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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, December 6th, 2013

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Friday on a colder glassy pre storm lake. Cold wind started up around noonish left water at 1:00.Started out at 8:00 with partner on water/area I knew from just days before in my boat. I got slowly dialed into his electronics and I promptly caught 2 of 5 fish I was looking at on a ledge in 30 feet on my spoon. I kept us in the area and am sure my partner missed a few being a newbie he did well by not dragging his spoon but keeping up with the ebb and flow by reeling up and starting another drop. He now understands that being as much as a few feet away from the structure ( wood in this case) and he's not going to get bit. We scoured this area a second time with other baits to no avail. As we ambled along I think I caught 2 more spoon fish at the same 30 foot range during the rest of our day. We worked other areas with similar methodology and wound up with zilch. Observed the grebes to be spread out and not on bait except in a few instances during the course of the day. Surgery was changed to Friday so I'll be out again hopefully before I get laid up one last time. We got ¼ inch of rain the day after we fished.

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Wow....Nobody has been out on the water since since March.Well I'm no Rich Tauber bet here was my morning....

      I have been off the water since the first week of August due to health issues with two Major surgeries behind me and one more to go this Monday I finally felt I had enough energy to get the boat hooked up/launched and fish for maybe half a day.

      I got on the water at 8 and with one rod in hand went looking for the spoon bite. I caught a total of 9 fish on my BPS ¾ oz. tungsten spoon. 5 keepers with my best fish being a 4-5 pounder. My fish were on wood structure in 30 feet of water. I talked with another angler at the ramp and he had 3 fish on worms. Funny bite on the spoon. While rip'n it rhythmically up off the bottom I would catch the fish by stopping the spoon a foot off the bottom and let just dangle it in front of their faces and pow! They really got suckered into it cuz that spoon falls so damn fast they really have to want it to get it in their mouths....The smaller fish just inhaled it to their stomach as I deadsticked the branches and roots I was fishing and I had solid hook ups on all of the better fish. It might be that they wanted more of a flutter and that is why I had to stop and wait for them I will hope to find out a little more on this bite on this coming Friday when I will going out on a trip in my buddies boat. It's cold out and its going to be getting really cold in the coming days and weeks. Bitter cold is the best thing for a spoon bite so I hope to stay on fish for the foreseeable future. I am certain that The A-rig and some sort of jig and worm bite is on I just like to put fish in the boat as fast as I can drop my spoon back down and the Casitas fish were quite happy to give me a fun day on the water. If you don't think that the shad are haul'n ass around the lake try to keep up with a school of western grebes as they shove the schools of threadfine down the bank and you'll realize why the fish flip on and off as fast as they do. I was lucky on my first spot as the grebes had apparently been pushing bait around the spot all morning which led me to almost instantaneous hook ups which after my hiatus I was ill prepared for but more than willing to overcome my shocked feeling of (“ I'M BIT “ ) into more of a (“ I knew they'd be home” ) I fished shear walls for the most part but have to say that isolated wood at 30 feet worked out best for me versus the shear wall rocks at the same depth. You can just drive along looking at your meter looking for activity or or just fish spots that give the fish an opportunity at jumping those thread fin ( points and the edges of the cuts in the stone walls) Since I was just out on the water kind of dazed and feeling good about just having a rod in my hand again I just fished and noted the results. Good Luck to all and I hope to start posting my trips again as soon as I recover from my next surgery.

      Rip

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Sunday night & Monday afternoon & evening. The bite was tough for us. We pulled in right before the cold front. The only bites we got were on the jig. We threw just about everything else. Texas rigs, cranks, swimbaits, blades, were all a no go. The wind got progressively worse and so did the bite! We managed a 5.5 & a 3.5 with a few other hits. Broke off one good one in Konocti & that about sums the trip up for us.

      Tips: I think it's hit or miss right now & we missed! The strikes we got were slowly presenting a jig. The bites were very soft! Keep an eye on the weather, I think if you hit it right, thr bite would be good. Also, lost one using Sunline Floro. The stuff doesn't seem to work for me!

Monday, December 2nd, 2013

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: around 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Weather: clear stable calm warm for this time of year
      Lake Level: low we need rain!!!!!!!!!!!!\Best Depths: 2-30 you can still find shallow fish
      guys are still doing good shallow and deep cranking, but you can catch fish on lots of things,swimbaits,jigs etc. minnow guys are doing better now that the weather stablized
      Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

      Tips: alabama rig bite should be there just not many guys talking about it.find the shad and you will find fish.

Sunday, December 1st, 2013

  • Santa Clara County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57-58

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: First time on Calero in 5 years. Beautiful day on the lake. Two other boats when we launched about 9:30. Only about 3-4 boats on the lake most of the day. Very little wind most of the day.
      Wish the fishing was better. Buddy had a pick up on a hula grub in shallow water that was never hooked.
      Both of us had many soft bites, but wouldn't hold on to the drop shot baits we were using in 40-50 feet of water. Most graphed at about 30-35 feet. Buddy ended up landing a solid 13 incher and a crappie. Both on a short robo worm curl tail in Aaron's magic or whatever his color is. Pumpkin brown and green.
      Not sure if it made a difference, but he was using my drop shot rig with 6# and I was using another spinning outfit with 10#.

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Sunday the 1st 7:00am -11am. Two guys who launched ahead of me and immediately started throwing giant swim baits. By the time I got the motor warmed up I could hear them hooting and holaring over something, couldn't see it but I'm sure it was big. Went to my first spot and worked a 1/2 oz brown jig with no luck. Went a further off the bank and drop shot Yamamoto shad shape worm for a small smallie and a small lm. Went to my next spot which was closer to the dam and the water was really clear. Tried spooning 15 -70 ft nothing, drop shot roboworm and shade shape for nothing, jerkbait and jig nothing. Went to the dam and it was like fishing Tahoe, clear water, blue skies, no wind, no fish. Went back toy first spot where water was not as clear and worked the area with drop shot shade shape worm for one smallie and two lg. off the water at 11 to watch some football.

      Tips: If you catch one there is probably more there. A couple more weeks and the spoon and jig bite should pick up. First time using the shade shape worm and It caught all my fish. Always good when you get a new bait that works.

Saturday, November 30th, 2013

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55-56.8

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Beautiful day to go fishing which is exactly what I did. Rolled into Dobbins around 815am and on the water by 8:30am. Currently the low water ramp is being used and when you launch be careful there are rocks on both sides of the ramp. You have to position boat perfectly so you don't mess up your trailer or boat. Anyway, I ran up the river arm because on previous trips we never ran very far. I was not dissapointed, caught two 4 ponders on weighted senko's and a bunch of small fish on both the senko and tube. Nothing on the shaky-head, swim baits,jigs. Altough I didn't fish the jig very much. I even caught a few on a spoon. Caught a lot of fish today just nothing very big but had a great time on the water. Lake is really low so hoping for a lot of rain soon. By the way you are also being instructed by a sign to drive in between the house boats because the cables are visible now with low water. I also had the pleasure of watching the eagles and hawks flying around. Awesome time with Mother Nature. Really quiet out today.

      Tips: Just get out and fish that is all that I can recommend. When you feel lazy and want to sleep in or do other things around the house is probably the best time to just get out of the nice warm bed and go fishing. I am really beginning to like Bullard's. This was only my 4th trip to this beautiful lake.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54-56

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Mike Sperbeck and I hit the lake for awhile late Wed afternoon and for about 3 hrs after dark. A VERY special trip for Mike as all personal best trip are!! How does 11.35 lbs sound? Love that feeling when I can't lift the net into the boat with one hand! I tried to keep up (not really) but was 4 lbs short - my best was 7.25 lbs. We had 3 more between 5 and near 6 lbs for a best 5 of 34 1/4 lbs. First 30+ limit of the year!! We missed a few and landed three others between 3 1/2 and 4 3/4 lbs. We had a somewhat stiff south wind which made boat control quite different. It could have gotten some big fish moving however.

      Tips: Jigs ruled for us - Mike was using his own homemade jig w/Yamamoto grub trailer. I was using one of the Blade Runner jigs - 1/2 oz. Rick Tietz said it was a newer brown/orange color. Not sure if the bass knew that in the dark of the moon! We stayed in the Clearlake arm most of the time. Areas that had steepest dropoffs held the biggest bass.

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Beautiful weather the past few times out but tough going for largemouth and striped bass for me. This lake is not easy this time of year! Difficult to find concentrations of lm and if I think I find them they won't bite the jigs or soft plastics I'm trying to feed them. Bait soaking guys were cleaning 3 5-10# trout late morning but my trout imitations got no striped bass responses.
      City: dublin

      Tips: Please post for us fish-challenged people. The only reason I post, good or bad, is out of respect for all the past fishermen who took the time to do it. Shad all in south end and very shallow at times.

Thursday, November 28th, 2013

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Shore fished at Lime Saddle from about 7am to 9am. Super windy morning, still managed to catch 4 spots. No large fish, all 13-13". Found 2 dead salmon on the backs that must have been 6-8 pounds, big dudes. Lake still coming down, must be over 180 feet down now, or close to 190 feet down. Caught all spots on Texas rigs with brown roboworms.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Anyone with a boat looking for a fish partner?, let me know. I'm available to fish most any time. Lets catch us some spotted bass. Email me at Jewelweaver@earthlink.net

Wednesday, November 27th, 2013

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52-53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Got to Rivers End before seven but entire marina was so thick with hyacinth you could walk across it. Launched out of Tracy Oasis since we've never fished Grant Line Canal before and wanted to try some new water. Ran to the mouth of the canal where it meets Old River and had to stop. Again, hyacinth from bank to bank on Old River. Turned around and fished the incoming tide. Two stripers and one LMB on River2Sea S-Waver another LMB on LC200. Partner got a keeper striper on A-rig. I was going to keep him but ended up releasing him due to being too lazy to clean the fish. Other than that, pretty slow day.
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: Wish I new! Also through shad and craw crank baits from 5-10', 3.5" to 5" AA Shad swim baits (got a few followers) and drop shot with no luck.

    • By

      Water Temp: 53-56

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched B&W 730 AM. Fished the moke & little potato slough. Primarily threw black wadda jig with blue super chunk and brown wadda jig with purple pork, no fish landed. Tossed a drop shot roboworm and senko with no fish landed. Also tossed a red craw crank bait with no hits. Overall, very tough day on the ole delta! Not sure why I couldn't figure it out! Was I fishing slow enough?
      City: Fairfield

      Tips: Fish slow I guess!

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Just got back from my 4 day trip. Saturday was pretty tough with the high winds and big water to deal with. I did manage to catch a couple 5lbers on a crankbait in a craw pattern. Sunday the lake was like glass but the temps dropped big time over night. I decided to go get some minnows and just catch a few fish. The catfish bite out deep in 18 to 30 feet was really good. Caught a 20lber and a few others over 10lbs with a few small bass here and there. Monday was a different story all together. I fished midlake most of the day with crankbaits and swimbaits. Ended up with 29lbs for my best 5. Tuesday morning i stuck a 8.11 on a crankbait then a few 5's on a swimbait. I was off the water by 1pm.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Cover a lot of water, the fish are spread out. Throw your convidence baits and just stick with it. Once you catch one evalualte where that fish was and why it bit. Try to duplicate that.

Tuesday, November 26th, 2013

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55-56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I did a solo 2 1/2 hour late afternoon trip today, looking for the new hangout places since the lake is pretty low now. Launching is still fine. I threw jigs most of the time - casting and dragging. I missed a good bass mid-lake dragging in about 30 feet of water. I ending the trip fishing structure on the lower part of the lake and landed 5 spots up to 2 1/4 lbs. Missed about 3 or 4. Most hits were from 20 to 45 feet. Nothing shallow. Had to have some rock to find the fish.

      Tips: I really didn't try many other techniques since my time was short. I was using brown/orange jigs with Yamamoto grub trailers.

Sunday, November 24th, 2013

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished with my son and a friend in cowboy cove Sunday afternoon. Caught our limit of trout (10) on Chartreuse power bait. 4# test with a 3ft leader was the key.

  • Riverside County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55-58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out to try some new jigs I bought and had pretty good success. Fished main lake points at about 10-15'. Caught six total with biggest being a little over 6.25 and the others from 2.0 to 3.5.
      The jigs I was trying were NuTech Lures Jigs in brown/purple and black/brown with Yamomoto twin tail trailer in watermelon red.

      Tips: Slow retrieve with 30 second pauses on long points that drop into 12-15' and fish from all directions. I was also juicing them up with crawdad sent smelly jelly.

Saturday, November 23rd, 2013

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 51-52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started at usual tule strips on the Moke around the corner from B&W. Threw cranks, spinnerbaits, and senkos....zip. Decided to throw a light Matzuo Kinshou on a spinning rig and a 20" striper hit... fun on the light gear. Nothing along the Moke so moved up to island outside of Sycamore...nothing there cept some duck hunters so we gave them some space. That was it for the rest of the day. Couldn't get anything to join us for breakfast or lunch so off the water by 130pm.
      City: folsom

      Tips: Nada.... would greatly appreciate some tips on what's hittin' now and where. Anyone?

Wednesday, November 20th, 2013

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58 to 60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Shasta is 128' down. Launching is available at Centimudi, Jones Valley, Sugar Loaf and Bridge Bay. Fishing has been GREAT for numbers of fish up to 2 pounds. Dartheading 6" worms in colors from brown to green pumpkin and dropshoting 4" & 6" worms in shad patterns have been the most productive. There have been a FEW better jigs

Monday, November 18th, 2013

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Decided to head up to Clear Lake to do some night fishing on monday. Fished from 5pm to 10pm. Talked to a gentleman who said the bite has been really tough latley. I guess he went out all day monday and didnt get a bite. I spoke with another gentleman that said the same thing. Im assuming the fish are in there fall to winter transition which would explain the tough bite. Well... first cast for me in Jones Bay got a 5.5 lber on a double wide beaver texas rigged with a 3/8 OZ wieght. Next cast same bait another 5.5 lber!I was stoked and thinking the bite was gonna be off the hook! Definatley not!Got two bites the rest of the night on a big swimbait and missed both of them. I guess the first cast curse struck again. The two i did catch were fairly shallow, about 5ft. The other two bites i had on a swimbait were in about 15 ft. Im planning on going back up saturday through tuesday of next week. I heard the wind is going to be really bad for next couple days so im expecting it to be a really tough post frontal bite. Ill post when i get back and let everyone know how it went.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: No real tips for this trip but anyone planning on fishing clear lake this weekend better slow way down!

Sunday, November 17th, 2013

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Ronnie and I fished today, about 1/2 trip main lake, other half beginning of the north fork area. Kind of slow bite today, old age memory, but not sure exactly, 7-8 fish for the day. First fish nice fat 16" on a point, about 30ft water, second fish nearly a clone, same point, just shy of 15", fat and looking good, all other fish 13-14" for the day. The rest of the morning slow, fish here and there, nothing to get excited about. Perfect weather for fishing. Most fish caught on drop shot rigs, and roboworms. Thanks for the great trip Ronnie. Oh, almost forgot, Ronnie got hung up in the rocks, moved to get it clear, got it cleared and with line still in hand got a bite and landed a small, small mouth all by hand, just like the very early days of fishing with hand lines.
      City: Magalia

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