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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, March 23rd, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62-65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Orwood at 7:15. Got one on top water just south of there then a couple more strikes. Picked up a couple more on a tule island point. Picked up dinner on another island point with a 46' drop off (see video). Few more here and there. All in all, pretty slow day with 7 fish including the striper. Still fun though. Here's the video: http://youtu.be/9G5kiXLQGq4
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: 2nd weekend on the Delta with the Luck-E-Strike RC Stick. Really produce numbers but haven't run into any bigger fish yet. Caught a couple on dropshot in Disco bay too using roboworms. Didn't see any bed fish and we were running around all over the place.

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59-62

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I fished solo Friday afternoon and late Sunday afternoon. Fri I had some good takes on swimbaits and dumped a big spot at the boat. They are hard to net when alone. I caught 2 smaller spots this afternoon, but no takes on swimbaits - probably because of a north wind. Water temp dropped about 3 degrees because of the wind. I caught the 2 smaller bass on jigs.

      Tips: As usual, the water temp is a little better on the east side, but not much. West side has some good structure under the water now - should be good before long.

Friday, March 21st, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59-64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Finished a 3 day fishing vacation on the Delta.
      The wife and I stayed at the fishing cottage at
      Beacon Harbor. Nice. First two days were off the charts 10+ fish both days. 1.5 to 2 lbs biggest two maybe hit 3. Almost all on wacky rigged 5" senkos, green pumpkin and green pumpkin
      with purple flake. A few on Cooch's brown Wadda Jig with purple and blue flake Yamamoto single tailed grub. Temperature dropped the second night and that really slowed things down the third day only 2... yeah that must be it, the weather, couldn't be me ;)

      Tips: Wacky rigged senkos, against tules with moving deepish > 8ft water.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Dana loaned me his boat, so took it out and launched at Lime saddle about 7am and fished till noon. Bite is improving as the water warms. I ended up with 15 spots, 2 right at 15", 2 right at 14 1/2" with all the rest at 13-14". All fish in 5 feet to 25 feet of water on various curly tail roboworms. About 50% on Texas rig, about 1/4 of the fish on drop shot, 1/4 on shaky heads. Best color today was Salt & Pepper Chart, New Ayu worked well too. I'm not fishing as slow as the winter bite, and giving baits more action.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Anyone with a boat looking for a fish partner, let me know, lets go out and catch some spots together. Email me at Jewelweaver@earthlink.net

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57-61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I had the privilege of taking another person on the UC Davis staff - and her son - to Berryessa, on a beautiful day! The fishing wasn't as beautiful as last week however, - lots of bass - but not the good quality of the last trip. No largemouth this trip, but several nice smallies in the 2 1/4 to 2 3/4 lb range. Nearly all of their bass were caught on off-shore structure and deeper - maybe because of all the north winds and cool nights. The green craw 6" Robo worm continued to work, but today the "New Ayu" color worked good in the afternoon! It produced most of the bigger fish. Best 5 only about 12 lbs.

      Tips: Bass were really scattered around today, again, mostly on off-shore flats. Points weren't as productive as last week. The shallow bites we had last week (in warmer weather) were non-existent this week except for one island top. Several fish landed in 12 feet of water. We fished the narrows, Skiers Cove, and the west side. Water has cleared some from last week.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Couldn't buy a bite around discovery bay. Saw some cruisers, but 0 fish on beds. Picked a up a small male on drop shot between the weeds and rocks, sitting in 1-2 foot of water.

      We netted a dead striped that had choked to death on a 6.5 inch sun fish. My son being a true fisherman tried to count them as two more fish that we caught.
      City: Brentwood

      Tips: Jak's Custombaits Slick Worm in candy bug did the trick. They are cheaper than roboworms

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58 - 60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My buddy and I took our annual fishing trip to Clear Lake We fished three days, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (3/19/14 – 3/21/14) out of Lakeport. About noon Wednesday, we started fishing south of Lake Port but north of Long Tule Point. We stayed north of the point because I think every fishing boat on the lake was in the cove near the point. We caught a few nice fish to 4 ¼ lbs. The other boats were too far away to tell if they were catching anything. Later in the day, we move to the south side of Buckingham Pt. and located fish off shore in 5 – 12 ft. of water. Thursday we went north of Lake Port and found fish off shore again in 5 – 12 ft. of water near Rocky Point. The bite was on all morning. In the afternoon, we tried the entrance to Rodman slough. The water there was only about 2 ft. deep and very stained (almost muddy). Again boats at the entrance were stacked like cord wood. We did not catch anything and only saw a couple fish caught. Every boat there was throwing large swim baits. Friday, we headed south back to the fish we found Wednesday afternoon. The fish were there for several hours but then turned off or moved. Other places near by were tried with no success. We went back to our morning spot but the fish weren’t there. We found the fish again about 200 yards up the shore. In this area, we caught a 4, 5, and 6 pounder and many 3 and 2 pounders. For the three days, we caught 57 fish with our best 15 fish averaging 3 lbs 9 oz. Almost all the fish were caught off shore in 5 – 12 feet of water drop-shotting a purple 7 inch RoboWorm. Other techniques were tried with very limited success including various sizes of swim baits. Of all the fish we caught, only about 6 fish were female.
      City: Pinole

      Tips: The fish are staging in 5 – 12 feet of water and should be starting to bed any day now. The only problem I see is that the normal bedding areas are too shallow because the lake is about 5 feed down. The fish will need to bed off shore. This will make it harder to find them.

Sunday, March 16th, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at 7:45 out of Orwood, fished a little just south of there before Disco but no takers. Headed over to Mildred, stopped and picked up a shaker striper by the railroad tracks. Nailed a a handful on new jerkbait just right around Bull Frog Marina. Got a 2lb. 3oz. on topwater off a point just south Mildred (see video). Fished the breaks around Mildred and Mandeville where I got the rest of the fish. 11 total, maybe 5 or 6 keepers, best 5 would have only been in the 7 lb range. Top water was Sammy in MS American Shad pattern. New jerkbait is Luck-E-Strike RC Stick (41/2" Purple Flash, upgrade the hooks and split rings). Two best here: http://youtu.be/68ndwGETLao
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: Most of the fish came on the the levee breaks. All of the fish were relating to grass lines.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Took my 6 year old son out sun morning/afternoon. Fished the Bear river arm and the flats north of the dam. Non stop action, most dinks but fun! The better fish where on the flats, spotties probably moving up to spawning area. All fish were caught in less than 10ft, tried deeper but nothing. 21 total with biggest maybe 2.5lbs. Son outfished me again-- Camp Far is great for getting kids hooked on fishing!
      City: Loomis

      Tips: One on lipless, a few on small swimbait, a couple on dropshot, and non-stop on split-shot hula grubs

  • Riverside County
    • By

      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Sunny about 85 degrees and I was thinking the big girls would be up in abundance. They were there but not like I thought they would be. Picked up a few on beds but could not get the big ones to eat. Caught twelve total on jigs in fifteen to twenty five feet off the rocky points. Threw the Nutech 3/8oz in green/purple with a Yamomoto twin tail trailer and fished it slow, pause, slow pause!

      Tips: If you want to catch fish stay out in 20-30 feet and fish points slow with jig of drop shot.
      Bed fish are starting to move up and should be locked on in next few days.

Saturday, March 15th, 2014

    • By

      Water Temp: 58-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: First time at the lake in almost a year and it fished GREAT. I took a rookie fisherman, my 2 year old, and 6 year old and still got bit. Fished from 7:45-1:30 and caught about 20 in total. Tried the main body and Rock Creek first thing and blanked in two hours of fishing. We moved to the Bear River arm and started whacking them. Caught 5 rats on a drop shot and the rest on a tube. Biggest five were a conservative 17-18 lbs, with a 7 lb largemouth being the donkey. Fast action and easy to pattern once we got bit.

      Tips: All fish were on inside of points that were protected from the wind. Most fish were in 15-20 feet, only one shallow in about 6 feet. Two fish were spitting up Bluegill when I got them in the boat.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Lime Saddle this morning, right as the sun began to lighten the sky a tad. Windy, windy, super hard to hold the boat in position. I ended up with 7 spots, nothing of any size, all 13-14" with one right at 14 1/2" All fish 10 to 30 foot of water. Fat Roboworms did the trick, darker colors.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Anyone with a boat looking for a fish partner, let me know and lets go catch some spots. Email me at Jewelweaver@earthlink.net

Friday, March 14th, 2014

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: After 2 days of howling wind at Clear Lake, it was nice to have a rather calm guide trip at Berryessa!! I took two folks out of Markely about 8 am. It was pretty cold and so were the bass! No real bite for us until about 9:30 am. I hooked a feisty 3 1/2 lb smallie on a Robo worm in about 5 feet of water. What a beautiful fish - almost looked as tall as a Pardee smallie! After that the bite got quite good for quality bass including a 4 lb and 4 lb 11 oz largemouth! We caught 11 bass total with a 17+ lb best five. I think they are fishing an upcoming tournament, so I won't discuss the techniques we used. They did work however - LOL!!

      Tips: This was really one of my typical "teach the lake" trips, so we really didn't concentrate on catching big numbers of bass. We looked at the Lorwance a lot as I explained to them the "Lay of the Land!" Covered a lot of water. Wow - we found an island top in 9 feet of water - WAY off shore! Truly, Berryessa is a structure fisherman's dream!!!

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: After reflecting on this outing, & judging from this time last year, If you can possibly make it to Clear Lake in the next month or so, I'd do it! Fish are active & strong. You might have a few set back days if you encounter wind +/or rain, but if you can wait it out, you'll be rewarded. Larry started the madness for me about 7 years ago when I treated myself to a trip with him for my birthday. I was hooked on Clear Lake ever since! So thank you Larry!

      Tips: If you're going for a guided trip, you can't go wrong with Larry Hemphill!

    • By

      Water Temp: 55-57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: No wonder we could catch 'em during the day - clum caught them all at night - LOL!! Anyway, it's no wonder Berryessa looked so good for my Thursday trip after being on the water for 16 hours Tues and Wed - day trips. Sort of like being in a giant washing machine! When the "big wind" blows from the south it is hard to find anywhere to fish! Do I love my 521 Ranger, or what??!! Do I remember the past with 3 people in my 17ft10in Ranger in those conditions? How did we do it? It was called "above water drowning!" Tuesday my clients and I did our best but couldn't boat a fish, though we missed 3 bites. It was lonely out there - only 2 other boats. I was actually looking forward to my Wed trip because the wind was supposed to die down some. Yea....Right!!! It was worse! My husband/wife team and I started about 8:30 am in Jago Bay. No wind yet! I was using my brown/orange jig that clum likes so much and - behold! - a bite!! She went 5 1/4 lbs! The lady of the boat soon hooks her first - gets it to the boat - but loses another 5+ pounder. She then caught one near 4 lbs and hubby soon lands one. So far, so good! Until the wind reappears - worse than Tues! I finally give up on the west side and battled our way to the east shore. We spent the rest of the time exploring various structures which were new to them. We wound up with 8 in the boat for maybe 21-22 lbs - best 5. Weird - just as she lost a big fish in the beginning - he looses a big fish on his last cast of the trip. Broke his line - bummer!! Anyway, I felt pretty happy with the results of our trip and the knowledge they gained. Nice people!!

      Tips: Talk about tough conditions - two days in a row! I was not sad to leave Clear Lake. Again on Wed - only saw 3 boats out! Jigs were the preferred baits for both trips - maybe the best and easiest baits to use in heavy wind.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49 to 53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Lake Shasta is up to 107' from capacity. Water temps are ranging from 49 in the mornings to 53 in the afternoon. The bass bite has been great in all part's of the lake. We've had report's of people catching them on reaction baits like spinnerbait's and jerkbait's as well as whacky rigged senko's. If you're looking for a bigger fish spend some time throwing 7" & 8" swimbaits as well as jigs.

Thursday, March 13th, 2014

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53.8

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Although the fishing was spotty, the size was again phenomenal! 5best were 8.4, 8.2, 7.12, 7.6, & 6.14 for a 38.6 lb. limit! Got on the water @ 6:00pm & it was a slow start. The bite didn't get going until after 1:30 am. Wind was calm so we went to Jago & Jones bay but once again caught most of the fish in Konocti. They were back on the jig bite in 15-20 ft. Of water. We used Rodstrainer jigs in Brown/Orange for the trip with various trailers, mostly craw like the Damiki Knockout. Good trip except for the windy Tues. Gonna try to come back in 2 weeks. All of the fish are healthy, strong, & big bellied!

      Tips: We moved around more tonight. When we got bit, they crushed it. We were working it in short hops then deadsticking it for5-10 sec. When you resumed, pow! Hold on when you set the hook, I was leaning the wrong way on one & almost got pulled off balance!

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished today with Jeff, launching at the spillway about 8:20 or so. Launch has 2 docks again, about 6 lanes for the busy days. We did ok, considering the white caps and wind. Damn did it ever blow today. We ended up with 5 spots, all clones right at 15". We would have done better but I lost 3 fish after hooking them, they just came off half way to the boat!!! Fish all caught in 10-25 feet of water, roboworms, bold bluegill did the trick today, half the fish on shaky heads and the others on drop shots.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Anyone with a boat looking for a fish partner, let me know and lets go catch some spots together. Email me at Jewelweaver@earthlink.net

Wednesday, March 12th, 2014

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53.7

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out at 9:00pm, windy conditions. Only able to stay out for an hour,boated 2 around 4 lbs each. The wind literally started howling & we pulled the pin & came in. Stay tuned for tomorrow.

      Tips: Love fishing as much as the next guy, but staying safe is a priority!

Tuesday, March 11th, 2014

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53.7

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: What a difference from yesterday. Weather much nicer & fishing a little tougher! Started at 6pm picked up a few dinks the 1st couple of hours. After it turned dark fishing improved, we caught good quality fish. They were on more of a Texas rig bite instead of jigs. We managed a few good jig fish, a 7+ & a 5+ but the big fish, an 8.12 was caught on Texas rigged Yamamoto Flappin Hog. We finished with a best 5 of 34 lbs even. They were: 8.12, 7.9, 6.7, 5.11, &5.9.We had to work a little harder, boated 16 with the average size a little smaller than last nite. They were deeper also in 22- 20ft. Bite died at 1:30am. Gonna try it tomorrow if the wind prediction is wrong.

      Tips: Presented the baits much slower tonight, you felt a bump, then they ran with it. Most fish came in front of tules with structure in front. Greens were the popular color. Once again fished Konocti Bay.