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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, October 19th, 1997

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: A Bassing America (Military Bass) tournament was held on saturday october 18th. The winning weight was 12.5 lbs and a nice limit o largemouth bass.Second place was 2 ish or 7.7 lbs third place was 3 ish or 3 something, overall the ishing seemed really tough or most o the ield.Lake Sonoma seems to be going through some extreme changes some o which are obvious and some which are not.For example the ishing pressure has been heavy or a number o years and the pleasure boaters now use the lake yearround.Anyone who has ished this lake is aware o this by trying to launch your boat on weekends. I have noticed the shad population to be in extreme decline but the bluegill/crappie have more than doubled over last year (guestimate)The lake level was lowr than I have seen it in a long time and during preish had two extreme days, one in the rain (productive) and one 88 degree bluebird day which had the bass a little conused.The ish were taken on a variety o methods including topwater to worming.... se below or more speciics anyone interested in ishing a inexpensive draw type circuit please E-Mail me and i will provide you with the inormation you need, most important the isherman are a great bunch o people and we all seem to have un even on theough days..
      City: Windsor

Saturday, October 18th, 1997

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out Saturday for a short trip and decide to fish the north end of the delta since I haven't fished the north end this year. Fished Snodgrass and the Meadows and managed to catch a limit totaling 10.45 pounds. All clones with the biggest going 4.10p ounds. Threw mostly blades and cranked. Saw a lot of big fish hiding under lay downs but couldn't pitch in close enough without spooking them. Unusual to find fish like that way back in the stagnant water. Lost one of my cranking rods when a fish struk , yanked it out of my hand when I set the hook. Must have been a big stripper, I have caught strippers over 20 pounds before fishing back there. A painful and costly lesson on remembering to have a good grip instead of palming your rod to loosely. So th end of the delta definitely has better quality fish.
      City: Sacramento

Friday, October 17th, 1997

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 65-68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hit Shasta Fri evening about 3. Launched at Bridge Bay. Started ishing main lake right across rom Bridge Bay. Found ish on the sides o points in about 30-40 t o water. Caught all ish shakin worms. Color didn't seem to make a big dierence. Browns or skipper worms seemed to work the best. Used 6 inch worms, 3/8 ounce brass bullet weight with glass beads rigged texas. Couple o ish go 3 pounds. Had to have some rock or wood. Also ished till about 12 midnight. Fish moved up to the banknd caught to many to count. Quite a ew 2 and some 3 pound ish. 10 inch berkley power worms, but had to bite o the ish 3 or 4 inches as the ish were just grabbin the tail. Tried smaller worms and grubs, but kept going back to the big worm. Guessit was the tail action. Fished same way Saturday and didn't start until about 3 pm as they had a West Coast Team TOC going on and didn't want to get in the way o those guys. Same pattern held true or Saturday. Fished longer that night until about 4 ithe morning. The night bite was antastic. Didn't catch anything over 4 pounds. Stayed main lake across rom Bridge Bay. Fished up passed the bridge right side the entire bank almost to Jones Valley Resort Saturday night and did real well. Boy is tat lake low.
      City: Suisun City

Monday, October 13th, 1997

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 69

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the 2nd WON Delta region on Saturday. Tough bite for most, as a cold front moved in after the Thursday/Friday storms. We found fish had actually moved shallow in about 6', real tight to dieing weed clumps. We pitched & flipped a black jig to catc h 11 clones between 3.00 & 3.37lbs. We ended up with 15.75 for 5 fish and took 2nd place to Steve Sapp and his son. They had 5 for 18lb with a 6lb 12oz kicker. On Sunday the cold front really kicked in and just shut the flip bite down. We started crankin Red Bombers at 8:00a and managed to get 11.87 for 7 fish. This put us 2 out of the money in 17th. Turns out of the 5 tournaments on the Delta Sunday, crankin was the ticket. This is typical of the Delta this time of year when cold fronts shut down the bit . The crank bait allows you to cover as much water as possible. The bait is in the strike zone for a longer period than say a jig or worm. You then pick off all the aggressive fish.
      City: Oakley

Saturday, October 11th, 1997

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tournament day. We decided to start in the back o Silverthorn to see i we could get any good ish early on reaction baits. I started with a white Poes 300 and my partner started with a Bill Norman Deep Little N in a shad color. We started catching ishright away but nothing big. The graph was loaded with bait and ish. Another boat came in and started on the same bank about 50 yards down on a roadbed. They caught one o the big ish o the tournament there on a white spinnerbait. We continued to ish te entire cove on the east side. We caught alot o ish but only two keepers. We decided to stay with the cranks until we stopped getting bit. We went to Allie cove and cranked two points that came together. in about 15 minutes we caught our last three keeers. It was 10:30 and we had about 8 lbs. We went to the back o the MC Cloud and stayed there until about 2 pm. We caught a ew more ish and our big ish o 2.3 lbs. We culled one and the rest didnt help,we now had a little over 9 lbs. I ended up throwig a crank all day long and my partner switched o through out the day. The tournament was won by the other boat in Silverthorn. They said they caught all their ish throwing white spinnerbait all day long. They also had a couple o points in the sacrameto arm. There was one 12 lb weight, two 10 lb weights and eight 9 lb weights. The rest o the 184 boat ield that had limits wieghed in between 5 and 7lbs. All o the good weights were caught on reaction baits o some sort.
      City: N/A

Friday, October 10th, 1997

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started the day ishing the north side o the main lake between the MC Cloud and the Squaw.My partner and I caught alot o ish on brass and glass using six inch PRO worms in the blue ghost and the cinnamon with blue neon bloodline and red lake. We alsothrew alot o jigs today trying to get better quality. We spent about 2 1/2 hours ishing this area and caught over 30 ish but no size. We went back to the mouth o The Pit to see i the ish on those points were still there. The bait had moved and so dithe ish. The Pit was getting hit hard so we tried to ind something dierent. We went to Silverthorn and ished alot o the no nothing banks and caught a couple o 1 3/4 lb ish near the backend on the East side o the cove. We went to a couple o morecoves located on the south side o the main lake looking or similar type banks. We ished Allie cove and ound a couple more areas that were holding ish. We decided to go to the back o the MC Cloud and check the bait I had ound the day beore.. The ih were still there and we caught a couple o more ish in the two pound range split shoting the same worms. We tried throwing all dierent types o reaction baits but had no luck except or a ew spoon ish. Most o the ish we caught were in 15 to 30 et. My riend who was also up there said he had caught ish on a crank bait and in some cases two ish at one time. he was ishing in the squaw cove and sacramento arm. another riend had caught about 25 spinnerbait ish trhowing it all day long.
      City: N/A

Thursday, October 9th, 1997

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Pre-ished or ABA T.O.C out o Bridge Bay. Fished the Mc Cloud arm where I had caught good ish in the past with no luck. Went to the mouth o the Pit and ished steep wall pionts with a 1/4 ounce darter head and a Six inch morning dawn PRO worm with a curl tail. I caught ive ish in a short period o time but no size. it seemed the average limit on worms was about 7.0 to 7.5 lbs. The weather got ugly about mid-day.I went to the back end o the MC Cloud and ound alot o bait activity on steeper walls.was able to catch a ew more ish but the wind picked up and made it hard to hold on the balls o bait.I pulled o the water about 1 pm. The trick seemed to be ind the bait and the ish were close by. The only two places that I ound holding a concentrtion o bait and bass were in the Pit and the back o the MC Cloud.
      City: N/A

Tuesday, October 7th, 1997

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: FISHED IN THE PIT RIVER ARM . CAUGHT FISH IN ABOUT 15 TO 30 FEET OF WATER SPOONING , AND DRAGING WORMS ON THE BOTTOM!! OX BLOOD N BLUE WORKED BEST . THE BASS IN THE LATE AFTERNOON ARE STARTING TO BUST ON THE SHAD .GOT SOME NICE FISH CASTING TO BOILS WITH A SMALL SPOON OR SHAD COLORED GRUB ON A DARTER HEAD . THEY WOULD HIT IT ON THE DROP. IT SHOULD ONLY GET BETTER WITH COLDER WEATHER
      City: Alemeda

Saturday, October 4th, 1997

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished rom 7 a.m. to dusk,caught a lot ish on traps and blades through out the day.VERY WINDY!!! Caught most o the ish in Yorty Creek and Dry Creek.Try shad colored blades and traps.Also try craw cranks,pig'jigs,reapers in shad colors. TIGHT LINES!!!!!
      City: Rohnert Park

    • By

      Water Temp: 67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished rom 7 a.m. to dusk,caught a lot ish on traps and blades through out the day.VERY WINDY!!! Caught most o the ish in Yorty Creek and Dry Creek.Try shad colored blades and traps.Also try craw cranks,pig'jigs,reapers in shad colors. TIGHT LINES!!!!!
      City: Rohnert Park

Wednesday, October 1st, 1997

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71-74

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the 100% BASS on Saturday 9/18. Made a long run up north above Rio Vista and fished deep weed lines in 10-18 feet. All fish came using a 3/8 oz Black R&B round rubber jig with a Yamamoto grub. Use of this grub has become more wide spread the last f ew months. It is working on the Delta much better than other trailers. It allows the bait to fall faster to the bottom where the better fish are holding as the water temp is dropping. The bait must then be worked in an erratic fashion, litterally crawling on the bottom, until a bass eats it. We ended up in second place with 19.98 lbs for 7 fish. They were all clones in size. We then fished the Oakley tournament on Sunday but had little or no tidal movement during the outgoing tide. To catch these deeper fish there must be some noticable but not rip snorting current present. As a results we had a very tough day and only caught 5 fish to 10 lbs total. I then fished the Redman Delta Regional on Sunday 9-28, had the perfect tides and won the tournament with over 17.5 lbs for 5 fish. I caught over 30 keepers, all over 2 1/2 lbs.
      City: Oakley

Tuesday, September 30th, 1997

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: N/A

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: On September,14 1997 I Billy Quinn caught a 48 pound Striper Bass. On that morning I was ishing the clear virgin waters when he hit I ought this ish or around 15 minutes.
      City: Pomona

Monday, September 29th, 1997

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: mid70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished rom 4:30 pm to 7:15 pm. Caught three ish on zoom lukes around willows. Switched to a Baby Bass Splash-It when the Sun started down and caught 12 - 13 more ish real quick. No real size to them, though, 12in - 14in. A couple o them had HUGE shad in their mouths. Lots o schools o shad on top. Seems that they are making a comeback - or a long time it was mostly pond smelt.
      City: Orangevale

Saturday, September 27th, 1997

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: N/A

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Caught one dink early in North Fork on a jig. Wind orced us to move to the South Fork, no luck there. Then moved to Middle Fork where we ought the wind or an hour beore landing a 2-1/2# spot and a 3-3/4# largemouth both on Zipper Worms in about 15' wa ter.
      City: Marysville

Thursday, September 25th, 1997

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 76

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out to the delta on Thursday for a short trip. We fished the Big Break area and found fish fairly shallow. Got on the water with the start of an incoming tide. We caught all our fish throwing buzzbaits, Splash-its, and flipping. Had a toad that w ent 7 pounds with a couple of nice 3-4 pounders. We had overcast skies on and off throughout the day. We found strippers boiling on top and started fishing for them the rest of the day. We were hooking up practically every cast and caught close to 50t rippers. The only problem with this is they were all 6-8 inches. Shouldn't of have wasted so much time fishing for them, but it was a blast watching my Splash-it get mobbed by two or three strippers all at one time.
      City: Sacramento

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70's

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished rom 4:00 to 7:00 - Caught 7 bass - 2 largemouth & the rest spots. Caught all but one on spinnerbaits. Fish are shallow. 3 - 4 eet deep.
      City: Orangevale

Wednesday, September 24th, 1997

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: This lake produces quite a ew double-digits. I ish this lake ater hours. I just got back rom another night o HEAVY DUTY action. Total weight or Five ish; 34 1/2.LBs. Gear Used: Berkley Pulse med.heavy rod, Shimano Calcutta 251, Fire Line 12/30. Baits: 3/8 Jig & Pig, 1/2oz. Brass & Glass All Star Spinner Bait, Berkley 10in Worm. Last year I produced a 37 LBs. Five ish limit. Almost happend again. You can bet I'll be out here trying to break my old record. PS. I Would like to give special THANKS toryan Chapman at Reed's sports shop. He custom tied my jigs, along with suggested throwing Brass & Glass All Star spinner bait.
      City: San Jose

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out o Granite Bay and while waiting or my partner to park the truck. I stuck two nice spots on a Splash-It. One went 3.7 pounds and the other went 2.3. I should have known that catching ishing on the irst cast is bad luck. Couldn't indanymore top-water ish or the rest o the day. We ound ish down deep in 25-30 eet o water under shad balls. We managed to spoon up some nice spots and smallies and make two limits. Tip: try and locate shad balls on your graph, you will usuallyee larger ish under-neath them. Easy pickins, just match the spoon with the shad and hang on.
      City: Sacramento

Sunday, September 21st, 1997

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Day4... Last dayon the lake and decided to go back up the Sac arm. Went to an area we ound the irst day which had good water access and lots o bait... the key to the whole trip. Fish were irst located at 20t but were better concentrated at 30-32t. Again all ish were doodled. These ish were not as nice as the Pit arm... most in the 1.25-1.5# range. Tried a ew other similar areas with onlt smaller ish to catch. Not as good ishing this day, but still managed a tournament limit quick. But no wind tday, hot in the mid 90's. The lake still dropping about 1t / day.
      City: Eureka

Saturday, September 20th, 1997

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Day-3... Again decided to go up the Pit arm. Seemed the better ish were up there. Went to an area where we caught ish the day beore and again looked or the bait level. Bait still was moving at 30-40t. Started doodling the deep water cuts and startedcatching ish immediately. Had a decent tournament limit in an hour... 1.5-2# spots. Worked the area hard and sat there or about 2hrs catching nothing but 2#-2.5# ish. Went arther up Pit and again ound ish in the previous areas. All ish were again dep except very late in the day when we ound some decent ish up in the cuts shallow. Very little wind and hot.
      City: Eureka