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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Saturday, October 9th, 1999

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: 71-74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the ABA Northern Team Classic on Don Pedro. The ishing seems to be picking up in certain small locations around the lake. The winning pattern was ishing grubs under schools o baitish. Other high placing patterns included salt and pepper jigs on humps near Flemming at irst light. Some o the bigger bass were taken by another team on TD vibration crankbaits inside mudlines. One team caught some nice ish and inish high using spoons.nice keeper on spoons. Not many teams caught limits andquite a ew are still blanking. We caught one ish carolina rigging a brushhog in the tree tops in Mocassin and alsoone ish splitshotting a Yodo bait. The last ish came splitshotting a 4 inch paddletail worm in ront o the spillway.
      City: Lincoln

      Tips: Keep moving, try cranking in mudlines with loud lashy baits

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing was great on Lake Sonaoma yesterday, but ound out rom DFG the ollowing which did not help at all:Yes, the Caliornia Department o Fish and Game has outlawed the use o polarized sunglasses an the use o sonar equipment ("devices") used on all waters o Sonoma and Mendocino Counties year round and all streams in the South Central District between November 16 and February 28 in the State o Caliornia.The section o the code is located in Chapter 2. code section 2.06 o the current "1999 Caliornia Sport Fishing Regulations"I you do not have a hard copy or the current regulations you can ind the reerence on the Caliornia DFG URL listed below. You will not believe your eyes.http://www.dg.ca.gov/Title/d1_c2_a1.htmlThe section reads as ollows:"2.07. Underwater Viewing Devices.No device capable o being used to view under water may be used on or in any stream in the South Central District rom November 16 through February 28 and at anytime in Sonoma and Mendocino counties or the taking o ish by any one or more persons acting in unison."Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary deines "device" as:"a piece o equipment or mechanism designed to serve a special purpose or perorm a special unction."This means that ANY device used to aid anglers in viewing underwater is regulated. As a result, this section o the code regulates polarized sunglasses and sonar devices (electronic ish inders o all kinds) and any other "device" which can aid and angler to locate or view a ish. In Sonoma and Mendocino Counties this applies to all resh water ishing as well as saltwater ishing.For those who do not understand the English language, the word "and" is used to separate the irst statement rom a totally new one. This means that "all" waters in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties must comply with this regulation (Lake Sonoma and Mendocino lake included). The word "or" was not used. Consequently the rule in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties does not apply to only streams, but to all waters (streams, lakes, waterways, ocean waters oshore, private ponds, etc.). Such a nice rule!!!I called DFG regional headquarters in Yountville (707-944-5500) and ound out that the code does apply as stated and is subject to interpretation by individual enorcing oicers. How nice. This means that i the oicer in question does not like you, you could be cited or wearing and using a sonar device while ishing in Mendocino and Sonoma County waters. I could not believe my ears, so I called Sacramento and talked to the enorcement branch directly (916-653-4899) and ound out: "we do not write the code, we only enorce it." This section o the code applies to "any device" that can be used to view ish underwater. So guys, it is conirmed, we can no longer legally used our polarized sunglasses in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties.Time has already past to get a change on the agenda or this years hearings in Sacrament. Now we must work on making changes over two years rom now.I personally will make a major eort to throw out, or have this section re-written, in order to clariy what the Caliornia Department o Fish and Game is telling us. This is just another example o the oolish Caliornia DFG bureaucracy at work.Please write to Caliornia DFG to request having this section revoked:Write to:
      City: Healdsburg

      Tips: Robert Treanor

Friday, October 8th, 1999

    • By

      Water Temp: 69

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: me and ishin buddy put in wendsday morning tried cranks and spinnerbaits nobites so lipped bushes o steep banks and caught 4lb bass also caught some on mojo rig but big ish went to my buddy bill he caught a 8 lb 3 ounce hog this ish had all girth it was a ootball well maybe next time it will be my turn ish on
      City: watsonville

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 70.8

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Lauched out o Granite Bay at 06:30. Ran to Rattlesnake bar,water a little choppy or our irst area so we moved up the river arm and into a cove. Fish hit spitn' image and then skitter pop. caught 4 ish in about 5 minutes. in same cove ended up with 2 on worms shaking darters. Moved urther up towards 5 mile hour zone graphed ish one blow up on topwater but a small one no takers just about ready to leave and saw shad busting surace in back o cove 3 eet o water quickly moved boat through trees irst cast spitn image hook up 2.5 pound spot, grabbed skitter pop and caught his brother on next cast, that was all or that spot note the time was almost 12:00. most ish were 12-14 inches had 3 ish that were over 2 lbs. size o ish is improving almost daily. One ish also on a smoke grub owner ootball head jig, 15 t o water bouncing on the bottom.
      City: Rocklin

      Tips: Stay with topwater early pray or cloud cover, i cloudy bite cound last all day. Size o shad is getting larger. two weeks ago ish suspended in 12-25 eet o water, now ish are moving up with the shad in the coves. coves loaded with bugs shad eed on the bugs, ish eed on the shad.

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

      Report: Mormon creek area, 10:30am-2:30pm 7 bass (4) 13"+ ish30-50' rocky points access to main lake and coves. Carolina rig baby brush hog and spoons.
      City: modesto

    • By

      Water Temp: about 53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went up to spring lake loat tubn' or a couple hours, and just got a couple hits on cranks and salamanders. So it was pretty slow so I remembered how there used to be so much bluegill in this lake so I tried catcing and only caught about 10 small ones, and i was wandering why the bluegill bite was so slow. Then on my way out i saw some guy with a couple buckets o 2-3" bluegill there must have been 300. Well, I guess that answered my question about where all the the bluegill have gone.!!!!!!!(bluegill soup)!!!!!!!!!
      City: Petaluma

      Tips: Dont keep 2" bluegill!!!!

Thursday, October 7th, 1999

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 66.5

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Lazy M at 6:30AM. Toby and I had several blowups on a buzzbait on a tule island but no hookups. Outgoing tide. Caught one fish 1-1.5#er on the buzzbait by Widdows. Then the trolling motor broke. Off the water by 9AM.
      City: Belmont

Wednesday, October 6th, 1999

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished in 12ft of water. Slow rolled a Black and Red spinnerbait and dragged a junebug baby brushhog on the bottom to get a few, nothing big.
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: There were clouds moving through and switching to darker colors when the sun was behind the clouds seem to help.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: went tubing at brannon island state park....didn't get on the water until 1:oo pm.outgoing tide.picked up 3 keepers on black & red baby brush hog pitching the tules...one about 1 1/2 lb on chartruese bomber and as the sun went down,2 nice ones ( a 3 lber and lost another 2 lb) on topwater-spittn-image. Also kinda played with what I estimate to be a 20lb salmon.......it was just cruisin around the rocks,looked kinda sickly...I was actually able to get up close enough to scratch it a couple times on the back with my rod tip......

Tuesday, October 5th, 1999

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Me and my partner fished the Delta open on 10-3-99 Prefished the week before and caught 6 fish for 14 pounds allthough it was tough. I thought I had a pattern of catching fish on the outside of weedlines on flukes and blades. Boy did it change. We managed to catch 4 fish for maybe 5 1/2 pounds. We were embarrassed and did not want to weigh in. I am kind of curious to know the results, where can I find them? I have been fishing the delta for 6 weekends in a row and it changes almost everytime!!! how can you pattern anything in the delta?
      City: Modesto

      Tips: Dont be afraid to change techiniques and presentations or change locations I guess?

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: NA

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: ished at cull canyon and caught our bass in about an hour o o reaction baits. Auctually caught some ish without getting in the thick stu. ish were small all under 12 inches
      City: CASTROVALLEY

    • By

      Water Temp: 80's

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Well I heard tell that a Risto-rap in the hot mustard color was working or a couple o guys, I threw a Poe's deep diver in yellow tiger strips with no luck, I also threw the at-ree shad in wht/chrt, with no luck. I caught ish irst thing in the am on a Super Pop-R. Several olks used the craw-dad Bomber, I tried with no luck. I did however lip a ew ish with a Witchs-T Zipper. We also caught our best ish on the Ivano orange/brown worm split shot-ed or tooth picked, look or 20 eet o water!!!! The ish seemed to be hanging in the 15 to 20 oot range . I caught ish under docks by liping a small white spinner and letting it all to the bottom, same with a wht.jig and a shad colored zipper. There were also quit a ew guys that said they got Frog ish to the south.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Warning...Watch the Islands, some times the shallow water runs a ways out rom the land and is not marked...part o the lake can be clear while other parts are green.

Monday, October 4th, 1999

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

      Report: Fished approx. 2 hours in the afternoons around Frank's Tract Thurs. Sept. 30 and Sun. Oct. 3. No luck on flip bite Thursday, so started fishing rattletrap on weed walls in Frank's near cuts and quit counting after 20 fish. Unfortunately most were 0.5 to 1 lb fish, largest were 2-3 lbs. Also caught 3 small stripers. Sunday, same area, no luck on traps. Started pitching brush hogs on weed clumps in cuts with current. Slower fishing, but better fish. Caught 5 for a total weight of 13 lbs - 2 fish were solid, 5lbs each. other 3 were small. Lost a much larger fish and had to get back to the wife in Half Moon Bay in time for supper. This is my 6th trip to the Delta and it is an amazing and challenging place to figure out. This board has helped me greatly in my efforts to catch 'em out there, and thanks to all who contribute to this board.

      Tips: Don't get locked in on one pattern! Pay attention to the local conditions. My trap fish were on clear/dirty water borders near weed walls with some current. My brush hog fish were on downstream side of individual weed clumps out from the bank. Hits on brush hog by largest fish were just tiny pecks.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished most o day in So. Fork. No pattern to speak o. 3 ish on a moring dawn worm, crankbait and a jig. Largest was a 2lb 12oz spot on a brown and orange jig, in the willows.
      City: Quincy

Sunday, October 3rd, 1999

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 70-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I fished the afternoon (11 AM - 7 PM) from my tube. Not a great day, but better than just about anywhere else I could be. Cold and windy, too many water skiers, and no topwater bite(DAMN!). I explored a little over by the large dam and caught two around 2 lbs on a brown jig. Had a toad spit spit the jig right back at me near my tube, too. I kicked back and caught three more real small dinks bobbing around just south of the boat launch on small worms.
      City: Mountain View

    • By

      Water Temp: 70-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I fished the afternoon (11 AM - 7 PM) from my tube. Not a great day, but better than just about anywhere else I could be. Cold and windy, too many water skiers, and no topwater bite(DAMN!). I explored a little over by the large dam and caught two around 2 lbs on a brown jig. Had a toad spit spit the jig right back at me near my tube, too. I kicked back and caught three more real small dinks bobbing around just south of the boat launch on small worms.
      City: Mountain View

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Couldn't find them this time, but will tell you what I tried that didn't work. Cause it was windy and I was in my alum, we spent most of the time hiding out of the wind. Tried lots of worms in red shad and junebug, tight to cover, in the tules, laydowns, stickups, nada. Tried black jigs w/blk&red craw in the wood, weed clumps, and outside weed edge, nada. Even tried a red Bomber 5A on the weed edge. I was really suprised that I couldn't even find a few dinks. So there you have it. A good list of things to NOT try. I'll get 'em next time. Tomorrow. :-)
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: I'm going to try to find some structure in deeper water and go at them with a jig. Also will work the outside weed line a little more thoroughly. My guess is they are schooling;find one look for a bunch.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 71.5

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Tough ishing. Could not ind any reaction ish that wanted to play. Did manage 3 ish in the boat. Fish that were caught came rom the willows, 12-15 t, on plastics.
      City: Elk Grove

Saturday, October 2nd, 1999

    • By

      Water Temp: 71 deg.

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: hunnert ish days are possible with 3 guys in the boat. The ish are on their all eed. Not alot o giants but alot o 13 to 17 inches, the spots are getting bigger with most o the stripers gone. All rocks are holding ish, to get numbers use darthead and our inch worms in green, brown, salt and pepper. To get larger ish use spinnerbait, white and chart., brown 3/8 oz. jig with grub trailer. Flukes are working on mostly smaller ish by the dam. Good ishing or spots but the ramp sucks, no dock and shallow ramp. Watch or shallow rocks, hard on the prop.
      City: sheridan

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 70.5

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out o Granite Bay Ran to Rattlesnake beore daylight. Saw ish busting shad and pulled over. Second cast o morning my son DJ hooked up on a skitter pop shad color. Fish were busting and we cast to the ring hook up was guaranteed most o the ish 12-15 inches. Boat on trailer at 10:00 soccer game. Total ish count 24, o the 24, 22 were caught on topwater, 2 were caught on worms, witches T, and shad pro worm. Note that on this saturday morning cloud cover kept things going with a little help rom us.
      City: Rocklin

      Tips: Now is the time to ish topwater, skitter pop 1/4 ounce shad, any o the pop r's in shad color. Spitn image jr has caught the largest ish lately.