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Sonoma Lake and Reports

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Monday, February 7th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Redwood Empire Bass Club is welcoming new members both boaters and non boaters to fish in our club tournaments.The next meeting is at 7p.m. this Wednesday at the Rohnert Park Community Center on the corner of Rohnert Park Expressway and Snyder Lane.The next tournament is at Lake Sonoma on February 26th. Log onto www.rebc.net for more info.
    City: Santa Rosa

Sunday, February 6th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 52

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: I got in the water around 10:15 and caught my first fish about 10:45 a nice 3.8 on a suspending jerkbait fished very slow. I continued on down and caught several on drop-shot in 10 to 15 feet. I finished out the day at 3:45 and caught the last on in 25 feet on a carolina rig which was a nice fat 4.4. Altogether a 5 fish limit for around 12 pounds.
    City: Santa Rosa

    Tips: All fish came on the outside of cuts fishing slow.

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: how is this lake in spring, im planning a trip. do they have campsites? boat rentals? largemouth,smallmouth any thing else? thanks so much
    City: the bay

Saturday, February 5th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 47-54

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Went out with Jimmy Mac the Sonoma Veteran an my buddy Tiger the newly educated student of the game, who can read a graph like like he was born on a boat. We had a great day. Tiger started with a 3.9, on his secret go to bait, at 8:00. I followed with a 4.1 at 8:20. Jim got one at 8:50 now we are all on the board. Ten fish total, Tiger lead the pack with a 5.0 and a 5.1 and I had another 4.0. Best 5 went 22.1 lbs. 20+ other boaters out there not sure how they did, din't see alot of fish cought. Bite turned off in the afternoon when coincidently? the cloud cover came out with more wind and cold temps.
    City: Pacifica

    Tips: Don't be afraid to throw that swim bait, and the top water, work it slow. But for some of us old timers a good old texas rig ain't bad either.

Tuesday, February 1st, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Redwood Empire Bass Club is welcoming new members both boaters and non boaters to fish our club tournaments. Our next meeting will be at 7p.m.on Wednesday Febuary 9th at the Rohnert Park Community Center at the corner of Rohnert Park Expressway and Snyder Lane. The next tournament will be at Lake Sonoma on Febuary 26th.The fish should really turn on by then and I predict it will take 18 to 20lbs. to win.Log onto www.rebc.net for more info.
    City: Santa Rosa

Monday, January 24th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 48

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: headed up towards yorty creek and started fishing around 11:30. main lake was covered in heavy fog, but the northern arm was sunny. fished crankbaits around rocks and trees in water up to 18 feet deep. thought I might find some active fish. no luck. headed back towards main body of lake and tried jigs and dropshot. water clarity decreased as we headed back. caught one that weighed about a pound near some rocks and floating debris in ten feet of water. released it and headed back to the ramp.
    City: santa rosa

    Tips: if you see another boater fishing along the bank in some of those narrow arms don't be afraid to ease off the throttle a bit in an effort to keep your wake from blowing out his spot and banging his boat against the trees.

Saturday, January 15th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 49-51

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished shallow for quite awhile today with jigs and not much happening. Moved out to the trees in about 25 feet of water and started shakin a worm(6") and caught 7 decent fish up to 4 pounds. Some bit good and some were pressure bites. Pay attention. Another dose of rain will get the shallow bite going again. Tried reaction baits(rip bait,crank, and blade)and no takers. That's Sonoma. Some days they are up and some days they are out a little deeper. Dropshot will work, but I just didn't want to fish that way. Shakin was fun, but I gotta get the jig bite going before I flip out. Har.
    City: Petaluma

    Tips: Junebug worm was working good. Should have been shakin all day with that thing. Water clarity is pretty good considering all the rain we had. Should have went to the back of the creeks with a reaction bait first thing in the morning. Good Luck. D.B.COOPER

Wednesday, January 12th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 50-52

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Sonoma for the first time today with my brother from out of state. Started late, around 8:00am, in Yorty Creek with a canoe. Brother caught one in the trees early with a white spinnerbait. Fished until about 1:30pm with no other takers. Threw jigs, worms, crankbaits & spinners.
    City: Vallejo

Friday, January 7th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: We fished all day and never got a bite. Although my friend did hook her line into a couple trees. The water is very high and dirty which is to be expected with all the flooding we had. It looked like the marina was still above water, but a lot of the boats were moved to higher ground, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the store did get some flood damage. We were not lucky enough to have a boat to fish on, so we fished from the bank. We tried worrm, crank baits, jigs, and a couple other things. And nothing. I don't know if it was our inexpierence, or just a bad time to try to fish. But I am sure if someone had a boat they probably would of had better luck. And it would of been better if the water wasn't so dirty.
    City: Santa Rosa

    Tips: I need tips. =)

Thursday, December 30th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 74

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished 7:00am-3:00pm on Tuesday. Caught 3 small largemouth dropshotting 4" purple power worm around 2:oopm in 45-55ft of water. Tough bite. Jigs, texas rigs, topwater, jerks and cranks didn't produce all morning. Started going deep in shade on structure in afternoon and had a little action.
    City: san anselmo

    Tips: Downsize! Use 6-8lb flourocarbon and small worm hooks withh small worms on deep structure.

Sunday, December 26th, 2004

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: does anyone know of any articles on lake sonoma? havn't been able to find anything on this lake.
    City: windsor

Saturday, December 18th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 55

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished local club tourney Saturday and found the fishing so-so but the weather was great. We started in the marina and my partner found a little honey hole under one of the docks and we pulled 5 keepers and 4 or 5 dinks out of an area the size of our boat all on drop shot worms in blue and pumpkin. We then went to the bridge pilings and the electronics went black with fish from 20-50 feet but we couldn't get a bite if our lives depended on it. Headed to the dam and caught 4 more in about 3 hours of fishing but boy did that sun feel good. Fished the big point by the public ramp and hooked what felt like a very big fish, after catching 12-14 inchers all day the headshake was real different with this one, but she took me down and wrapped me around something and that was it. It would have been my limit fish so it hurt even more. Ended our day in a main lake cove filled with trees and my partner caught 3 more that helped his weight and I had my limit fish on again but so iffy net work by my partner was enough to let a good fish live to laugh at me once again (Thanks Rod!) I took third with 4 fish for 5 pounds, my partner took second with 5 fish for just over 6 pounds(yes they were all pretty small)and the winner had 4 for just over 7 lbs.
    City: Ukiah

    Tips: A lot of our guys found the fishing a little tougher than we did. There was a few that didn't catch any or only one fish all day so we felt good about our day. We caught almost everything on 4 and 6 inch worms drop shotting in 20-30 foot of water. If we got out of that range we didn't get bit it was as simple as that. Pumpkin was by far the best producer with blue the next best. I hope everyone who reads this remembers to post their day on the lake too. This is a great way to share good info so please don't forget.

Sunday, November 28th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 57

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The rain had just stopped when we arrived Saturday morning.With overcast skies we started throwing crankbaits and my partner caught a 2.5 smallie on his second cast off a rocky point. Continued to crank and I nailed a 3.6LB,2.8 and then a 4LB largemouth that ate the crankbait.Once the sun came out,we switched to worms and jigs and caught three more including a beautiful 4.5 that my partner caught in a tree. We had the lake to ourselves and saw only one other bass boat.I guess everyone went Xmas shopping or slept in because of the rain.Best five went around 17 LBS.
    City: Santa Rosa

    Tips: Crankbaits and plastics around rocks and trees in five to twenty five feet.The bite was soft so slow down and set on any pressure you feel.

Sunday, November 14th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 56

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: We went fishing at 5am to 11am we coght ttwo steelhead pretty good size at one of the creeks at lake sonoma I cought them on a rapala f-9. the other one I cought it on a yum minnow three inches long I just left it out their and cought it. I also lost two bass on the three inch plastic minnow in the trees
    City: healdsburg

    Tips: If you want to catch steelhead go to the creeks in the morning their jumping from 5am to 9am .
    Fish for bass in the trees
    Use the rapala F-9 lure to catch steelhead

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    Water Temp: 45

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Spent 2 days on Lake sonoma this weekend. On saturday i was just getting to know the lake, so i started off dropping my spinnerbait off the bridge and wiggling it on the surface. Managed to catch 6 bass and 3 steelhead and 5 stripers doing this, lost a good striper, maybe 45 lbs, he snapped my line when he was halfway up the bridge and fell back, damn wakeboarders picked it up because he died when he hit the water cuz it was so high and was floating. Day 2 i rented a boat and started trolling buzzbaits down around 175 ft. by the marina and the dam. Caught 6 steelhead, 2 salmon, 1 halibut, 5 bass, and 3 bluegills doing this. The funny thing was i was trolling and had a good bite as i started reeling it in, what i thought was a huge tuna, turned out to be a mermaid which i snagged in the tail. She fought good, but once i gaffed her and got her in the boat she didnt want to cooperate and was kicking and throwing her hands around like it was her job. She pulled out 2 wires on my motor so i had to row in, but after about 5 mins of rowing i lasooed 2 dolphins and they pulled me back into the boat launch.
    City: Healdsburg

    Tips: Troll deep and try not to hook into any mermaids, they r in there and they do taste good, but they can cause some serious problems. We caught our biggest salmon down at 175 ft. and a 8 lb bluegill off the bridge.

Wednesday, October 27th, 2004

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    Water Temp: ?

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Caught a bunch(14- all released except for two) of beautiful steelhead yesterday trolling with my uncle. Lost a bunch too. It was a nice change from the bass. These are steroid fish. So much power. Caught some spook and ratletrap bass, but did not do that for long. The steelhead were calling. Har. Mostly cloudy day yesterday. Just perfect. I saw two other boats up there the whole day. Where is everybody?
    City: Petaluma

    Tips: We were trolling on top with floating Rapalas(F-9). No downriggers or flashers. Just out of the box. I had black/white. My uncle had rainbow trout. The only difference was I changed over to single siwash hooks(#8) with barrel swivels and new split rings. He(stubborn irishman) stayed with the stock treble hooks. He lost a lot of fish and none of mine got off. Make the changes necessary. You'll catch more fish. Don't be lazy. D.B.COOPER

    PS I saw steelhead busting shad and I would wing my Luckycraft rattletrap(american shad) right into the comotion, let it sink a little and then retrieve. Caught three nice steelhead doing this. So much fun.

Sunday, October 17th, 2004

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    Water Temp: raining........

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: out of all the days this week (my vacation) i go fishing today...WOW WAS IT RAINING!!!!...well i tried senkos, spooks,ripbaits, split shot 'n, texas rigs, buzz baits, and a jig...i got to the lake around 12noon and fished till about 6pm...did i mention it was raining...
    well i don't know how to understand what fish do during the rain. nor do i know how to make them bite...
    but i did get one and dat swas all i needed was one. she was a lm that weighed about 4lbs on a texas rigged worm, but she was fouled hooked and released....so like i said how do i get them to bite during the rain???
    City: san francisco

    Tips: just keep on fishing, you'll figure it out!!!

Friday, October 8th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 68.9

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Spent a few hours Friday evening to see how Fall bite is progressing. Very windy on main body of lake, no sign of action at entrance to creek arms, so I moved up into Skunk Creek. Hooked seven fish and landed four chunky bass 3-4 pounds that hit my lipless crankbait like a freight train. Good fighting fish that ran, jumped and fought hard. All fish were caught in 4-5 ft of water over a weed bed along the edge of the creek channel. No sign of baitfish being chased on surface.
    City: Sebastopol

    Tips: Not enough time and too much wind to establish any real pattern. The fish I caught were right along the tops of the weedlines. Use a Lucky Craft lipless crankbait and "burn" it over the top of the weeds.

Thursday, September 30th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 69.8

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Started at 7:30 am in dry creek arm, off a flat that bass were busting shad. Caught 6 bass to 3lbs. Then the bite slowed down and we tried other areas. Around 2:30pm using a white 1/4oz buzz bait I landed my biggest bass at Lake Sonoma 7lbs. One other fish about 5 lbs ended our day with the same lure. Great day to be out on the water. Little wind with overcast morning and blue warm skies in the afternoon.
    Fire Jon
    City: San Bruno

    Tips: Look for bait busting shad and throw top water. Have fun

Sunday, September 26th, 2004

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    Water Temp: forgot?

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: well, as much as i know i check on reports, i know there must be other pple who do to. and if there are i htink it would help if i contributed.
    so here it is............
    took my dad and mom out the other day and fished for a very short time. i actually only fished four aeras, but quickly. had a few topwater blow-ups but all shook off. found another aera but no bites. moved to another aera and got two lm (2.5 and 4).stayed a little more but then left. by this time i had about a hour more to fish. made another move and picked up another lm , about 5lbs. overall great day.
    City: san francisco

    Tips: i think i want to be spookman no#2 , but i think i better get JOHNNY"S permission first. j/k
    topwater was a spook and the others were on a worm w/ a splitshot. fish slow..........and if u see a black and silver monark w/ 90 hp. holla at me.........