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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, January 31st, 2020

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52 to 56 degrees

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: After last weeks "blowout" at Oroville with only one bite, we hit Berryessa today and did some better. I had my first fish on my first cast, a smallie, but it slowed down from there. We stayed pretty much in the narrows today and I ended with six bass with no size. Buddy Doug ended the day with just two. We found bait both shallow and deep but could not get them to bite. All eight of our fish came from less than 20 ft., with the shallowest at about 8 to 10 feet.

Thursday, January 30th, 2020

  • Lake County
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      Report: Postby On The Water Guide Service » Thu Jan 30, 2020 6:48 pm

      The Bass are biting pretty good up here at Clear Lake. The A rig is still the deal for both numbers and size for me on both ends of the lake. It seems like we were catching a little bit bigger fish in the deeper water in the south but getting fewer bites, whereas we are doing really well with numbers in the North end but they are mostly two pounders. One of the better days I had recently is when we caught and released 33 fish in about 5 hours fishing the North end from Lakeport to Nice/Lucerne. These fish were out in front of docks holding in 7' to 9' on a rocky bottom. That same day I talked to two other boats that had been worm fishing and hadn't even had a single bite. We had two doubles and they were hitting the A rig good enough where it was hard to put it down. If fishing the A rig is not your cup of tea, you can catch fish on a underspin with a 3.8" Keitech swimbait or a suspending jerkbait or LV500. For me the good bite was definitely around the docks. I tried hitting the tule edges and points from the Casino to State park but it wasn't happening yet.
      Water temps have come up slightly with the nice sunny weather we have been getting. I was getting 48 degrees in the morning and it was as high as 51 degrees by early afternoon. Tomorrow we are supposed to have a high of 70 degrees and I think the fish are really going to be chewing this weekend. Water clarity is really good with a slight stained look up north and pretty clear down south with about 2 1/2' visibility. The lake level is holding at 4.50 on the Rumsey gauge and we are only about 3' from being at full pool. This winter has been pretty mild so far and it has made for some good fishing conditions for being in January.

      Good fishing and we will see you on the water,
      Troy Bellah

Tuesday, January 28th, 2020

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48-51

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got out to Folsom for a few hours today, Found tons of baitfish but had trouble hookin up. Caught 2, one was just over a pound and the other was just under 2lbs. Got 1 on a drop shot and 1 draggin a 4" Keitech Impact. Hung out at the ramp for a bit cleaning out the boat and spoke with 2 other bass boats and 2 trout boats at the ramp and 1 bass boat had 1 keeper just over a pound and the other bass boat got skunked. One of the trout guys caught a decent size king salmon and the other trout boat said they should have stayed home. Water is low, islands popping up every where, State park boats constantly putting up buoys but they're not catching all the big rocks poppin up so be careful. Launched out of Granite Bay at 5%, had to drive through mud and huge mud puddles just to get to a ramp. Went to Folsom Pointe last week and had to back up my truck to the exhaust just to get my boat off the trailer cause the ramp is darn near flat. Rattlesnake ramp is closed. Browns Ravine seems to be the best place to launch from but my last trip to the South fork I got skunked so I wanted to try going North today. Was only out for 3 hours, saw massive amounts of baitfish and tried everything from NV500's, rip baits, wacky rigged small senko's, ned rig, back spinner, under spins, but all they wanted was something slowwwwww and small on the bottom.

      Tips: Everyone keeps saying to find baitfish and you'll get fish but just a simple tip that I didn't even think of until today...look for the big red lines under or around the schools of baitfish. I fished a massive school of baitfish in 15-20foot of water today for over an hour and didn't even get a bite. Then it dawned on me I hadn't seen a single bigger red lines (bass) under or around the baitfish. Took off and drove around until I found the bigger red lines going through the schools of baitfish and got those 2 within an hour. Schools of baitfish are everywhere, if you don't see the bigger red lines by the schools just keep on looking.

Friday, January 24th, 2020

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50-51 degrees

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Oroville Friday with Rick J. caught 20+ in the slot area and Forman Creek area. All fish were caught on dropshot with wacky rigged prism shad. No size fish ranged 1.25 to 1.75. Fish were caught from 20 to 55 ft.

      Tips: Find steeper rock walls and bait . Bait is stuck in the bottom and varied from 1' to as much as 8' thick. Fish slow!

    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I had the itch to fish Oroville today for my first trip of the year. I satisfied my itch but did not catch any fish. I had one bite all day and missed it. My buddy got two bites and missed one and caught the second, which was about a 5 lb Channel Catfish. Fished glide baits, small swim baits, jigs, ned rig, lipless cranks. Fished a few points around the main lake, Potters Ravine, and up the middle fork. We did find some fish, mostly in 20 to 25 foot range but just could not get them to bite. Water is very clear.

      Tips: Sorry, I can't give any tips here but I could sure use some. Bass Union makes it look so easy. Maybe I should invest in some of his jigs.

Tuesday, January 7th, 2020

  • Lake County
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      Report: by Dave Brabec » Tue Jan 07, 2020 6:54 am

      I was out yesterday, More bait equals more birds.The Redbud arm is filled with Grebes . Some winters more than others. The lake has so many big shad right now even the coots are coming up with them.Fish are really fat . Catching fish that look like 3 pounders that weigh 5. Water was 49 degrees at noon . Only caught fish on the Arig.

Friday, January 3rd, 2020

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: y StanL » Fri Jan 03, 2020 9:47 pm

      Fishing Camanche Report 1-1-2020

      I want to start off by saying how challenging the fishing has been at Camanche lately. I attibute that to 297 CFS of inflow and 327 CFS of outflow. Other factors that are effecting the bite is that the surface temperature has been hanging around 55°, the lake not turning over and the water being extremely clear.

      The most consistent bite has been in the 30’ to 50’ range on points and steep breaks.

      The best baits have been jigs, dropshots and dartheads.

      My partner Jerry and I fished the New Year’s Day tournament. We landed 12 keepers with most of them being
      caught In the first 2 hours of the morning.

      There were 27 teams total.

      The winners were Jerry and Dan with a winning weight of 12.46 lbs. My partner Jerry and I finished second with 11.76 and Shawn and Chris took third with 11.20

      I know I don’t speak for myself when I say how much we appreciate Steve Dollard for taking time to put this New Year's Day event on. It’s always a great tournament with a great bunch of guys.

      With that being said I would like to share a picture of my partner Jerry and I taking second place at Camanche almost exactly 30 Years ago in January of 1990. The second picture is of Jerry and I last year fishing the same event, but unfortunately, I didn't get a photo from this year.

      Thanks to my partner Jerry for all the good times.

      As always I hope this helps and good luck fishing!!

      Stan L.

Thursday, January 2nd, 2020

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Report: by Pat » Thu Jan 02, 2020 7:59 am

      I was there on the Dec 23rd. Fishing with a buddy and his son we caught all of our fish on Ned rigs in the top 15' . We fished Angels arm and between the bridges, did better between the bridges targeting points. They are starting to bunch up so if you catch one, hang around. Water temp was still mid 50s, I think it will get better as it cools.

Tuesday, December 31st, 2019

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: by On The Water Guide Service » Tue Dec 31, 2019 5:20 pm


      Winter is in full effect up here at Clear Lake. The days are shorter and the water is getting colder. The lake itself is in pretty decent shape though. The rain storms we have received so far have had little breaks in between so the lake level is slowly rising but the lake isn't blown out and muddy yet. The Rumsey gauge is at 3.81 and on an upward trend. All feeder creeks are running at about half capacity.

      I was only able to get out on the lake a handful of times this past month with the kids out of school and the holiday stuff going on, the warden had me on lockdown. :D The few times I was able to fish, I fished primarily the North end around Lakeport. The water temperature was at 44 degrees at 10am when I launched and only came up to 47 degrees by early afternoon. The water clarity was perfect with a slight stained look with about one foot visibility. I was unable to get down to the south end of the lake but I heard the water is pretty clear down there and the fish are holding in deep water with a slow bottom presentation working well. I did the best up north on the A-rig and I switched over to one with little chrome willow blades on the teaser wires. I was also using the Keitech swimbaits in the Sexy Shad color. The bass seemed to see that color a little better in the slightly stained water. I had to eliminate a lot of unproductive water before I started figuring them out. The fish were holding tight to the bottom and were in 8' and deeper out in front of the docks. I fished the A-rig super slow along the bottom parallel to the shoreline and it seemed like i was getting more bites by making the lure pulse occasionally on the retrieve by stopping and then starting the reel handle. Most of the time i was just covering a lot of water and catching very few fish but I did have one day where I located a small school of two pounders and caught several in a row. I did also catch a few on the LV500 with a painstakingly slow retrieve on the bottom in the same areas. I heard there is a bite going on a vertical jigging spoon down south and mid lake and I also heard of some recreational fisherman doing good on live jumbo minnows down there as well. There has been zero fishing pressure out on the lake. The past few times out, my truck and trailer where the only ones in the whole parking lot at the launch ramp. Winter fishing at Clear Lake can definitely be tough but it makes you a more well rounded fisherman to get out there and grind it out. Dress warm and fish slow.

      Happy New Years to everyone out there. May we all slay them in 2020
      See you on the water.
      Troy

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Report: by Chad Sweitzer » Tue Dec 31, 2019 10:44 am

      There is a swimbait bite, but it’s been slow. Spybaits have been getting solid limits for me, especially when the lake is busy.

    • By

      Report: by THE DR » Tue Dec 31, 2019 9:31 am

      I was there Sunday. We had a dozen fish to 4lbs. Mostly fishing deep ledges and deep island tops. Best bite was from 20-55ft. Everything came on dropshot shad baits and shakey head shad color.

      I threw the mag and glides part of the time and never had a follower...

Monday, December 30th, 2019

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Report: by Whoopbass » Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:27 pm

      I was there with my partner on Saturday for the first time in 6 months. We caught 28 fish all day with nothing over 2 1/2 pounds. The fish were scattered anywhere from 10' down to 60'. All we threw were nail weighted senkos.
      We fished the South end and half way up river. The entire lake fished about the same. Seemed like up river the fish liked the bait shook pretty good and the south end we had to dead stick it with an occasional shake. The fishing wasn't great. There were a couple times where we didn't get bit for an hour or so.

Monday, December 16th, 2019

  • Butte County
    • By

      Report: Lake Oroville 12-16-19
      Unread postby Joe daddy » Tue Dec 17, 2019 5:42 am

      Water has came up a tad bit. Bite was about the same maybe a little slower/colder. Got-eem, went 3-3, jitterbug 3-4. This spot like the gift that keeps on giving. Marry X-Mas.

Wednesday, December 11th, 2019

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53-55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got on the water around 9:30am Dec 11th and right away picked up schooled baitfish on the graph on rocky ledges and secondary points. Within 30 minutes I had 2 keepers in the boat dragging swimbaits on the bottom. Picked up another 4 keepers, biggest was 2.2lbs and got off the water just after 12:30pm since it started to rain and I had no rain gear. Tried dropshotting for a few minutes but put it down pretty quickly since I was picking up fish with swimbaits. Found a ledge that had access to 40+ foot of water super close and picked up all my fish in 15-20ft on the bottom.

      Tips: Fish on the bottom, fish slow. Most of my fish I didn't even feel the hit. Just felt some weight and set the hook. I only felt 1 hit that day and I missed that one. Find the baitfish. They were literally breaking the surface where I was at there were so many.

Sunday, December 1st, 2019

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: by StanL » Sun Dec 01, 2019 5:03 pm
      Fishing Lake Camanche Nov 29

      After Thanksgiving, my buddy Ryan and I went out to lake to fish the yearly Black Friday Shootout Camanche and it was challenging to say the least.

      First of all I would like to congratulate Bud and Kyle Porter for their win. They had a total weight of 16.95 with a beautiful 7.18 largemouth kicker they caught on an undisclosed swimbait.

      When we got on the water the surface temperature in the morning was 59. The water clarity was about 3 to 4 feet.

      We caught about 15 keepers for the day all in the 35’ to 50’ range on island tops. We threw a football head jig with a green pumpkin Berkley Power Bait Bearded Deuce.
      The bite was definitely better in the morning but the fish would just peck at it. We ended up changing from a ¾ ounce head to the ½ ounce head, which seemed to help.

      Rounding out the top three was

      1st Bud and Kyle with 16.95
      2nd Jerry and Dan with 14.12
      3rd Ryan and I with 12.80

      I have to give a big shout out to Steve and Crystal Dollard who put this on every Black Friday and New Year’s Day.

      I hope this helps. Good luck fishing

Friday, November 29th, 2019

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54-56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Super cold so I didn't get out on the water until 8:30am today and had a Thanksgiving thing to get to so I was off the lake by 12:30pm but I still managed to locate tons of bait fish and picked up 3 spotted bass, biggest was 2.5lbs and missed 2. I tried LV500's, deep diving jerkbaits, ned rig, drop shotting but the only way I got fish was off slow rolling a small swimbait in about 35-40ft of water. A trout fisherman trolling a Rapala picked up about a 3lb bass aprox 50 yards from me in 50ft of water. I had a really nice bass follow up my swimbait but when he saw my boat darted back down.

      Tips: Make sure your bait is on the bottom and go slow. Picking up tons of baitfish on rocky points.

Saturday, November 23rd, 2019

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: na

      Report: I remember growing up in San Francisco and going to Gus's on Balboa when it was just Stephanie and her dad, Gus Ernst. Deepest condolence to Stephanie and Family on Bill's passing.

Friday, November 22nd, 2019

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My friend Fred and I fished New Melones for 2 days Nov 21-22. I have only been here a few times and never at this time of year. The first day we struggled to locate fish while we looked for bait, hoping to find a spoon bite. We were fishing steeper areas in between the bridges. Expected the fish to be deep. We only manged 5 decent fish on a variety of baits. Next day we changed tactics and fished major creeks off the main body. Much better day. We found fish in the top 15 feet willing to take tubes and Ned rigs. We totaled 20+ decent fish, biggest was 3-12 plus a couple 3 pounders and several more in the mid 2 pound range. We figure the best 5 were 14 pounds. We were pretty happy with the end result. Really like this lake, it fishes a lot like Berryessa..

      Tips: Best areas were 45 degree banks and points with a mix of large rock and clay. Shade or a breeze seemed to help the bite. Hindsight, I might try an underspin or jerk bait along those banks with some wind. Watch for grebes, the birds were in all the areas we caught fish.

Thursday, November 21st, 2019

  • Napa County
    • By

      Report: To all club members

      mailbox service

      Thu 2019-11-21 15:15

      bac Peter Lancestremere
      It is with great sadness to let you all know of the death of BILL SCOTT husband of Stephanie Scott. Owner of:
      Gus’s Fishing Tackle
      3710-Balboa St.
      San Francisco, Ca
      94121.

      Gus’ has been an institution in the fishing community forever.

      Sent from my iPhone

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: To all club members
      Thu 2019-11-21 15:15

      ybac Peter Lancestremere

      It is with great sadness to let you all know of the death of BILL SCOTT husband of Stephanie Scott. Owner of:
      Gus’s Fishing Tackle
      3710-Balboa St.
      San Francisco, Ca
      94121.

      Gus’ has been an institution in the fishing community forever.

      Sent from my iPhone