. We had a lousy pre-fish and thats just how it turned out. The fish we had been pounding for the last 2 weeks moved out and we didn't react quick enough to do ourselves any good. We still caught numbers of fish on jigs, tubes and senkos. Jigs were the standard brown or brown/purple with brown purple trailer and the tubes were mainly green pumpkin. We tried swimbaits first thing with no luck and didn't try any other reaction baits. 12 plus pounds for 5 fish with 24 boats won this tournament. I suspect the better fish came from the middle or south forks as these fish probably spawned first and have had some time to rest and go back on the feed.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Smaller fish can be caught just about anywhere using the baits I mentioned above and don't forget to throw a worm now and then. Some skiers and wake boarders are out so watch for them. The plus side is they are creating some nice mud lines to fish. Good luck

Wednesday, April 30th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 52-60

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Took the Mrs. out to pre-fish for a couple of clients the next day. We had a late start but from 10am to 2pm we caught around 40 bass with 5 over. Used the usual jigs,worms,tubes and drop shot. All worked and in many differnt colors. May 1st, I took out two great guys that wanted to learn some new techniques. I started them out throwing spooks and flukes with good success. Then, I introduced them to bed fishing. They really enjoyed the visual game and produced some nice bass. We then went out of the coves to target post spawn bass throwing tubes. They caught around 35+ with their top bag at 10lbs. Lots of high-fives and a great day.
    City: Paradise

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: You guys are killin' me with this no reaction bite stuff! I guess I'm the only one who is catching bass off spinnerbaits, cranks, and jerkbaits right now. I was out in a little 12 foot boat this past weekend, no electronics, a trolling motor that kept falling off and we nailed em' on reaction baits. I'm not saying we didn't use the normal jig, tube, worm routine but I am saying we caught all of our good fish(15 or better )on reaction baits.
    City: Paradise

Sunday, April 27th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 63

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished this past Sunday in the middle fork from 10:30 to 7:30 and we did not have any kind of a reaction bite. Threw spinnerbaits, flukes and crankbaits alot, no fish! Between two of us we caught 43 fish. Probably 10 were over the slot. Senko's worked the best, then sweet beavers around trees and only a few on live minnows.
    City: Rough and Ready

    Tips: Some fish appear to be starting to go to the shore. Senko's caught the most fish.

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    Water Temp: 61

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the Chico Conservation Bass Club tournament on Saturday the 26th. 80 boats showed up in support of this clubs effort to make Oroville Lake a better place to fish. One dollar from each entry is used to buy Florida Strain Largemouth for this lake. For those of you that e-mailed me about info on this tournament, hope you were able to make it and most important that you had a good time. I reported last week that I thought bedding fish would be a factor in this tournament, but it didn't happen as only 3 fish over 4 pounds made the weighin with the winners having 12.38. There was 1 bag in the 11's and it went right into the 10's from there. We culled to a 10.54 with a 3.99 big fish which was good enough for 4th. It got hot out there and thats all I can think would have moved the bigger fish to deeper water and off the feed. We had no pattern, throwing jigs, tubes and an occasional worm. Senkos were mentioned as having caught some fish, but no mention of reaction baits working. Today (Sunday) is a 100% bass team tournament and many of the anglers in that circuit were in this tournament. Their results will be posted either later tonite or in the morning and you can guage their results against the ones from Saturday. Next tournament for us will be next Sunday as we fish Anglers Choice along with the Future Pros in that circuit.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: We saw boats in every location, whether it be on points or in coves. Fish everything till you get bit. Dead sticking the bait seemed to work best. Stick with darker colors in the shade. One old gentlemen told me once to throw chartreuse when the pollen starts falling off the trees and we did get bit on a cotton candy lizard with a chartreuse tail. Skiers are out. Good luck

Saturday, April 26th, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Saturday during the heat of the day for 4 hours...Hot! High 80's! My first trip to Oroville since I've moved down here. Couldn't find a pattern that worked until we started fishing senkos in the trees. Hungrydog caught and released a 14+" crappie on a 5" june bug colored senko. I caught 5 spots 12-15" on senkos and 5" kalin grubs. Lost a 4-5 pounder at the boat.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Fish the shade around the trees if you can find them!

Thursday, April 24th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 55-62

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I took out a father/son team on Thrusday. They wanted to learn a couple of new patterns for targeting bass. We used jigs and senkos for the 1/2 day trip. We fished coves with trees and without trees. The guys had a great time caught about 25+ with 6 over. Thursday was the typical blue bird day with the rain and cold front the day before. Friday the 25th. I took out another couple of great guys. Picked them up from their house boat and went up to the slot area. Fished all the way up the North Fork and in Dark Canyon. They did great catching 30+ with 8 over. Their best five would have put them in the money in the Chico Bass Club Tournament the following day. Tubes,senkos and jigs took the bites but no reaction bite for the two days.
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Bites in the coves without trees came on jigs in brn/prpl, watermelon/blk and grn/pumpkin and senkos in pumpkin/blk and watermelon/blk. Coves with trees had the same color senkos. On the walls going out of the coves the tubes were real effective in the clear/sparkle and grn/blk.