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Pine Flat Lake and Reports

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Thursday, April 24th, 2025

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    Report: by basstrophy

    The best deal is to use a slow-moving lure and a presentation that is much like a finesse tactic with a bucket full of patience. There are still fish in all the different stages of the spawn during this time of the year so fishing shallow and deep come into play. At Pine Flat Lake, most of the fish were in the post-spawn stage, but the later spawners were still willing to guard their nesting areas. Pine Flat Lake is dominated by the spotted bass population and accompanied by some big largemouth bass. This lake is known for numbers of spotted bass willing to bite but because most of the fish were in the post-spawn, the fish seemed not willing to bite and a little harder to entice a bite.

    Angel Sanchez found the best recipe to capture first place with a total of 81.00”. Sanchez use the Mid-Strolling technique to catch his winning limit. He practiced two weeks before the event and found that the main lake points had roaming fish out deep.

    “I went to Pine Flat with a buddy and found that the points were holding roaming fish way offshore.” stated Sanchez, “I used the strolling technique to catch the fish.”

    “I was using a 3/16-ounce jig with a 4” Mooch minnow paired with 8-pound test line to a 15- pound braid.” enunciated Sanchez, “The bite was best in the morning compared to the afternoon bite, after 11 AM the bite really slowed down.”

    “I was fishing in 60 to 80-feet of water but the fish were suspended in 20 to 30-feet of water." exclaimed Sanchez, “I would shake the minnow over the top of the fish, and they would come up and eat it.”

    “I Mid-Strolled all day long for my limit.” said Sanchez.

    ohn Myers came in second with a total of 80.00”. He ran the bank using a Senko and a Ned rig to catch his fish.

    “I covered a ton of water for the fish I had caught.” remarked Myers, “I found that the grassy areas did not hold fish compared to the areas that had red clay or the smaller and larger rock.”

    “I was using a Neko-Rigged Senko and a Ned Rig with a big TRD in Peanut Butter and Jelly color to catch my fish.” mentioned Myers, “The fish were from the shore down to about 20-feet of water.”

    “I had a small limit of spots early and saw some larger rock across the cove that I was fishing." articulated Myers, “I made a short run across the lake and started to fish the larger rock when I felt a bite. I gave her the bad news and caught a 19” largemouth, it jumped 4 times before I was able to net her.”

    “I worked that area over thoroughly in hopes to catch another nice largemouth bass but was only able to catch the same fish a second time. This time when I gave her the bad news she only jumped twice before I was able to net her. It was a bummer to catch her twice because two 19” fish at Pine Flat is extremely difficult to accomplish.”

    “In the same area, there were some large boulders offshore and I was able to catch a 15” largemouth in the shade of a rock.”
    “I practiced for two days before the event and found that both days were frontal conditions and fishing was good.” pronounced Thao, “The fish were in all stages of the spawn, and I was able to catch them from 8 to 15-feet of water.”

    “Once the tournament day started the conditions had changed to post frontal conditions to blue bird skies.” replied Thao, “The fish were not as active and when I got to my first spot, I had 4 bites on a swimbait but was not able to hook up.”

    “I struggled throughout the day but was able to get enough bites Mid-Strolling.” voiced Thao, “I was sitting in 80 to 100-feet of water and target fish suspended in 5 to 10-feet of water.”

    “There were one or two fish that I targeted and most of the time they would follow the bait to the boat and not bite.” expressed Thao, “I had to jig the lure up and down next to the boat to get them to bite.”

    “This is pretty much what I did all day long. I did go to the bank, but the fish were un-scoreable so I would go back out deep and catch scorable fish." explained Thao, “I was using a 1st Gen Jaw dropper in the ¼ ounce paired with a 4” Mooch minnow.”

    “I was fishing a cove near a spawning area and the fish that I was catching were trout eaters.”

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 74

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Nice day on the lake. Was hoping to nail some nice largemouth but could only manage 8 spots in about 4 hours fishing. Started at about 7am and fished till around 11am. Seems the bite is better closer to the dam. Very, very clear water. Probably around 15 ft. Biggest was about a 2 pounder, nothing larger. Still a fun day tho.
    City: Fresno

    Tips: Used jigs and senkos. Probably a better jig bite. Didn't try reaction baits too much but will next time.

Tuesday, April 3rd, 2012

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    Water Temp: 58-62

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: had a nice day with the wife. no rxn bite, but we didn't start until 10am. best was with plastics in the river. 5 to 25 ft of water. all spotted and only a few small cruisers.
    City: clovis

    Tips: bald eagles are cruising the lake and looked amazing.

Wednesday, February 22nd, 2012

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    Water Temp: 58

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The water clarity was more like 30 feet and fishing was tough for awhile but I ended up with 9 bass over 1.5# and the best 2 were about 2 3/4#. One bigger fish came off the bank in maybe 10' of water while the other bigger fish came out of 40' Of water. On the trailer by 1pm because I wore myself out throwing a stupid bama rig for an hour. Quit dropshotting after catching 3 trout in 5 casts at 30' deep.
    City: Oakhurst

    Tips: I caught fish on 5 diff. things. Slow was the only common thing I can think of. No action on any reaction baits.

Friday, February 17th, 2012

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    Water Temp: 60

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Visibility was easy 30 feet! Fairly slow day with 6 spots and 2 accidental Rainbows in 4 hours of fishing. 1 senko fish, 1 spooned, 1 splitshot 4" worm, the rest drop shot 4" worm or 3" senko wacky hooked on the drop shot.
    City: Oakhurst

    Tips: Just junk fishing. No pattern. 2 fish at 15 feet and the rest 30-40.

Sunday, January 1st, 2012

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    Water Temp: 63

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished 3 hours in the middle of the day. I found a large school of fish on bait at Razorback on the right but couldn't get nay to go. It got warm so I ran some sunny banks with a blade for 1 fish and 2 hits but it was slow. It was also so warm that I sought out some shade. Hit a steep shady bank and busted 7 quality fish on a 1/4 oz homemade jig with a twin trailer. These fish were in about 5' of water. My dad picked up a few behind me at 25' on a dropshot but they were smaller fish. We picked up a few on a point over 40' deep that weren't bad fish.
    City: Oakhurst

    Tips: Don't be afraid to fish fast or shallow. It was a pretty easy day after we left the first fish.

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

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    Water Temp: 59-78

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished with my dad from just before sunrise to about noon. Main lake was the best with jigs and senkos. We caught about 30-40 bass, but most were dinks. The river was a lot colder and we only had a few bites up there.
    City: Hanford

    Tips: Baby bass senkos and brown jigs in 0-15 feet.

Tuesday, April 26th, 2011

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    Water Temp: 67

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fishing in bigger body in coves with creek run offs with 5" GYB senkos in cinnamon red with blue flakes catching 30 none keepers w/6 keepers between 2 people, winds came in with over cast, switched to shad pattern pulled in 3 pounder in less than foot of water. Water is lowrering about 1 1/2" per day bass beds are above water. Clear water Areas I switch to smaller senkos 4" and 3"in green pumpkin and light green to match water color caught 1 1/2 ponder near dam where water is 68.8 degrees. Shallow water bites has slowed over past few days, thinkin it's the constant lowering of water levels Hope this help and good luck
    City: Fresno

    Tips: No luck on reacation baits... past a few trollers who all said they did good if trout is your thing

Sunday, March 27th, 2011

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Wet conditions made for some cold fishing. Launched from Lakeridge Marina and fished the banks and points on the NW side of the dam. Caught a keeper on a drop shot, nose hooked six in. Casper worm. Crossed to the N side of the dam because there were some white-water falls pouring into Pine Flat from the surrounding mountains. Threw a wacky rigged senko and had a few bites, but could not hook up, but lord were they there. Ran across the lake by the trailer campground and started fishing structure. Pulled in a two pounder with a river2sea plastic craw while the boat to my left pulled in a 16lb. Carp on a drop shot with 6 lb test.
    City: Fresno

    Tips: Fish in the shallows, 5-15ft depth.

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

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    Water Temp: 48-52

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: on lake before sun up, fished from trimmer and up river. reaction bite early with some lm's very shallow. after bite died down plastics worked for fish in 25ft (had to search for them with electonics. stayed till wind picked up and bite slowed. 15 total, not much size but most biting fish were active.
    City: clovis

    Tips: a decent amount of driftwood is in the water and was tough to see when wind was blowing.

Thursday, February 10th, 2011

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    Water Temp: 51 to 53

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Pulled up at 10 am and went straight back the river almost to the shallows. Saw some shad boiling on surface and graphed some fish below them. Got right on top the the boil and dropped the spoon down. Caught a snag with a spoon the first time. Second time a 4.5 lber. Followed by a two 3 lbers on the 3rd and 4th drop. Bite slowed after wards. Saw another shad boil across the other side and did the same thing. Caught about 8 more in the 2.5 lb range. Had about close to 15 lbs. best 5 by noon. Spoon bite stopped then decided to throw some darter head and hula grubs as per the report. Got a few more fish with the darter heads with 2 quality fish up to 3 lbs. Nothing on the hula grub or jigs. Off the water by 4:00 pm. Man what a day.
    City: Visalia

    Tips: Look for schools of bait fish anywhere between 15 to 25 feet of water. Spoons were working for some time. Fish are at the banks later in the day it looks like. The grub and jig bite didn't look too good. Good luck to all!

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished from 10am to 4pm. It wasn't hard finding fish, but quality was a problem. My partner and I caught them on the dropshot and shaky-head. Fish were found from 25-50ft, although the fish are starting to transition as we caught a few in the 10ft range. Our best 5 were about 10lbs. Didn't fish the main lake, everything was caught by trimmer and by the windy gap area. Total fish between me and my partner was 20+.

    Tips: Fish slow and deep. Todays choice of color was purple, as that was the color that the bass seemed to like more, although everyday varies.

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 54-55

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished from 9am till 3 pm on a cloudy day. Caught 25 spots in 30-40 ft with the biggest only 2 lbs. Hula Grubs and Jigs did OK. Best bite for us was on darterheads and T-rigs. Fished from Deer Creek to Windy Gap. Overall fun day.
    City: Visalia

    Tips: Main lake points

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

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    Water Temp: 57 to 58.5 degr

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Got on the water at 3:00 pm afternoon. Trolling motor batteries were low so couldn't really fish for long. Found out my batteries were corroded. Caught a couple fish off the drop shot and that was it and missed a couple other bites. Will get out again by the weekend. Cold afternoon.
    City: Fresno

    Tips: So far dropshotting. Will keep all posted later.

Wednesday, November 17th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 62

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished from 8am till 2 pm and it was a tough bite for me. I worked my butt off for 5 keepers and only got 6 bites all day. I stuck 2 largemouth on senkos on a vertical wall and 3 spots on a dropshot at the end of the day. I tried a ton of stuff in between without any luck. I could not mark any shad on the graph and very few fish for that matter. No surface activity anywhere.
    City: Oakhurst

    Tips: See above, I don't have a clue

Sunday, November 14th, 2010

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    Water Temp: Low 60s

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Woke up late didn't get to the launch 'til 8..fished the marina got one on the darter head right away..threw the texas rig got one but missed the set..no fish for a few hours..got one on the spoon..got a nice large mouth on the drop shot..missed a big hit on the carolina rig..came home before 2..started to get windy on the main lake..
    City: Fresno

    Tips: bring extra darter heads!!..bite is soft if you are finessing..water seems to be slowly rising..stay a little further out the bass don't seem to getting used to it yet..so they're still out there deep..was cold the whole day so layer up especially when running the big motor..

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: fixed the fuel pump decided to go run the boat..got out around 4pm went straight to the coves..
    found schooling shads..and the bass were right there..got one right away on a spoon..school ran away..moved over to creek channel got one on shakey head..fished rocks for a bit picked up 4 on dropshot..fished 'til sunset water was calm for a few hours..got 2 hits on buzzbait..missed one..wind picked up..cold..left the lake around 8

    Tips: throw big baits..finesse techs. will diff. produce fish..small though..keep eye on the fish finder..it'll completely blow up..

Saturday, September 11th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 74

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Visalia Bass Tournament held on 9-11-10. Winner had over 11 lbs. A lot of small limits caught but getting a limit was not assured by any means. A 13" black bass was hard to come by for some teams. The fish could be caught almost anywhere and pretty shallow as well. This would be a great place to take the kids. They could catch a lot of small bass right now. I haven't fished a lake this year that allows you to catch more fish. I have fished a lot of lakes.

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 64

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The lake could not fish better. My dad and I caught bass all day and lots of trout by accident. Three trout were over 20" with the biggest @ 22". All three were caught on a dropshot plastic worm. My dad played with the dinks all day on the dropshot and I ripped a LuckyCraft deep staysee in 20' of water for bass from 2-3 pounds. The ripbait bite never quit despite high sun and warm temps.
    City: Oakhurst

    Tips: If you want to catch fish or have kids you want to get hooked on fishing, I can't imagine a better place right now.

Saturday, May 8th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 64-68

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Took my wife for a casual half day of fishing, got on water at 9 and fished till 2:30. She boated 7 on plastics and I got 7 on rxn baits and missed a few slapping at it. Had to fish rxn baits fast in ultra clear water. Could have caught smaller bass on plastics all day. Bite was a little slow when wind wan't blowing.
    City: clovis

    Tips: The ramp at Deer Creek does not have a lot of parking now that the water is coming up, so if you are not their early good luck competing for a parking spot.