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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Thursday, August 26th, 2021

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: I finally got a chance to get out on Lake Camanche with my buddies Derik Dalton and Casey Cabral from team Jackson Rancheria. I haven’t been out for a while, but the last time I was out a few weeks ago I caught a 12.12. It was my biggest fish at Camanche so far. There is a picture of that below. That fish came on an island top in 20 feet of water with a dropshot.

      Today we started throwing reaction baits first thing in the morning. Derik caught the first fish, A SMALLMOUTH, on a Bass Union double buzzbait! First smallmouth I’ve seen in a few years!

      I caught a few spots on a popper, and Casey started getting a few on a Ned Bait Big TRD on A Frenzy Baits Nail.

      After the first few hours fishing became very challenging, but we did end up with a trifecta; a smallmouth,a spot, and a largemouth!

      It seems like fishing is better the first few hours in the morning, after that we got one here and there, but no good pattern.

      The surface water temperature was 76°.

      The water clarity was about 8 feet in most areas.

      The South Shore ramp is a little rough, but not as long as a walk as the North Shore ramp.

      Remember the lake is very low and there’s still a few obstructions that are not marked. Be careful!

      And a big shout out to my good buddy Earl Dalton for making the APEX!!

      I Hope this helps!
      Good luck fishing!
      stanL

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: Prefish day 1
      ML – I fished the southern side of the lake and found fish on a decent pattern but it was pretty nasty down there.

      Prefish day 2
      ML - I then went back to my old stomping grounds where I did pretty well a few years ago in a YAB tournament launching mid lake. During prefish I got about a dozen bites and didn’t set the hook on the fish except for the 2 jerkbait fish.

      Competition day 1
      ML - It was really routine, I didn’t get a bite for the first hour and a half. There wasn’t anything happening in the dark. I fished deep since I couldn’t see the shore but no bites. Once the light started coming up I started throwing a frog. Once I started getting bit on a frog, I switched up to a 5.5” glide bait. Once I had my limit, I switched to a 7.5” glide and started culling. Once the glide bait bite stopped, I started flipping around some really huge submerged boulders with adjacent grass. The wind picked up and started pushing more bait into my area and I stayed within a 100-yard zone cycling different baits. Number one bait for really good fish was a Bobby D’s swim jig that I would pitch, bounce and then swim back to the boat.

      Competition day 2
      ML – I started off in one area close to my initial spot on day one. Again, no bites in the early morning. I only got one bite on the frog and missed it. I switched up to the swim jig and a chatterbait. The wind was blowing and it was cooler so the topwater bite wasn’t happening. Went down the bank with both and was flipping the swim jig and was fishing it like a regular jig. The chatterbait was taking care of a lot, I had back to 22 inch plus fish back to back on the chatterbait. They were pulled off the bank a little bit and were deeper. As the sun came up and things began to warm up, the fish moved back up and I started throwing some topwater and caught a few more. 103 inches that day and I didn’t even know it. I never look at the leaderboard while fishing.

      Competition day 3
      ML - I really didn’t know if the fish were going to be there. I beat them up pretty good the prior two days. I was planning on moving on to another spot located on the opposite side of the lake about 2.25 miles away. The shad school that I found on days 1 and 2 reappeared which was a blessing. They came through and I was able to capitalize on the active feeding fish. I chased the school up the bank. I broke my rod on the third fish and had to switch out. I came back and there were a few fish still hanging out feeding on the shad. I went back with the swim jig and went back to flipping, caught 1 more and I left. All the other fish I caught for the rest of the day didn’t help.

      Weekend wrap up
      ML - Leading up to this weekend (outside of the WWBT at McClure where I finished 5th.), my season has been challenging. I had lots of opportunities to do well but just a bunch of different mistakes. With this competition, you can’t afford to make bad decisions or have bad tournaments. Going into this tournament I told myself I was going to fish the conditions, not force anything and Use baits that I have confidence in. Doing well this weekend really took a lot of pressure off my shoulders. I felt like I stuck to my game plan, didn’t get distracted and it paid off

Thursday, July 29th, 2021

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 79.2

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Made it back to fish the moon cycle & found that the bite is still good! Rufino & I fished Monday night thru Wednesday night & averaged 50 fish each night. It was pretty much the same as last time but each night was more lure specific. Monday night was active with jigs & Texas rig, Tuesday night was a torrid blade bite & Wednesday night was Senkos, cranks, & a little of everything else. They seemed to be on rocky structure & with the water being so low, the terrain was a little different than usual. The blade bite worked when we retrieved the blades super slow & the fish just hammered it! All the plastics were fished slowly as well & the Senkos were the 5” wacky rigged. Color seemed to lean towards purple & blue & we were really successful with the color “ junebug”! Our limits averaged in the low to mid 20’s with our biggest being 6 lbs 3 oz with a lot of 5+‘s also being caught. They’re still really strong & full of juice right now & are really fun to catch. We stayed south again hitting rocky points & structure. They were up close to the bank so don’t let shallow water deter you from fishing some areas. The water is pretty clear of slimy weeds for the most part so we were able to throw blades & cranks just about anywhere! We fished from 11pm to daybreak each night & the bite was real steady after moonrise.

      Tips: Fish slowly & once again, if you get bit, stay for awhile as they seem to be schooled up. They are actively feeding & once you find the right target lure, they will nail it! There were a few places that I thought would be great, but we got skunked on those so if there’s no activity, leave for another spot! Be careful as the water is low & pay attention to your depth. Stay safe & have fun out there!

Monday, July 26th, 2021

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: by Jboutfishn » Mon Jul 26, 2021 12:07 pm

      Launched at Sugarloaf, 6:00 am, what a pit. the dock (for what it's worth) is at an angle to the ramp which is Old Hwy 99. Left side of road is deeper that the right, always fun loading. If I did not have an annual pass I would launch at Bridge Bay. Rant over.

      Lost several Sencos to what I perceived to be small fish on the Sac. Tried a shaky head with 7 inch Robo worm. All small. Ran over to the Pit/McCloud area picked up a 2lb 9 oz spot, had another on felt about the same, lost it. Both on green pumpkin Senco.

      11:00 am, getting hot, Headed home.

Monday, July 12th, 2021

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: by Pat » Mon Jul 12, 2021 5:58 am

      I was at Redbud and the Oaks on Tuesday and Wednesday July 6 & 7. Both are usable, but be cautious. I recommend using your trolling motor anytime you are inside the buoys/channel markers. A few weeks ago I tagged a rock coming into Redbud when the wind pushed me to the left a little ways. Stay inside the channel markers, those are the Red and Green buoys. You want the red on your right coming in (Red, Right, Returning) and on your left going out. It was still safe to use your big motor to power onto the trailer. As the picture shows, the algae at the Oaks is BAD, and it stinks. I attribute this to the fairly consistent wind from the NW blowing it in and then it just stays there and continues to grow.. At one point Clearlake Tackle was saying they were going to close after 4th of July, last week they were still open and indicated they are no longer planning to close, at least for the near term.

Friday, July 9th, 2021

    • By

      Report: by jiggin4bass » Fri Jul 09, 2021 6:49 pm

      The docks are out of the water
      They are still releasing water down about 25 feet
      It very low and alot of hazards
      Surface temp 85° today
      Be careful if your planning on fishing there.

Thursday, June 24th, 2021

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 76.8

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Rufino & I fished the last 4 nights & the fishing was very active! We would get on the water at 10 pm & fish all the way until the sun came out. We averaged 50 fish each night with our limits varying from a low of 20 lbs 4 oz to a high of 26 lbs 9 oz. We didn’t get any really big fish, but we caught a plethora of 4 - 5 lber’s with a bunch of 3+ lber’s too! We fished the Konocti Bay Area as we really didn’t have to move very much as the fish were stacked! They were pretty much non selective with technique. We caught them on Texas rigged, blades, cranks, jigs, underspins & even nailed them on senkos! They were in the rocks & docks in the 6 - 15 ft depth range. On Tues night we did some nostalgia fishing throwing 20 year old chartreuse blades, Norman D22’s, Bomber Waterdogs, jigs with Uncle Josh pork, & plastics that we haven’t thrown in years & were nailing them with Rufino pulling in one fish after another with a Bright chartreuse/blue Norman he found floating in the water! Last night, one of the first fish we caught had a large crawdad halfway down its throat that was bright red, so we keyed on those types of baits & really slayed them. Our biggest fish for the trip were a 6lb 7oz caught last night & a 5lb 15oz caught on Sunday night. The lake is very active right now but it’s the lowest I’ve seen for this time of year so if you can make it up here, it should be worth your while!

      Tips: Other than our tues night nostalgia fishing, they seemed to be keying in on red. If you get bit, stay & fan cast as there were multiple hits in each spot we fished. The reaction bite was stellar but we were rolling both the cranks, underspins & blades very slowly. Be vigilant when throwing jigs & plastics as we had a lot of instances where we would cast, engage the bail & a fish would already be swimming away with the bait! We hit the water last night behind the Weds Night shootout & the fishing was still insanely active so they’re on the chew! They may seem to be targeting crawdad’s & baitfish so choose your baits accordingly! Stay safe out there & have fun!

Monday, June 21st, 2021

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: by HappyDogBassFishing » Mon Jun 21, 2021 2:23 pm

      Here is my latest delta fishing report and video. When the conditions call for a more subtle approach, work the topwater baits with a little more finesse. Also try a swim jig instead of a bladed jig. Here are the highlights and patterns that worked for me last week. Hopefully I will have my new motor by the end of the month.

Wednesday, June 16th, 2021

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: Not sure

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Buddy Mike Sperbeck and I fished Clear Lake yesterday afternoon and up to midnight and found the bite to be quite good.
      Not sure how many we caught, around 40 I guess, but the quality was good with bass up to 6 1/2 lbs. No toads.
      The bite was tough around dusk with pretty heavy wind. Actually, the bite was good but they were hard to hook in the wind!!
      That's Clear Lake on a summer evening!!
      We used a variety of craw type baits as they out-produced the worms.
      The bite was on fire around midnight. Glad we didn't leave early!!!

      Larry Hemphill

Sunday, June 13th, 2021

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: Postby HappyDogBassFishing » Sun Jun 13, 2021 1:22 pm

      Had a good bite last week on the bladed jig. Lots of 3 to 4 pound bass, plus one that almost went 8 pounds. I was fishing ledges where the shallow 2-3 foot flat drops off into 8 to 12 feet of water. Top-water action was decent for smaller keeper fish under 3 pounds. Tons of stripers (15 to 19 inch range) and smaller bass were up on the flats. Next week will be a cooker out there...stay hydrated and good luck.

Tuesday, June 8th, 2021

  • Napa County
    • By

      Report: y Fishermans Warehouse Megastore » Tue Jun 08, 2021 1:17 am

      Went to Berryessa this week with my brother Ron. Took my dad's Boston Whaler, Ron put on MinnKota trolling motor and two Cannon electric down riggers. This was our maiden run and everything went great! Ended up catching our limit but it took us until 1 pm to do it! Lost five fish earlier and a couple big ones.

      The Kok fishing at Berryessa is starting to pick up on the main body. Fish are 50 to 68 feet deep.

      If you need some stuff to get started or restock, come on into Fisherman's Warehouse and will get you taken care of.

      Alan Fong
      Sacramento Fisherman's Warehouse

Sunday, May 30th, 2021

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: by StanL » Sun May 30, 2021 4:05 am

      My buddy Casey and I had a chance to get on Camanche for a few hours before all the chaos started.

      We arrived at South Shore about 6:30am and noticed how far down the water level was. This is the first time I’ve had to use the low water ramp in a long time.

      When we put in the water we saw the surface temperature was 74 degrees and the water had a slight stain to it so we started throwing some reaction baits. On my first cast with a topwater popper I got a spot about 2 12 lbs and I told Casey it’s on!!!

      Well after about a hour or so and a few different topwater baits, we never got a another topwater bite .. how does that happen!? So we started throwing some down baits and I settled in on a Bass Union darthead with watermelon candy Trick Worm. Casey caught all his fish on a Ned rig with a green pumpkin big TRD. Both of us were throwing them on 8# Gamma fluorocarbon line.

      We fished on any kind of break that had 15‘ of water on top and deep water next to it. We fished until about 1:00 pm and caught 12 fish.

      if you go to camanche right now be extremely careful! There are a lot of underwater Islands that are not marked and remember to support your local tackle store.

      Hope this helps!
      Good luck fishing.
      StanL

Thursday, May 27th, 2021

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67.8

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We fished Sun, Tues, & Weds nights & fishing has been outstanding! Didn’t go out on Mon due to the wind, but the other nights were on fire! We averaged over 50 fish each night with Sun & Tues limits being a shade over 23 lbs. Weds limit was higher at 31 lbs due to a nice 10 lber. They were concentrated on both docks & rocky structure with many strikes in the 15-20 ft range. We were south & had the best luck with Texas rig, jig, & blades. We rolled the blades really slowly, the Texas rig was most productive with Reaction’s Man Bear Pigs in dirty wizard & Ca 420. They were stacked up in spots with multiple strikes in each location. We’d position the boat in 20-24 ft & fan cast in all directions getting strikes parallel & perpendicular to the boat. We were using Rodstrainer jigs with sweet beaver trailers & anything with red was popular! We caught a bunch of fish in the 3-5 lb range & the action was pretty much non stop!

      Tips: I think that the post spawn bite is in full swing! The fish are aggressive & willing as they were very active! When you get bit, stay in the spot for a bit as we got multiple strikes as they seem to be schooled up! I also think the big fish are just starting to get active, I wish I could stay for a few more days! We caught a lot of fish in successive strikes & the fishing this trip was some of the best. If you get a chance fish this lake soon! Have fun & stay safe out there!

Friday, May 14th, 2021

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: by WB Staff » Fri May 14, 2021 4:20 am

      IMG_0510.jpg

      Donny in Oakley

      Report: Hit the water in the afternoon for some after work action. The wind was howling out of the west and there was a high incoming tide. Started off with reaction baits in the front of the boat and shaking worms in the back. Noticed the water color was getting dirtier as the water came up and the wind continued to blow. Needed to make a move to where there was less water flow and a more protected area, so went into the Central Delta.

      Stuck to reactions baits, but no go. Picked up a flippin' stick and went to work.Water color wasn't any better and what I thought was protected was blown out.

      Moved again to a south facing bank, again hoping for some wind protection. It was a little better. Flipped D-Bombs and threw a dropshot to get a few around the hydrilla. Nothing too big. They came out of 3ft.

      No matter how many years or decades you've spent on the Delta, if you're not in tune, it can be a new lesson every time... or maybe it's just me.

Wednesday, May 12th, 2021

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: by Csuhchris » Wed May 12, 2021 1:10 pm

      Went out this AM! The depth inside the launching area is approximately a foot deep. Using a trolling motor to exit while angled w/o being fully extended will only be possible a few more weeks. Was approximately two feet deep last week. Time to pull out your airboats!

Sunday, May 9th, 2021

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: From Alan Fong at Fisherman's Warehouse Megastore Sacramento. If you want to talk fishing, you know where to go to find him!...

      Finally got out to the Delta on Thursday with Chris, a buddy of mine for years.

      It was blowing very hard so we stayed in Minor Slough but we caught some nice bass on blades and Senkos.

      Most of the bass are post spawn now so I'm finding them in little more current.

      Finally around 11 am I stuck this seven pounder on a Senko.

      Considering a windy day it was pretty good and lots fun fishing with Chris. Used to fish a lot with him until he moved to Oregon. Chris bought a ghost, 2 HDS 12 lives from FW so I took him out to set them up n teach him how they work.

      For those going out this week the bass in the North Delta are post spawn and are moving into current. When the wind blows throw blades in grass on flats and look for areas that are in 2 to 8 feet of water!

      There are also some bass under the mats so throw frogs and then turn around and punch the mats.

      For those of you that don't know Chris. He used to travel and fish the west coast. He is the 2010 WON Bass U.S. Open AAA chamption.

Friday, May 7th, 2021

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Report: This week I was able to head over to New Melones with my buddy Earl Dalton for a day of fun fishing, and I have to say we had a blast!

      When we put the boat in the water, the surface temperature was 65.

      We started off with a variety of topwater baits. I settled in on a Rico popper and Earl went with a walking bait. I am not sure what brand he had on.

      For the first couple hours we played the shade, what I mean by that is we fished-any bank that had a shade line and it and it was on!

      When the sun got higher, we noticed the water was pretty clear. After that we started fishing the back of coves. We caught quite a few with a big TRD green pumpkin Ned rig and a brown 3/8 oz Bass Union jig with a Yamamoto Twin Tail trailer. We stopped by Hook'd tackle store in Ione for more big TRD’s and I’m glad we did. With that being said please support your local tackle stores.
      I hope this helps.
      Good luck fishing!
      stanL

Friday, April 23rd, 2021

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: by BASNFAN » Fri Apr 23, 2021 5:55 pm

      Shasta fishing was crazy this year compared to most years . Between my partner and I, we boated 72 bass and one crappie in the 3 1/2 days. Usually we do that many for both of us in one day. Biggest was pushing 2 lbs. The crappie though was 14 1/2 inches and provided more meet and bigger filets than the bigger bass. We saw a few beds and little bucks swimming around. We kept 14 fish for the freezer and not one with eggs and only two that had red tails. Keitecks at about 3.8 in was a good bait but most fish came on Robos rigged Texas, darter headed, or Neko rigged. My umbrella rig never got a bite, nor did any cranks. It was still a good trip for us. Water temps were up and down but generally between 58 in the AM and 63 or 64 in the PM.

Thursday, April 22nd, 2021

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: by Mitch » Thu Apr 22, 2021 11:30 am

      Launch out of Red Bud and fish the whole Red Bud arm. Much deeper. Wacky Rig Senkos or Niko rig and work the "Scattered" tules and outside docks. The Bass up there like the darker colors. Junebug, Watermelon/red, Greenpumpkin etc.

Wednesday, April 21st, 2021

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: by farmboy9695 » Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:26 pm

      Came up Monday after the big tournament. Launched out of LakePort headed north the last two days. Water is low, caught a couple of bed fish, no real size. Fishing tomorrow and I’m thinking launching out of Lucerne. Any suggestions, I’m not a tournament fisher but would like to catch a few 4 or 5 lbs before heading home.
      I fished drop shot last two days and caught @6 total. About 2.5 lbs
      Any constructive help would be appreciated.