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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, May 2nd, 1999

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      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Skunked at San Pablo. Saw plenty o bucks cruising the shallows, and a couple o sows. Sawone ar least 5# cruising. Spent over an hour tossing everything I had. She 'mouthed' one luke or a split second beore she spit it out. I didn't even eel it, just saw it. The speed was amazing. Allin all, very rustrating day.
      City: Belmont

      Tips: n/a

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Primarily ished Pit and MCloud arms. Reaction bite was slow - a ew on blades, no luck on cranks (but could have been technique - I'm primarily a wormer). Worm bite was awesome. Averaged 5-10/hr, mostly dinks but occasional ish to 3'. Color didn't seem to matter; mostly ished 4-6" oxblood and blue ghost, but they hit everything else we threw, especially with a chartreuse tail. Fish seemed to be anywhere there was structure - rock, timber, drop-o, whatever.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Splitshot 4-6" worms and ish 'em REAL SLOW in 15-20' o water. Bite was very sot, andalmost always short - i we hookset on the irst "bump" we were let with hal a worm.

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      Water Temp: 57-60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Unexpected rontal passage suprised most everyone. Was supposed to be in low 70's but turned rainy, windy and a never got above 60. This slowed the bite down or any quality ish. Weound ish close to either standing trees on the Pit, in brush piles or around willow trees. Caught lots o small keepers using a 1/8 oz dart headed blue ghost thrown close to the trees or brush. Also T-rigged a blue ghost or green weenie. Bite was very, very sot. Not much action on reaction baits. Biggest ish or club tourney was under 3#.
      City: Redding

      Tips: Cold ront passage made ish less active. Slow down your presentation.

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      Water Temp: very warm

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: One ish on a white spinnerbait, one on a rootbeer Baby Brush Hog. It rained at dawn...brr.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: Never go to Spring Lake without a white spinnerbait!!!

Saturday, May 1st, 1999

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: lots of fish in baily cove.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Tips:n/a

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      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: lots of fish in baily cove.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Tips:n/a

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 58 at Marina 63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Well, you all know Hippie give me the North delta or death. I had been in a big slump lately after a great winter and early spring once the spawn time hit I was frustrated. Three tourney's in a row with only weighing in three fish. Took out Flyin Vee and had a bad day, fished one tourney and broke the trolling motor mount. NOT GOOD!! so Saturday was to be a fun fish catcha limit feel good day, well I happened upon a school of smallies that were spawning in front of guisti's on the Molkoume. In a 20 yard stretch I got a limit of Smallmouth biggest being 2 3/4 but she was full of eggs and thought she was 6 lbs. My limit was about 11 1/2 of all smallies in fifteen minutes so I decided to head to the meadows to avoid the Viper tourney traffic (by the way all were caught flippin a 4 1/2 inch zipper in witches ti) eight in all 6 keepers. In the meadows got a few threes and lost one about 5 at the boat. These were all bed fish and I had to downsize to a 3 inch zipper grub because they were just pushing the bigger bait off the bed and no hookset. Once figured out started gettin um. A good morning no toads but I needed a confidence day, been struggeling lately.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Tips: The Smallies are active and bite'in way up North, the bed Largies would not bee hooked unles you downsized the bait and went to a 3/0 hook that fit the whole worm

    • By

      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: fished from 9am until 2 pm. fishing was good in early time as the tide was on the fall boated 3 fish all in the 2 lb range. when the tide reached low the bite slowed only had 2 bites after 12pm. fishing plastic worms in dark colors and the fish did not give the standard "tap tap" bite they just grabbed it and swam away.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Tips: toss worms in tight to reeds and watch your line.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: cold

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Picked up boat rom galaxie and launched out o granite bay at 13:00. Wind blowing at about 20-25 mph no big you have to ish when you can. First main lake point had 14' smallmouth inhale apointer minnow in 15 eet o water. Moved to cove on north ork nothing else on pointer. Swithced to magic worms ound wind blown semi cove with a ball o baitish and bass in waiting within iveminutes my son DJ hooked a 3.9 largemouth, then a 3.3largemouth, added another 13 incher then the big one hit 4.8 all landed nicely by my son 11 yrs old and outishing me already!!!
      City: Rocklin

      Tips: Deinitley the time to ish olsom. Jerkbaits on main lake points,lukes should also work deadstick. Magic worms in shad color ished on darter heads i wait you wait they will come.

Friday, April 30th, 1999

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 55-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Last week I took my 14 yr old brother to Clear Lake and we ished the south part and we threw Crankbaits in the morning and then switch to split shot a green weenie and we caught a very nice limit. My brothers ish ranged rom 4 to 7 pounds and my ish ranged rom 5 to 9 pounds.I mainly cought my big ish useing worms in the southern most tules on the lake. I really caught average ish throwing a crankbait o o the rocks. I think the ishing will be very goos this year as long as the weather coopreates with us all summer.Tips n/a
      City: Santa Clara

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: 56-58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took my 11yr old son and 9yr old daughter camping Thursday 4/22 till Sunday 4/25. Weather wasn't what we were expecting.Most o the lake was too windy to ish Thursday and Friday. Had to ind coves and bays protected by wind to control boatwell enough to ish eectively. Did manage to get over a dozen each day on watermelon w/red leck brush hogs. Almostall ish were airly deep, rom 15 - 25 t. Fish had descentsize to them also, most rom 1.5lbs to 2lbs. My biggest was4lbs 13 ozs. But I was out done by my son Corey who managed a 5lb 1oz on a crappie spinner bait which he replaced the grubwith a 4" black worm. How he managed to not loose that ishwith such a small hook I'll never know, it must have jumped 5 times. My little girl even got 3 ish all by heresel!She got one 2.5lber on blue leck 4" worm. That turned outto be the only color I caught ish with on Saturday. There werelots o ish to be seen shallow along steep banks, but couldn'tget any action on them. Sunday was too windy to ish so wecame home early. Overall, pretty good weekend. I managedenough ish to keep me happy and enough to hand o the pole to keep the kids interested all day too!
      City: Cupertino

      Tips: From 5am to 6:30am caught a couple o ish on crankbaits, but when thesun came up went to brush hogs and worms deep. I got better action when I gave the brush hogs and worms a 2 jerk and let it settle motion. Most hits came on the second jerk.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 55-58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Kevin and the Dave's ished Shasta 22nd to 26th out o Shasta Marina. Thanks or your hintsprior to our trip.Caught ish every day with the best bite in the evening. Windy conditions and cool water held downthe bite somewhat, but suspect it will improve with stabilizing water levels and warmer temps.CONDITIONS: Wind most days, calm some evenings. Sunny most days with overcast on one (which was thebest day). Water rising 1/2' or more each day (10'or less rom ull)and cooling rom the wind.Clarity varied rom very clear to stained depending on the location and the wind/wave action.LOCATIONS: ish were rom 8' to 28' on cover - brush, trees, rocks or ledges. Coves were moreproductive than points, but wind played a role in holding on points.BITE: Best in evening 5 to dark, ok in morning, tough in the sun, better in overcast. Bite variedrom taps to pick-ups and runs to aggressive. Mostly spots, some smallmouths, no largemouths.BAITS: Worms Texas style in 4" and 6" were by ar the best in light to dark colors, ished slow tomoderate. Caught ish also on spinnerbaits, grubs and minnows. Heard cranks also taking ish in lateevening.RESULTS: Caught ish every day, but had to work a bit or them. Most were 13" to 16" and weighed 11/2 to 2 lbs on a ligit scale. (I'm wondering where all those 3 pounders are that I keep hearingabout, or is just overguessing on the weight)? Caught a ew 17" salmon o the back o thehouseboat at 25' on minnows. Lots o un! Couldn't ind any crappie.Overall a good trip, but we think some warm weather, stable water, and less wind will improve thebite a lot in the next ew weeks. Tight lines.
      City: Mill Valley

      Tips: n/a

Thursday, April 29th, 1999

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: caught three good size bass near the sand bar close to Glory Hole. Using a chartruse spinner bait and a motor oil glitter trailer. Fish just o the ledge that is on the east side o the sand bar. Fish were 15-20 eet deep ishing in a medium speed stop and go motion
      City: Modesto

      Tips: n/a

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      Water Temp: warm

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Got on the lake at 7 am and ished the north end until 11. Tried Brush Hogs, jig 'n' trailers, white blades, rogs,and crawdad pattern cranks. Not even a bite?!?! Hmmm...maybe we're moving into the post spawn.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: n/a

Wednesday, April 28th, 1999

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Hadn't been on the Delta in awhile. My partner and I decided its time to take our lumps down there. Got out first lite. We were fishin flats that dumped into 8 to 10 ft. Caught the last bit of the outgoing tide. Got 3 on blades 2 to 3 lbs. As the tide changed moved up on a tule island and loaded the boat. That 2 hour period after the tide change was crazy. Quit countin fish cus after 10 I loose count. But i thought i was doin good when I stuck one that was about 4. Then my partner stuck one that ended up bein just shy of 6 lbs. Thankful i caught the first fish of the day because my partner waxed my well you know. Most of the fish we caught after the tide started to come back in were in less than 2 ft of water.
      City: Suisun

      Tips: Tips: Have none as don't know enough about the Delta.

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: ished oroville rom 6:00 am to 7:30pm on 4-25. what an incredible day. went out with my wie anna and her brother loyd we put a total o 49 ish on the boaat. majority in the slot limit with a ew up to approx 3lbs. most o the ish were caught on chartruese jigs with a ew on plastic worms. best luck was along rock ace points rom 6' to 10' ater that it was along submerged trees. can't wait to get back out there.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: n/a

Tuesday, April 27th, 1999

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 62-64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I fished the south area today and caught 10 keeper's all around the 2#'s in weight. Most of the fish were caught in front of the tulle's with jig's. All the fish were male's.
      City: Union City

      Tips: Tips: You cannot feel thes fish bite the jig. You must feel the weight of the fish first, then set hard.

  • Palo Pinto County
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      Water Temp: Low 60's

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: At the 3rd Bass-n-Tubes tourney o the year, 'tough' would be a good description o our day-- two decent limits and a 5-1/2lb. 'Big Fish' notwithstanding! Alot o the ish were caught early in the day. Grey skies andmoderate winds stuck around right uptil weigh-in time, when it cleared up a bit. Tim Crane won with a 16+ lb. bag, topped with a couplenice at ones over 4 lbs.John Lake got second with a limit o 11+. It ell o to single digits ater that. 'Dana' (senior)got 'Big Fish,' with that 5-1/2 lb'er.(We weigh to the nearest hundredth; I just didn't bring home the actual results). I got SKUNKED,although I wasn't the onlyone. It's a pretty small lake, & lippin' is basically how you have to approach it -- lots oshoreline tules, brush & wood. Acouple o guys were catching 'em on shallow cranks & spinnerbaits, too, but it always came back tothe lippin'. With limitedshoreline available, & a bunch o guys lined up, one ater the other to hit the same brush over &over, it really ell to the expert*lipmeisters* to either get it where it had to go, or put it to 'em just right. Everyone wasthrowing reapers and brush hogs (big &baby), & maybe a craw/worm or two. I threw a pig-n-jig or awhile, to no avail (obviously). Thislake can be pretty good -- lastAugust, John broke the BnT 5-ish weigh-in record here, at 17+ lbs.! Oh, well, maybe when we comeback in July, things'll beback up to those better numbers. Next month (May 16th) is Lake Sonoma -- give John a call @408-263-6174 i you want tojoin us! Some o the guys rom the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club are apparently planning onjoining us, too, so the prizepool oughtta be juicier than normal ($25 a head). Give us a try! (Check out our website: http://members.xoom.com/je_sxx/ )
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Year 'round @ Pinto: lippin' sot plastics deep into the ample shoreline cover. Reapers &Brush Hogs work especially well.

Monday, April 26th, 1999

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: cold

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught two 2 1/2 lbe small mouth bass. Raining during the ishing.
      City: Roseville

      Tips: Used yellow Rooster Tail spinner

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Well i ished my irst tournament on the 25th. It was put on by Savemart stores or it'semployees. We all gatherd at glory hole, and began the process o signing up and checking livewellsand paying our entry ees. there were approxamtley 30 plus boats, ranging rom 12 t aluminum to theull dress 20 ooters it was a awesome sight I must say. We began dumping our rigs while waiting or sae light,as the water near the ramp began to illwith boats the lake took on a certain eel. It muct have been all the boaters bustling about intheir rigs in preperation. people were doing things rom preparing or the cold to discussing theirstratagy to rigging their rods. The sight and eel o all this sent my adrenalin through the roo. Finally with all the rigs sharking around the sun gave enough light and we began to line up atthe 5 mph bouies. Our earless organizer dropped his hand and all HELL broke loose on the water.There is no better sight than to look to your let then to your right and see a ull out, wideopen,rooster tailin renzy o bass anglers heading to their secret locations. ( What a rush ! ! !) My partner and I headed out to the 49 bridge area and hit the cove on the west side o thebridge. We ished the bank on the right using white lukes and blue and black jigs.the luke bait seemed to work best as my partner landed two keepers. We coverd banks on the mainbody,carson cove,cayote cove, morman creek, and glory hole cove and other areas beore weight in at2:00pm.All in all we caght ish every stop we made,the only trouble we had was locating ish with size. the males are preping the spawning beds as we could see ish all along the shore line. I weatherstays warm ish should start spawning this week. sorry to say but wedid not place in the tournament we had 5 ish weighing 8.7lbs
      City: modesto

      Tips: use lukes with slow jerks.