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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Thursday, July 5th, 2001

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: watched the ireworks and went to bed at 1130pm but couldn't go to sleep, up at 1230am and got the boat ready and went to Jones Valley, temp 76, water at 78, lake down to 51.5t, the hump at jones valley is out o the water and you should be able to drive onto it in a ew days or more parking, Jones Valley Resort has been moved out as has The Shasta Marina in the O'Brien Inlet. Was expecting olks to be out running around with 60 plus rigs in the upper lot at jones valley but didn't see anyone until 515am, had 18 in the boat, 5 were at 2.8, nothing smaller than 2.4 and the last one came on a spook at 540am, a nice 2.6 smallmouth, never let Jones Valley and never stasrted the big motor, water lat and skys overcast until 215 am when a little north wind came up and blew the clouds away, what a beautiul night and dawn! had one get on that took o or the pit channel and never looked back. was moving through a stumpy area and had the lashlight on the water in ront o me, saw a 4t plus sturgeon get out o the way in a hurry and right on the surace at 330am, got out at 545 am, sure am glad I couldn't sleep,
      City: Redding

      Tips: used up the last o my MGM #109 thinga ma bobs on the irst 5 ish(Mr. Coyle, please make me some more) the rest came on Bass Pro grubs, used 4 dierent colors and the bass didin't seem to care, the spook i use is a junior spook

Wednesday, July 4th, 2001

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 81

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got on the water at first light...could not buy a topwater bite anywhere on the east bank...did pick up a few worm and senko fish to about 2lbs. Finished the day near spanish flats where we picked up a couple more on 4in green weenies and one spook fish. We were off the water around 10:30am when the boat traffic increased...it was getting ugly.
      City: Suisun

      Tips: Fishing was slow. try working deeper points or rock piles.

    • By

      Water Temp: 80

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I had another wonderful trip to Berryessa with three clients on Tues night. Actually, we started about 7:30 pm, but didn't catch our first bass until nearly 9 pm. Talk about hot weather!! But the lake was beautiful after dark with the moon nearly full, but slightly covered with clouds - perfect for night fishing. And the bass knew it! We fish from Spanish Flat to Pope Creek. I really don't know why we didn't boat 35+ bass, but we only landed 24. Getting the bass at Berryessa to stay on the hook at night sometimes is difficult. I know that sounds odd, but it really seems to be true. And it is not because of small fish biting - just like my previous report, we caught some really nice bass - only two below 12 inches. But this time, maybe because of the warmer water, most of our fish were largemouth, the biggest being 3 1/4 lbs. Only one spot was caught, but it was 18 inches - 2lb 5oz. The same client followed that with a 17 inch smallmouth. He was struggling the most during the trip, but did he make up for lost time! We found most of our fish on points and steep banks next to points. Again, the 7 inch black Power Worm was definitely the hot bait. Steep points were the best. It was fascinating for me to see some points full of quality smallmouth two weeks ago, and full of quality largemouth last night. I think we only caught 5 smallies - all over 15 inches. I'm beginning to ask the same question that I do at Clear Lake - where are all the dinks? Though we didn't catch any monsters, the average size had been amazing to me. Our 5 best were about 11 1/2 lbs, which I think is good for early July. We quit at 3:30 am, too happy to be tired.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Just drag your worms if night fishing. I tried shaking them with brass and glass, but got no bites doing that. Don't be afraid to throw right on the bank - SOFTLY!

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Temp: upper 70's

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out expecting a normal hotter than heck o the water by 9:00 kind o day instead ,I ran into a strange cool overcast situation ...Blew down the lake Got a our on the third cast...Had to move imediately because o a novice new commer who drove up within 25 yards and started ishing...iredup the main motor went around him a kept on sluggin away at the end the tally went 14 buzzbait ish to 6lbs...They were still eating the buzzbait at 11:00???It was a blast I split ater 2:00 when the sun inallycame though and out with the sunscreen but to no avail nothing but micro-ish which is to be expected ...I will try to get out on the 21st we'll see
      City: Santa Barbara

      Tips: I used 2 buzzbaits white and chart/white both had the same results

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 70+

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Celebrated 4th of July by fishing with my brother and nephews. Everybody caught fish in the 3 LB+ range with mine going 5 1/2 LBS. The chunk was hooked on a weightless Senko, caught a 2 LBer splitshotting a Zoom Lizard. Great day eventhough it was HOT!!!
      City: San Jose

    • By

      Water Temp: 70+

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Celebrated 4th of July by fishing with my brother and nephews. Everybody caught fish in the 3 LB+ range with mine going 5 1/2 LBS. The chunk was hooked on a weightless Senko, caught a 2 LBer splitshotting a Zoom Lizard. Great day eventhough it was HOT!!!
      City: San Jose

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 80

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: 5:30 am went out o wimpy's with a riend jake rom work and went south,ished points. high tide used spinner baits in red and black. picked up 5 nice ish beore 7;00am. headed over to bw marina into the deep water chanel. ished rocks and windy points. ended up with 10 good ish
      City: rocklin

      Tips: top water , spinnerbaits in dark colors

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished rom 5:30 to 2pm. Partner and I got over 30 ish. Wide open reaction bite. Fished shallow, 2' and less. Windy points had the best concentration o ish including two that went about 4 pounds. Many ish in the 2 - 3 pound range. Frogs, buzz, blades, poppers and senkos got our ish. Stayed in the western delta (Sherman). Partner missed a huge ish on a blade. The ish turned on it but I think she just couldn't get it because she hit right next to the boat as he was pulling the bait rom the water. We both saw her and I'd say she was in the 8+ range. We'll get her in the tournament on Sunday (ingers crossed).
      City: Mountain View

      Tips: Overcast skies and light wind made the ishing very good. Being a Wednesday didn't hurt either. Summer bite means be lexible. Don't get stuck with just one bait, unless its a senko, Har!

    • By

      Water Temp: around 80 deg.

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: With the overcast skies all day I had awesome topwater bite all the way up to 12 noon. Then got o the water beore the holiday madness began. Black buzzbaits and shadd colored Chug Bugs worked or me. Big ish was 3lbs. I was just over 10 lbs. or a 5 ish limit. Some times when the sun broke through the clouds I then started lipp'in a 6" jun./char. Don Ioveno spade tail worm along the shady areas o the docks and along tule banks.
      City: Buckley Cove, Stockton

      Tips: Fish slow and look or shady areas as much as possilbe. I am still inding bass buried in weed beds and calling them up with slow topwater plugs.

    • By

      Water Temp: 77-78

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Got out around 9AM and ished Piper Slough and Taylor Slough. Decided to try Dee's advice in Bass West Magazine and look or shade. There is not a lot o natural shade but when I ound it there were ish there. In the irst hour I had 6 ish ranging 1 - 4 1/2 lbs. All were Senko ish. It slowed around 11AM but still got an occasional ish. Switched to a rog and had a couple o good hits ater I pulled the rog o the edge and into the water - got a couple to the boat. On the way back I switched back to the shade and Senko pattern and picked up a ew more. All told I had 12 ish to 4 1/2 lbs. Best 5 were probably 14-15 lbs - not bad or me.
      City: Fremont

      Tips: Check out Dee's article in this month's Bass West and go with the Senko.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 77

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: had a number o e-mail inquiries the last ew days requesting ino and i won't be going out until the crazies leave tomorrow evening, the lake is just passing the 50t level which means the Bailey Cove ramp o o I-5 at the O'Brien exit is coming out o the water and is unusable, all the others are ok, The MGM products are available at Strictly Fishing at 2451 Athens ave in Redding, (530)241-4665, the Union 76 at the Mountain Gate exit o o I-5, and rom the manuacturer at 5008 Mt. Lakes Blvd, Redding, (530)246-3663, steep rock walls are still good with the darker chunk rock being best, cranking is good very early and the jig and worm bite is best late evening, at night, the jig bite improves along with something noisy on the surace, twin prop type loating lures are a good choice early and late, mid day is a boiler right now with temps passing 102 daily, a cool trend is orecast or the weekend. The speed limit 1/2 hal hour ater sunset to one hal hour beore sunrise is 15mph and keep those running lights on so you don't get mowed down in the dark!
      City: Redding

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 74-76

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the morning bite until noon beore the lake traic hit. We caught 5 on top water baits irst thing in the a.m. Nothing o any size. Ater the sun came up, the bite shut o. First ish came on a buzz bait, then a couple on poppers.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: Try topwaters around weeds and tullys at dawn and dusk.

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2001

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: very warm

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished last night on the warm springs side up in the back. Did really well with senkos. Fished lats with grass. Stayed in the same area whole night. Fish kept moving in throughout the night. Go down the bank one way and turn around and go back the other way. This pattern worked really well or us cause we knew ish were gonna be there. It was just a matter o time. When we started got no bites going one way then turned around and went the other way and the bite was on. As the night wore on the bite became increasingly better especially ater midnight. And the size o the ish increased also as the night wore on. With the weather and the ish cooperating we were deinitely in heaven. Tried topwater and blades and brushogs, but could not really get anything going with them. They just wanted senkos. Biggest ish around 6 or 7lbs. Our ive best close to 25lbs. Caught over thirty ish.
      City: Petaluma

      Tips: 5" senko. Black with red lake and lots o smelly jelly. Throw it into the grass and hang on. I used berkeley ireline with the senko set up and it worked great. Especially or cutting through the grass. This line worked great with black light. Great hooksets with this line and very sensitive. Senkos are the way to go with the grass. Be aware o the pressure bites. Had many o those last night.

Monday, July 2nd, 2001

    • By

      Water Temp: 80

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hey Rob,I am the Ranger at LB. You need to call 1-800-Caltip. Fish and Game will contact me ASAP and I will get on those guys taking small ish. I anyone else has seen problems e-mail me and I will stay on top o things. I am an avid isherman mysel so protecting this resource is more then a job or me. Anyway I got on here to check the ishing, I'm going out tonight. Hope the bight picks back up.
      City: Los Banos

Sunday, July 1st, 2001

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My pal steve and i are out on a 2 week ishing spree and i cant tell you how many ish weve caught. We dont even have a boat! weve been to camanche pardee mclure don pedro and new hogans they were all pretty good ishin but amador took the cake. we caught almost 41 ish altogether in 2 days at amador. weve been using crank baits. I was using a number o varietys o the colors my personal avorites been the typical shad and a darker orange and brown. My buddy steve was using a chartruese broken back. we were using some sumo rogs caught a ew 1-2 lbers. All together biggest ish has been a 10 lber out o pardee 2nd was an 8 pounder out o amador 3rd 4th and 5th largest all out o camanche.
      City: stockton

      Tips: I recomend crank baits shad immitations broken back have BEEN THE BEST caught all the big ones o o a broken back

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Temp: 78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished rom 6:30 to 12:30. Kind o windy, very hot! I only caught 5 ish, but they were all quality. Picked up two 3's and a 5.3 just beore you get to the blus heading towards the narrows. I got a 3.5 on the irst point on the let as you enter the narrows. The last ish was 4 pounds. It was caught on the right hand side o the entrance to Cachuma bay. All the 3-pound class ish were nailed using a Normans crank in baby bass. The bigger ish were caught with Senkos in some (wake) o colored water. My partner got hooped! He had zero luck trying down shot or Jigs. I couldn't get a Buzz bait bite going. Best 5 went or 18+.
      City: Whittier

      Tips: Today was weird. Just keep throwin

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: warm

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Veeery hot on the lake today. Fished from 9 till 2, couldn't last any longer!! Only one fish on the buzzbait today, but it went about 3 1/2 lbs...barely got the trailer hook, mustve been nipping at it. Also got 2 2's on dartheaded worms down deep, and 3 dinks cranking main lake mudlines on a rattle trap. Overall a fun day just too darn hot.
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: Topwater around thick weeds, crank mudlines, worm deep points.

    • By

      Water Temp: warm

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Veeery hot on the lake today. Fished from 9 till 2, couldn't last any longer!! Only one fish on the buzzbait today, but it went about 3 1/2 lbs...barely got the trailer hook, mustve been nipping at it. Also got 2 2's on dartheaded worms down deep, and 3 dinks cranking main lake mudlines on a rattle trap. Overall a fun day just too darn hot.
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: Topwater around thick weeds, crank mudlines, worm deep points.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 72-74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Take a gentleman rom Illinois today, we started o in Fishermans Cut throwing Buzzbaits. spent hal hour there and he nails one with a spinnerbait. I build up and let or the East side o the Delta lookin or mats or rog ish. Found them just south o Terminius and he proceeded to nail 4 quality ish at about 3lb average. I ran about 6 mats that I could ine. With the past weather systems that we have had. The normal mats that we do have are either non-existing or 1/10th the size o normal. Working back towards Big Break we lipped Snoozer's Tubes and his "Aliens". Caught smaller ish. I timed Big Break or the incomin tide and hit it just about right. Fished the inside middle o Big Break (Both Sides) heading southern direction staying out rom the tules throwing Boyce's Spinnerbaits to the ront o the tullies and Bulging them along the top's o the weeds and rippin them to make the blades click and lash. he caught 4 more ish this way in the 1 1/2 to 2lb range. Tried the mats in the break, but the winds broke them up.
      City: Castro Valley

      Tips: It will be awhile beore the mats get going again. I would suggest at high throw a spinnerbait where there is wind blowing bait by a point or i you can ind where the crappie or stacked up on a particular bank. Cranking the ledges didn't seem to work or us at low today, but don't count it out. For you rogger's one think that we did was let the rog sit on the mat or a LONG time beore you move it and then just move it alittle.All or know until next week, Im heading or the RALLY.

    • By

      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Son, John, and I were on water at 8:30 a.m. out o Paradise Point Marina in 16-oot aluminum rental boat. Day was cloudless, hot, with northwest wind to 15 mph. To continue learning the Delta, we ished 3 miles o the south shore o Disappointment Slough. Ater 10:00 a.m., boaters and jet-skiers made it

      Tips: Dee