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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Thursday, March 8th, 2012

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      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The bite is back on! I've gone out a few times this last week to the arroyo pond and caught a few nice fish in the afternoon/evening. I lost a 10+ off a brown jig the other night and it made me sick! I went home and put on 50lb power pro braid and answered back with a nice #6.4 the next day. These fish are holding close to the shore and hitting on the drop. I'm heading out tomorrow afternoon to try the island pond. It would be nice to see some more activity on this forum like there was in the past. Good luck to all
      City: Pleasanton

      Tips: Use braided line and cast way back in the trees and bushes.

Wednesday, March 7th, 2012

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: To Rangerpilot, a bigger concern is what they are keeping, I saw 2 caught by this same group of poachers excuse me, I mean people that clearly were under size.
      I said to the guy "hey looks a little short to be keeping it" but they pretend that they don't understand you while they speak to there buddies in native tongue. There is absolutely no ethics or honor among these people. Sad days..
      City: Lincoln

Tuesday, March 6th, 2012

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: hey guys, im new to the fishing game and was wondering if anybody would email me some spots or tips on nicasio for crappie or bass. if anybody could that would be great. or if you just want to talk about fishing in general just shoot me an email at thejarge@yahoo.com. tight lines
      City: novato

Monday, March 5th, 2012

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 53 - 56 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched the custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out of Ladd's about 9 a.m. and was off the water by 2 p.m. It's nice to be back on the water since I was sick in January and in February I was suffering from a very painful and humblng pinched sarotic nerve.

      Today was more like a scouting trip going into 14 Mile Slough and checking different spots riprap & tules, tule islands, and checking the flats. I ran into a school of stripers that were hiting my california swim jig. I was only able to catch one bass (3 lbs.) using a D&M Citrus Shad spinnerbait 1 oz. around the tules. It was and incoming tide today.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: with just 4 hours to fish today I had a little difficulty establishing a pattern, it was more like a junk fishing day for me, but it was fun especially with the stripers.

Sunday, March 4th, 2012

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: First time fishing the delta in a few months..Launched from Ladds,11am headed for Whisky Slough...Water was muddy. Fished the in coming tide with spinners and speed traps...boated my biggest to date...9-lbs..lost another toad at the boat. caught 4 keepers to 3 lbs.. All fish were in 5-8 feet of water.
      City: Ripon

      Tips: Vary your retrieve, make some noise! Worked for me back at it this weekend!

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      Water Temp: 51-52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: launched new hope at low tide. tried island near sycamore but no takers on speedtrap or senko. went up mokulemne to fav dock and tule strips. nothing at the dock but brother started hitting on spinnerbaits slow rolling through the sparse tules. 1st one was 2lbs, 2nd one 3lbs. i tied on a spinnerbait and immediately got bit for a 1lb, then picked up a 2lb. did a racetrack to the top of the tule strip and drifted on same side..brother picked up another 2lb and i picked up my last 2lb. then it shut down. moved on to next set of tule strips but no takers. switched to speedtrap and senkos and no takers.
      City: folsom

      Tips: none. just happened to watch a bobby barrack vid on slow rolling a spinnerbait through sparse tules so that's what got us trying it...and we hit. thanx bobby!

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Headed up to Clear Lake with my float tube for the first time on Sunday with a friend. We put in at the Rodman Bridge thanks to a tip from Tackle-It. We fished outward toward the mouth of the creek and I watched a guy in a boat catch 3 bass on the A-Rig so I decided to give mine a try. It's a little hard from the tube, but after a couple adjustments I landed my first a-rig bass, a nice 5+. A few casts later a second 5+. Continued with the rig for a while moving around, but no luck. Switched to a texas rig and later caught another close to 4 lbs. Mean while my friend lands one on a worm. We pulled out around 11 and headed over to Aurora. Fished the outside of the poles and had 3 bites, landing 1 around 3 lbs. The bite really slowed after noon.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: Fish the outside of creeks with the A-rig. Slow steady retreive was the key. Water was really clear at Aurora and a little staned at Rodman. Water is still cold so I'm guessing the fish are still a little sluggish so fish slow. Air temp in the morning was below 40 with the afternoon temp over 70.

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      Water Temp: 48-53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went to CL Sunday with my brother to see if the writer from the Lake County Record Bee was right about the fish actively moving up. Based on our day it looks like they have backed off if they were indeed up. Launched in Redbud and hit a few known spots on the way out. hit a few shorelines with good dropoffs and a couple other areas that produce in the spring, nothing there and the water was in the high 40's with alot of ugly alge.

      Headed north, stopped at the State park and tried the Alabama rig the guy at Hi's sold me. I'd seen the video and read enough to know if was more than just a gimmic. The thing must be legit based on the recent success. So I kind of committed myself to try and throw it as much as I could (probably threw it 3/4 of the time). Nothing at State Park and we headed north west - hit the flat there. We saw probably 20 boats fishing all day and with exception of the Minnow thrower I think at least one person in each boat was throwing one of these tuna rigs with the umbrella. I still got alot to learn about but for now I caught zero and didn't see anyone catch one either. Did see 3 fish hooked all three from the nice plumbers fishing jumbos. Casting the umbrella can be a challenge and let me save you $25+, make sure your snap is strong enough to handle the tackle. With braid we all get those out of nowhere backlashes mid cast that will take the rod out of your hand if you're not holding on. Well I got one and the 65# braid and my knot held but the rig fluttered away.....what the ?. reeled in the line and found the snap bent and disconnected. Actually made me laugh when it happened, my fault, should have upgraded that with everything else in the system and didn't. Bro tried t-rig, jerk baits, swimbaits, drop shot, senko, as did I for about 1/3 of my time but in the end a beautiful day with no fish to show for it . . . I guess others are catching fish out there sure would love to hear from them unless everyone got skunked like we did and don't want to report.
      City: Pacifica

      Tips: Even getting skunked on a beautiful day on the lake is better than most other things you could be doing. We tried the Alabama rig in 3 feet, 8 feet, 10 feet and even 15 feet and had no luck but I am sure it will bring in hundreds of fish this year on CL. One word of warning, Hi's helped me rig the Alabama and he cut off two of the hooks..... apparently in CA you can not exceed 3 hooks - the others are glued on so if the fish hits you don't lose it. Not sure what the game warden will be doing this year with that little twist but I would not have known.

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

      Report: ok, come on guys. I know that I am not the only one fishing. See too many oy Yoy All out there.Bass starting to move up whacked em on a C rig this past weekend, no no Alabama rig, wanted it slow and in their face . Bait ( decline). If you still want a limit of trout to off set the gas prices try the back of the creeks with a meps.
      City: Hughson

Saturday, March 3rd, 2012

  • Mariposa County
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      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Did not see alot of boats in spite of Future pro tour. plenty of fish in transition mostly like in my Don Pedro report on a C rig. Still picking up fish on a rip bait too. Given the reports from the delta I gone for awhile to be in my home water,good luck.
      City: Hughson

      Tips: Go to the Delat , based on what I have read.

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: hey im new to this lake and was wondering if anybody can email me some specific areas to fish and baits to use because of the huge size of the lake. thanks much appreciated.
      ps always catch and release.
      tight lines
      City: novato

Friday, March 2nd, 2012

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: First time on Folsom on about a year. Didn't know what to expect with post front conditions, north wind and bluebird skies. 2+ Smallie right off the bat on a blade then nothing for about 3 hours! Once we found some fish, they were nice and fat. Wound up with 6 for about 16 lbs with largest a spot over 4#. Caught all three species for a fun day.
      City: Rsvl

      Tips: Worked the North Fork with Tubes, Drop shot and Jigs
      Fish your confidence in about 25-30 feet very slow!!!

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Waters are still to cold. Bass have not come into shallows to spawn.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: wait another 2 weeks to 3 weeks.

Thursday, March 1st, 2012

  • Ventura County
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      Water Temp: 57-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Tired of the zipped lips . The fish are spawning here. I took the week off of work and hit the lake 4 times.On the bet that the pre full moon March at Casitas would have a spawn of some type going on. My best day was Friday the 2nd. with four fish over 6 pounds and a bunch over four. It seems everybody and there cousin who is fishing the lake out in 40 feet of water with brown jigs with a big Texan for their trailer. I caught 80% of my best fish in two feet of water or less. I used a 5 inch senko wacky rigged with an owner weedless camo wacky hook in a size 1 on 10 pound power pro and 8 pound seagaur for a leader. Hot colors are green pumpkin black flake or faded watermelon purple flake or the laminate green pumpkin/watermelon. The fish are 1/3 back of the main arms and can be seen. They do not care if you are close to them but you must make a perfect cast to a very small strike zone.It helps if you can make the cast the first try but repeated casts get bit too. It can help to sometimes cast your bait on the bank and drag it into the water. You can dropshot a wacky jackall flik-shake 4.8 on #4 hook in 6 to 10 feet of water. Hot colors are watermelon candy and green pumpkin pepper....There is an A-rig bite but I will allow you to figure that out. I'm lucky my first guess on the color was right on but it took a few trips to figure out why I was catching fish and to find areas that better suited the application and approach.Very fun fishing for the next few weeks.

      Tips: I wouldn't discount those jig fish as they were probably the better bite first light. The Ojai weather is way up and down. 85 daytime 28 nighttime.Dress warm in layers. Bring good polaroids and if you stay shallow and pitching a senko you will get bit. I fished until 10 am on Friday before my first and biggest of the day bit. It had a big black crappies tail sticking out of her gullet and she still ate a senko.Just because a bed has no fish on it does not mean you won't get bit. The fact that I have located where the big fish are made me realize that I could pitch into water less than a foot deep and in doing so have a big unseen fish come from where ever and slam it. Once you catch 5 or 6 fish you will understand where the fish are and you will be able to go around the lake and wack'em in the same type of locations as your other fish. Catch a big one and let it go...;)

      Rip

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      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Bass fishing here is DEAD slow right now - don;t waste your time here. I fish this lake on the regular, and the fishing is pretty terrible - too cold, WAY too much boat traffic from trout fisherman. Been fishing Lake Chabot (I mean the Hayward one, not the pond in Vallejo)and doing well since it warmed up some - thats a better option right now.
      City: Vallejo

Monday, February 27th, 2012

  • Solano County
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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Well the spring bite is here. For those fishing the Delta in the next 60 days it is on.
      The fish are starting to move to their spawning areas the cool weather we had this last weekend didn't hurt them. Most of your big fish are sitting on ledges with 8 to 10 foot of water and moving up and down during the day to feed.
      Water temp is starting at 50 degrees in the morning and getting as high as 57 during the day. There has been numerous 8lb plus fish caught none of them have had bloody tails but have been very thick.
      The Jig bite has been very good as has the senko and spinner baits. There has been some people using a chatter bait like a jig and bouncing it off the bottom very hard use a 1/2oz or better when it hits the bottom it disturbs the mud making it look like a crawdad coming out of its whole. Red crawdad pattered crank baits are working in the shallows later in the day.
      Many 2lb bags are being reported.
      City: Oakley

Saturday, February 25th, 2012

  • Mason County
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      Water Temp: 51 - 53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Been fishing Anderson a couple of weeks. Catching 3 to 10 fish per day, with largest going about 2 lb, and average about 1 1/4 lb. Easiest to catch on 4" drop shot worms. Better fish coming on Senkos or 6" Texas rig. Darker shades of worm on cloudy days, lighter colors on sunny. Fish are at about 24 ft.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: In about 3 weeks, the fishing should be really good.

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 51 - 53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Saturday, 2/25/12. Fishing was ok. Water temperature stayed between 51 and 53 deg and was clear to 10 ft. in most areas. In the morning, the main body had white caps thus we stayed in protected coves. As the wind died down in the afternoon, we moved north on the east side. We ended the day with 8 fish with one going almost 5 lbs. The rest were between 1 to 2½ lbs. Two of the fish were large mouth and the rest were spots. All were caught on or around points in 5 – 15 ft of water drop-shotting 4½ inch Roboworms. We also tried crank baits, jerk baits, Senkos and jigs with only a couple of unsuccessful hookups on a wacky style Senko. I also unexpectedly caught a trout on a 4 inch shad imitation Roboworm.
      City: Pinole

      Tips: Fish appear to be starting the prespawn.

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      Water Temp: 51

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Bass Busters of Yuba City fished a tourny out of Steel Park. Nice ramps but expensive. Great news, everyone caught fish! My day wasnt as good as the winners but I did catch 2 non keeper small mouths on drop shot, lost a good keeper SM, caught a nice spot, and then a real good smallie just about weighed 4lbs. My best smallmouth. I was stoked. All my fish came off points in 20 to 30 ft. Close to 17lbs took 1st and we had a few 16, 15, and 14 lb bags. Not sure of structure or depth from those guys but they came off of jigs, dart heads, swimbaits, dropshots, and shakey heads. Check out our club if you wanna fish a good club. Email me if interested.
      City: Plumas Lake

      Tips: Nothing too agressive. Not quite a dead stick but my bites came when I wasnt working the bait much.

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      Water Temp: 51

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished with a friend from 8am to 3pm. Stayed in Bear River Arm to try to avoid the 15-20mph wind. Between the two of us we caught 5 spots between 1 and 2.5lbs, all on jigs (green pumpkin Hula Grubs) 20-30 feet down off steeper rocky banks.

      Also tried jerk baits, drop shot, shaky head, Senkos, tubes, etc., in various colors with no bites.
      City: Foresthill