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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, September 12th, 1999

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: mid 70's

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had a great weekend up at Clear Lake, my dad and I inished irst on Division 1 o the WCB Future Pro Team cicuit. We pre-ished or 2 weekends up at the lake and ound the pattern, last Saturday we ished some deeper water and I caught one that was a little over 6 and a ew more on a brown Duh! jig. On Sunday we didn't ish our good water and we struggled and only caught 2 keepers all day. We came back up this weekend and since it was a Sunday tounament we had Saturday to pre-ish. We stayed in the redbud arm all Saturday to see i we could ind any good water close by the ramp so we ished all day and only caught 4 keepers with nothing over 2, we tried crank baits, spinner baits, jigs, and split-shoting worms and only caught ish split-shoting. We eliminated everything we ished in the Redbud arm except one little spot.The day o the tourney we went straight to the spot where I caught the 6 the week beore and we were the irst one there. My dad caught a dink right away then a ew minutes later I caught a 2 pounder on a jig. About 10 minutes ater I caught the irst one I got a bite and set the hook and I almost all o the boat but I still hold on to the rod and try to real in the ish, but he jumped and spit the jig. Ater that we get a ew more bites but nothing so we decide to leave. We get to our second spot and within ten minutes I have a weird eeling sorta like my jig is swimming away so I set the hook and the ish just kind o sits there so I keep pullin and the ish is pullin, I knew it was a big one so I tell my dad to get the net. The ish wasn't ighting like a normal bass and I think it's a catish, but then it comes up and we see it and both my dad and I went WHOA! it was a big bass, turned out to be 8.54. Ater that my dad and I are both excited and within ten minutes he is setting the hook, his ish was also a big one, 6 pounder. We couldn't get any more ish o that spot just a couple o missed hook sets, so we head to our third spot but some one was right on it so we let it and headed to our only spot in the Redbud arm to see i we can get 2 more keepers. We get there and right away I get a 2+, then my dad sticks a squeker and we are excited and igure we have about 18 pounds but we need to cull that last ish. About 5 minutes ater my dad caught the last one I get one that'll cull his ish and now we igured we had about 20 pounds. We decide to go throw a rog in Cache Creek to see i we can get a toad but nothing so we weighed in 30 minutes early.We ended up with irst place in Division one with 21.55 or 5 ish and big ish o 8.54 Our key was to spend a lot o time pre-ishing and eliminating water. We also threw dirent lures so we weren't ishing or the same ish, 4 o the ish were on the brown 1/4 ounce Duh! jig and one came on a baby bass hooked tail Buddah bait grub. All o our ish ecxept one came out o 20-30 eet o water, so ish deep.
      City: Bay Point

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: A ew ish, none o great size. Sporatic bite during the day. Bite was tough with the weather change. Slow presentation o popper and chuggers in the coves provided the most consistant bite, very late in the day. Split shotting sluggos on the creek channels also yeilded ish.Tough weather, and brutal smoke. Check on the ires beore heading north.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Top water in the coves, ish seemed to relate to channels more that points.

Saturday, September 11th, 1999

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 74-78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: VERY TOUGH, MY PARTNER AND I COULD NOT BUY A BITE BEFORE NOON. WE GRAPHED TONS OF BAIT FISH. LARGE BALLS OF BAIT EVERYWHERE, BUT NO BASS AROUND THEM. PERHAPS THIS IS THE PROBLEM, THERE IS SO MUCH BAIT THE FISH HAVE PLENTY OF FOOD. WE ENDED THE DAY WITH ONLY A FEW KEEPERS.
      City: ROHNERT PARK

  • Alameda County
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      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the Island,in the aternoon,Once again the witches tea 4" worm proved it's worth.My Friend J. Hardin, hooked into 3# and a 2# Bass,They were both Very healthy looking ish, I caught 2, 1#'s, can't complain as long as we'recatching!!!
      City: San Jose

      Tips: witches tea !!

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 73-75 degrees

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had a local club tourny out o granite bay. Topwater bite was antastic or about the irst 20 minutes or so, then died hard. Poppers on rocky points and walls back in the south ork.My partner and I each had our ish by 8:00, mostly 14-15 inch spots, and one 2.5 lb. largemouth. When that died, we rounded out the limit with 6inch green ghost worms and leaches. Late in the day we ound the willows in granite bay to be holding good numbers o largemouth, with some in the 4-6 lb. class. Very exciting when you can ind those ish on Folsom. Buddy lost one about 6 lb. in the tree. Turns out the tourny was won back in the south ork, mostly just inside the 5 mile zone and in jack's shack. guess where? In the willows!! this may all change very ast, but it's worth a try on your next trip out. 12.5 lbs. took the check home, not earth shattering but nonetheless a solid limit on Folsom considering a ew boats came in with a strong smell o skunk!
      City: sacramento

      Tips: poppers early on rocky banks, then shakin' and draggin the same areas. when the sun gets high, switch to smaller baits and work 20-35 eet slooooowly! don't orget to try the willows,though----- i they're stacked in there, you're in or a rare Folsom bass est!

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I loat tubed rom 11am - 7pm. I orgot my depth inder so I didn't try any deepwater ishing. I caught 4 dinks. One on a Spittin Image around 2pm, and three on a 6A crawdad Bomber.
      City: Mountain View

      Tips: Throw snag resistant crankbaits in the submerged trees. Work worms and jigs slowly in deep structure.

    • By

      Water Temp: unknown

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My girlriend and took our kayaks out rom 5-7 pm today and I landed a 3.5# largemouth on a rapala husky jerk. It's always un to catch a big ish rom the kayak!!!!
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: I just started ishing this lake so I'm just iguring it out. Typical bay area bass lake though, lots o casts with a good number o lure changes to get the color right. It's a relatively clear lake so you want to use natural looking lures. I spotted the remains o a crawdad on the shore so that's why I went with crawdad color today. Good luck!!

  • Calaveras County
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      Water Temp: 71-73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished early am to 1530hrs. We started with shad imitation jerkbaits and caught mostly small ish. The baby bass are everywhere. Found some better ish in green springs. The water drops during the night and starts to ill back up at 1430 hrs. Ater green springs we went to back o Black creek lipped and bladed tules or more keeper size ish. Our best ish was 3 1/2 lbs. (rom tules)
      City: OAKDALE

      Tips: For numbers throw shad imitations (like TD minnow) For size lip plastics like hogs. Evening bite is best; with water up the ish move up get a little more aggressive.

Friday, September 10th, 1999

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 71 (Avg)

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Got started late out of Holland Riverside and hit the bottom of the outgoing tide. Pulled a few dinks off of the rocks around Cruser Haven and flipped a couple more out of the tulies in the better water in the same area. Nothing happened on the frog at all.
      City: Concord

      Tips: Red cranks and brown with red flake plastics gave us the limited success.

    • By

      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went tubing during the evening hours on the main back pond. All I used was a white Tournament Frog, using the old twitch-and-pause method accros the top o the "cheese". In 4 hours I had nearly 10 blowups, but only managed to land one...a 3 lber. The blowups are NOT rom small ish so it really gets the old hear pumping!
      City: Livermore

      Tips: Take a black permanent marker and color some spots on the belly o the rog. The water will smear the spots and create a bass-tempting pattern. Also, stu a split shot or two in the hollow body to add weight (and noise). The added weight will make the rog more noticable on top o the weeds, plus makes the lure earier or the bass to hit...(instead o having the rog go lying into the air as it gets hit)

Thursday, September 9th, 1999

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: Unk.

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Kevin Young and I started at about 6:15 a.m.across rom the private marina. I landed a nice 3lb. bass in very shallow water! Kevin caught a small bass on a worm. Fish were scarce on the sonar. we started trolling and Kevin landed a nice Steelhead about 3lbs. I caught 3 more bass trolling and Kevin caught anothe Steelhead (small) which was released. Our day was over at 10:30 a.m. Weather was overcast with some lightning! Water was smooth as glass when we inished up!
      City: Windsor

      Tips: Use downrigger and your avorite trout (Steelhead)lure in the 35 to 40 oot range. The bass hit deep diving crankbaits only in trout and shad colors trolled with about 60 eet o line out.

Wednesday, September 8th, 1999

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: ishing was air. but we still managed to land a ew good sized bass.we loat tubed rom 6:30 to about 2:00.in the morning we started o using a blue loating worm in the heavy structure o honker bay.rom when we luanch to about 8:00 we caught two 12 inchers. as the sun came up i switched to subsurace 4 inch magic worm,while my partner tied on a castaic baby sun ish. My reind caught 1 small bass and 2 two pounders. i caught 3 small guys an one 2.5 pounder.
      City: castro valley

      Tips: spring:magic worm,brushhog,lizard and,jigssummer:dawn and dusk using small worms i preer rattlesnake 4 inchersCATCH AND RELEASE

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 70's?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: GOT BORED FISHING FOR CATS SO I STARTED TO THROW A 3" GRUB AS I WADED ALONG THE SHORE IN GRANITE BAY.CASTING UP TO EDGE OF THE WILLOWS, I CAUGHT THREE OR FOUR 12" SPOTS,THEN GOT BIT BY A 20 INCH LARGEMOUTH.USING 6# TEST IT WAS A NERVOUS FEW MINUTES TILL I LIPPED HIM. HAD CAUGHT CATS TO 6LBS IN THE HIGH WIND EARLIER IN THE WEEK.
      City: north highlands

      Tips: WISH I COULD FIND SOME CRAWFISH FOR BAIT.CATS HAD A COUPLE EACH IN 'EM WHEN I CLEANED THEM

Tuesday, September 7th, 1999

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tried a red 4 inch curly tail and blue 5 inch worms and fished them several ways. The only hit I got was on the north point between Calero Dam and the spillway. It came at about 4:10pm, but I didn

      Tips: If using plastic worms, stick with the more natural colors.

    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tried a red 4 inch curly tail and blue 5 inch worms and fished them several ways. The only hit I got was on the north point between Calero Dam and the spillway. It came at about 4:10pm, but I didn

      Tips: If using plastic worms, stick with the more natural colors.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I you want the big ones at Shadow Clis, throw out a topwater pop-R in the backlakes, guarenteed to catch your limit!!! Ideally a Hula Pop-R i you have one!
      City: Pleasanton

      Tips: HULA POP-R

Monday, September 6th, 1999

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71- 78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: got out late, at 9am - fished till 2pm with only bites and dinks, cranking, flippin woyms and jigs. Tried wood, deeper water current - did get dinks in current on flukes. Finally started froggin - the bite seems to be coming back. Got two nice 2.5s and lots of heart attack inducing blowups. Also caught 4 real frogs - they seem more aggressive this year..
      City: belmont

Sunday, September 5th, 1999

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: ?????

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Woke up late and headed to the break once more with my dad. Got on the water at about 7:00. Drove to a narrow slough that was packed with wood and fliiped jigs with no luck. Started throwing a crankbait while my dad was using a 4" worm that produced one fish about 2Lbs. We then drove to the south end of franks and found some cleaner water started throwing blades around reefs and tules. After that prodeced nothing I thought it would be a good idea to crank the riprap. Threw the speedtrap for about 1 and a half hours and caught 4 fish and a 20" striper. Overall an ok day, could have been worse.
      City: Tracy

  • Mendocino County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72 - 76 F

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Blue Lakes (lower lake)on Sunday aternoon with another loat tuber. We combined to catch 6 bass on sot plastics & crankbaits. Lake has good algae bloom going. *** Float Tubers/Kick Boaters: Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club is holding event @ Blue Lakes (near Ukiah) this Sunday, September 12th. I you'd like more ino re: event or club in general, e-mail me or check out our website @ www.tweenit.com/scbbc. ***
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Saw some big ish splashing around in the shallows. This is one great bass lake.

Saturday, September 4th, 1999

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70-72

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Holland Sat. morning about 6:30 AM. Fished until 7:00 PM. My partner and I pounded tules for a long time without any success. Finally started fishing the outside edge of weedlines in 15 - 18' of water and the two of us picked up a total 9 fish along one stretch of shoreline. Most 12-14" one went 3#s. Between 5:30 and 6:00 as the tide appeared to be just going out again, my partner lost a nice fish in the weeds and then landed a nice 4# fish, about 5 minutes after that I landed a 4.5#er. The two larger fish came between a break in the weed line and a clump of tules in about 5' of water. All but one of the fish were caught on a watermelon brush hog,T-rigged. One fish caught on a 6" green weenie spade tail.
      City: Newark

      Tips: Don't forget to try deeper water.