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Oroville Lake and Reports

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Monday, May 12th, 2003

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    Water Temp: 60

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Spent week o 5/5 on the lake! 75 spots landed and released each day (2 ishermen in boat). Largest 19". Most were slot ish! Dropshotted Magic "cotton candy" tubes and "spot spanker" worms. Also lipped and pitched "old ugly" tubes to looded willows. Largest spots came on OU! We played with AquaVue camera-ish are everywhere in the lake, especially 15-25'.Also had a early morning "luke" bite on larger ish over looded willows. A great lake in early May and you only see 10 boats each day!
    City: Portland Oregon

    Tips: Drop shot Magic "cotton candy" tubes and 4" "spot spanker" worms. Texas rig Jerrys "Old Ugly" tubes. White lukes w/one lead nail. We use Smelly Jelly Bass Feast.

Tuesday, May 6th, 2003

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: didnt get out until 2pm. took our shot in the south ork. nothing on reaction baits. I tossed Senkos and partner used other plastics. First spottie small around 11-1/2". Next was 12-1/2",next 14", then inally got one over slot limit size. Lost my inal hookup which im positive was a bit bigger than the previous ish.(and that was the rythm anyway). my buddy didnt get any hookups sorry to say. was expecting a bit better day but thats alright. we'll get 'em next time! On Easter, did stick one in the Thermalito Aterbay at 10.4lbs but skinny.you can the photo at www.trophybassonly.com. Its a great site i you dont know already.
    City: yuba city

    Tips: havent really ished here enough to know the patterns or oer any advice. But I am a true Senko isherman, and have all the conidence in them anywhere,anytime. watch out or some airly big debris when darting along.

Wednesday, April 30th, 2003

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    Water Temp: 54-56

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: From a guides point o view, I had a great trip at Oroville today with three people - always a challenge anyway. A young husband and wie team who had not bass ished beore and his dad, who was a good isherman, but new to a lot o western techniques(he is rom the midwest), made or a busy day or me, with the help o a pesty north wind. I knew the ish would move deeper with the irst sunny day in awhile and they did. We started out o Bidwell at 11 am and ished until 7 pm, hoping to get a good late aternoon bite. Well, they bit most o the trip - in the main body, north ork and Forman Creek area. We really got some quality spots - up to nearly 3 pounds which Mr. Husband caught. He got so excited that he keep reeling and reeling while his dad and I kept yelling to slow down so we could get the net. I netted his big spot about 2 eet rom the tip o his rod. The 8 lb Berkley XL held up!! Our 5 biggest were around 12 lbs, give or take an ounce or two. We landed 26 spots, 1 largemouth, and ater the dad was wishing he could see a smallmouth, he got one - about 13 inches! And as a bonus, Mrs. Wie landed the irst ever Crappie rom Oroville in my boat, using a 4 inch worm. We really had a lot o action, but, as happens when olks are learning to bass ish in wind, many were not hooked well. The young lady really lost a big ish because she pointed the rod right at the ish. It might have been to strong or her to lit the rod tip. We really had a great time and the weather was pretty nice. The wateralls are back at Oroville and the ish are there! Flooded stickups produced many o our bass. The willows might have been good but we didn't ish them much. I just have to say, and the clients mentioned it too, that the solitude was just wonderul - we only saw two other boats all day. There was wildlie everywhere, including a duck that hopped in the boat and took a tour!! We all experienced quality o lie today!!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: We ished worms most o the trip - 4 and 6 inch morning dawn, junebug, and green craw, mostly Texas rigged which is the was to go in a crowded boat. I caught a ew drop-shotting. Ater she caught the Crappie, dad wanted to try and catch another one, so I gave him a 4 inch sparkle Yamamoto cut-tail. His next ish was a 2 lb spot! Soon both men were cleaning up on that worm and I drop-shotted one or two on that color. Several o the big spots we caught spit up baitish, so I guess that was a good choice. This is my irst trip to Oroville in years that I didn't throw a jig. It was a worm day! I even tried ripping when there were a lot o shadows - not a touch! We caught ish as deep as 25 eet - most were 10 to 15. Several ish ollowed our baits to the boat - I guess the sun got them as excited as it did us!!

Saturday, April 12th, 2003

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    Water Temp: 60-54 degrees

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: BassBusters held their April Tournament at Oroville April 12, 2003. Rick and I were second o in the light and went up north to our irst spot. We probable put down the trolling motor about 6:15AM and had about 10 keepers by 7:30AM, culling 1 ish. Most all o those ish came on SuperSpooks, and ZaraSpooks, 1 ish came on Spinnerbait. We started the big motor and went right back over the same stretch without a bite. The ish shut down really quick. We then proceeded to dierent areas picking up a ish in just about each area we stopped. These ish came on a varity o techniques; Rattletrap, Dropshot, and Cranking. These areas ranged rom up the North Fork, to just in the South Fork, and then back in the Middle Fork. At the end o the day (3:30PM) the bite appeared to be picking up again. We had three quick ish Dropshotting and culled another ish, and then had to head to weigh in. We had a total o 20 - 25 ish, quite a ew dinks. Except or the "NON-STOP RAIN" it was an alright day.We had the slot exemption or the day, so all eight boats came in with a limit o 7 ish. I it weren't or the waived slot we would have probably only have had 1 - 2 keepers out o all eight boats. The boats that said they were able to pull ish all day long were doing it dragging jigs in deeper water.The lake i uller than I've seen it in years. Really surprized me. Thanks,R. Duzac
    City: San Jose

    Tips: The Top Water was A blast, the rain was not!

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    Water Temp: 54-58

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The Santa Clara Bassbusters ished their monthy tournament on Sat April 12. The Friday practice day was slow under the bright bluebird sky and clear water. Some ish could be seen on beds in the river arms but they ran o as the boat approached and stayed away. By Saturday the weather had changed to rain, non-stop, all day. This changed the ishing to ish-on non-stop all day. We had a slot exemption so every boat brought in a team limit o seven ish. Most limits were caught by 8 AM. The top baits were Zara Spooks, Speedtraps, Lucky Crat DB 90s, white Rat-L-Traps, and jigs. All ish came in shallow water and most o the teams ished in south ork and middle ork. Some good ish did come on the big slide up north on the main lake.
    City: Belmont

    Tips: With the clear water and the blue sky, we had our best luck with green-brown worms or jigs, and perch pattern speed traps. The Ghost Minnow color Lucky Crat did OK too.

Thursday, April 10th, 2003

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    Water Temp: 56 TO 58

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: FISHED MON THRU THUR - TOTAL OF ABOUT 35 HRS.MY PARTNER AND I CAUGHT 147 SPOTS. BEST NUMBERS CAME FROM THE MIDDLE BRANCH, SOUTH FORK AND ACROSS FROM THE SPILLWAY LAUNCH RAMP. WE FISHED MOSTLY THE CUTS AND ALSO HAD A COUPLE OUTSTANDING SHORT STRECHES OF WALLS. WE GAVE EACH BRANCH A FULL DAY EXCEPT FOR THE NORTH ARM. WE FOUGHT THE WIND A LOT AND LEFT FRIDAY AM BEFOR THE STORM HIT. OUR HOT BAIT WAS 4" PLASTIC WORMS SHAKING TEXAS. ARRONS MAGIC AND GREEN COLORED WORMS JUST LIKE DON REIGHLEY SAID. MORNING DAWN, NOT A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WORM I MIGHT ADD, WAS NO MATCH EVEN WITH A CHAR TAIL. THE STELLA WORKED OK EARLY BUT I BELIEVE THE POINTER 100 IS A BETTER CHOICE. WE TRIED DART HEADS WITH WORMS, GRUBS AND HULA GRUBS WITHOUT THE SUCCESS THAT WE HAD WITH SHAKING 4" STREIGHT TAIL WORMS. USE THE LIGHTEST WEIGHT WHILE STAYING IN CONTACT WITH THE BOTTOM AND YOUR ROD. NOT MUCH OF A BITE, MOSTLY A LIGHT RUBBERBAND FEEL. NOT THE EASIEST FISHING. WE LEFT THE LAKE AND FISHED THE NEXT TWO DAYS AT SUCCESS AND CASTAIC JUST AHEAD OF THE STORM. THE FISHING SEEMS TO BE PRETTY GOOD EVERYWHERE. I'M HOME NOW AND IT'S SNOWING HERE. THANKS A LOT FOR LETTING A COUPLE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FISHERMEN ENJOY THE BIG WATERS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
    City: CEDARPINES PARK,CA

    Tips: 4" WORMS, SENKOS IN WATERMELON BUT YOU MUST LET THEM SLOWLY FLOAT TO THE BOTTOM AND THEN WAIT FOR THE BITE. THE BITE WAS ON A SLACK LINE AFTER ABOUT TWO MINUTES. THE SENKO FISH WERE A LITTLE LARGER (OUNCES). FORGET MOST REACT BAITS FOR A FEW WEEKS.

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    Water Temp: 56 TO 58

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: FISHED MON THRU THUR - TOTAL OF ABOUT 35 HRS.MY PARTNER AND I CAUGHT 147 SPOTS. BEST NUMBERS CAME FROM THE MIDDLE BRANCH, SOUTH FORK AND ACROSS FROM THE SPILLWAY LAUNCH RAMP. WE FISHED MOSTLY THE CUTS AND ALSO HAD A COUPLE OUTSTANDING SHORT STRECHES OF WALLS. WE GAVE EACH BRANCH A FULL DAY EXCEPT FOR THE NORTH ARM. WE FOUGHT THE WIND A LOT AND LEFT FRIDAY AM BEFOR THE STORM HIT. OUR HOT BAIT WAS 4" PLASTIC WORMS SHAKING TEXAS. ARRONS MAGIC AND GREEN COLORED WORMS JUST LIKE DON REIGHLEY SAID. MORNING DAWN, NOT A SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WORM I MIGHT ADD, WAS NO MATCH EVEN WITH A CHAR TAIL. THE STELLA WORKED OK EARLY BUT I BELIEVE THE POINTER 100 IS A BETTER CHOICE. WE TRIED DART HEADS WITH WORMS, GRUBS AND HULA GRUBS WITHOUT THE SUCCESS THAT WE HAD WITH SHAKING 4" STREIGHT TAIL WORMS. USE THE LIGHTEST WEIGHT WHILE STAYING IN CONTACT WITH THE BOTTOM AND YOUR ROD. NOT MUCH OF A BITE, MOSTLY A LIGHT RUBBERBAND FEEL. NOT THE EASIEST FISHING. WE LEFT THE LAKE AND FISHED THE NEXT TWO DAYS AT SUCCESS AND CASTAIC JUST AHEAD OF THE STORM. THE FISHING SEEMS TO BE PRETTY GOOD EVERYWHERE. I'M HOME NOW AND IT'S SNOWING HERE. THANKS A LOT FOR LETTING A COUPLE OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA FISHERMEN ENJOY THE BIG WATERS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA.
    City: CEDARPINES PARK,CA

    Tips: 4" WORMS, SENKOS IN WATERMELON BUT YOU MUST LET THEM SLOWLY FLOAT TO THE BOTTOM AND THEN WAIT FOR THE BITE. THE BITE WAS ON A SLACK LINE AFTER ABOUT TWO MINUTES. THE SENKO FISH WERE A LITTLE LARGER (OUNCES). FORGET MOST REACT BAITS FOR A FEW WEEKS.

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    Water Temp: 55

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I guided "mysel" or a ew hours in the West Branch. I got to wait on mysel - what a treat!! It was amazing to launch at Lime Saddle and see no marina. Wow! I bumped my way through the debris and tried to ind areas that I could ish without gunk in my line. I ished 4 and 6 inch Berkely and Camanche Jack worms, ripped, and threw a ew jigs. I wound up with a limit over 11 pounds because I ound a bed with largemouth on it and caught the 3 1/2 pound emale on a purple Weapon jig - she ate it immediately!! While the emale was recovering rom her quick catch and release, I had to work or the male which went about 2 1/4 and inally took a brown Rodstrainer jig. They were both happy when I let!! I ound bass in deep brush and rock, landing 3 spots rom 2 to 2 1/4 lbs. I caught 17 total, mostly on lats near deep water and creek channels. The mid-morning bite was best - as the day warmed up, the bite slowed. Strange!! I I had been there at dawn, I might have done better but the extra hour or two o sleep was great!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: The water is still cool enough that one has to be on their toes to detect a deep water bite. Many bites were pressure. I ished some trash pockets but had no bites - maybe because the sun was not warm - lots o high cloud cover. I did catch my smallest ish on a Staycee ripbait - that doeasn't happen too much!!

Monday, April 7th, 2003

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    Water Temp: 46

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: lauched rom Lime Saddle. Fished the west branch and caught 12 ish. one was over 15" and the rest was under. got back to the truck to ind a ticket on the windshield. my buddy has season pass but they increased it $2.00 per day without telling anyone to pay or the rebuild o the marina. It is going to cost around $60.00 or the ine. It's crap.
    City: chico

    Tips: don't get caught without paying the EXTRA $2.00 or the launch.

Tuesday, April 1st, 2003

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    Water Temp: 54

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I took two ellows to Oroville last Saturday or a 6 hour "teach the lake" trip. There was a tournament going on but it didn't seem to be too crowded. We went rom the dam up to the north ork and lasted about 1 1/2 hours beore the wind became a problem. I had two or three wimpy bites on a jig and put it away. The jig bite just isn't happening or my boat this year at Oroville. We ished worms (6 inch) most o the time and the morning dawn was hot - the weather wasn't! We wound up with 16 bass - 3 over the slot with one nice 2 1/2 pound spot. We ripped some but with no success - maybe because we started at 6:30 am. I tried to show them some areas that the tournament ishermen don't bother much and one o those areas in the middle ork really produced. It really was a un trip! I know these guys will be stocking up on morning dawn worms!!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Because o cool water still, the ish we caught were on walls and on lats very near deep water. The water needs to warm up a bit more or good horizontal movements to shallow spawning areas. Most o our ish were 10 to 20 eet deep.

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    Water Temp: 53 to 58

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Almost wide open bite. These next ew weeks will be red hot (100 ish days). Wish I can go back. The ish we caught hadn't spawn yet. 3.5 days (3/26 thru 3/29) o ishing produced 214 spots, two salmon, two smallmouth, with the largest just shy o 18 inches. Middle ork is the happening spot, although all the orks should be rocking by now. Water is warming ast. Morning dawn worms was the ticket. Some ish already hitting topwater. Amazing ishing - amazing lake.

    Tips: Winds blown structure, steep rock walls, back o the coves mornings and evenings. Pretty much everywhere, we ound ish. There heerrrre. :)

Saturday, March 22nd, 2003

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    Water Temp: 52

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: ishing has been real slow. dragging worms in about 20 eet works, got one on a crankbait and one ripping but no size at all 12 13 inchers thats it.
    City: oroville

Wednesday, March 19th, 2003

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    Water Temp: 52.5

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Got on the water at sae light, & headed to the south ork. Started ripping stacy 90's in 20 eet water on rock walls. Ripped or two hours and only caught 4 ish. Switched over to drop & split shot, started catching ish. All ish were 12-15". Let south ork at 1:00p.m., and headed to middle ork. Fished steep rock walls, boat in 40' water. Got on a good worm bite with yamamoto cut tail worms. Was on the water all day. Not a bad day o ishing, 33 ish total, biggest just under two pounds, average ish 13"
    City: Rancho Cordova

    Tips: The ish did not seem aggressive. The worm bite was a sot pressure bite. Yamamoto cut tail worms ( smoke blue ) and robo worms ( mourning dawn ) worked best.

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I'm looking or Joe Kopp. Sent an email my way interested in ishing my region but I lost his email address. Anyone who knows him please orward this to him or give me his #. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. My # is 530-243-7348
    City: redding

Sunday, March 16th, 2003

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I recently ound out that the B.A.S.S. ed. Sacramento region had olded. All anglers still interested in ishing ed tournaments the Shasta region's irst tournament is on Mar. 30,2003 at lake Shasta. Entries are due by next Monday the 24th. I you need any help or have any questions please call me at 530-243-7348. Good luck and hope to see you on the lake.
    City: Redding

Thursday, March 13th, 2003

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    Water Temp: 51

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I guided a nice ellow yesterday, hoping to teach him more about jig ishing. We were willing, but the bass wern't. This is the second trip in a row where the jig bite has been tough. Near the end o the trip he did get one on a jig - mission accomplished! I guess there is a tournament coming up 'cause I have never seen so many bass boats on a Tuesday!! And they were running everywhere, so I guess the bite was a bit tough. We started late, hoping or a good aternoon bite and it worked out ine! We ound very tough mid-day conditions in the south ork as the sun was bright and the water clear. We caught a ew on worms. I elt we needed to try the middle ork and we caught most o our ish ater 3 PM. We had a great rip bite with Staycees (ghost) - inally getting some quality spots, but nothing over two pounds. We ound them in the growing shadows. Actually, the ish really looked skinny and I'm sure we got a lot o males. It was a struggle but we did catch 5 over the slot and 23 total. I talked to another ellow who didn't catch anything over 14 inches all day. I hope the quality will improve soon. Morning Dawn and Green Craw worms were our best colors. Most o the worm ish were 10 to 35 eet.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: The bite is very subtle it seems lately. I wonder i that is a result o lots o ishing pressure these days. I don't know. While some o the bites on worms are easy to detect, many are less than pressure bites - even I struggled to be sure a ish was on. I don't remember Oroville being that way in March. That sure wasn't true o the rip bite - they just nailed the Staycee. Wow!!!

Saturday, March 8th, 2003

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    Water Temp: 49 degrees

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Made the long drive to Oroville or some pre-ishing with my buddy rom Colorado. Time to teach him what Drop-shotting was all about! Launched out o Barret's Cove with a good wind coming rom the north. Immediately headed or some less windy main lake points and ound ish in 20+ eet o water. My buddy caught a nice 2.5lb on his irst drop shot. Way to go John! We continued to ind small ish on many points, but a ew held bigger ish, so keep searching. Later in the day, we headed into the backs o coves lipping a jig and I landed 2 nice 2+ blacks and then the surprise o the day, a 4.5 black. Woohoo!That was it, time to head home and celebrate. We had a great day on the water and best 5 ish coulda went or over 12. That could've taken irst at the WON teams, but we all know that it never works that way when your IN the tourney. har! har!
    City: Redwood City

    Tips: Typical stu is working good. Drop shotting witches tea w/chartreuse tail and green weenies. Jigs were brown and brown.

Sunday, February 23rd, 2003

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    Water Temp: 50

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Hit the water at 7 30 with my buddy mike dean. used his lund, I had a nice day sitting in the back. I caught 27 nice spots all day long. Mike caught 10, His big ish was a nice 3.2 lb spot on a at ree shad crank bait o a rocky point. I had 2 over 2 lbs. out combined best 5 bass 9.7 lbs. Lots o 1.5 lbs. Best bite was split shot . what a nice day ater blanking on the dead sea olsom lake.large lizards and the smaller zoom lizards worked. I bet brush hogs and senkos would have worked too. Used a bull shot sinker set up and it worked great.
    City: orangevale

    Tips: These bass were shallow. It's warming up so thing lizards shallow. crank obvious points.spinnerbaits i windy. Have un on oroville.

Friday, February 21st, 2003

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    Water Temp: 49

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I took a very nice retired couple (they looked too young to be retired!) to the lake yesterday to teach them how to approach the lake and how to ish certain kinds o baits. It was a beautiul people day but not a good ishing day because o bluebird post-ront conditions and a pretty sti north wind. We started at 8:30 am, hoping the aternoon would be warmer leading to more active bass. That proved to be the case as we got more bites later in the day. I wanted to go to the south ork, but was araid o the wind, so we chose the middle ork. The bass were all suspended or on the bottom in deep water and had to be hit on the head to make them bite. It was tough or my clients to detect a bite in the wind, but they did manage to land 3 apiece on morning dawn and green craw worms and one on a white jig. Larry Hemphill used the "Hemphill" special jig mentioned by Clay on the previous report and was 1 or 8!!! Most o the jig "bites" yesterday were bass blowing them out - didn't even eel the pickup. Talk about ickle!! I did catch some on the Berkley Pulse Worm. We wound up with 11 in the boat and 4 o them over the slot - barely. The gentleman did get the biggest - probably about 1 3/4 lbs. I know these olks are ready to tackle the lake on their own and the ishing can only get better!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I was really surprised to see just how tough it was, but that how winter ishing is - good or really slow. I was telling my clients that it will be better today and tomorrow at we will be having warm days and that will move the ish up some. The biggest bass was caught at the mouth o a creek, but most o the others were caught on walls with direct sunlight on them - something I always want to do in February and March. Deadsticking was working the best - just let the bait set or a second or two. Most were caught in 20 to 35 eet o water and appeared to be males. They sure were skinny!!

Monday, February 17th, 2003

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    Water Temp: N/A

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Started out very windy, then it quickly laid down. Lost all electronics right o the bat, so decided to ish sloping points (easier or me to guage the depth). In a hal day, got ~10 bites, putting ive in the boat (couple o 'em bit the tails o). All were chunks, ~ 15" each (+/- 1/2"), with one ~ 17". All came on the Hemphill Special (brown/orange jig, w/ #180 single tail grub). All ish came in ~ 15' (I'm guessin' but am probably pretty close). All in all a good time on the water.
    City: Castro Valley, CA

    Tips: Book a trip with Lunker Larry. A great instructor. I not, toss jigs all day on points and blus. I the weather and water levels will settle a bit, the bite should get really good.