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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, December 29th, 2013

  • Lake County
    • By

      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
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      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
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      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
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      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
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      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
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      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
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      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

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
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      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
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      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.