Submit
Report

Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Sunday, February 4th, 2001

  • Santa Clara County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Two of us fished from 11-5. Nice, warm day with water temp up about 2 degrees from the previous week. Landed 7 bass from 1-3 lbs. We fished the shoreline on the far side of the dam. The bass are schooled up and as soon as we started seeing them on the depth finder we got bites. We used small worms in dark colors and small jigs in about 20 feet of water.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Locate the schools and use small dark colored baits that you can fish slow to get them in the boat!

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 47-52+

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Water is cloudy and with the recent warm weather the water temp has risen to over fifty degrees. The bite reflected the weather for this time of year. Best bite was low tide for me. Fish were in all depths. Plastics, jigs, cranks and swimbaits all worked. Slow to fast retrieve with cranks, slow dragging plastics and jigs and the swimbait had to be worked. Dropped a spoon several times right in the middle of schools of stripers and they wouldn't touch it, dropped the swimbait down and they would. Fun day.
      City: Mountain View

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53-55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing a Mid-Cal tournament..From sae light too 3pm...Caught 8 bass rom 12 1/2 ins. too 4.24 lbs..Seven ish came on cali.worms & one on a keeper worm.All 6in worms,darter heads & light carolina rig.Fish came rom 20 too 40 t deep.
      City: Riv.

      Tips: Fish sharp drop os or stay close too the bank & cast into deep water & start shakeing.

  • Mariposa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53-55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: 7 a.m. started ishing main points in the Horse Shoe Bend area. 1st ish on at 7:15 w/a brown & brown pig & pork in 10' o water. Had a limit by 10 a.m..(5 ish) Headed up to the river channel & culled 2 or a 5 ish limit o 7 lbs. 4 ozs. with a 2 lb. 4 oz. big ish. 1/2 o the limit caught on pig & pork & other hal came o o 4 to 5" worms or leeches in a shad type color.
      City: Delhi

      Tips: Jig n pig or shad colored worms, split shot, but which ever you choose ish it slowwww!

  • Palo Pinto County
    • By

      Water Temp: COLD!!!

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Skunked! From my kickboat, lipped the shoreline with jigs & sot plastics (Senko's included); tossed my 9" MS SLammer trout plug around some -- maybe TOO much, given the murky water! (I think the 'Slammer' might be more suited to clearer waters). A couple times when I was lippin', I thought I had something on, but as I pulled through it, I came up empty. Not sure i that was a ish getting o, or snagging a branch or some weeds or whatever. Water was cold and muddy, although the weather was warm & Spring-like. I had igured the string o warm temperatures the past ew days might kick 'em into gear this weekend, but there wasn't much going on. One other tuber said he had caught a couple on Senkos, but nothing to write home about.
      City: San Jose

  • Bayfield County
    • By

      Water Temp: 46

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started at 8am ishing jigs and worms near dam water there was 41 no ish, ran to rec water 47 no ish, 2pm ran to ski cove ished break ta 50t and started catching 1-1.5lb ish on binky bugs and ring worms about 15 ish total.
      City: EUREKA

      Tips: move bait 1" have a cup o coee and move it again.slow slow slow

    • By

      Water Temp: unknown

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Everybody listen the back lake is the best or bass there is three ponds that are excelent but the best one is the last one beore the creek starts and the island pond.The last pond holds REALLY big bass and nobody hardly ishes it so there arly eaisey to catch. The ront lakes is a diicult place to catch bass inless you really know what your doing. this week There planting thunder trout.
      City: p-town

      Tips: blue lip jigs with trailers,any color tube jig. white with chrome blades spinner bait. crawdad crank bait.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 46-50

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: headed or Hirz Bay this am or a change o scenery, in at 915, 41 degrees, lake at 46 degrees and at 57.14 t, 15 knot north wind to keep things cool, a little snow and ice on gilman rd on the way in beore the top o the hill trail, downslope rom there ok, ran up to the mouth o nosoni creek or one at 1.8 in 28t o water on an MGM silver ghost, ribbed and a hooked tail, tried some points downstream rom nosoni and moved to the north bank to get away rom the wind gusts, tossed a bps twin tail jig in pumpkin pepper into a little cut, it bounced once and stopped, nice 3.2 just nailed it, moved urther south to the north end o Dekas Rock and dredged up a dink in 33t, the 3.2 was only in 18 t o water, all hit with authority or a change and that was that. The wind quit around 1pm and the temp soared to 71 degrees, got out a 205 pm. a ew other minor taps around the moore creek campground on the MGM green and blue ghost idget. some riends I talked to a Phils this am reported numerous limits on the small side and some good ish to 6lbs. The new bass winners had 20 plus pounds, third place was 19 and a hal (Ralph Knight?) and his partner.
      City: Redding

Saturday, February 3rd, 2001

  • Santa Clara County
    • By

      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Hit Calero again today w/ fellow NCBF'er David C. Launched at 8:15, fished till 4:30. I hooked 7 and landed 4....two 2.5's, and two small keepers. Dave caught one about 1.5 lbs. I got my 2 bigger fish on a 1/2 oz black jig, and the other 2 on t-rigged zipper grubs. Dave got his on a mojo rigged Senko. Most of our fish today came out of about 12' of water. Mild temps, but a steady breeze the entire day.
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: Fish very slow, and keep moving around to find the more active fish.

    • By

      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Hit Calero again today w/ fellow NCBF'er David C. Launched at 8:15, fished till 4:30. I hooked 7 and landed 4....two 2.5's, and two small keepers. Dave caught one about 1.5 lbs. I got my 2 bigger fish on a 1/2 oz black jig, and the other 2 on t-rigged zipper grubs. Dave got his on a mojo rigged Senko. Most of our fish today came out of about 12' of water. Mild temps, but a steady breeze the entire day.
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: Fish very slow, and keep moving around to find the more active fish.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49-51

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Ladds and went to one of our favorite banks.Partner caught a 19" 3lb 11oz Striper then a 5lb 5oz Bucketmouth within 10 minutes of each other! We then took off and tried a few more spots with no luck!! We decided to go back and fish the same spot where we had been graphing fish and had hooked the first two!I then hooked into what felt to be a good fish,after about 1min+ I lost her close to the boat and all I ended up with was a crankbait stuck with weeds!!I then continued to crank through the area I had lost the fish.After three or four casts I connected again and finally landed a 5lb 0oz Largemouth!! Both LargeMouths we caught were our personal confirmed best!!We took pictures and released two very healthy Fish.We continued fishing for a few hours longer and landed a few more 1.5 to 2.0lb black bass.We decided to call it a day at about 3 o'clock.A VERY GOOD DAY!!!
      City: manteca

      Tips: Crank parallel to the bank with diving crankbaits that have some chartreuse on them!!Try to stay just outside of the weedline but coming through them won't hurt!!

    • By

      Water Temp: 49-50.5

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Ladd's about 10:00 A.M. Motored over to one of our favorite "SECRET" Honeyhole's,then shut her down and deployed the trolling motor.Technical difficulties at first,Then Right off the bat my partner hooks into a nice striper.We got him in the boat checked him out @ 19 inches with a weight of 3lbs 11ozs! Not too bad!The day was looking to be a nice one!As I dressed my wound that I had inflicted upon myself during the "technical difficulties" my partner hooks into another GOOD ONE!!.At first he thought it was another striper,then as it came into view we both saw that it was a nice Bucketmouth!!I grabbed the net and he landed A 5lb 4oz.beauty!We took pictures and released her.His personal confirmed BEST!!Shortly after trying a few different locations we decided to go back and see if we could pull a few more off our "secret spot".Up until now I had been fishless and I wasn't as confident as I had been earlier,but as luck should have it I hooked into a nice one and fought him/her for approx.1min+.It seemed longer but long enough to confirm a good fish on!Then right at the boat she comes unbuttoned.Didn't even see her all I had was a crankbait full of weeds!!I cleaned it off real quick and threw back near the same spot.About three casts later,very close to where I lost the fish I hooked into another one!!As I mentioned the possible need for the net my partner hooks one!!TWO ON!! No sooner did he say "I got one too!!" did it surge and come unbuttoned close to the boat! He then grabbed the net and we landed my Personal confirmed Best of 5lbs 0.ozs.We took pictures then released her!!After a few more nice little ones,A 1lb 10oz & Another slightly smaller, We decided to call it a day!!A VERY GOOD DAY!!!
      City: Manteca

      Tips: Diving Crankbaits with some Chartreuse on it!! Crank Parallel to the bank on the outside of the weed line Fish were caught in less than 10 feet of water!!

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 44'-48'

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out o Red Bud. Weather was nice, but water temp very cold. Hit all the rockpiles and good points I know in the south end, without a ish. Saw one caught on a minnow at Frasier point. Saw another cranked in Bass Alley, and my non boat got a blade ish late. Purty tough when the water is cold. Bluebird day, slight breeze.
      City: San Leandro

      Tips: This nice weather has got to change this bite!!!!!!!!!

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: With the weather projected to be 70 degrees I knew who my ishing partner would be on Saturday. My wie joined me again this week and we both agreed to keep the dog home. Hard to set the hook when you are pulling a 90 lb. Lab into the boat ater she took an unexpected dip or the 5th time!!!We ished 5 o the usual spots (rocky shorelines, airly steep drops, rom 20 to 30 t depths) rom 7:30 to 1:30. We wound up with 15 bass (1 smallie) while split shotting o the bottom. No size today as they all ran rom 1 to 2 lb. Lost at least a dozen others in this time. I have to admit that today I was not #1. My wie landed 8 bass while I had 7. At 1:30 I was urther behind (4 to 8) when we started striper ishing or 1 hour with out any success. We then switched to trout trolling or the next 1.5 hours. At 4 PM I was desperate and hit 2 spots I saved or an emergency. At the irst spot I landed 2 quick bass to make it 6 to 8. I moved to my last spot and at 4:55 I got slammed. I set the hook only to eel a ish being dragged through a bush. Well the bush won! It was now 5 PM and time to go. My better hal keeps the trophy or the day with a inal count in her avor o 8 to 7 (she also caught a Sacramento pike (??) so in reality she beat me by 2.Can

      Tips: Get out o the house, orget the chores and go ishing!!

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Does anyone know when the Golden State Bass club is having its tournament at Folsom this year? It know its in May, but when? I have to make my vacation schedule and need to make sure I get those days o.Thank you
      City: El Dorado Hills

      Tips: Its too cold, ish in the spring or bass

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48-49

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: did something unusual today, went out on a Saturday, Jones Valley not very busy, the New Bass guys were out in orce out o bridge bay, 48 degrees going in, lake at 57.25 and airly clear, some debris starting to show in the lower squaw big enough to cause a ew problems,went over near horse creek point and saw John and Mark in John's Nitro, they were out with the new bass bunch, banged around over there or a bit with only one tap, went back over to ort creek coves or two, John and Mark rode up and stuck two right o the bat, I went to Clickapudi or 5 in my creek bed, bigest was a 1.4, the rest were 13 inchers, at but not much weight, caught them on the MGM #109 & #69 3 inch idget, ran back over to the same area in ort creek, some ellow in my spot so I waited about a 1/2 hour and he let, picked up our more on a big daddy special, all the same size, 13 inches, was about to pull out when Mark and John showed up , Mark stuck a nice 2.2 smallmouth in the Squaw, my ish came rom 21 t to 48 t o water, talked to hal a dozen guys at Jones valley, most reported limits o small ish, one regular pulled me aside and told me about the 5.9 spot he turned back up in the Pit, He wouldn't say where or what he was using, 67 degrees coming out, water lat, no wind, Man do we need some rain. Neighbor came back rom the Smith river with a sad tale, water down to 7.3, river ull o ish but no takers, he said you could see a quarter laying on the bottom in 30 t o water, saw three ish caught irst day, only a couple on Friday and he let. out o the water at 325pm.
      City: Redding

Friday, February 2nd, 2001

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 45 - 47

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Ladd's - spent the morning on the incoming tide up 14 mile slough. Was throwing a Rodstrainer jig with a Yamamoto twin tail grub as well as watermellon Senkos. Got on lots of spotties but didn't find any Blacks up there. On the way back, I stopped at a spot on the main channel I always hit. Popped a beautiful 6 1/2 pnd Blackie on a Senko. Water is still cold. Things are slow.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: If you're pitchin Senkos, use the water movement (tide or current) to move the bait over, around structure. Stay warm and patient.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 42 to 45

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: some days are just too good to be true.but this time it is true!ken ricaldo and i got a late start(12:30pm]our irst spot produce 5 ish up to 6lbs.[not bad or 15min o ishing]we decided to move to another spot, that we thought would hold larger bass' and hold larger bass it did!!! ater catching 4or5 ish in the 4to5lb class the action got red hot!! our largest 5 bass [we caught 24 ish in 4hours]weighed 48.2lbs!!! their weight was 12.7 ,11.6,9.1,8.8,& 6~! theres no question this was a once in a lie time experience ! the only thing that could have made it better,would have been to catch them on lures.all ish were on minnows. lip hooked and released!
      City: kelseyville ca.

      Tips: 8 lb line, #4 hook ished under bobber and in 6-12 t water

Thursday, February 1st, 2001

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I ished Tuesday with a riend o mine and his girlriend, and we all had quite a day. Ater a good breakast at the lodge, we started ishing about 11am, using mostly Weapon jigs and shakin' Magic worms. We thought we would have some warm sun, but instead it clouded up and turn quite cold. In spite o that, we landed 21 bass, and missed another 20 or so. About 10 o them were rom 2 1/2 to 3 3/4 lbs. No big bass were active that we could see. We ished all over the lake, keying on steep banks and o-shore structure. The jigs really produced the biggest ish, with brown/orange being the best color. Most o our ish were caught rom 25 to 45 eet. The hour beore dark was good or quality bass. Only 3 o the ish were dinks. A very nice day, indeed!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: The bass are schooled, so move around until you ind them. With all the cold nights, the ish will be deep. A warm aternoon or two should get the bigger bass moving.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 44 to 47

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished with Keith Clow, and the trip was awesome. I was on the trip to learn some o the lake, and Keith kept putting us on ish. A low pressure system moved in in the early aternoon, and shut down the bite. Boated 11 or 12 ish with a 5 pound average in about 4 hours . We lost count due to the number o times that we had two or three ished hooked up at thae same time! Really makes the wintertime blues disappear.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: We used minnows and octupus hooks. Lip hooked and released all. Believe your guide when he says slow on the hookset!