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Oroville Lake and Reports

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Saturday, November 26th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 59

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fish the South fork, until 2pm. drop shot and dart head. Raibow worms, #99 produce most of the bass, with the largest 2.3 lbs. total 27 bass. anywhere from 5ft. to 30ft.
    City: Cottonwood

Friday, November 18th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 62

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Hit the lake around 9:00 and went to Potters Ravine. Didn't get bit in several spots there. Went to the other end of the lake in the McCabe Creek area and managed to get 8 bites...landed 7. All 7 were over the slot with the best going 2.2 lbs. 6 bites on a medium running crankbait, the other two on a jerkbait. Most fish seemed to came in the back of pockets. Good Luck
    City: Lincoln

Wednesday, November 16th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Thank you Bigfish.
    City: Sac.

Tuesday, November 15th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Hey cn, The slot on Oroville is 12"-15". This means to keep a Bass it must be under 12" or over 15". Good Luck Bigfish.
    City: Cameron Park

Monday, November 14th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Can anyone provide information on what the slot limit is on the lake? I think it is all fish from 14" and under are to be relaesed. Is that correct? Thanks for the info.
    City: Sacramento

Friday, November 11th, 2005

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    Water Temp: unknown

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished last Friday and Saturday at Oroville with my young son and his grandpa. Day one was anything but good for us. The five fish we did catch were all quality fish, however; so it wasn't a total lost cause. Fish came on drop shot. Fished all main lake. It clearly was not a good bite for us. Day two was much, much, better. Caught in excess of 20 keepers with (4) over the slot (1 went 3.1 lbs). These fish were caught on drop shot and brass-n-glass and splitshotting. Upgraded the bait size and moved off the main lake down the northern arm and fished steep clay banks that dropped off quickly. All our bigger fish came in the deeper 40-60 foot range. Son landed a nice 2lb on a dart head right at the boat when reeling in which brought a huge smile to all on board. Bite totally shut down around noon.
    City: brentwood

    Tips: Bigger baits and sheer clay banks made all the difference. Used a variety of baits, including; brushhogs, aarons magic, and bold bluegill, all worked fairly well on day two. Wish we could have stayed one more day as I passed this information to my nephews who went out on Sunday and they absolutely hammered the fish up until 1:00 PM. Weather made the slow times much more enjoyable.

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    Water Temp: ?

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Was out today prefishing for a local club tournament. I caught alot of small spots dropshotting (of course), but quickly turned away because I am trying to find what the bigger fish are biting. I used some hula grubs in salt and pepper on 1/2 oz football jighead and caught the bigger ones around 20ft. I started to swim the jig around bluff banks and did well. However the biggest fish of the day came on a half oz. brown jig with a matching #11 pork frog. I was pitching the jig into cracks in bluff banks and hopping it sharply. Caught many swimming that jig too. Caught the smaller fish in about 45-60ft. Nothing over 15" today however I lost two fish that definintly would have pushed 16".
    City: Paradise

    Tips: Small 3" salt and pepper worms on dropshot. Work jigs with 2 foot hops. When you reel in the jig for another cast dont reel in fast, slowly swim the bait back, lots of big fish will hit it coming back, keep rod tip around 1oclock and when swiming the jig back and you get hit drop rod tip and then swing.

Wednesday, October 26th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 67

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I guided a good fisherman new to the Oroville area on what now is his "home" lake - beautiful Lake Oroville! WOW, what a shock. The last time I guided there - on a Friday - I had to park 5 rows away from the ramp 'cause of an upcoming tournament. Yesterday, I was the ONLY rig in the lot. Yes - it rained all day. Wimps, all of you, har!! It rained on my brand new Ranger 520 - got the carpet all wet - imagine that! Actually, there was one rig parked at the end of the ramp when we came in. And yes - we didn't see a boat all day!!! The fishing was reasonably good too. We caught 21 bass total - one spot at 16 1/2 inches (2 lbs 7 oz), one at 15 1/4, and one at 14 and 99/100's, har! All of our spots were 13 inches or over and were caught from 30 to 55 feet. Split-shotting seemed to be the ticket for the day. I drop-shotted a lot, but that didn't see to work. I did it 'til I caught one!!! Topwater, reaction, nothing else worked. No jig fish either. We used Camanche Jack worms in purple ghost color and Yamamoto Kut Tails in a salt and pepper color. We spent a lot of time looking and metering all over the north fork, so we didn't fish the whole time. I think he will like his new lake since he caught 12 of our bass and one of the "over 15's!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: We found bass in weird places - kind of near the sides of slowly tapering points. Walls did produce some fish and points did produce some. But somewhere between the outer part of a wall (main body) to the first point heading into a cove seemed to hold a lot of fish - if that makes any sense. Almost seemed they were moving in and out of the mouths of coves. Whatever they were doing, they were eating pond smelt. I know - they were all over the side of my new boat!!!!

Thursday, October 20th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 66

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: took the house(12x30)up the middle fork the water like glass left Bidewell Marina about 900am saw only four boats and no boats past the 5 mile zone,shade on the east side all the way up,some active springs on the east side some with good amounts of running water, could see fish breaking water and saw shade working top water,water turned milky near feather falls area marked large groups of fish in 40 feet of water from top to bottum.wonderful day didnt fish this was MOMS day great day NO wood in the water.Found out later parol dont go that far be sure to inform someone of your travel a bussted prop might spent some time before any gets that far up.have fun catch fish
    City: chico

    Tips: because of lack of boat trafic its no place to be STUCK

Saturday, October 15th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 67.5

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Club Tourny. out @ 0645 Saturday after a night of rain. Top water bite was on in 30 ft or less over rock piles. (babybass spooks)
    Once the sun came out dropshot the cliffs in 45-60ft. caught fish all day in all parts of the lake. I would fish a spot for two keepers and move. (brown/purple ROBO 6in) I caught one on a crank. Fished Sunday morn till 1000 NO top water bite, all dropshot.
    City: Wellington NV

    Tips: -Light line 8-12 Vanish
    -spooks in the morning from first safe light till the sun comes up.
    -Darthead or dropshot down around 60 feet and watch your fishfinder.
    WATCH THE SLOT LIMIT!!!(12-15)

Wednesday, October 5th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 70

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: All the bass seemed to be holding at the 50 ft. plus range.With the cold front that moved through the bass were right on the bottom. So I switched from my usual drop-shot and went to split-shot which allowed me to keep the bait right on the bottom. Once I did this fishing became very easy 20+ fish days are common. And the bigger fish came on Hula Grubs.
    City: san jose

    Tips: fish 4 inch straight tail worms, or Hula Grubs. Also fish the creek channels where there is less direct sunlight, and the fish are less spooked because of how clear the water is (visibility 15ft or more in some spots)... good luck

Friday, September 30th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 68-72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the 2 day WON TOC at Oroville with two other teams from our club, Devil Mountain Bassmasters. We found fish early on day 1 and had a limit int he boat by 8:30am. Found it difficult to upgrade as we were catching pretty much the same size fish all day. We tried using larger baits to keep the dink bites to a minimum. Most fish came on brown and orange jigs, 6" robo worms and T rigged Senkos in 25 ft of water. Out bite died about 11am and picked up again later. Day 2 we figured that the fish moved deeper as the sun came up so we changed up. It didn't do us much good. 3 fish in the livewell by 10am but we managed to limit out in the next hour fishin 50-70 feet. Again, big baits to try and get a kicker but the best we could managed was 2.13lbs for teh big fish. Big fish came on crankbait and our next largest fish came on spinnerbait in the afternoon when the wind kicked up from the approaching front. The jig bite switched to hula grubs on day two with the darker colors out performing the lighter colors. I guess because of the low light conditions on day 2. We managed a total of 16.52 for the 2 days, winners had over 20 lbs for the two days and big fish of the tournament at 5.6 lbs.
    City: San Ramon

    Tips: Fish deep. Most guys were fishing 40-50 feet but fish were all cookie cutter size. The guys who caught the largest fish got their fish around flooded trees. Try slightly large baits, you won't get as many bites but the fish will usually be 13 in or larger.

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    Water Temp: 72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I took two good fishermen to Oroville, showing them some techniques that should work in the fall. We fished for about 6 1/2 hours, so not a lot of time to run around. We worked the north fork, looking for bait on the meter and staying in shadows as long as we could. I was pleased to see that they were good anglers and were able to fish deep water very well! After a slow start - and trying to find a place to park! - we starting catching spots consistantly after 9 am. We drop and split-shotted most of the time from 20 to 50 feet with a lot of success. We had 2 over the slot and most of the 25 or so others were in the 14 to 14 1/2 inch size - nice clones!! Only 1 dink and a few 13 inchers. Off-shore ledges were the key. Long sloping points with a sharp break held bass too. Walls produced a few too. Fun trip and beautiful weather!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Topwater didn't work, nor did my favorite brown/orange jig - though I didn't throw it much. Many bass were spiting up pond smelt and seemed to be fatter than last time I was there. The sun is lower on the horizon now, so look on the shore and see if the rocks are casting any shadows. If they are, they will be doing the same thing underwater! Guess what areas bass will be using as ambush areas!!

Saturday, September 17th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 73

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished in same tournament as Capt Jack. I started off on main lake points throwing super spook. Caught first 3 keepers first hour. Fished cracks in north fork and bridges rest of day. Ended up with 10 over 13 inchs. Was fishing for big bite all day . Jigs big worms and top water. Big bite never came but had a great time catching and releasing with culmright.
    City: orangevale

    Tips: Fish seem to still be in summer pattern. I didn't catch 2 fish in the same spot. Top water and deep crank baits in shad pattern worked. Dart head worms off steep walls. Lots of bait and small bass in 40 foot of water use electronics.We would drop shot and find out they were little and move on. Never found big bite.

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    Water Temp: 69-73

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Some water was clear and some had mud lines. Fished our club Tourament Basin Bass Masters from Loomis. Out at safe sun light and back in at 3:00pm. Most of our fish were 12 inches or less , dragging worms, lizards, leaches, cranking and dropshoted. Our one and only can dropshot at the bridge in 55 ft with a morning dawn. The winners were spinner bait and cranking in the windy points. Yes stay deep and slow.
    City: rocklin

    Tips: drop shot and crankin.

Tuesday, August 16th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Hit the lake 7:30 with wife. Headed up north in my new 21x triton. Yamaha gets great mileage if you don't go over 40 mph. Top water till 11 am. never threw plastics till after 11. The evern whacked my white buzz bait about 10x but nobody big enough to get the trailer? Lucky craft gun fish worked real well finally. Caught 20 small to average size on top water. Sammys poppers gun all worked. Sun straight went to bridges. Caught better size but a lot fewer. Did manage a 17 1/2 incher on 4" seinko. Lots of water very few fisherman. Maybe price of gas has a silver lining.
    City: orangevale

    Tips: 80 degree water time for fun.You can crank points top water shade pockets all day.Wife was killing em on cinnamon with blue flake grubs. I caught them on everything in afternoon. Steeper banks worked better than tapered ones.Drop shot 15 to 25 feet all day if you like drop shot.Wide open bite.Time to take kids fishing to get them excited.Wish I could get the buzz bait to hook up.Threw capt jack jig and caught them on it. It dosen't matter what you do.Found lots of floating logs and debree so watch out early or late.

Saturday, August 13th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 81

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: A day trip to Oroville in August on a Saturday may not be my cup of tea, but when clients call - I go! Two local fellows wanted to learn a little more about summer fishing, so we started about 6 am and fished 'til 11 am - when the lake got real crazy! I showed them areas to target bigger summer bass, but with all the heat, we could only manage one close to 15" and one about 14 1/2. We did catch about 30 in our short day. We targeted steep dropoffs and ledges for most of our quality bass. I don't want to say much more since they are going to fish an upcoming tournament. We did have lots of action and a lot of fun dodging pleasure boats!!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: The lake is dropping now so one should target areas next to deep water. The quality bass will now move off-shore to look for underwater islands, ridges, and ledges. August is the month when spotted bass will return to their deep haunts and can be caught at depths of 50 to 70 feet. Dust off those 1 oz spoons!! Most are in the themocline now, which starts about 40 feet.

Friday, August 5th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 84 Degrees

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Well i made it up to the lake on Friday Morning, and it was well worth it let me tell you. I started up in the South Fork early but soon decided to make the move. First cast new location 17 incher went about 2.3 pounds two more cast and a 16.5 incher 2.0 pounds we got 13-15 bass all on two baits. good Luck
    City: Yuba

    Tips: Fish Slow and deep concentrate on 18 feet to 30 feet of water on the wind blown points.

Saturday, July 30th, 2005

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    Water Temp: ??Very Warm??

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the middle fork from Saturday till Monday. Three of us probably boated well over 50 fish. All spots and two smallies. Only four or five of them were over the slot. The biggest fish were caught early in the morning and late in the evening in shade pockets. All fish were caught on rattle traps, dropshotted oxblood robo worms, and c-rigged oxblood robos. The biggest was 17" and it was caught on the blue-chrome rattle trap at first light. Non-stop action until the sun hits the water. Lots of small fish though some no bigger than my rattle trap. Bigger fish were in deeper water 20 feet or more and shade, shade, shade. Have fun!!
    City: Napa

    Tips: Find the shade. Get up early or fish late.

Saturday, July 23rd, 2005

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    Water Temp: 82

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Went to Lake Oroville yesterday. We caught 17 bass total. With no bass over the slot. 14 of the bass were caught on drop shotting shad colored worms. We fished mainly the middle fork.
    City: Orangevale