Submit
Report

Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Sunday, May 27th, 2012

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I should have heeded Larry Hemphill's warning!! Unfortunately, I had already rented a house on the lake for the weekend. So we made the best of it. It was so windy and at times rainy; I only took the boat out on one day (Sunday). We managed 1 spawned out 4Lb Bass. However, we did manage to nail some hefty Catfish from the shore (12Lb, 10Lb, and 9Lb. All on Nightcrawlers.
      City: W.Sac

      Tips: Locals say gotta use minnows now. Question: Where are the Bluegills???

Saturday, May 26th, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Download all as zip





      Great day on Berryessa, little chill in the morning, with a question mark on the afternoon weather coming, started at the mouth of the narrows by the dam picking up 3 kings got slow so we moved to the lower main lake and it was non stop action on kings to 5 lbs and trout from 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 lbs. By 2:30 had 9 kings and 6 bows from 17 to 22 in trolling Lyman lures from 37 to 61 ft for both. Got off the lake just as the rain started.

      pic 1 is Jack Harmon of Sacramento with his 5 lbr
      pic 2 is Jack Harmon of Sac on Left and Chuck Soden of Carmichael on right

      Captain Bill
      City: sac

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of whiskey, got there befor sunup few on top water then it was on for me and my buddy every cast or every other caught a fish.Used Bill Dance Bomber Bama Shad.Died out about 11:30 then we targed over hanging trees with shadows.Most fish 2.lbs. 3.lbs and bigest one was 4.lbs.all total 41 boated 11 lost.
      City: Redwood city

      Tips: crankbait in spars tullys at top of incoming tide

Friday, May 25th, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at first light from Putah. Caught a 3.5lber from the launch ramp on a spook. Went straight across to the ranch house and fished the willow trees. Caught 4 fish from 6-9 feet on spinnerbait, cali swim jig, and nice 3.5lber on spook. Headed back up Putah, one dink on a senko by standing timber. Moved out closer to bridge and found the magic cove. Caught all the fish on crank baits in 6-9 feet half way back the cove, fishing the banks at 45 degree angles. Speed trap did the trick. 5 Biggest fish went 21lbs. 25 total fish. Finished day fishing willows by buoys on way out of putah before the bridge. Fun day. Caught all 3 species of bass. 4 biggest were all LM.
      City: Fairfield

      Tips: Depth was key. Running a pattern eliminated a lot of useless water. I think we could have stayed and caught them all day running our pattern.

    • By

      Water Temp: 69-72

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I guide a great father/son team Friday in very different weather conditions than Monday's trip. Chilly, windy, cloudy w/some sprinkles. Fishing was slower and the bass were smaller - though each of them caught a nice 2 1/2 lb spotted bass. We also caught a few largemouth about 2 lbs each. The son had just moved out here from Illinois and was experiencing beautiful Berryessa for the first time. Dad wished he had moved too!!! It would have been nice if the hills were still green, but brown has set in!! I took them out to see the main lake after fishing the narrows most of the time and we fished a few spots with no luck. Unlike Monday, the afternoon bite died! Morning bite was ok. Bass all seems to have spawned by now.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We used Robo worms most of the time since they were working the best and I knew they could get bit in some tough conditions. Most bites were from 8 to 20 feet on rock structure - some on-shore and some off-shore. I brought a lot of topwater baits but we never used them. It was very cold at 7 am and thought the worms would be best for action. Morning dawn/chartreuse tail was the best color, followed by MMIII. The cold weather kept the lake pretty quite - only saw 3 wake-board boats! What a shame!!!!

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Took two of my cousins fishing today dude never touched afish before cuz never cought more than 1 fish or what ever 29 bass later they have 5lbs PB and a great limi t of fish each they are ruined it was windy fished 6am to 130 with lunch and pic break all fish on rubber I landed ban 8.3 that made them go crazy it was great taking a newbs fishing great time delta on fire
      City: Grants pass Oregon

      Tips: Fish hard trust your indicts lots of fish out there

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 69.0

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Sunday thru Wednesday. Good top water bite on Zara spook early and late on primary shallow points. Later went to plastics on same and in cover. Biggest 3# spot, 2# smallie.
      City: Redding

      Tips: Windy points best

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Just back from clear lake off the hook call Richard pounds killer guide learn killer water for life anyway started at 5 in secret spot ha ha bagged little limit in 10cast then made a re pass bam bob 5.5 nick 6.0 bob 4.0 nick3.75 it was on then wanted to fish other spots wind wind wind hate fishing used water lincoln vill west but lunch was good called it day
      City: Grants pass

      Tips: Stay out of the wind. 1spinnerbait fish rest rubber

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.