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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Wednesday, January 27th, 2021

  • Amador County
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      Report: by StanL » Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:57 am


      I just got home from 5 days of fishing the Wild West Pro Am at Lake Shasta. and decided to just go have some fun so I headed over to Lake Camanche.

      When I put the boat in the water, I wanted to work on some other techniques besides dragging a Jig or a dropshot so I went for a float and fly, a kick I've been on lately, \Last week Joe sent me some of the new Bass Unions fly’s that he had been working on and told me to give them a try so that was my plan. I hit the water about 9:0 0am and ran into Earl and Casey from the Jackson Rancheria. When I pulled up to talk to them, coincidentally they where already throwing a float and fly, so I told them that’s what I planned on doing also and after about15 minutes of shooting the breeze, we decided to meet up later and share notes.

      I headed to a steep bluff bank to give it a try. I wasn’t there five minutes when Earl called and said he had boat issues and they were going to go home. I told him to put his boat on the trailer and I would pick him and Casey up, so after it’s all said and done here we are all three of us looking at bobbers. I have to say it always surprises me how in the wintertime you can catch them with a jig in 50 feet of water, but also you can catch them with a float and fly in 20 feet of water. So with that being said, the water temp was 53 with about 7 to 10 feet of visibility. We caught 7 fish on the fly. All the fish came on bluff banks. The Bass Union fly’s did the job.

      By the way, I wish I could’ve had a couple of those fish at Shasta ...
      I hope this helps good luck fishing
      StanL

Friday, January 15th, 2021

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went to Berryessa today after having a tough past few days at the mother lode lakes. I caught about 40 fish today on rip baits, jigs, and swimbaits.

      All the fish were in 5-15 feet of water. Biggest 3 were a 6lber on the swaver, 4lber on the rip bait, 4lb spot on the jig, 3lb smallmouth on the rip bait
      Lots of fish in the 2-2.5lb range.

      Tight lines!

      Tips: Have fun!

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48-51

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Comanche was a tougher bite today. Water dropped over 6 feet from last week scattering fish. Fished ledges and tapering points, moved around quite a bit to find the fish that wanted to bite. Early morning the fish we caught came on RockCrawlers on 10-14 ledges near deep water then the bite died, got a few takers yo-yoing traps, then died again. Drop shotting swimbaits and small finesse worms dipped in dye got them biting after 10 AM in deeper water. Nothing of real size, enough keepers to make it fun. Might be a grind for the guys fishing the derby Saturday. Big fish of the day was a 4lb trout caught on an LV-500 in 45ft of water.

      Tips: Move around to find the aggressive fish, lots of birds chasing bait today. Be sure to check the deeper water after 10-11AM. We caught them in 50-60ft on several colors.

Wednesday, January 13th, 2021

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started the day running lake points . First stop me and my buddy fishing 35 ‘ of water he sets the hook on 3 lb largemouth using a Carolina rig . Couple minutes later I hook up a nice spot 2 3/4 lb on a drop shot . Needless to say we duplicated this around lake with great results .

      Tips: Slow down dead stick you’re bait . Also if you can’t see fish on you’r electronics move on .

    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went to my new Melones and fished for 8 hours. Got on the water by 9 and roads were very icy coming in. Not sure why they were icy but I saw two accidents. Tried a lot of patterns and they all didn’t work, jigs deep, jigs shallow, swimbaits, drop shot, Ned, none produced bites.

      Fished a float and fly and let my bait soak for 10 minutes per cast to get bites. Only had a handful of keepers, none of them were big.

      I went on Wednesday the 13th and there were probably 70 boats on the water, mostly bass boats. Couldn’t fish half of my spots and people were less than courteous when I was fishing and rolling up very close to me.

      Not worth it. Berryessa is fishing too good right now to drive that icy road in.

      Tips: Don’t go.

Sunday, January 10th, 2021

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50-51 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the Pit Arm near Jones Valley Marina. Caught about a dozen keepers, nothing over 2lbs. Most fish were caught on the Ned Rig or a 1/2 ounce football head jig with a watermelon with red flake Hula Grub. Marked a lot of fish in the trees with the Humminbird 360 with little success in getting the fish to bite. Overall great time on beautiful Shasta Lake. Side note be careful out there with the lowering lake levels trees are everywhere!!

Thursday, December 31st, 2020

  • Tuolumne County
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      Report: by StanL » Thu Dec 31, 2020 4:51 am

      Last week my buddy Ed Austin and I made trip over to New Melones to get out of the fog.

      When we started fishing we noticed the water was pretty clear with about 10‘ of visibility and the surface temp was at 54*. It looked like the water had been falling so we hit the points first and started getting bit right away!

      Remember, when the water is falling, yhr points are always a good starting spot. There’s an old saying I heard from Rick Clunn..... “falling lakes point’s fish out“. Well it is true and The fish are on points big time. We found them scattered from 20’ to 65‘.

      Ed started with a dropshot with a 4” worm and I used a Bass Union 3/4 oz jig because that’s what I have been using at every reservoir for the past month Shasta, Camanche,and Hogan. It didn’t take long to start catching them, so take your favorite bait, get on some points and don’t be afraid to fish out to 70‘.

      We had such a good time that we decided to go back on Tuesday and had a another awesome day with over 30 fish, but while we where fishing Ed got a text from his son Jason that was fishing at Camanche. Jason was fishing with his son Cole and HOLY MOLY !! It was a picture of a 13.88. Jason had just caught it on a swimbait.

      Congratulations to Jason.Tthat is a fish of a life time for most people! This is my favorite time of year to fish!

      So put on some warm clothes and get out and enjoy some of the best fishing of the year!

      I hope this helps! Good luck fishing!
      stanL

    • By

      Report: Last week my buddy Ed Austin and I made trip over to New Melones to get out of the fog.

      When we started fishing we noticed the water was pretty clear with about 10‘ of visibility and the surface temp was at 54*. It looked like the water had been falling so we hit the points first and started getting bit right away!

      Remember, when the water is falling, yhr points are always a good starting spot. There’s an old saying I heard from Rick Clunn..... “falling lakes point’s fish out“. Well it is true and The fish are on points big time. We found them scattered from 20’ to 65‘.

      Ed started with a dropshot with a 4” worm and I used a Bass Union 3/4 oz jig because that’s what I have been using at every reservoir for the past month Shasta, Camanche,and Hogan. It didn’t take long to start catching them, so take your favorite bait, get on some points and don’t be afraid to fish out to 70‘.

      We had such a good time that we decided to go back on Tuesday and had a another awesome day with over 30 fish, but while we where fishing Ed got a text from his son Jason that was fishing at Camanche. Jason was fishing with his son Cole and HOLY MOLY !! It was a picture of a 13.88. Jason had just caught it on a swimbait.

      Congratulations to Jason.Tthat is a fish of a life time for most people! This is my favorite time of year to fish!

      So put on some warm clothes and get out and enjoy some of the best fishing of the year!

      I hope this helps! Good luck fishing!
      stanL

Monday, December 21st, 2020

  • Amador County
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      Report: by StanL » Mon Dec 21, 2020 3:45 pm

      All the bait seem to be 50’to 60’ deep, but all the fish I’ve been catching is in 30’to 40’ dragging 3/4 oz Football brown BassUnion jig with a Cinnamon black flake Yamamoto Twin Tail Trailer and the bite is definitely better after 11 o’clock - hope this helps StanL

    • By

      Report: by StanL » Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:56 am

      Camanche report is it fishball season?

      Below you will there are some pictures of some spots that have shown up this year at Camanche. I’ve been fishing here since around 1985 and I’ve seen it go from a good smallmouth and largemouth lake to a great spot and largemouth lake, but this is the first year they’ve started looking like BB spot’s.

      I’m not sure what has changed but I hope it continues!

      The bite has been a little different each day, Eastbay Nud has kept the the water level consistent this week and the surface temp has held at 55°. So on cloudy and windy days, you can still catch some reaction fish cranking or ripping an A-rig, but when the sun is out you better be dragging something on the bottom from 20’ to 50‘.

      For me that’s usually a dropshot or a BassUnion jig in 1/2 or 3/4 oz. I keep it pretty simple. I like the brown jigs and I’ll change colors on my trailers. This is where I like to experiment with either a twin tail or craw.

      I would also like to congratulate Kyle and his 9 yr old son Jackson Porter on their win at a Turkey shoot with over 16 lbs on Camanche this past Saturday. This was Jackson’s first tournament, but I’m going to say not his last!

      Merry Christmas and good luck fishing.

      Stan L

Friday, December 11th, 2020

    • By

      Report: by StanL » Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:38 am
      My ol’ buddy Ed Austin and I made a trip over to Hogan for the day. This lake always has a different feel than the other Mother Lode lakes around because of the stripers.

      Ed has been a regular here since the 1970s so whenever I get a chance to fish with Ed I usually learn something and this day was no different.

      When we were there we were seeing a lot of fish on my new Garmin Livescope in the bottom of Creek channels in about 35’ feet of water. I tried everything I could think of and then Ed pulled out a homemade 1/4oz deer hair jig (see the pic below) and started dragging it around. He schooled me on deep stripers. After a while of watching Ed catch stripers we decided to target largemouth.

      We started fishing deep points off the main body we found them in about 40 to50‘. I was using a Bass Union football jig and Ed fished a dropshot with a 6” Weenie worm. We ended up catching 6 largemouth and 5 stripers.

      The surface temperature was 56° and the water had about 6 to 10 visibility. One thing I learn was how line shy the stripers were. Ed used 10# Gamma fluorocarbon which surprised me. The largemouth were released but stripers got invited home for dinner.

      Hope this helps
      StanL

Saturday, December 5th, 2020

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: by StanL » Sat Dec 05, 2020 8:41 pm

      Fishing Report Camanche This Week Dec 5

      This week I had a chance to get out on Camanche with a good friend of mine Earl Dalton. For those of you that don’t know Earl, he is a regular on all the top Pro/Am's on the West Coast and part of the Jackson Rancheria and Casino. I have to give a big shout out to them for all they do for the Mother Lode community. They are always the first to step up when our community needs help.

      So with that being said, We hit the water about 9:00 am. The surface temp was 55* with a slight stain to it. With 345 CFS coming in and 255 CFS going out it made for a good day. In fact that always makes for better fishing.
      We started up river with a 4”worm on a dropshot and statutory grape Flirt Worm on a Frenzy Nail.

      We caught a few fish bouncing around on points and breaks and then moved out to the main lake. We started fishing drop offs from 35 to 50 feet still using the Frenzy Nail setup and also with a 3/4oz brown Bass Union jig on 50# Gamma braid with 14# Gamma Edge fluorocarbon. We started wackin' them pretty good and we ended up catching 14 fish by the end of the day. All the fish where released after pictures.

      I hope this helps.
      StanL

Tuesday, December 1st, 2020

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: by floater » Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:09 am

      We caught over 20 stripers recently by boat. About 1/3 shakers & the rest keepers. Topwater in the mornin and 15 to 25ft when the sun is overhead. Mainly on north side of False River above Franks, False River near Big Break, Santa Clara shoal, and San Andreas shoal on the SJ River. Except for fishing over the shoals, we were always looking for steep sloping shores (bluff walls) with deep water nearby during the day. Unlike bass fishing, stripers are always on the move. Meaning you gotta keep moving to different locations all day. We probably hit 25 spots besides those above. We got most of our bites wherever there was moving current. Hope that helps.

Wednesday, November 25th, 2020

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Report: by Whoopbass » Wed Nov 25, 2020 5:02 am

      I was there on Saturday. There were bait balls all over the lake in the 30-60' range but nothing was feeding on them. Partner and I fished mainly in 15-50' of water with neko rigs and drop shots for around 25 fish with no size to speak of.
      If you can't find active bait balls then the fishing stinks. There's trout feeding on the surface so have a rod ready with your favorite trout lure tied on.
      The water is clear with temps around 55 degrees.

Monday, November 23rd, 2020

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: Fishing Report Camanche This Week Nov 23

      So ..I’ve had a few days on the water this week. The surface temp is 60* and water clarity is between 8’to 10. The fishing has been different every day.

      The first day was cloudy and breezy and my biggest fish came on a Bass Union A-rig in about 5’ of water. We also had 4 fish on a dropshot and 3 fish on the Bass Union 1/2 oz jig. All the fish came in less than 25’ of water on island tops.

      The next day the sun was out so we tried fishing shallow in the morning. My grandson Zach caught a nice trout on the A-rig but we caught 6 bass total all between 35’to 50’ on steep breaks dropshoting 4’’ worms .

      So what I’m trying to say is try and fish the moment, especially this time of year, because each day can be completely different. It is a lesson I need to remind my self once in a while.

      Last week I fished the Wild West Pro/Am championship on Clear Lake and had a great prefish but the first day of the tournament conditions changed. The wind blew and there was off and on rain but I did not fish the moment. Needless to say I did terrible!! Remember to keep an open mind and fish the conditions!I
      Hope this helps.
      Good luck fishing.
      StanL

Saturday, November 21st, 2020

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58-61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started at 10am with the water looking stained. A-rig, S-waver, drop shot and jig were my game plan. Slight breeze kept me moving over the flats in 25 feet of water. Followers on the s waver and short strikes. Caught two on a rig (dinks) The jig seemed to be the ticket. Caught a 3 then a 2 and a few more dinks before the bite died. Tied a spoon on and looked for balls of bait. Dropped down on a few and caught one about 1.5. Tied on a lv 500 and caught 1 more. Off the water by 3pm.

      Tips: I could not get bit on drop shot and both guys I talk to on the water were catching them on drop shot.

Thursday, November 19th, 2020

    • By

      Report: by jiggin4bass » Thu Nov 19, 2020 5:00 pm

      I wouldn't miss fishing Eastman or Hensley lakes right now with this weather the past several days the bass are in 18 to 25 feet of water on both lakes. Don't let the water color at Eastman keep you off. The bass are in 4 or 5 areas on Eastman and 2 or 3 areas on Hensley.

Friday, November 13th, 2020

  • Napa County
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      Report: by Bassdrool » Fri Nov 13, 2020 9:39 am

      I had to get back on Berryessa after the last visit with my dad. This time I went out with Tyler Frey who runs The Frey Experience YouTube channel. We catch a bunch of fish in the 2-3lb range and Tyler connects with a 4.40lb spotted bass that looked like it just ate a trout! Again, almost all the fish including the big spot were caught on the new baits that we will be telling you more about in the future.

      When the weather starts to cool in Northern California, you can run the bank and fish points with a jig or a drop shot and catch a few here and a few there, but if you take the time to run the lake and find the birds and bait, you can have a field day. We have been on a huge school of shad and bass. When they group up, you will catch every species of fish and they are a range of sizes.

Saturday, November 7th, 2020

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: Fishing Camanche This Week Nov 7

      I was able to get out for a 1/2 day this week on Camanche. My good friend Jeff Richards came out from Colorado this week. Jeff and I have been fishing together since the early 80’s so it’s always cool to spend time in the boat with him. During this visit he only had a 1/2 day to fish so we hit the water at day break.

      After seeing the water temperature was 65* and we had about 6’ visibility we started on a main lake point. I could see bait and fish activity immediately on my new Garmin LiveScope in 30 to 40 feet. Jeff grabbed my rod with a 1/2 oz brown Bass Union jig and I grabbed a 1/2 oz spoon and it didn’t take long before we where both hooked up. We started point hopping and by 10:00 am we had 11 fish.

      This was a great improvement over my last few trips. the best bait’s for us was the brown Bass Union jig with a Yamamoto Twin Tail, a spoon and a 4” green pumpkin dropshot worm.

      Finally fall is here !!
      I hope this helps good luck fishing
      StanL

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63.2

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the evenings of Tues - Fri & got to see a wide range of weather! Tues & Weds was mild & calm & the bite was great! They were hitting cranks, blades, jigs & Texas rig. The reaction bite was particularly brisk around rocky structure & I even nailed a 10 lb catfish on a crank! I was throwing larger deep dive cranks & running them very slowly. Limit for Tues was 22 lbs 12 oz, biggest was 5 lbs 10 oz & boated 22 fish. Weds night was even better with a limit of 27 lbs 4 oz, best was 8lbs even & boated 29 fish. Thurs night was short, my buddy Kevin showed up & the wind was terrible. We were on the water for 45 minutes & it was progressively getting worse, so we came in. We caught a great bottle of wine instead! Friday we were able to fish for a few hours before the wind chased us again. We did manage to get into a decent reaction bite but the jig bite fell off. Kevin is new to the sport & nailed a nice 4lb 5 oz on a crank which made the evening worthwhile. Our limit ended up being 17 lbs 13 oz with Kevin’s fish being our largest. I also had a huge catfish nail my spinnerbait! It had to weigh in around 20 lbs as I released it at the side of the boat because I didn’t want it to foul my net. The catfish seem to be particularly active this trip!

      Tips: They seemed to favor deep diver cranks & 3/4 oz blades. We threw shad pattern cranks & black & red blades & ran them very slowly. I think the jig & Texas bite will return once the weather settles. I also think that winter has arrived & the pattern will shift accordingly. I think fishing slowly & using dark colors is the ticket now & moving around a lot when there’s no bites is important! I’ve had a great run of nice calm weather & stellar fishing this season & hope it continues! Have fun & stay safe out there!