Submit
Report

Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70-74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I had an unusual guide trip at Berryessa - on a Monday (not my favorite day to guide) and hours from 1 pm to 9 pm. One was a favorite client who caught an 8-2 last fall with me at Clear Lake and his friend who says he wasn't a very good bass fisherman - but still did very well!! As we motored out of Markley Cove, I told them the bite should pick up around 5 pm. Boy, did I look like a fool about an hour later!! We got on a rockpile in the narrows about 2:30 pm and the bite was on!!! This lasted about an hour and held up so long because of a pretty stiff wind. Surprisingly - most were largemouth up to near 4 lbs. Lots of smallies too and very few spots on the whole trip, though both clients caught spots to near 3 lbs. I took them out to the main body later in the afternoon so they could see it, but it was too rough to go far. We ending the evening in Wragg Canyon where we had a few small hits on topwater, but it really didn't happen. We landed about 30 keeper bass and a few dinks for the trip, with a limit around 14 1/2 lbs. Not bad for post-spawn, post weekend, and the weather conditions. Nearly every fish was no deeper than 15-18 feet.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: The bite was best for us using 6" Robo worms - some bit off to 5". I am doing that more and more. Instead of using a 4 1/2" worm, I use a 6" and bite a little off. That worked great at Lake Almanor last week. A little more bulk in a smaller target. As summer rolls on and into fall, I go with the full 6" Robo. While we found several bass in the backs of coves, most had moved out closer to the main body - on points and broken rock flats. Best color, by far, as it was at Almanor, the morning dawn/chartreuse tail. I guess that color will never get old!! I might mention that the less experienced client really understood what the smallies liked. Almost every fish he caught was a smallie! Most of the others caught by the other fella and me were largemouth. I tried to get something going with crankbaits - nothing doing.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Shortest trip in years!! After towing to the lake, talking to my clients for half an hour, and towing home - about 3 1/2 hours, including a quick stop at McDonalds!! Been several years since I felt the lake was too dangerous to go out. Last night it was!! Ugly!!! I would like to keep my new Z521 in ONE piece, as well as my clients and me!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Wind can be nasty in May. Be careful!!

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the Narrows in the afternoon into the evening. Most of the water was heavily stained due to the high winds yesterday...Fishing was slow...a little reaction bite the last hour. Plastics did not work that well during the day...

      One of the slower days I've a Berryessa for this time of year. I think the front put the fish down...the heavy stain did not help (worse I have seen in May)...
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: Don't go after a large wind storm during a front...

      We found the fish in the clearish water we could find...

Monday, May 21st, 2012

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched outta Windmill at 6 am. was off the water by noon because of the wind. I did manage to pull out 8 fish all on a Senko before the wind. They hit watermelon w/ red and black flake or watermelon w/ gold flake. Biggest fish went 5-6 but I lost him right at the boat,because my partner missed him with the net, but thats fishing. Biggest fish I got my hands on was 4lbs. All fish were caught out of the current on the backside of tullie islands.... on another note I took my buddy out on the 18th and we were able to break his P.B. with an 8 pound 14 ounce hog on a Weightless Senko. Good luck they're out there.
      City: Stockton

    • By

      Water Temp: 69 - 74 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out Ladd's today around 8:30 a.m. and was out by 2:30 p.m. Windy conditions today forced me to focus on reaction baits only back in 14 Mile Slough. A total of 12 fish (junk fishing) with cranks and spinnerbaits.
      City: Stockton

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went back to Sonoma and fished the same cove at the "S" turns as we did last week. Its the cove with the floating bathroom.
      No fish on drop shots this week. tried for an hour or so and did not get bit. tried the super spook around wood with no takers.
      Put on a speed trap and started catching fish. In fact we salvaged what looked like was going to be a Slonoma evening.
      we caught about 20 fish in the last two hours of light. Only a few were keepers with nothing over two pounds. It was still fun catching fish on a weeknight.
      City: Petaluma

      Tips: points. secondary points were the best. no fish were seen or caught in the back 1/3 of the cove. best action was on the north bank of the cove where the road bed comes in.

Sunday, May 20th, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71-74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 6am to 3pm in the north end. spooks early caught two nice 3 pounders. Chatter bait lost a nice 5 pounder at the boat then nothin for a few hours using small swim baits and drop shots. Had 4 or 5 on cranks short strike. Then we tried the rocky west banks in 5 to 12 feet of water and had 2 pounders,three cast in a row and by the time we left we had a total of 15 bass using that method. caught all those fish on 4 inch robo in baby bass.
      City: Napa

    • By

      Water Temp: 74.5 to 75.9

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: We went back again last night 6 pm til 12:30 am we had 27 bass the four biggest
      5 1/2, 4 1/2, 4, 3 1/2 the rest were in the 1 to 2 pound range we use rico's and pro pop r's and 1/4oz bullet head jigs/4" yamamoto 208 twin tail grub trailers again it was windy again early but layed down at dark we caught all of are fish in two areas and we were in 4 to 20 feet of water the bigger fish were all off of one point.
      City: madera

      Tips: 1/8oz or 1/4oz jigs and 4" twin tail grub trailers we caught alot of the bass the last two by swimming the 1/4oz bullet head jig fishing them slow and bumping the bottom im using spinning outfits 6'6" med heavy rods and 8 lbs maxima line. the 1/8oz jig is more finesse it also worked but swimmin that 1/4oz bullet work better

    • By

      Water Temp: warm

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: waters warm, fish are active and aggressively feeding. off the beds and hungry they are. go out and catch some fatties

      Tips: work thick cover

Saturday, May 19th, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 69.5 to 75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Download all as zip




      It was another perfect weekend at the lake. Saturday morning I headed out with Albert and Peter for what I hoped would be a productive day of fishing. The first stop we made was in one of my favorite spots near the narrows but we had no bites at all. I tried another spot further into the narrows and it paid off big time. Peter's first catch was a double hookup on the same lure. It surprised us all. Two nice bass. We fished the area for a little while and Peter landed another bass. We had discussed going to the vineyards and decided to head that way now. We trolled along the shoreline in about 15 feet of water and picked up a few trout and bass along the way no size to speak of. We reached the vineyards and my favorite spot and started out in around 6 feet of water throwing plastic worms and drifting into shallower water between 2.5 and 3 feet. When I hit my marker I went from 2.5 feet to 30 feet in a straight line very slowly with my automatic pilot on. All of us used "Procure" scent on our bait and it seemed to be doing a good job. I told Peter to reel in his line and he asked me why and I said you have a fish and sure enough he had a nice bass. I did the same drift again and this time Albert thought he was stuck but realized he had a big fish. I was sure he had a 14 pound or bigger bass Peter thought he was stuck in a log but Albert said a log doesn't wiggle. After at least fifteen minutes of fighting this fish on eight pound test line he proved me and Peter both wrong he landed a 16 pound catfish on a senko worm with "Procure" crawdad scent (see photo). He was thrilled with a smile from ear to ear. Good job Albert!!! 'til next week.......................good fishing!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or would like to share any fishing stories please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
      City: Napa

      Tips: use scents

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took wifey to the Bar. Started out with reaction lures. Foul hooked a 1 pounder on a Rip Bait. Could not find the big ones. We fished the dam and the water falls. We eneded up downsizing to Grubs. We caught 7 between the two of us. Nothing over a pound and a half. Nice day all in all we traveled far up the river arm. We went so far that my temp gauge read as low as 54 degrees!! e considered trout fishing naaaaah.
      City: W. Sac

      Tips: Met an angler with a $60,000 Ranger Boat and House boat at the docks. He stated that the big Hens are nesting in the Main Lake at 15 to 20 feet deep. He caught some on Senkos.

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished BBT tourney. Fish were on main lake points and shallow. We caught most on shad plastics. Other teams caught on a variety of techniques.

    • By

      Water Temp: 73.9 to 75.5

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Friday night fishing it was outstanding again bass form 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds in depths of 4 to 21 feet. It was windy early but layed down after dark. We fished from 6:30pm til 12:30am the early bite til it got dark was big rico's and pro pop r's the top water bite even in the wind was good.But the best bite was form 8:30 til 12:30 1/4oz bullet head jigs (eastman special)/yamamoto 4" twin tail grubs trailers And 1/4oz bullet head jigs/baby brushogs ( junebug ) we end up with 48 bass.
      City: madera ca

      Tips: Points Long flats Isolated rock piles Isolated brush piles all were holding bass

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Another 100-fish day per client. This is the time to get out on Lake Oroville and have some fun. Almost all of the lake is fishing great. The guys I had out yesterday were pretty excited about the action. It was non stop!! Tubes, senkos and blades all worked well but almost anything would work.
      City: Paradise

Friday, May 18th, 2012

  • Plumas County
    • By

      Water Temp: 61-64

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I fished this beautiful lake from Tues evening to Thurs evening - early and late in the day. My long-time fishing buddy Rick Tietz, founder and owner of Blade Runner Tackle, fished with me all day on Wed. We really had a terrific day, lake was flat until 3 pm and we mostly sight-fished 65+ smallies up to 3 lbs 2 oz. No monsters. I mostly used morning dawn/chartreuse tail 6" Robo worms, and we both used the 2 3/4" Basstrix Flashtrix minnow with a drop-shot rig. That was really the top bait. We fished most of the east shore on the south end of the lake. Tues evening I fished Big Cove on to the west and caught 10 from 2 1/4 to 3 lbs 5 oz, and some smaller ones. Most were caught on morning dawn Robo worms and a few on green pumpkin Berkley Havoc Baits. Those fish were all caught on or around the private boat docks. Thursday was very cloudy and windy but improved about 6 pm. I again fished the east shore and caught about 14-15 smallies up to near 3 lbs, but most were 1 1/2 to 2 lbs. Most all bass during the 3 days were spawning or had spawned.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: I found a lot of smallies hitting crankbaits just before dark on the 2 warmer evenings - not Thursday evening. Most of those fish were smaller. Most of the fish caught during the 3 days were on shallow flats near shore or on flats a little off-shore. Not much action on walls.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: took a good friend of mine out from Diamond Springs. It was one of those great days on the Delta. Several 4lb fish all day. The top water bite was on for a couple of hours throwing my favorite twitch bait a floating rapala. A long forgotten lure but still in my opinion catches Monster fish!
      Afternoon time switched over to plastics. My friend caught his PB a 7lb beauty.
      left him at the boat ramp around 3:30.
      call the wife to come out for the evening bite. Took some time to relax at the marina until the evening. Evening bite was on my wife nailed her PB an 11lb beauty 26"long 19.5" girth quite a beauty. All fish were caught on wacky rigged senkos the fish were eating that bait up.
      Packed up for the evening. Another fine day on World Class Water right here in my back yard.
      City: tracy

      Tips: Fish and have fun you will have good days and tough days that have you scratchin your head wonderin where the heck have all the fish gone.
      That's the Delta. Absolutely Perfect!

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: took a good friend of mine out from Diamond Springs. It was one of those great days on the Delta. Several 4lb fish all day. The top water bite was on for a couple of hours throwing my favorite twitch bait a floating rapala. A long forgotten lure but still in my opinion catches Monster fish!
      Afternoon time switched over to plastics. My friend caught his PB a 7lb beauty.
      left him at the boat ramp around 3:30.
      call the wife to come out for the evening bite. Took some time to relax at the marina until the evening. Evening bite was on my wife nailed her PB an 11lb beauty 26"long 19.5" girth quite a beauty. All fish were caught on wacky rigged senkos the fish were eating that bait up.
      Packed up for the evening. Another fine day on World Class Water right here in my back yard.
      City: tracy

      Tips: Fish and have fun you will have good days and tough days that have you scratchin your head wonderin where the heck have all the fish gone.
      That's the Delta. Absolutely Perfect!

    • By

      Water Temp: 66 - 69 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the Custom Valco "BASSBUDSTER1" out of Ladd's today about 8:30 a.m. and was off the water by 12 noon. With the crazy wind I decided to "camp it out" in the sailboat club. Cuaght 8 bass today with best 5 going about 15 lbs and big fish was 4.5lbs. Using wacky rigged senkos and zoom tricks worms I found the bass holding tight to the shady areas of the docks (in weed pockets preferred). Pitched the senkos and trick worms into open holes of weed pockets(darker the pocket the better). Set my trolling motor as shallow as I can and speed was set to high the whole time to cut through all the weeds going from dock to dock. The 4.5 pounder came on my spinning rod with the trick worm and 8 lb test flouracarbon line, almost lost her in the thick weeds, and she hadn't spawned yet.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Get out of the wind the best you can and fish protected areas. Wish I had the cameras today, would have been a cool video shoot.

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72 - 74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Friday, 5/18/12 was a beautiful day with air temperature in the high 70s and water temperature in Cherry Creek, where we fished all day, was 72 - 74°. At times, there was little to no wind. We caught a good quantity of fish with my buddy and I each catching at least 25 fish. The fish weren’t large, with only one greater than 3 lbs and few between 2 and 3 lbs. Most were in the 1 lb to 2 lb range and perhaps 10 dinks. The fish were caught mostly casting drop-shot rigged 6-inch Roboworms and wacky-rigged 4-inch Senkos also drop-shot style. Multiple colors were used but we had most success on colors that were red or purple like MM. Only Baby Bass colored Senko were used. We also caught a couple of fish on a small 4-inch swim bait and a Bass Assassin. I did try casting top water baits to stumps with the hope that some big female was below guarding her fry but had no success. Most fish were caught in 5 to 10 ft of water around entrances to cuts and along drop-offs on flats. As it got later in the day where there were shadows on the water, the fish were moving shallower. No fish were caught way back in cuts. During the day, we saw only a couple of fish still on beds. We also saw two large clouds (schools) of fry around stumps. Last year about this time, there were many more schools of fry. Hopefully the spawn is better than what I have seen so far. There were also multiple balls of what I assume are shad. These “shad” were from two to three inches long and were schooled in balls as large as 6 ft across. If anybody knows what these small fish are, please let us know.
      City: Pinole

      Tips: If you are on the lake early in the morning or late in the evening, campers had told us that the top water bait is very good.

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 69

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Picked up one fish early in the morning on top water with a bone colored spook (couple more swirls but no hook ups). Than started pitching a senko (watermalon with black and red flake, 6in) to tule pockets - not a lot of bites but all good ones (best was a nice 5.75lbs). When the wind got to strong for the senko, I started throwing a white spinnerbait. They were eating it pretty good right before the tide bottom out. After that the bite stopped and I hadded back in.
      City: W Sacramento