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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Thursday, January 16th, 2014

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Shore fished today at Lime Saddle. The reason the ramp is shut down is that the cement ran out on the ramp, dirt at about 6 feet out in the water. First cast a nice 14 1/2 small mouth, super nice golden brown color, best color small mouth I have caught. Managed 3 more spots, all typical 13-14 inch size. Caught all on roboworms on a texas rig. Let at 8:45, it was getting hot!!
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Anyone with a boat looking for a fish partner, let me know and lets catch some bass. Email me at Jewelweaver@earthlink.net I'm available most of the time.

Sunday, January 12th, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48.4 to 48.9

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: My brother and I fished the Hook Tournament. Bite was slow, but good. First we went to an area that we had not tried in awhile. He got a 3.50# about 9:15 on a craw Timber Tiger. Bite was dead so we moved to an area near Franks about 11:45 and at 12:00 I got a 10.84# (PB) on a craw 1/4 oz SpeedTrap, it hit HARD. At 12:15 I got a 5# on the SpeedTrap. About 12:30 I got an 12+" on the speedTrap. Those were the only bites.

      Tips: Try different baits, colors and speeds until you find one. I was thinking that shad colors would work best, but for us it was the craw colors.
      Good luck

Saturday, January 11th, 2014

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: On the water around 8am, off around 12:15. Slow day till the end. We found grass that we had success at during the summer. Grass on points in about 12-20 feet of water. Brief and light rain that lasted about 20 min. seemed to turn on the bite. All of our four fish were caught in that 20 min. window of rain. All were caught by way of dropshot.
      City: Santa Rosa

Sunday, January 5th, 2014

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Asked the guy at the boat inspection how the bite has been, he replied " I'm not even gonna lie to you guys, it's been tough". And he wasn't kidding. Launched at 7am and back by noon. Tried jerk bait, kastmasters, 1 1\2 oz spoons, jigs, drop shot, Carolina rig, crank bait, fluke, buddy even tried his fly rod, nothing. 3 people on the boat fished from the dock to the damn with not even a sniff from a fish. Talked with a guy at the ramp on a float tube who said he got a couple, I'm a assuming trout, he had three rods 2 rigged mice tails and one with a rooster tail. Got home in time for the niner game so the day wasn't completely lost.

      Tips: Cold, sunny, no wind. Wasn't able to graph any fish, saw a bunch 80 ft and below and I'm assuming they were not down there eating.

Wednesday, January 1st, 2014

  • Mariposa County
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      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Lake is exstreamly low with the old railrod trussel towers rising forty feet out of the water just south of Barretts Cove Marina. There is no river so dont be shocked when you run up there; this lake is at about 20% and the lowest I have ever seen and I have fished it for thirty years.
      Caught about a dozen on drop shot and small spinner baits but no size, biggest being about 2 lbs. Best five may have been 8 lbs.
      Nothing in Cottonwood or Temperance and Portuguese cove is dried up so we went to main lake points and fished them out until we got bit. Find a bait ball and get a idea of the baits depth than drop shot while you very your hook position from six inches off the botton all the way to six feet or more off the bottom until they eat it.

      Tips: The bigger fish have to eat at some point, I think they are doing that at night and until the early morning hours so if you are going throw a big fish bait i would do it for the first couple of hours. It has taken less then ten pounds to win the last few events up there and one cast could match that with a swim bait, jig or spook.

Monday, December 30th, 2013

Sunday, December 29th, 2013

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 46

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished south end from daylight til dark. Swimbaits, arig, crank, jig, ripbait, and minnows. Covered all depths. Got six bites between 5pm and 6pm. Boated 4, biggest 3.5lbs with minnows. Long day and drive.

      Tips: My guess is the bite is early then late. You have to know were there at. We marked very few fish throughout the day. Weather needs to change

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Sunday with Leo,ABA tournament. Launched about 7:15 am, cold and water down 192 feet!! Bite was fair, we managed 5 fish for the tournament, but actually got somewhere between 12-15 fish, culled all the smaller ones. We ended up with 5 fish just under 7 pounds, one nice 2 1/2 pound, another 2 pounds, another a fraction under 2 pounds with the others right in the 1 to 1 1/2 pounds. We finished mid pack, with the large fish of the day 4.10 pounds. Best spot I have ever seen before. Winner of the event was 10.5 pounds or so, can't remember exact weight. Fish are deep, 30ft to 60ft where we got most fish, with our last fish the big one in 25ft of water near the docks while waiting to come in to weigh fish. Great trip Leo, thanks.
      City: Magalia

Monday, December 23rd, 2013

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 44-48

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Weather: clear warm almost 70 yesterday
      Lake Level: .66 or 7 ft low\Best Depths: shallow in the afternoons
      ive had reports of several limits 27-31 pounds a rigs ,cranking , ripbaits , jigs all working and minnows
      Big Bass: shallow in the afternoons12/14/2013 - 10.35
      george hill on a A rig
      Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

      Tips: if you can find em you can load the boat

Sunday, December 22nd, 2013

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: PB and first swimbait fish 7.71lbs. After 10 mins of fishing, at 430pm light rain. Slow steady 8" hudd rainbow. Gary Sabagaen hooked me on swimbaits! Swimbaits forever!!!! So I say...
      City: alameda

Thursday, December 19th, 2013

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 47

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: No reports here lately. Guessing they would be like my report. Nothing!! Zilch!! Even the stripers have left Old River south. LMB have total lockjaw. Tried drop-shot, worms, lizards, crankbaits, lures, swim baits, punching, jigs. Tried lights colors, dark colors, fast, slow, 5 to 20' deep. Tried Old River, Italian Slough, Old River north, Mildred IS inside and outside, N. Victoria, S. Victoria, high tide, low tide.

      Tips: Try my philosophy. "Bring a good lunch" and maybe a newspaper or Bassin magazine. Find a quite out of the wind spot and relax. Time to enjoy the scenery instead of just looking down at the water.

    • By

      Water Temp: 47

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: No reports here lately. Guessing they would be like my report. Nothing!! Zilch!! Even the stripers have left Old River south. LMB have total lockjaw. Tried drop-shot, worms, lizards, crankbaits, lures, swim baits, punching, jigs. Tried lights colors, dark colors, fast, slow, 5 to 20' deep. Tried Old River, Italian Slough, Old River north, Mildred IS inside and outside, N. Victoria, S. Victoria, high tide, low tide.

      Tips: Try my philosophy. "Bring a good lunch" and maybe a newspaper or Bassin magazine. Find a quite out of the wind spot and relax. Time to enjoy the scenery instead of just looking down at the water.

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 46-50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: A brief report for a brief trip! A friend and I fished from 5 to 9:30 pm Tues evening, mostly in the south end. I hit the jackpot with the only bite we got. It was a GOOD bite - weighing in at 8.00 lbs. Gorgeous bass!! That makes up for the bass I caught a few years ago in a night tourney that went 5.99 lbs! Imagine - they wouldn't round it off to 6 lbs - LOL!!!! Water was dead flat calm with a full moon that was too bright. Moon is straight up in the winter - very few shadows except under docks. My fish took a black/chartreuse jig w/black/green sparkle Yamamoto 6" grub. I think about 20 feet deep - good hit too! Why was that the only one??

      Tips: Glad we went last night - wind is blowing tonight! I used Berkley baits and swim jigs also - nada! My friend fished jigs the whole time - nada!

Tuesday, December 17th, 2013

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Jeff and I launched at the spillway about 8am. Ramp is down to one lane now due to low water levels. We owned the lake, only one other boat launched and only saw 2 boats while fishing. We managed 6-7 spots, they seem to be getting bigger. one nice fat 16 1/2" a couple 15 to 15 1/2" a couple 14 1/2" and a little 13" dink. We fished 35 to 50ft, with most coming from about 40ft or so. Drop shot roboworms and work them slow as can be. Jeff lost one huge hog right at the boat, had to be over 3 pounds, maybe even 3.5 pounds. Me I lost a nice one half way up that felt like it had a lot of weight to it, just never saw it.
      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 Lets go get a good bag of fish.

Monday, December 16th, 2013

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 45-48

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Weather: clear warmer to 60s daytime
      Lake Level: low need rain bad\Best Depths: 3-30
      crankbaits are still king . i had a guy tell me he had a 28 pound limit on a a rig so that bite has started
      Big Bass: 3-30
      brendan sapp showed me some photos of several in the 8-9 pound class in the last two weeks
      Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

      Tips: crankbaits, a rigs or go minnow fishing. not much fishing pressure but the fish are biting!!

Sunday, December 15th, 2013

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: This report is for the last couple of weeks. Since my last report the weather has bee quite chilly and the water temperature has dropped to 52 degrees. As well as I know the lake and seeing the buoys that mean shallow water "look out" I still ran aground and I want to thank Larry and Gordon for taking the time to help me out. Fortunately I didn't damage my boat because I was going very slow at the time. Art and I started out at Big Island and had no luck until we got to the tubes where Art hit his first fish but lost it and I hit my first fish and not only lost it but he took my lure and line and jumped out of the water and winked at me! We started to head in fishing the points along the way and I hit a smallmouth bass weighing in at 3# (see photo). The weeks prior we caught some nice trout to over 3# and bass to 4# (see photos). 'til next time.....................................................good fishing!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share please email me at
      bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333 .
      Wishing everyone a "Happy Holiday Season" and a very "Happy New Year".
      City: San Francisco

      Tips: feathers working well for me on any crank bait fish worms very slow

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at 7 am with a buddy of mine that had never bass fished before. First ten minutes he hooked a 4 lb large mouth on a drop shot robo worm mm. It was on a steep rock bank, he cast on the opposite of the boat from the wall in 40 ft. Another 30 ft down the bank I switched from my 1/2 oz jig to drop shot shad shape worm in salt and pepper, hooked a 3.5 lb smallie. Went up and down that bank for a while longer with no luck. Moved to a deeper rock bank, tried spooning and drop shot. Caught someone's lost spinning rod with my spoon 60 ft down. Caight 2.5 lb large mouth on shad shape worm 50 ft down, released right away because his stomach was puffing up. Worked the area a while longer than moved to a cove by the damn. Found shad and bass feeding on them but could not get them to bite drop shot, fluke, jerkbait, jig, Carolina rig. Went back to our first spot and got a small smallie. Called it a day at noon.

      Tips: Last year at this time I got on a spoon and jig bite but so far nothing this year. It has been sunny, calm and cold so drop shot is the way to go. There was also a swimbait tournament going on, don't know if any giants were caught.

Saturday, December 14th, 2013

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: No fishing lately, everyone thinks it's too cold to be on the lake!!!! Not really, just cool and after a couple hours and it's fine.

      WATER LEVEL is slowing the drop a bit. The lake is down to 187 feet below full pool. The drop seems to be slowing way down now that they slowed water release a tad. Should improve the bite some, but have not tested it out for a while.
      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. Lets catch some big spots.

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

  • Riverside County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished three days last week and could not find a steady bite, started shallow with swimbaits, jigs and reaction baits with a few fish on jigs up to 3 lbs. Moved out to deeper water and caught a few on drop shot but nothing worth bragging about. I think it should get better after this cold front passes.

      Tips: I did get bit on the Nu Tech jigs I was trying out; 1/2oz Brn/black with Yamomoto twin tail trailer got me several fish. Drop shot in 25' got me a few bites also but mostly 1 to 2 lbs.
      Had to fish em slow!!!

Monday, December 9th, 2013

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 45 ish

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Weather: cold
      Lake Level: .6 above rumsey\Best Depths: there is always some fish shallow
      water temps dropped but the wind hasnt been as bad
      crankbaits and a rigs, minnow bite will be the best bet for a while
      Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

      Tips: i took some minnows out in my kayak on friday and fished two hours in 8ft of water and had a 7,a 5 and a couple 3-4 pounders