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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Monday, March 10th, 2014

  • Lake County
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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Did previous on tablet & it autospells, the values for Ted were personal bests. Also for got to mention the fish were up close within 8 feet off the bank.

      Tips: Turn off autospell!

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      Water Temp: 53.4

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Hit the water @ 7:00pm Sun. 1st strike broke a new Loomis rod on a hookset, thot this could be bad luck. Got lucky tho & put together a nice outing! Fished til rain chased us at 2:45am. Boated 20 fish, all healthy & chubby! 8.8, 8.2, 7.11, 7.8, 7.6; a great 39.3 limit. Tried like the Dickens to get to 40, but when they rain hit, the bite died on us. Fished south in Konocti Bay, most were on jigs with a few on Texas rigged Sweet Beavers. Ted got his phone @ 8.8 & got over 30lbs for his best 5 also a lb. Gonna try again tomorrow if weather let's us! No blade, Seiko, or crank bite, we tried. Smallest fish we caught was 4.7, everything else was,over 5!

      Tips: 1/2 oz. Jigs were the ticket with small hops then slow drag for about 6", the trailers were Damiki creature green watermelon red flake. They picked it up most of the time but a few smacked it! The Texas rig was Sweet Beavers in Big Texan, slow presentation. Would have been nice to have caught one more 8-9 over but we're with what we got!

Sunday, March 9th, 2014

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      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished 4 hours and landed 6 in the 1.5 to 2 lb. range. Skies were overcast with little to no wind. First fish came on a lipless crank bait. Next 5 were all top water. The bite seemed to turn on with the presence of a slight 5 minute rain shower. Saw several other bass anglers landing fish. Overall the lake seemed to be producing for most of us.
      City: Lincoln

      Tips: With the water level rising so fast, be extra cautious of floating debris everywhere.

  • Alameda County
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      Water Temp: 56 am

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The big female largemouths were shallow in scattered rock the size of your fist to the size of a head. Lake level is just below the tules now with lots of debris in the water. Tough fishing trees on this lake, just too much fishing line hanging on them. Perfect pitches hang up on the line. I took a plunge trying to get my bait free and had to swim over/thru a tree to get to the ladder around the back of the boat. Lucky I didn't get hooked to the tree. Ironically, 2 women were swimming the lake for exercise that morning! Too dangerous for me - I'd be scared of cramping up and drowning.
      City: dublin

      Tips: Soft plastics only in the places I found fish or you'll be hauling long, stringy, rope-like junk constantly.

Saturday, March 8th, 2014

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 58-61

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: After one of Laurie Lockhart's famous meals, I starting fishing about 4pm (Fri) and had Immediate action - and I mean quick! The second cast with my brown/orange jig produced a great hit and soon a 4 3/4 lb bass. Way to start!! I missed another on the next cast. Within the next hour I landed 2 more between 4 1/2 and 5 lbs! I only caught two more before dark - around 2 1/2 lb each. After dark I was fishing a wall that I have never caught a really big bass, but I continue to fish it. It finally paid off with an earth-shaking hit which let to a tedious net job. She finally jumped into the net and went 6 lbs 1 oz. A few casts later, another good hit and a 3+ pounder found the net. I fished until 11 pm, hoping for the big bite. I did get it, but lost her after a few seconds. So - a 22 1/2 lb limit made the long drive home very easy!

      Tips: The lake is up some 20 feet from the low of 60 feet. There is a little debris floating, but not much. There are still a few submerged tree branches sticking up, so be careful. I threw a crankbait some, along with a swim jig. Even at night I threw a few different baits, but the jig is what seemed to please them. The bass I hooked were right on the bank, from 10 to 20 feet.

  • Butte County
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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Dana loaned my his boat so I had to get out today. Launched at Lime Saddle about 6am, off the lake at noon. Slow bite for me, only got 4 spots, 13-14" or so. Water pretty dirty in some areas, almost like mud!! Water has risen now 31 feet as of yesterday and news reported water had risen 3 feet in 24 hours right after the rain. Last look, were 168 feet below full pool. Fished several baits, with roboworms getting all fish.
      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 I'm available most of the time, and love to fish.

Friday, March 7th, 2014

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 51-56

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 6AM-2PM and had a monster day. We didn't get the numbers that I am used to getting at Berryessa, but the quality was awesome.

      Perfect day; sunny, no wind and air temps at 70+.

      Started on the East side of the lake and picked up a 3.2, 5.1 and a 6.4. Next, we headed to the West side and added a few more from 3.5-4.0. Went to my favorite spot up river and got the biggest of the day, a 7.2 slob. We ended the day down in the narrows, but never even got a bite. Marked fish in the 30-40' range, but they weren't pickin up what we were layin down. We ended the day with 12 total, with our best 5 going over 26 lbs.

      The fish are definitely moving up and it appears that quality fish are the first to arrive. We targeted main points from 5-15' and all of our strikes were a very soft pull. Mushy, mushy bite.

      Having fished this lake heavily last spring, I would say that everything is going to be early this year, for sure. If the weather stays warm, Berryessa might be wide open by April 1st.
      City: San Ramon

      Tips: If you want to know what we were throwing, ask Scotty G. I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you after his tournament this next weekend. Good luck Scotty!!

Wednesday, March 5th, 2014

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 58 - 59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Wednesday 3-5-14, we launched out of Holland Riverside Marina and fished inside and outside of Mildred Tract (Island). We tried many different techniques but were successful with only three of them. We ended the day with 19 fish. Eight fish were caught on a 7-in. Senko rigged wacky style, six by drop-shotting a 6-in. RoboWorm and five on a Reaction Innovation Boom-Boom tube. They ranged from 1 lb. to 5 lb. 2 oz. All appeared to be males with the exception of the 5-pounder which looked to be full of eggs. More than half of the fish were caught on ledges in 5 to 10 feet of water near the bank. Others were caught at the same depth but in the flooded trees.
      City: Pinole

      Tips: The males are starting to stage and it won’t be long before the water temperature is over 60º and large females will be following.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 52-55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: It is really a shame that there aren't more reports for Clear Lake. I enjoy posting them (at least for the good trips!), but I enjoy reading them too. We can always learn something - especially on current conditions. Enough of that! Mike Sperbeck and I hit the lake yesterday about 5 pm and had 11 in the Ranger by dark - with three all around 4 1/2 lbs. After dark, the bite got really weird - maybe because some of the 2 to 3 pounders are showing up. Mike lost several quality bass that just wouldn't stay on the hook - and he sets the hook with quality!!! I had the tail of a 6 inch Yamamoto grub bitten off my jig combo 3 times! That just doesn't happen at night in Feb and March. Very strange. And some of the bites were fierce - but nothing there when setting the hook. Some large fish started feeding about 11 pm and I was able to land a nice 7 lb 6 oz and 6 lb 10 oz bass that both hit a black/chartreuse jig. We were trying for our 3rd 30 lb limit in a row, but fell short at slightly over 27 lbs. We did boat 24 bass on our 6 hr trip - plenty of action! We were pretty happy over our 15 best (3 trips) over 92 lbs - great lake!!

      Tips: I just have to comment on the weather. Clear Lake is known for the wind factor, but most don't know that it can get more calm than any other lake. All Sierra foothill lakes have a down-slope night breeze, east to west, for example. Clear Lake doesn't have that pattern, so nights can get so flat that you have no feeling of boat movement at you go from spot to spot. That is really cool during full-moon nights! Last night was one of those nights. All the shoreline lights were reflected as perfect twins on the flat water. Stunning!! As for baits we used - quite simple. Mike used small and giant Sweet Beavers and I used jigs. I tried D&M swim jigs and Berkley havoc baits (usually good baits), but could only get bit on jigs. So, what else is new? Again, 15 to 25 feet - some at 30. I tried deadsticking to no avail - they wanted the bait moving and twitched a bit.

  • Trinity County
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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Is Trinity Center Ramp in the water?

Monday, March 3rd, 2014

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 51=54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I had the pleasure of taking another client from Japan yesterday (Sunday)to Berryessa. He has never caught a bass and very much wanted to catch an "American" bass! We only had about 6 1/2 hrs to fish and my hopes weren't too high after all the fishing pressure from a typical Saturday. I had him fishing a purple, then morning dawn Robo worm. No bites - so I switched him to a green craw Robo and behold - pressure off the guide. He landed his first bass - all of 1 1/2 lbs!! I think he took 20 photos of the "monster!" Very happy man!! I soon netted his second bass - a little larger. At the end of the trip, we stopped at the point where he caught the first one and this time he hooked a good spotted bass - 2 lbs 10 oz. I wish you all could have seen his excitement upon landing that fish! That is when guiding is really cool!!! We wound up with 6 spots and a nice largemouth for a 13 lb limit.

      Tips: We found all our fish on points in the narrows - which I guess had been pounded the previous day. Our bigger bass were all deep in spite of a cloudy, rainy day - mostly 20-30 feet. All his bass on the Robo 6" worm, all mine on brown/orange jigs w/#180 Yamamoto double tail grub. I tried crankbaits some - no takers.

Saturday, March 1st, 2014

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      Water Temp: 51-55

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Overall the bite for the tournament was slow. We caught 5 "CFW cookie cutters" early and then after 10 o clock it died and we only managed 4 12"ers. It took 8 lb for cash and 10.2 lb to win.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: So how was the bite for that tournament today?
      City: Granite Bay

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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Annual Tournament at Camp Far this weekend. Verified 21 Boats confirmed so far. Late sign ups at the entrance. $60 dollars for the team for late sign up. Only 20 Percent chance for rain on Saturday. You will receive a number and for blastoff and it will be a random draw for the first to go out. Should be fun. See you out there.

      Tips: Fish with friends and have fun Saturday.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started today around 10:00am. Fished the North Fork all day and tried to void te wind. Picked one up on a spinner bait off a wind blown bank. Only had that one bite on a spinner bait. Drop shot bite was decent. Landed one and missed a few other bites. Stuck 4 on a yamamoto hulla grub in the creek channels leading into the coves.
      We landed 5 today biggest about 2.5lbs. Whe you find them they are hungry.
      City: Granite Bay

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Nice water temp but struggled with the bite. Managed 4 fish today with the biggest about 2.5 lbs. Suprised reaction did not do good today. lake is very low. Jigs got them for us today.

      Tips: Find the bait and you should pick up a few right now. Points were best for us.

  • Napa County
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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Sorry date was actually February 23rd on previous post.

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      Water Temp: 53-58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I made a quick trip Sat afternoon to look around and meter some new spots. Took one of the last parking spots inside Markley. Yes - the lake is getting pounded! I did fish some, but couldn't land several that I hooked. One a nice 4+ largemouth jumped and spit my drop-shot Robo worm. I did land a 2 1/4 lb spot on a smallie beaver. I spend a lot of time checking the north/east area, which I don't fish much. I did some rippin' and did manage to get a 3 1/2 largemouth to take my Staycee 90 - in 3 feet of water! I lost another rip fish too. Fun afternoon!

      Tips: It is still a big lake - and if and when some of that brush gets flooded again - the future should be bright. The best structures I found were long flats in about 10 feet of water that dropped off to 30-40 feet on two or three sides.

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Sunday 2-23 6am to 3pm. Caught four 3lber's on a rip bait and a crankbait first thing around hat Isl. Worked our way towards narrows focusing on main lake points catching only one using dart head and dropshot. Once past the narrows, the fishing picked up catching 6 more using same technique including 2 jig fish. Fish were related to points and banks that transitioned from mud to rock or little rocks to big rocks. All fish were healthy fat 2.5-3lbs.

      Tips: Caught all fish shallow around 15ft. Colors were cinnamon, oxblood and blue. Jig was brown/purple. Fish were aggressive hitting seconds after the fall. Fun day.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 54-55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Did not get an early start. Went out with Jim for first trip this year after getting some good intel , thanks Scott! Fished only the south mostly Redbud arm. First fish about 9:40 and then 10:20 both near Indian then a big lull third one in the afternoon on rocks at Rattlesnake. Lots of boats set up on key spots not leaving at all. Then back to Redbud in the afternoon, even more boats then. Little after 3 Jim hit 3 about 5 minutes. The slow moving pointer was the key. 8 fish total 7 were Jim's but he did credit me for putting him on the fish. Nothing on Jig, Swimbait, Drop Shot, crank bait or the "stupid" A- rig (there is one more of them on the bottom of the lake though). All fish were on jerk baits and no fish caught over 10' deep. Big fish 4.8 - best 5 went 17+. Beautiful day on the Lake, some wind but not enough to hurt. Water was stained way back and cleaned as you moved up. Saw a few A-Rig fish caught by tourney guys. Thanks Bob at redbud bait shop for the sticker / tips / hospitality, and for Jim's new pointer.

      Tips: Fish seem to be moving up already! Contact Scott before you go and get the latest skinny.....