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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Saturday, April 21st, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66-70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I guided a great client on Friday - wanting to learn more about spring fishing on this beautiful lake. The trip is really about what we saw rather than what we caught, although we caught several nice bass. We never made it to the main body because fishing was so good in the narrows. We landed 16 to 18 bass with a good limit around 15 lbs - mostly largemouth to 3 1/2 lbs. The fun part was watching the monster largemouth cruising around in about 2 to 4 feet of water. They were very spooky and would not touch anything. All the bed fish we saw were 2 to 4 pounders. Watching big fish and sight-fishing the smaller ones made for a fun day. A brown Blade Runner jig with a chartreuse Yamamoto grub trailer was my bait and he brought his own stuff and was using something similiar. Most of our action was early in a very warm afternoon. Early morning bite was kinda slow.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Water is quite clear in the lower part of the lake with lots of cover now under water. I heard the lake was a zoo today so that will probably hurt the visibility. Drop-shotting bright colored baits like Basstrix minnows, Senkos, or fishing jigs will all work for sight fishing. Please release everything immediately or right after a photo. This will help the tournament problem during the spawn!

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Temp: 66-70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Algae bloom starting to show with the warm weather.
      The bass are in 10' or less.
      The bite is great.
      Nothing very large today, but good #'s on both smallies and LMB.
      City: Ventura

      Tips: Fished split-shot robo
      4.5" curly hologram shad all day.
      Pulled 17 fish out in the 1.5 to 3.5 lb range.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: Upper 60's

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Whisky and Mildred Island an hour into outgoing tide in am. Slow start with senkos, differnt cranks, and then I switched to a Bomber Crank in Apple Red Crawdad and it was ON! Not many biggies, mostly dinks and a bunch in the 1.5-2.5 lb range and a couple solid 3's. Wasn't getting much off the tules, but when I started working the rip-rap it was on! Fish were in about 5-7 ft of water and they were hitting about 5-10 ft off the shoreline.

      First cast with the bomber - fish on! Second cast over the same area - fish on! I worked the same area for 3 passes and pulled 8 fish in 20 minutes. Maybe 20 casts in all... Moved on as it started to slow - threw the same bomber and seemed to connect only off the rip-rap or on rip-rap and tule edges. Tide dropped to much to crank so I switched to a Sweet Beaver in California 4:20 and pitched to tule pockets. I was getting better fish with this - about 4 more over the next 2 hours then called it quits.
      City: Sunnyvale

    • By

      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Started in Whites got one 4lber and a 2lber on the tule islands, moved to Mildred got a some small ones, seen some giants patroling a small area so we pulled off the area anf fished it back and fourth but couldnt get em to go, left there hit an oxbow off thw main channel and got some top water fish best going 5lbs.
      City: Modesto

      Tips: Bite seemed to be tough today, we spent too much time on that group of big fish we seen. Was throwing sencos and jigs, low tide throwing frogs and buzzbait, biggest fish came off the frog, smallest fish off the buzzbait.

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Lake Oroville today, lots of fun. Fishing is starting to turn on. Fished the South fork and main body of the lake. Caught 20-30 fish with the usual Senkos and Roboworms(biggest a three plus lb largemouth). We caught fish anywhere from the bank to twenty feet deep. Lastly would like to thank Bass tackle depot in Oroville for setting us up with the tackle for the day.
      City: Oroville, CA

      Tips: Fish the submerged trees. Practice caught and release.

Friday, April 20th, 2012

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 59-68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Left Markley at 6:30 AM. Immediately went to main lake, east side. Slow bite at first; 58 degree water. By the end of the day, water temp reached high sixties. The bite took off! 14 fish boater, 7 over 5 lbs. Soft plastic worms, wacky rigged was most effective. Fish caught in shallow water, 3-8 feet. Best 5 just under 30. Huge fish cruising everywhere. Berryessa is seriously my choice above Clear Lake these days. It is awesome!
      City: Esparto

      Tips: Use light line. 8 lb test flouro worked, but get the good stuff. Set your drag and hang on!

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64 - 70 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out of Ladd's today at 2:30 p.m.and was off the water by 7:30 p.m. Takes me about an hour to run out to King Island and White Slough with my 15 hp 4-stroke Mecury so with just 3 hours of fishing I managed to catch 4 bass starting at the marina first and fishing my way around the island. My first bass about 2 lbs was cuaght punchin(black red flake strike king flippen tube) some laydown tule slop next to a dock. The second bass also around 2 lbs was cuaght on my strike king bitzy tube (chartruse/pepper flake) in shady areas of the docks. My third bass was cuaght carolina rigging a tube down to 12 feet along a rocky point in White Slough. My last bass, a 3 pounder, was cuaght during the incoming tide back in white slough casting my weightless tube(white/pepper flake with tail spiked in chartruse dye)to isolated tule clumps working it like a soft jerk bait and letting it sink once in a while. Over all with just 3 hours of fishing I'd say the bite was tough today.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: High blue skies fish heavy cover, shaded areas, or down deep. Challenge your self and learn to be versitle. I think for my next couple trips out I do this tubes-only challeng again, it was fun.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 60+

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tons of fish cruising and on bed. Caught many in the 3lbs. range sight fishing, but couldn't get any big ones to go. Caught a few off of rocky tule pionts with a watermellon red flake senko whacky rigged. Also drop shotting a 4" brown and purple worm.
      City: Sunnyvale

      Tips: Stick to sight fishing NW To SW the farther south you go the greener to water becomes.

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

      Report: I saw a lot of green but only caught 3. Biggest only 2# largemouth with a belly full of eggs. Water was very clear. I could see down to 14 feet in some areas and must have seen around 40 or 50 bass in the spawning flats and coves. Some were just cruising but a lot of them showed interest in the lures I tried but most would not commit. The ones that did seemed to be mostly slapping at the baits. Missed a lot of fish. A large striper took my swimbait at 8am. I had a freshly tied knot on my flippin rod spooled with 20# fluorocarbon but the line snapped shortly after the hook set not far from the boat. I'll keep the drag set looser in the future...

      Tips: Fish shallow where you see Christmas trees or other brush. I caught a smallmouth on a Rapala type lure and the 2# largemouth on a brown plastic worm there. Hope it works out better for you.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 65-68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Wow the bite is on fire this is one of the best big fish years I've seen in a while! Can't wait to see the results for the future pro and wish I was fishing it cause I got them figured out here's some tips for the guys who are fun fishing and just wanna catch fish Morning dawn robo worms on a dart head or drop shot but you really have to fish it slow I mean pretty much dead sticking the bait and letting the boat move your worm, fish are staging near spawning areas in 3 to 15 feet. If you wanna catch a little bit bigger fish senkos in the trees will be good for a couple nice bites right now but I definantly think the tournament will be won on swimbaits and the A-rig... good luck and tight lines everyone please feel free to email me if anyone has any questions. FISH ON!!
      City: Orangevale

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 56-63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Caught 28 bass from 10-2 up Squaw Creek, rock walls, back of coves by the running water and wood and sunken trees. Bass more agresssive and hanging onto the baits. Through blue/salt and pepper curl tail grubs on 1/8 oz dart head, and small blue worms, 25 keepers and 5 over 2 pounds. One had a lizard in it's mouth. They are getting ready to go...
      City: Redding

      Tips: Small light jig heads, slow falling, then feel the weight on the line and set the hook, then hang on. Lot's of fun!!

    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I had freinds down a week ago fishin the McCloud water temps were in the low 50s they were using mostly rubber ie: drop shots and sencos. The fish were slugesh and far in between.Any one been fishin the pit? what's the water temp?My crew and I are coming down in a couple weeks. Hopefully the up coming week of warm temps. will move the fish up from the secondary points.How about one of you locals give us a report.
      Thanks
      Si

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Friday and Saturday (April 20-21). The water level is very high and warming up quickly. The coolest water I found was 66 degrees in the main lake and up to 74 in some of the shallow creek arms. Most areas in Yorty had at least 10 feet visibility. Caught at least two dozen bass. Most fish were 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 pounds. Four were in the three to four pound range. Much tougher fishing on Saturday than Friday with the combination of hot, sunny, weather bringing out kayakers and pleasure-boaters and ANOTHER tournament.
      City: Santa Rosa, CA

      Tips: Every fish was caught on a wacky-rigged drop shot Root Beer/Red & Gold Flake 5" Senko. Threw lots of crankbaits and spinnerbaits, but nothing worked for me except the Senko. Although most fishermen on the lake appeared to be sight fishing, I was not. It was easy to locate fish if I fished in areas I knew were mostly left alone. Shallow areas and coves along the main lake were very productive as were deeper shorelines blocked by submerged trees in Cherry Creek arm that were tough to reach in a boat, but easy in my canoe. Dirty water also seemed to be much more productive than the very clear water. Cast right up to the shore line and work the Senko (slowly) to about 10' of water.

Thursday, April 19th, 2012

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Correction - My previous report should read
      Thursday 4/19/12 not Friday
      City: Pinole

    • By

      Water Temp: 67 - 69

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Friday, 4/19/12 was a beautiful day with air temperature in the mid 70s and water temperature from 67 - 69. There was little to no wind. At times, the main lake was slick. My buddy and I caught at least 10 fish each. Both of us had several fish over 3 lbs but less than 4 lbs. Our best five weighed 17lbs. 2 oz. Larger fish were all females. The fish are starting the spawn. We saw many pairs of fish in shallow water who would move away when they saw us but would soon return to a certain spot. We could only catch a couple of these by casting to them from a distance where they couldn’t see us. Only one of the fish we caught showed any signs on their tail indicating bed preparation. The fish were caught casting 6-inch Roboworms and wacky-rigged Senkos. .
      City: Pinole

      Tips: The water temperature is right. So the fish are ready to spawn or spawning all over the lake.

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57-61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Nice couple days of fishing with son. No wind and water warming. Over 50 fish between us with a nice 5.5 pounder as big fish caught on wacky o-ring senko.
      City: Reno

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 60-65

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I haven't posted a report in quite some time, but today was too good not to share. The wind blew and blew hard all day, but the fish rewarded us for sticking out a testing day on the river. My dad and I started out fishing Whiskey and immediately put a 4 and a couple 1-2lb fish in the boat. Then at about 7am after about 20 minutes worth of fishing we got the first big bite of the day, a nice 8+lb fish in the boat. So we continued to fish Whiskey and work our way out toward Empire cut. We got about five more 2-3lb fish in the next hour before getting our next big bite of the day. This fish went 9.75lbs! We cont to fish Whiskey for the next hour, but the bite slowed considerably, only boating two more two pound fish. So we made the short run to Mildred to try to manage the gale force winds. Got into Mildred and first cast got a three pound fish. Two casts later landed a nice 9lb fish. We were only able to stand fishing in there for another twenty minutes or so due to the winds, and we only got one more two pound fish. We decided to head back into Whiskey and run the water we had had success on earlier...good choice! We fished for about ten minutes before getting our next big fish, this time it was a true Delta GIANT!! This fish tipped our scale at 13.5lbs. After running all of the same water we had run earlier we managed a few more 2-3lb fish and one that went just over 5lbs. This was hands down the best day of fishing that I have ever had in my life. I have managed to put together a couple 30+lb bags in the past, but they have been few and far between. So to have a day like this was truly a blessing! And to get to share it with my dad is the icing on the cake!
      City: Turlock

      Tips: We were able to catch 2-4lb fish all day on Spro Little John cranks in a couple dif colors. The 8lb fish and the 9.75 both came flipping Yum Money Craws. And the rest of the fish over 5lbs all came on blades today. The wind really got them keyed up on the blade bite today. So for as tough as it may be to get our 17' Crestliner to stay positioned in the wind, I will never complain about the wind again!

    • By

      Water Temp: 59-61

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Still chocolate milk with maybe 1.5 - 2 ft visibility.
      Senko's were the main ticket. Lots of tic's but a lot of short strikes. Picked up close to 20 or so in the 1.5 # range with a couple pushing 2.
      Nothing on jerk bait but did have a decent one a crank. We did get a few on a blade as well.

      New ramp fees: $18.00
      City: Lincoln

  • Siskiyou County
    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Can any one tell me the water temp.up the pit.The last post was in the low 50s.In the main lake. I'm coming down in a few weeks for our annual trek.
      Thank you in advance.
      Si
      City: lakeview

Wednesday, April 18th, 2012

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I am a moron , I wrote the previous post talking about the dirty water thinking it was algae or pollen . It just hit me ,the lake just turned over . I have fished Folsom for many years and have never seen this . Maybe it will disappear as fast as it came ?
      City: Granite Bay