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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Thursday, May 10th, 2012

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70-73

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tried North Fork with crank baits around submerged boulders in the 5 mph zones. Picked up a couple of dink spots. Headed for NY Creek and fished trees with Senkos and got a few 2-3# spots as well as one on shorelines with crank bait (that fish was kind of beat up looking). Moved to Jack's Shack and got a 2# large in the trees. There are so many Carp up there it's crazy. Ended the day with a good late afternoon bite working the shoreline by Mormon Dam 12-15 depth casting to shoreline and in the trees with cranks. Mixture of spots and smallies ranging from 2-3#. Big fish was a 3.4 spot on crank bait.
      City: EDH

      Tips: Watermelon/Lemon Senkos and gold rip/crank baits got us our fish today, about 15 total. No big fish but a fun day on the water!

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Bite is easy unless you are looking for keepers. Lots of dinks on senko so moved to jig and brushhog. managed some larger fish in about 10 to 15 feet of water with the largest at 3.5lb. Covered a ton of water and found the best fish off points in the Sac arm.
      Ended the day with 12 keepers, with 9 off jig and 3 off brushhog. Best 5 at maybe 12lb.

      Tips: As you would expect they wanted a bit of movement, so no need to dead stick. Bites were agressive and most of the fish seemed to have spawned out.

Wednesday, May 9th, 2012

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70-72

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched from Ladds around 4:30ish...I'm thinking the gentleman I had a conversation with at the launch ramp was the "Valco Bass Buster"..or its captain :-)
      It was a pleasure to meet you!
      I tied 10 rods with a mix of finesse, reaction, topwater. Headed to Tiki lagoon area and fished the point from Empire cut to the bridge on Turner cut. boated 3 keepers to 2.5lb using Senkos watermelon with black flake (194). Motored to Whiskey Slough and fished my favorite points started with speed traps..caught about 6 nothing over 12"..pitched 5" senko black with blue flake zero bites.went to a brush hog watermelon/red flake..zero.back to the Senko (wacky) caught about 6 more again nothing over 2 lbs. off the water by 8:30..overall a fun day catching fish. Dissapointed in the size but happy with the qty.
      City: Ripon

      Tips: Keep a senko rod on deck...If the toads aren't biting get there children too...:-/

    • By

      Water Temp: 68 - 73 degrees

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out of Ladd's today at 10:00 a.m. and was out by 4:30 p.m. Eight bass today fishing in Disappointment Slough. All my bass today were caught on 6" red Senko wacky rigged, Snag Proof Frogs, and California Swimming Jig w/5" RoboWorm Easy Shad swimbait as a trailer. Also had a few blow-ups on my Zara Spook, but missed the sets. Fish were holding close to shady areas and docks. The frog bass came from isolated patches of cheese around points. The swim jig bass were cuaght along the outside weed line of the main slough in 10 - 12 feet of water. The senko bass were cuaght along shady areas and around the docks.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Look for heavy cover or shaded areas. Top water bite wanted a slow presentation around points with deeper water near by.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62 to 64

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Lots of fish are being caught around the willow trees on weightless senkos and tubes on 1/8 oz. heads and flukes. Look for a topwater bite first thing in the morning and late afternoons on super spooks and poppers over main and secondary points
      City: Shasta Lake

      Tips: Senkos in Baby Bass, Natural Shad and smoke purple flake. Spooks in okie shad and bone white and poppers in baby bass, bone white and silver blue.

Tuesday, May 8th, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72-74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Finally fished some stable weather and wife and I got into spots and a few largemouth. Never left the Narrows.

      Water is up nicely. 10 feet from full! A lot of trees in the water...it rocks. Could not get the reaction bite going in the trees...but they wanted plastics! Only problem was 6" dinks would hit it every third cast, if not every cast (not kidding). Berryessa had a hell of a spawn last year....but ever so often a big one would hit...lady got a nice 3.0 lb spot! Had quite a few 2 lbers follow in the a jerkbait but would not commit. Saw some 3+ lbers swimming around, but they would not hit anything. Berryessa is missing a class of fish...not as many 15" & 16"ers as there should be (I think a lot of lakes in same situation with the recent drought).

      I caught my biggest on small swimbait late in evening...a nice 2.5 lb spot.

      Water is in the perfect low 70's.

      Water clarity: stained to clear depending on where at.
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: I think topwater would have worked. A lot of fish rising, but did not have any in the boat. I already have 13 tackle boxes on board...looks like I need to make room for more (or leave a few behind, probably the smarter thing to do).

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 65-67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Sorry - but here is another report!! Mike Sperbeck has been working hard and needed a fishing break and asked me to go with him Monday afternoon and night. Still recovering from the last 4 days there, I agreed to be his net man!! And I was a good net man - helping him have a terrific night with several 4's, a 5-2, 6-1, 7-6 and an 8-1 - In THAT order!! And his eight wasn't spawned out like my 8-3 was last week. My biggest was only 5 1/4, but that's ok. We landed around 25 bass while we each lost a big one. Our limit, (Mike-4, me-1) was 31 1/4 lbs. Bass up to the 5 pounders were caught in the afternoon/evening. Fishing was dead for about 2 hours after dark, then turned on with all the big fish.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We looked for weed-free hard bottoms to work our jigs, Berkley Havoc baits, and brush hogs. Senkos were "on" again this trip before dark. The two 5 pounders were on Senkos. I threw the D&M swim jig a fair amount after dark - but no takers. Most bass were 5 to 10 feet and close to the bank. We fished all over the ClearLake arm.

Monday, May 7th, 2012

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64 - 71 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out of Ladd's today around 6:30 a.m. and was off the water by 4:30 p.m. Fished 14 Mile Slough as far north as I could until I got tired of the wind. Cuaght a total of 18 bass today. Red craw Bomber Crankbait first thing in the morning during the high tide. Then switched to flipping a 7" Senko on a 7/0 Owner hook and cuaght a cuople. Moving farther north while out going tide was dropping I flipping, pitching, and punching Strike King tubes and jigs around tules and riprap. Majority fish cuaght during this time were in the calmer pockets. Then got tired of the wind and started fishing marinas sight fishing with a wacky rigged Zoom Trick worm.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: During the windy conditions look for calm pockets or just try to find a calm area to fish like marinas or behind tule islands.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Productive day. Picked up plenty in the 1# range so switched to jigs. Jig fish size improved and started catching in the 2 to 3.5# range. Slow drag darter head was also showing bigger fish off points. Ended the day with 10 fish over 2lb and did not count the clones.

      Tips: As the previous post mentions there are fish to had with slow fall baits on structure. These fish are mostly Shasta clones in the 1# range. For bigger fish try jigs off rocky ledges and points. Best color for me was wtmln red flake and green pumpkin. Darter head was holo shad

Sunday, May 6th, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 65.6

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: My son and daugther in law got to the lake early Friday morning and were on the water fishing before I got there. The fish were biting like crazy they said and they landed a limit of trout and a limit of bass. I arrived at the lake around 4:30 PM and they picked me up at the dock. There was hardly any wind all day but as we set out the wind picked up. My son brougth me to one of his favorite spots and we trolled the area. We headed towards a group of birds in about 90 feet of water and I hooked up with a trout. The wind was getting stronger so we decided to head in and call it a day. Little did we realize it would get worse. Saturday morning my buddy Albert and I headed out hoping for a productive day of fishing. I had planned to make my first stop the vineyards but as soon as we headed into the main body of the lake we saw the white caps and had to change our plans. I decided to head to the back of Capell Cove and hoped it was sheltered from the wind. We fished there for a couple of hours just to pass the time thinking that the wind would subside and we could get to our goal but it was not to be. My son called me and said that he was in the back of Spanish Flats and the water was pretty calm there and for me to join him. Getting there was no easy task but we made it and just in time for lunch. We tried to fish from the shoreline and were getting nowhere. I made up my mind that I was going to make it to the vineyards and Albert and my son's friend Dan said they were coming too. We trolled around the cove till we reached the main water and it looked like the ocean on a bad day. The wind was blowing against the way to the vineyards so we trolled with the wind in the opposite direction. Dan landed a nice trout and a bass under 4 pounds. Albert landed a trout. I still had my mind set to get to the vineyards so we took a vote and off we went. It took quite awhile to get there but we made it. But after all that I couldn't control the boat enough to allow us to fish safely so we headed back home which was a much easier ride because we were going with the white caps. Sunday I took out my friend Patrick and his wife Janet and started trolling right after we launched the boat within seconds Patrick got a bite and landed a good size trout using a PK lure. He was thrilled. The main lake was choppy again and we knew it would be a short day. Didn't have much luck after that and headed in early. Considering the weather I think it was a great fishing weekend (see photos). 'til next time...........................................................................................................good fishing!!!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333. If you are interested in booking a guided trip now is the time.
      City: Napa

      Tips: I still belive the spawn is on,next week you should see fry in the lake.the girls should be in post spawn mode.that was a super moon friday and saturday.Ninfola

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66-67

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Great morning at the delta! Launched out of Russos and ran around a bit. It's was windy, but not too bad. First fish 20 mins in on topwater it was 4lbs post spawn, skinny fish that should have weighed 5+ easy. About 30 mins after that picked up a 3.5 on a chatter bait, same story huge head should have been 4+. Ran around some more and found a rock wall with tulles, pitched a jig and picked up a giant, thought she went close to 7 and turns out a 5.3. She had massive eye too, but once again post spawn. Couldn't really lock on to a pattern other than they were feeding on pretty much anything. Bite shut down for a few hours when the tide switched and then we fished Franks and picked up a bunch of 1-1.5's. Seen some bed fish patrolling and couldn't get them to commit. All in all good day.
      City: Delta

      Tips: Fish the sloughs like you would if it were the summer and you'll do fine.

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Shad were up in huge numbers today. Netted some and had decent size fish all morning 3 lbs+ on all them.
      City: Ventura, CA

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Saturday afternoon 1-4 we caught at least 35.
      Sunday morning 7-11: at least 50.
      City: Lancaster

      Tips: Tubes 1-2 ft. from the bank, let it fall until it stops, set the hook.

    • By

      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took two friends fishing today one is a fly guy, the other a salmon guy, first time ether had fished Oroville, Salmon fisherman boated 100+ with 8 over 15" 2.25 to 3.5 lbs, Fly Guy
      boated 50+ with 6 over 15" 2.25 to 3.0 lbs. I spent most of the day be a deck hand and net boy, can't tell you how much fun it is to see friends have a fishing day of a life time.

      Tips: Take a friend fishing, nows the time to go Oroville is on fire.
      All fish caught on tubes in 5 to 25 feet.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: For those who may have remembered Jerry's postings a few years back,. He passed on May 6th. Jerry loved Shasta Lake and enjoyed sharing his knowledge. At the drop of a hat he would often drop what he was doing to show other fisherman around. He is missed by his family and friends.
      City: Redding

      Tips: Toss a line and catch a big one next time you are out there.

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62 - 66

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started fishing around 11:00am leaving from the Yorty launch ramp. Decided to fish the main lake near Loggers and Homestead Camps instead of the Cherry Creek arm. Caught at least twenty fish, probably more than half were smallmouth bass. I even caught two Squawfish on crankbaits. The water was very clear but several shoreline areas were muddied-up in the afternoon from boat traffic and wind waves. Biggest fish was a smallmouth around two-and-a-half pounds and a largemouth about the same size. Although the average fish wasn't as large as a couple weeks ago, the beautiful weather and the high number of fish I caught more than made up for the smaller size.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: I don't think very many, if any, of the fish I caught were nesting. Every fish I caught was on crankbaits and drop-shot, wacky rigged, Senkos. Earlier in the day, a fat ghost minnow crankbait with a 3' - 5' dive was productive. (Great crankbait when Lake Sonoma is very clear.) Once the sun got high and hot, I was only catching fish on a baby bluegill crankbait with an 8' dive. The Senko was productive throughout the day. The fish usually grabbed it on the sink or after the fist bounce. 5" baby bass was the best color. Don't avoid the off-color water! More than half of my fish and almost all of the smallmouth were in the dirty water.

Saturday, May 5th, 2012

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 60-65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Nobody at the lake today. It's time to be out. 50 fish today with a nice 5+ pounder as big fish. Mostly on wacky rig.
      City: Reno

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63-65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I am a tired but happy guide!! I just finished guiding Joe Scalzo and his son Eric Cavanagh - both from Arizona. We did 2 night trips and 2 day trips - Wed thru Sat. The night trips were amazing and the day trips good - in spite of some heavy wind. I fished one night with both of them and one with Eric. In a nutshell, Wed night produced 24 bass up to 8 lbs 3 oz and a limit over 28 lbs. The next night gave us 30 bass with a limit slightly over 24 lbs, but nothing over 5 1/4 lbs. The day trips were shorter with a lot of sight fishing. Fri at the north end in rough seas, Eric caught 4 up to 4 3/4 lbs (lost a nice frog fish!) and today father and son caught 10 up to 4 lbs in the Oaks arm. I had fun today just watching and teaching. Eric ran the Minn Kota 101 most of the 4 days. Most of our night fishing was all of Konocti Bay and day fishing up north and in the Oaks arm. The night bite was good most of the time but the big bass were caught around midnight to 1 am. Overall, the water is quite clear all over the lake.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Some of my new favorite baits are the Berkely Havoc series. The 8-3 and a 6 were caught on a green pumpkin Havoc "Craw Fatty." Father/son were mostly using brush hogs until Eric fell in love with the "Fatty"! His 4 3/4 pounder up north Friday afternoon was caught deep in tulles on the Fatty. They mostly were drop-shotting their baits and that proved to be very effective. Senkos and worms didn't work real well for us these days. Ah! Tomorrow - sleep!!!!

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66 to 69

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Lots of tournament action this weekend ABA had one out of Fleming. I don't know how many boats... around 30 maybe. We fished on the other end just to stay out of the way and found a lot of action of our own. We caught a lot of fish on dropshot 2lb average and topwater which got me my biggest of the day, 5lber. Saw a few cruising but nothing big or locked on beds.Goodtime to be on the water. Goodluck!
      City: Bay Area

      Tips: Fish your basic colors, greens, purples and shad pattern topwater. 5 to 25 feet worked for us.composition

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: Mid 60s

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Changed the clarity to reflect reality
      City: Chico