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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Wednesday, July 4th, 2012

  • Mendocino County
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Lake Mendocino just keeps getting better and better !!! We have been catching more quality and quantity of bass.... The smallmouth bass have really, really exploded in population ... We have been hooking into about 5 smallmouth's to every largemouth. They have been getting larger too. Pretty much landing a 4 - 5 -6 pounder every outing.. 80% of the time we getting them drop-shottin' . There is a good topwater bite EARLY. 5:15 am to about 7:00 am. POPP'R's have been working best for us. for more information go to 4reelfishin.com
      City: Ukiah

      Tips: SSSssshhhhhh, don't tell anyone. :)

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the outgoing tide in Disappointment Slough. Several dinks. Two had crawfish still in their throats so I switched to a red shallow crank and a red lipless crank. More dinks. Went to Potato Slough when the tide starting coming back in. Caught several keepers up to 3 lbs – mostly on a sexy shad shallow crankbait close to rip rap and weeds.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: There are lots of boats and wakes to deal with due to holiday crowds.

Monday, July 2nd, 2012

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 74 - 80 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out of Ladds around 9:00 a.m. and was off the water by 2:30 p.m. There was alot of early holiday boat traffic today and was hard to find calm water to fish. Cuaght 8 bass today using a shad pattern lipless crankbait as a search pattern and then slowed down mojo shotting same areas with zoom tricks for the better quality fish. Also enjoyed drop shotting the points along the main channel. The Delta Schooling Rig was a "No Go" with the warmer weather and increased boating traffic. Finesse was the ticket for me today.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Mojo shot black colored worms where the boats chopped up the banks, if found clearer water then swithed to a junebug color. Earlier in the morning when water conditions were calmer noticed shad being chased towards the surface and near the banks.

    • By

      Water Temp: 71.5

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched 715am at New Hope...outgoing tide but still on the high side. Started out at fav island near sycamore... picked up a couple 1 lb keepers and a bunch of barely keeper and dinks...mostly on light crankin'...so light we used ultra light spinning tackle...fun to catch. Moved to Mokulemne by b&w...managed a couple more keepers at the tules and a whole bunch more dinks and barely keepers. maybe 25-30 fish today but only 5 keepers. where'd they go? and low tide + wind + no more catch was the signal to go home.
      City: folsom

      Tips: have none...hopin' someone will offer up some tips on workin' low tide. we tried moving out further and working outside weedlines...all dinks. where'd the keepers go??

Saturday, June 30th, 2012

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched the boat at high tide, found fish shallow near point with moving outgoing tide willing to take a crankbait but they all shook off for some reason, just about low tide started throwing a 5" senko with no takers, switched to a 9" senko wackey rigged and caught three fish and they all had fat bellies, they appeared to want a bigger bait that moved more water.
      City: Martinez

    • By

      Water Temp: 73+

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Wind. And a lot of it. Didnt let up at all. Also morning wasan hour or two of outgoing followed by slack tide. Worked around brannan island and adjaacent slough. I got 2 dinks in.quit early and started drinking
      City: livermore

      Tips: Buy a sailboat

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Caught a limit on spinner baits before 8:00 AM, all over 3-1/2 pounds. Not the norm but not the only time either. Fishing it like a jig, pulling it off the bank in to about 20'-25' of water. As the spinner bait action died off, I switched to a Caroline Rigged Brush Hog and had steady action until about 11:00 AM, catching another 9 fish between 2 and 3-1/2 pounds.

      Decided to troll back and caught two small steelhead on a silver Little Cleo behind flashers and a 2 oz. weight, trolling at 1.5 mpg.

      Like I said, not the norm but what a great day of fishing (and catching!). Other anglers reported good limits as well.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: On those calm mornings with clear water, keep a quiet boat, make longer casts to or on the bank, working down the drop. Work with the wind if possible. Work it slow, or if fast, lots of pauses.

Friday, June 29th, 2012

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 70-74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: This week was filled with fantastic clients from mother/son teams single guys to father/daughter teams. The wind was issue at the begining but we used it to our advantage and put it to our backs and threw blades, lipless crank baits and swim baits. When we could get out of the wind we used drop shot, dart head worms, tubes and finesse jigs as well as swim baits. We took many large mouth and small mouth but of coarse the majority were slot spots. Many 2 lb plus up to 4 lbs this week mainly on the swim baits and on the lipless crank baits. Every day was different and so we had to find out what was going to be best each day. We fished the West Branch, Norh Fork, Slot and Main Body. The best thing however, was how wonderful everyone was.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: Keep changing baits to find out what the bass want for that day. It will probably change tomorrow so be willing to change with them. This time of the year reaction baits are working. Worms always work. Colors may change even during the day. Look for shade, mud lines, trees, steep walls and ambush spots of any nature.

    • By

      Water Temp: 73-75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I was able to provide a half-day trip yesterday for a father/daughter team on an absolutely perfect weather day - not too hot and and a nice cool breeze. We fished from 6:30 to 11:30 am. We fished the middle fork only and found the bite for quality post-spawn spots to be better than expected. Her three best were spotted bass - 15 1/2, 16 and near 17 inches. We didn't weigh them - just measured them. She was very good at fishing green pumpkin Robo worms on a dart head. Dad caught several on 4 inch green pumpkin Berkley Power worms, but his biggest was 14 3/4 inches. So close!! We fished shadows for most of the morning as they are still available until around noon. That will change soon as the lake is dropping a foot a day now. I'm not sure how many they caught - over 20 for sure. They did catch a few dinks (one of her's was as big as the topwater Chug Bug she was using!! Most of their spots were over 13 inches and spitting up pond smelt. Dad even caught a small largemouth. A fun day to be a guide - great people on a great lake with great weather!! And my Ranger Z521 is a great office on the water!!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We concentrated on flats with a deep drop-off, walls in shadows, and flooded willows. I actually wish I had fished them in the willows earlier as they were full of fish - on the shadow sides. I suggest looking for structure off the bank now. The quality bass were all 20 to 30 feet deep. Clay banks with small rock were providing a lot of their bites.

Thursday, June 28th, 2012

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 73 - 76 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the custom valco "BASSBUSTER1" out of Ladd's around 9:00 a.m. and was out by 3:00 p.m. Using just the Delta Schooling Rig I caught 1 bass and 15 stripers. I started out at Big Al's (Light19) and worked my way back when I got tired of the wind.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Carry a first aid kit in your boat when you have those unexpected emergencies. There was no one around so I got to scream and yell all I wanted to while I was pulling a fish hook out of my finger.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The water clarity was clear.My mistake on report

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

      Report: disappointing...no one else has posted a report and i've seen dozens of bass boats on folsom fishing and catching and missing. makes me wonder about my brethren ... are you that insecure about your lake? if you are that good, it doesn't matter whether you share your "secrets" or not, you'll catch fish. disappointing is all i can say!
      City: sacramento

      Tips: work the points (like all these locals know) but then also use your electronics to find possible holding fish. sometimes they won't be bass. folsom is full of carp and has some schools of trout roaming this lake. if you are that good, share your knowledge. but if you are insecure and need to keep your secrets, you're not a true sportsman.

Tuesday, June 26th, 2012

    • By

      Water Temp: 78

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Mark, what does a typical 221/2 inch bass weigh at Eastman.We caught 58, with that one being the largest, split shotting Robo and Keeper worms in the 5mph area. Thanks Mark.
      City: Atwater

Monday, June 25th, 2012

    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I usually fish Black butte during the summer with my buddies and we catch some decent catfish (Grizzly flats area). Well this time i went to buckhorn campground with my family and we didn't catch a thing! Correction: i caught a pikeminnow! I had just finished reading the report below about pikeminnow and how they are taking over the lake. I had never caught a pikeminnow at black butte lake before and i never wanted to. we catch those stupid things all the time at the sac river. I hate them. Pity to see them at black butte now. Will probably continue fishing over in Grizzly flats for catfish in the near future. Good luck folks!
      City: Woodland

      Tips: New to fishing an need some tips? Experienced fishing and want to give us tips? either way, check out: http://breakingbank.blogspot.com

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71 - 75 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out of Ladd's around 8:30 a.m.and was out by 3:00 p.m. Today cuaght 13 bass and 8 stripers using a shad pattern lipless crankbait, mojo shotting zoom trick worms, and the Delta Schooling Rig (aka alabama). The stripers were nailing the Delta Schooling Rig in the main channel. When fished the rig in shallow areas (10 ft or less) in 14 Mile Slough I got many tail shots, but no hook ups. I observed shad skipping along the surface being chased so switched to my lipless crankbait to "match the hatch". Majority of the bass were dinks, but did hook a couple near 2 pounds each. I love using my little pistol grip ugly stick becuase it makes the small bass feel larger during the fight. When the sun was "high noon" I switched to mjo shotting zoom trick worms and hooked a couple better quality bass.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: If you are using 1/4 oz jig head currently on your Delta Schooling Rig and want to fish it shallow remove the back/middle jig head and replace it with a heavy-duty straight shank fliippin hook to make the swimbait wieghtless. Add some super glue to help hold the swimbait in position. This helped to fish the Delta Schooling Rig in less than 10 feet of water.

Sunday, June 24th, 2012

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Dink fest is on. 40 -50 fish (2 oz- 3.2 #) Saturday (East) and Sunday (West) morning. 2 on a spook, 5 purple blue jig, balance on a 6" Senko # 234. Thru frogs on mats and no blow ups.
      City: Sac

      Tips: Throw the 6" Senko 4/0 hook with a nail weight for some action around the tule clumps.

Saturday, June 23rd, 2012

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Saturday 6-23-12, my buddy, his son and I fished the West side of Mildred’s Track to stay out of the wind. We caught about 40 fish. A couple of them were 2½ lbs and a few were 1 -2 lbs but the rest were all dinks. Almost everything that we threw worked. Most were caught in 3 – 6 ft of water drop-shotting 6-inch RoboWorms, Texas-rigged Sweet Beavers and wacky style 5-inch Senkos. We also had a ringside seat for the Patriot Jet Team practicing over the Delta. It was fun watching some of their maneuvers right over our heads.
      City: Pinole

      Tips: It is possible to find places to fish that are protected from the wind.

Friday, June 22nd, 2012

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 73 - 75 degrees

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out of Ladd's today around 8:30 a.m. and was out by 3:00 p.m. My focus today was to just use the Delta Schooling Rig (aka alabama) and field test PLines new swimbait Kick-R Minnow. The morning started out nice point hopping the main channel until it got to windy to stay out in the channel. Then ran for cover in 14 Mile Slough. Using the Delta Schooling Rig I ran into a school of stripers in front of Wind Mill Cove, but was not able to hook my first LM Bass on it yet. Experiencing the rate of fall with 1/4 oz jig heads I diffinatly need to find some 1/8 oz or less so it can be worked in shallower water.

      Later I switched to casting PLines New Kick-R Minnow swimbaits which are about to hit the market. I really like the swimming action and color patterns that were given to me to feild test for Team IF. I was having fun junk fishing for stripers and LM Bass.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: The bass were feeding on the windy side of banks today.

Thursday, June 21st, 2012

  • Plumas County
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      Water Temp: 68*

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: First time on the lake and tried to crack the code!fished from 7:30 to 7:30 p.m. I started on the south east end of the lake. I was throwing a Stacy 90 in the hitch pattern had one small hit didn't commit. so I moved to the north east end of the lake and the wind picked up hard had 2 1/2ft swells it got rough yet I didn't quit. I moved to the North West side and started throwing a spinner in the chartreuse and white pattern caught a couple one an half pounders. I decide to move back South and start drop shoting my Atomic Custom Baits in an Autumn rose and desert rose color. Wow what a day changer I must of caught 20 to 25 fish on this little custom hand pour bait by Atomic Custom Baits. my best 5 weight 11.8 lbs all smallies and good fighters
      City: carson city

      Tips: drop shoting in 10 to 15 ft look for deep water access on to rocky flats! I didn't really get to fish the north end yet if I would have up is perfect for spinners right now.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Weather report said 9 mph in the morning. They lied. I'm guessing 25 mph+ everywhere. Me and the other 3 basser's around N.Vic Is. fished as much out of the wind as possible. I used my anchor much of the day. Done by 11:00. Caught a limit. 3.5# largest. The rest were under 2#'s. Tried everything but they would only soft bite a green lizard. Caught all in 3' to 6' water. Big ones on Lowrance at 15', so drop shot might have worked but that's where the wind was.

      Tips: If you can't laugh at fishing in this ridiculous wind then you should probably stay home.