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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Monday, March 11th, 2013

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 53 -59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Please see Bill Talley's report below concerning the Reapers tournament.

      Monday, 3/11/13. Starting at 9:00 AM, my buddy and I fished the West side near the big island with no success. The water temperature on this side was 53 – 55º and was very clear with visibility to 10 ft. Around 1:00, we moved to the East side and found a few fish at 5 to 15 ft mostly on points. The water here was warmer at 55 - 59° and was stained with visibility to only 3ft. By 5:00, the two of us had fished hard to catch a nice bag of 11 fish. Our best 5 weighed 13 lbs 2 oz. The two largest were small mouth bass at just over 3 lbs each. The others were a mixture of SMB, LMB and spots. All were caught drop-shotting 4½ inch Roboworms. A jerk bait, crank bait, Senko and jig were tried with no success.
      City: Pinole

      Tips: Look for warmer water which in the spring is usually along south facing shoreline. Stained water also warms up faster than clear water.

      As Bill Talley says in the Report below, the Reaper Tournament is really a Fun Family Team Tournament. This is the only tournament that my buddy and I fish. We have been fishing it for years and really enjoy ourselves. It has become our annual tradition. I also have another fishing buddy who's son comes up from LA every year to fish with his dad.

    • By

      Water Temp: 54-57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught about 8 fish total with a friend. 20-30feet of water submerged rock piles. All of them on drop shot. We used wtrmln color worms. One about 3lbs the rest under 2. Didn't have any reaction bites and no shallow fish.

Sunday, March 10th, 2013

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 53-56

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished with my buddy "Worm" on Friday and Sunday. We fished out of Russo's on Friday and mainly fished around Franks Tract. We didn't start getting them until we fished the lee side of the tullies - Dark colored Senkos did the trick, nothing big but lots of fish in the 2-2.5lb range. Today we fished out of Lauritezens and fished Sherman and Big Break for stripers and Black Bass. Worm was getting bit consistently junk fishing - I couldn't get bit on a dark Senko, then I switched to Chartrues and White and got 3 nice fish in 10 minutes (biggest 4.5lbs). We also had some striper action. The afternoon weather was beautiful!
      City: Concord

      Tips: Get out there and fish! the water is warming up and the fish are getting active!

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 50-51

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Wow! I listening to my own seminar for the Future Pro Tour at Clear Lake Bait & Tackle yesterday afternoon! After that Mike Sperbeck and I launched my Z521 and headed out into the ocean!!! About an hour later, at sunset, I fought a big bass in the howling wind and surf for nearly 3 minutes and Mike finally was able to net my second 9 pounder in 3 weeks - this one barely over 9 by 1 ounce. We didn't know where she was half the time in the rough water!! About 10 minutes later - a 5 1/4 pounder. Both were caught on the "Hemphill Special" - a brown/orange jig w/Yamamoto twin-tail #180 5" grub. Another great trip I thought - not so!! We left about 11 pm with 10 bites (that we could feel in the wind) but 5 bass for nearly 32 lbs. I don't think we have ever worked so hard for so few fish - I was dizzy trying to keep the boat in some position to fish. Some of you bay and ocean fishermen know what I am talking about!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: My real point in this report is to thank Vince and the FPT folks for letting me give a literal "warm-up" seminar to the participants. The other speaker and I were trying to give proper tips that the anglers could use during a major cold-front. I hope some of them helped, I hear the lake calmed down some about 3 am. I hope so. Very nice group of folks! On our trip, we threw Berkley Havoc baits and Netbait Mad Pacas. I did have another good hit with a D&M Piranha swim jig, but couldn't connect this time. Bass seemed to be at the same depths as last time - 15 to 25 feet. Why do I feel seasick today???

  • Butte County
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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Shore fished Lime Saddle from 8am to 10:30am, fished roboworms Texas style. Fish are waking up from winter. Got 19 spots, 1 15", 1 16", the rest 13-14" One was a small mouth, 13 1/2". Great fishing from shore, boat fishing should be better. Anyone needing a fish partner, let me know. Available most times.
      City: Magalia

Saturday, March 9th, 2013

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      Water Temp: 51

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: My buddy Pat D and I got to the launch and NO dock as it was still in parking lot. Wind was killer and never layed down but they still ate crankbaits. Water down and muddy but rock banks and points produced our best 5 at 17 lbs.
      City: Wheatland

      Tips: Medium to deep cranks, red tiger with black was the key all day. Nothing on plastic or jigs. Gonna get better!

  • Yuba County
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      Water Temp: 46-49

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished a local club tournament March 9th and 10th at Bullards Bar. First time ever on this lake and it was not disappointing! Caught several fish in the 1-2lb range on tubes and darter head roboworms. 1st place day 1 weighed 31.72lbs!! From the dock talk, I understand they caught them all on swimbaits, most likely the Huddleston blue trout, but I'm not sure. Big fish for the weekend was a 7.75lb monster. Fishing was slow for most everyone, lot of big fish caught, just not a lot of limits weighed in.
      City: Susanville

      Tips: Best bet is to chuck a big swimbait and hope for a big bite. If you don't do that, darter head an Aaron's majic around deep rock shelfs and redbanks with stumps. you'll find fish, just gotta cover a lot of water. Good Luck

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched outta Tracy and stayed south all day jumping around coney and widows. We got three small fish all day throwing the norm, jigs,sencos,spinnerbaits,dropshots and rattletrap, biggest of the small fish came off the blades.
      City: Modesto

      Tips: Dont go south those fish aint there! lol

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 56 to 58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished again from ~10:30 to ~5:00 and only hooked 1 largemouth which I didn’t land and miss another. Water seemed a little murkier overall and colder with the cold front that came through last week! Tried about everything to entice them so it was a hard day but still fun fishing!!!!
      City: HEALDSBURG

      Tips: Hard fishing so enjoy the outing!!!

Friday, March 8th, 2013

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 49-52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: spent the weekend at shasta on the sac arm..first time I have ever launched there and fished on the sac arm, thanks to kfallsfish thats where I went and Im glad I did. Normally I fish the Pit arm but it seemed that the size of fish was a little better up the sac. I used many baits but caught all but one fish on a 3/8 football head jig with spider grub in green pumpkin. Had a couple hits in the morning on a swimbait but didnt hook up. The fish were average 20 to 30ft down and the bites were very hard to feel, many times I felt them spit the bait out or just felt weight and would hook them for just a few seconds before they got off. Still landed a bunch of fish and the weather was beautiful, biggest fish was just over 2lbs but I got several of them that size, most fish were just over 1lb, cant wait to get back.
      City: Medford

      Tips: spider grub and fish sloooooow

Thursday, March 7th, 2013

  • Ventura County
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      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The first wave of bass have moved into shallow water and are set to spawn at Lake Casitas in Ventura California. With the full moon approaching on February 23 the bass at Lake Casitas have decided to make the move to shallow water and get set for the official beginning of the spring spawning season. We have been fishing 2-12 feet of water and concentrating on a drop shot and Senko. The water temperature is 60° and that seems to be enough to set off the first set of spawners off at Lake Casitas. This is 100% lure fishing. As most of you know this is absolutely the best time of the year to come and fish Lake Casitas if you're interested in catching a trophy bass. It is my belief that the first set of spawning bass always produce some of the largest fish of the season. This is all about quality not quantity. If you're interested in catching one of the largest fish of your lifetime this is the time to come the Lake Casitas in Southern California. We are starting every morning at 7am. I have half day trips that fish from 7am till 11am. I also have another half day trip that begins at 12 noon and fishes until 4pm in the afternoon. Once again we have all of your rods, reels, and tackle ready when you arrive. Just come as you are and we take care of all the rest. Lake Casitas is a wonderful place for a fishing charter as it is close to the Los Angeles area and is absolutely beautiful at this time of year. We have virtually perfect weather and little to no wind all throughout the spring season. You can also book a full-day eight hour Lake Casitas fishing guide trip with me and those start at 7am and return to the dock at 3pm. There is always bottled water, ice, and packaged snacks on board on all fishing trips. About the only thing that you need to bring is a big smile and a warm jacket. Of course we are open seven days a week and my new 21 foot Phoenix bass boat will be waiting at the dock when you arrive. For those of you that would like to have breakfast before you go out on your fishing guide trip at Lake Casitas, the Marina Café is open for breakfast at 6am. If you have any questions you can go to www.RichTauberFishing.com Of course you can always call me or text me on my cell phone at (818) 439-1154. Like I said this is a wonderful time to book a guided bass fishing trip at Lake Casitas.
      City: Camarillo

      Tips: Well here we go it's officially spring time. This is what it's all about. This is really what the sport was built on. The ability to go out and fish your bait in shallow water throughout the entire day and generate strikes on a variety of baits. The weather is absolutely fantastic at Lake Casitas, and the bass are up and accessible to almost all anglers. It's that time of year were having an expensive bass boat, or expensive set of depth finders is not a necessity. And with that being said without question the most popular fishing technique used at Lake Casitas during this time of year is the drop shot technique. As one of my guide clients told me at Lake Casitas the other day, it's really the equivalent of the Texas rigged plastic worm for the Western United States. Since most all of you that read my column all utilize the drop shot technique I thought I would give you a quick spring tune up with some pros pointers to help you this spring get the full potential out of your drop shot fishing. Let's start with the drop shot rod. My recommendation is a 6' 10" drop shot specific spinning rod. What I mean by this is choosing a spinning rod that is specific to the technique. Most all companies now make drop shot specific fishing rods. The reason that this is important is the tip on a drop shot rod is basically what we would call almost a triple fast taper. Meaning that the but section of the rod and midsection of the rod are fairly parabolic, yet the tip of the drop shot rod is very soft, much softer than any traditional spinning rod on the market. That's super soft tip is very important in the drop shot technique. Next you want a quality spinning reel and of course my personal choice is any of the top of the line Daiwa spinning reels in the 2500 size. When it comes to fishing line there are two ways to go. My personal choice is the smallest diameter braided line that you can find, and use that as your main line on your drop shot rig. My personal choice is Daiwa Samurai Braid. I feel it is without question the finest braided fishing line and you could ever use for this specific technique. I like the Samurai braid in 15 pound test line and I purchased it in the green color. This 15 pound braided line has the diameter of 2.5 pound test line. This braided line is noticeably thinner softer smoother and more flexible than ordinary braids. The fact that it has the diameter equivalent to 2.5 pound test line allows the braid to cut through the water easily with little to no resistance. It makes it incredibly effective when making a long cast or fishing in deep water. It's thin diameter allows you to have a much more direct feel with your plastic worm when you're fishing a drop shot. If you have not tried this braid I highly recommend it. I of course tie a fluorocarbon leader using a double Uni Knot to connect the braid to my fluorocarbon leader. I most always fish a six or 7 pound test line fluorocarbon leader with my drop shot rig. When you tie your Double Uni Knot you want to try to have your knot resting somewhere between this spinning reel and a very first stripping guide on your spinning reel. What I mean by this is once you have your drop shot weight and hook all rigged up on your line you would like to have your knot resting somewhere between your spinning reel and the very first stripping guide on your fishing rod. This way when you make your first cast the not is not buried in the line on your actual reel. The knot should be resting just outside the real and this will allow for much smoother casting. When I rig the drop shot onto the fluorocarbon leader I of course like to use the Palomar knot, and my hook of choice is a #4 Daiichi drop shot hook. They come in black nickel and in red and I like both colors equally well. I use of 3/16 ounce round Bakudan drop shot weight for almost all the drop shot fishing that I do. One of the most overlooked areas in drop shot fishing is the distance between the weight and the plastic worm. I feel like far too many anglers use way too long a leader with their drop shot rig. I'm a pretty big fan of a very short leader with the drop shot. For much of the year especially in the winter and early spring I like to use about a 5 inch leader between the weight and the hook. Once the summer season begins and vegetation begins to grow I will then switch to a bit longer leader. When it comes to plastic worms I really believe that it's difficult to choose anything other than a Robo Worm for western fishing. I feel like it's far and away the most productive plastic worm for this technique. I know their are parts of the country where other plastic worm's work very well with the drop shot, but on a day in and day out basis I really feel like the Robo Worm is very tough to beat when fishing with this technique. Spend a lot of time trying to find out absolutely the best color plastic worm on the body of water that you are fishing. The right color with the drop shot rig can be absolutely crucial to maximizing your success. Don't be shy, ask other anglers what plastic worm color they believe to be best when you go to the lake. If you hear the same color over and over again focus on that colored plastic worm on that particular body of water. If I had only one fishing rod to take to Lake Casitas during this time of year it would be without question a drop shot rod. I feel it's the most effective fishing technique you can use at Lake Casitas at this time of year. The biggest keys to this technique are fishing your plastic worm slow, keep it on the bottom, and experiment with different retrieves. Once again keep this bait on the bottom, don't play with your reel handle too often, just slowly work your bait with your rod tip and use your reel only to pick up slack line. If you feel anything different, set the hook, never get into a feeling contest, always believe it's of fish. Enjoy this special time of year and I hope this short refresher course on drop shot fishing will help you this spring season. If you would like to give this technique a try first hand you can call me at (818) 439-1154 or email me at the "Contact Rich Tauber" link at the top of the page.

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: 58.7

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Berry is alot like Pedro, just do not get caught up in the outside weather egualing the inside. The fish are moving up. My per. best is from berry. and it will happen , give it time, the water that is, to catch up with the ambient temp.
      City: hughson

      Tips: North on berry, after lunch and drag a c rig with a lizard slow or a jerk type bait , pointer or stasybe in between bites.

  • Merced County
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      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: fish ck 12 at the forebay and threw swim baits and caught one 21 in and threw top water and nothing there still to early for that,
      City: los banos

      Tips: please post,

Wednesday, March 6th, 2013

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 56-58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Splashed the tubes with my bro and immediately stuck a 6 pound fish on a senko. Ended up with 19 pounds all on the same bait. No crank fish. Fished Taylor and got an 18 pound carp on a zipper worm (first for me). Those things fight like hell. Thought it was a huge bass until I saw orange.
      City: Concord

      Tips: Deadstick your senko for a bit on the bottom and lather it up with pro-cure. Most bites were not felt until I picked it up. Texas weightless is the way for me. Fish seem to be grouped up.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished local club tourney fish were pretty scarce only caught 10 fish sat with biggest 13/4lbs only caught 5 fish sunday had that weighted 2.25 combined weight was only 13lbs caught all fish rippin in less than 5 ft.
      City: Susanville

      Tips: tried worms drop shot and dart head I only had 2 bites.

Tuesday, March 5th, 2013

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 53-55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Big Break. I started out exploring the back of the break in the shallows - no fish. Then I started flippn Senko type baits into tullies near deeper moving water and started catching fish. Biggest around 3lb. I caught some jerkbait fish and swimbait fish in shallow moving water. It was a great day, considering the reports of 35mph winds expected. They never came, but I was off the water by 340pm.
      City: concord

      Tips: There were no boats on the water today until 1pm. I had the place to myself. I caught my fish around the cuts in the tullies where the water can move in and out of the Break. Maybe the best tip is fish when nobody else is there!

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 50-52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: 1st time on the lake this season. Went out on Sunday at 6:00pm & on the third cast stuck a 10lb. 11 oz. toad on a jig! I thought this was going to be lights out, but only managed 2 more bites tanking 2 4-5 lb'ers at the boat. Guess I was rusty! My partner caught 3 3-4 lber's to round out the night. Went out on Monday afternoon fishing Jago & managed 3 fish 2-3.5 lbs. Did a little better at night catching 7 between us in the same range. We did not get the quantity of bites I was looking for, but the quality was good. I think the impending storm had something to do with it, plus I didn't move around as much as I usually do. We had just enough bites to keep it interesting. I plan on coming back in a few weeks when the weather is hopefully more stable. It was cold, but the wind wasn't a factor making it bearable. We fished all south behind Buckingham Point, Konocti Bay, & Jago Bay.
      City: Visalia

      Tips: Fish were in the 10 -24 ft range. We managed more bites around rockpiles & fished slowly. Our bites came on jigs, Yamamoto Cut tail worms, Flappin' Hogs, & Brushhogs. Colors were junebug, black with red at night, & wateremelon/red, green pumpkinseed/red at day. The bite was very subtle so we vigilant! The big fish bite was so light, I thought it was a dink ('til I set the hook!)

    • By

      Water Temp: 50-51

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Mike Sperbeck had a trip to remember for awhile and my wasn't too bad either. Problem is - he caught 16 and I caught 7 - and - he caught the biggest at 7 lbs 11 oz! We started out of Red Bud about 4:30 pm, fishing Jones and Jago Bays where Mike picked up a 5 pounder right away and our only 2 small ones. We fished Wheeler Point with some success as the fish got bigger. I think the big reason for our success is that I forgot the black lights! So - we actually had to feel our non-bites!! About 9 pm we got into a bite that was maybe the best in several years for us. Every bass (about 14-15 were from 5 to 7 3/4 lbs. Amazing! Mike had the biggest and my big one was 6 lbs 14 oz. Mike had 2 more 6 1/2's. No toads lost this trip. They were scattered from 5 to nearly 30 feet. The lack of wind let us feel the very soft bites though a few slammed the baits. After a tally of our best 5, we came up with 34 lbs 5 oz. Maybe leave the black lights home from now on??
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We used several plastic baits in black/red and black/blue. The Netbait craws worked well, along with Berkley Havoc baits. I caught my biggest on my D&M Piranha swim jig. I lost another big one on that bait because she hit right under the trolling motor. Hard to hook at that angle. It was another cold night, but managable because of little or no wind. Remember, the summer afternoon/evening wind patterns should hit Clear Lake around the last week of March. How about some rain??

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: It is called absolute bass at folsom and 26#s won

Monday, March 4th, 2013

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 50-55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Weather: clear today, rain tue - thurs!
      Lake Level: we need this rain to fill the lake , and give the lake some color\Best Depths: There are fish in shallow, but deep is still working
      move around till you find em and you can load the boat quick. Arig is still best bet, guys are catching em on jerkbaits , jigs, senkos , swimbaits , rattlebaits
      Big Bass: There are fish in shallow, but deep is still working03/03/2013
      Events: fpt on 9th
      ABA team 10th
      Guide Information: clearlakeoutdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

      Tips: it took over 68 pounds to win the two day tournament