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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, September 18th, 2011

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71-74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I didn't catch as many fish today as usual, but the quality was much better than previous trips. Caught at least a dozen fish, seven of them over two pounds. Biggest fish was a five pound largemouth and also landed two in the three-and-a-half to four pound range. Lost a nice smallmouth just as I reached in to grab it. Was at least three pounds.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Every fish was ridiculously FAT! These fish weren't eating because they were hungry. I diligently tried drop shop and wacky with Senkos, but every fish I caught was on crankbaits with a quick retrieve - classic reaction bite. Although I tried quite a few Lucky Craft minnow-type lures in several colors and sizes, all of my success was on a large KVD Tennessee Shad and a small KVD Bluegill, both square bill with rattlers. The fish were spread out and casting cranks enabled me to cover way more territory. Also, don't be concerned about fishing early morning and late evening. I only caught fish between 9:00am and 6:00pm.

Saturday, September 17th, 2011

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70-75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: This last week has been outstanding. The top water bite is getting better and better using spooks or vixons or whatever. Lots of 2 and 1/2 to 3+ coming from spooks, swim jigs, jigs, worm and worm/jigs and tubes and drop shots. The traffic has finally slowed down and the bass are feeding. Mud lines are producing with blades and crank baits. Numbers are up and so are to sizes.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: This is a great time to be on the water.

Friday, September 16th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught around 20 fish to 4.5 lbs. in Potato and Little Potato Sloughs. Early bite was primarily on a small buzz bait, a red lipless crank and a dark custom Senko style worm. It was hit and miss during the mid-day but the bite turned on again big time in the afternoon. Starting at the bottom of low tide (around 3:30pm) I caught 5 in about 20 minutes including the 4.5. Three consecutive casts resulted in hook ups, all on the lipless crank. I guess it was the right place, right time and right bait. I fished the same stretch earlier in the day with limited results.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: It doesn’t hurt to revisit a good looking location.

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 77-79

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Escaped to the upper Blue Lakes.Got away from all the noise and crazy folks out on the waterways right now. Fished the evening. 6:30 - 8:30 pm. The narrows area was holding bass. Most were in 20 - 25 ft. of water. My wife Teresa, schooled me on the dropshot. Boy did she have a "HUM-DINGER" on. Real nice bass, it really peeled the line off! Too bad she lost it.... Also, several trout came to the surface feeding right @ dark-ish. They were jumping everywhere ! We will be ready for them next out.
      GREAT relaxing time on the lake with my wife. Thanks Don --------> www.4reelfishin.com
      City: UKIAH

      Tips: Scented worms worked the best for us. Bring your trout pole with you. PRACTICE CATCH & RELEASE

Monday, September 12th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Thanks for posting, I thought I was the only one having a tough time. I threw everything on Monday, broke off a 6 and the rest a dinkfest> I came to the Delta with hopes of reaction, topwater, etc. Mostly on senkos, plastics. Tuesday was a little better had a couple of bigger ones but still lots of small ones.
      City: madera

      Tips: go very slow

    • By

      Water Temp: 70 - 73 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out of Ladd's today a little after 7:30 a.m. and was out by 1:30 p.m. It was a tough 5 fish limit today, no pattern found and no preferred lure. According to Pringle (LOL)it was a junk fishing day today. Just inside the mouth of 14 Mile Slough cuaght/released a 5 lber on a double buzzbait. Moved to my cut along the flat and managed a 2.5 lb bass punchin sweet beavers. Decided to run to a cuople islands in the Disappointment Slough area and another 2 pounder on a wacky red senko and moved again to an area with 15 feet of water even though low tide and one bass on a white spinner bait and the last bass about 3 lbs on a black jig with the small black sweet beaver as a jig trailer.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Look for the calmest water you can find to get out of the wind. Keep changing lures and techniques until Mr. Bass lets you know what he wants.

Sunday, September 11th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71-73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at New Hope just after high-tide peaked; wind was howlin'. Went to corner island before Sycamore..picked up 1.5lber crankin' KVD 2.5 in Sexy Shad. Moved into Sycamore; bro and me picked up around 9-10, mostly smaller keepers and a few dinks on KVD crank and junebug senkos. Moved into Hog after whitecaps came up in Sycamore and picked up 2-3 more keepers and dinks til wind just blew us around too much. Went to Beaver next but decided to just call it a day at 1pm..wind and front changed the bite considerably.
      City: folsom

      Tips: Worked the weedline edges with the crank and then went back and worked 'em again with senkos, both weigtless, shaky and wacky rigged and dropshot. As shallow as 3-4ft out to about 10-12ft. Front moving in had us changing up but senkos and KVD came through. Hard fishing today but at least we boated a few.

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 80

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Really tough bite. No top water am or pm with one brief 1 hr exception between 7-8 Sat evening. Caught about 20 total fish largest 2.5lbs on top water. All fish caught on drop shot or popR shallow less than 10 ft. Mud lines and weed lines were the only pattern. Should get better when the water temp drops. Slow bite probably due to lake draw down.
      City: Foster City

      Tips: Drop shot along weed lines or mud lines shallow.

Friday, September 9th, 2011

    • By

      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took the pontoon boat out on Saturday of Labor Day weekend and this Friday. Caught fish on jigs, paddletail, dropshot, senko and hags tornados; got a bunch of swirls and misses on the repo man and transporter as well but no takers. Bigger fish came on jig, deadstickin it. You can catch fish at will off of main/secondary points in 20 ft range on a dropshot, lots of dinks - margarita and morning dawn chartreuse.
      City: Sacramento

Wednesday, September 7th, 2011

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: On the water at 7am and weighing in an 11.2 pounder and a 4.5 by 8am before releasing. Missed another large bass I thought I stuck well but it came unbuttoned after a short fight. Went back out after the picture and caught another 13 fish by 11:30am, although nothing went over 3 pounds. Missed more bass than I caught.

      Tips: It was extremely hot and calm, a combination I have found that works for me on this lake. Don't be scared to throw a weird color or a bait you would not normally use. I took a chance and combined the two in one lure and got rewarded with my 2nd 10+ pounder, both out of this lake. Use heavy line. The big gal got me in some wood a couple times during the fight and I had to ease off a little to unsnag her. I never would have landed her in the area I was fishing with light line.

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great day in whites caught 22 fish with best five right around 19 pounds. Frog bite was good north of ski beach and bass are on a BIG TIME shad pattern. Threw kvd's 2.5 shad pattern cranks all day and knocked them out. When current stops make your way out towards the mouths of the main channels and crank the current. Found a few dead shad spit up in my livewell so throw shad patterns it was a great day on the delta.
      City: stockton

Monday, September 5th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70 - 75 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" stayed in the garage today as I was invited by a co-worker/friend to go fishing in his bass boat today. We concentrated in the 14 Mile Slough and Disappointment Slough areas. The challenge was looking for calm water to fish and staying away from the crazy holiday boating traffic. We were in the water by 7:00 a.m. and out by about 5:00 p.m. I concentrated on flippen/punchen the heavy cover with sweet beavers and pitched the edges/pockets of the heavy cover with wacky red senkos from the back of the boat. My friend had texas rigged his senkos using black/red flake and also using my red senkos. The bass were preferring to be located under the heavy cover around shadede areas and close to current preferably. 8 bass were caught today, largest went 5 lbs. caught on the wacky red senko pitching to the the shade of an overhanging tree in the disappointment slough area. The bites in the hyacinth were aggressive as I noticed I had spooked a cuople frogs out of the areas I flipped/punched the sweet beavers (Oxblood 3/8 oz wt & Black/red flake 3/4 oz wt.)
      City: Stockton

      Tips: With all the heavy boat traffic today we concentrated around the heaviest cover we could find. Working the edges and pockets first for the aggressive fish first then moved in closer to flip/punch the heavy cover where the bass had buried themselves in to get away from the "Holiday Shock".

  • Trinity County
    • By

      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: OK.... What did you guys do to the lake while I was gone? Yeah, I know you filled it up (which is pretty cool) but where did you hide the fish? I know it's the dog days and all that, but the fishing has been pretty sucky from what I could see. Anyway I'm back to Maine for a few weeks, then I'll be back to try to figure out where they all went. Late Oct ought to bring on a topwater bite. I'll let you know.
      City: Weaverville

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

  • Mason County
    • By

      Water Temp: 76

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Labor Day weekend and the lake was really crowded with wake boarders. Fished 2 hrs from 2-4 Pm. Caught 10 bass all under 2lbs. With the boat traffic coming very close I was surprised to boat any fish. The pattern was mud lines. Caught all fish on a drop shot 4" worm shallow along mudline breaks. Was teaching an 8yr old how to fish so he got to reel in a lot of fish and is "hooked" on bass fishing so to speak.
      City: Foster City

      Tips: Fish mud lines shallow with drop shot. Wind & boat wake induced waves from deep to shallow water helped position the fish

Saturday, September 3rd, 2011

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 82

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Made two afternoon trips 9/1 and 9/3. Bite is not wide open ,but not bad. Best fish on 9/1 was a 3lb. spot and 9/3 was a 4 lb. spot. TYhe lake is super healthy and so are the fish. I have not seen summer bass this healthy in a long time. Lake is laoded with shad.
      City: Sonora

      Tips: Best fish came on 3/8 Sculpin and Xmas Tree Pro Guide Jigs. Best depth is 8 to 20 feet.

Friday, September 2nd, 2011

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Friday after work from about 4pm till 8:30pm in the Warm Springs area. The top water bite kicked on after 5pm using poppers, buzzbaits and a frog. We caught several nice bass up to about 3 lbs. The bite slowed as it got darker.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: Look for the grass areas along the shore. Fish the edge of the grass or over the top with a frog. If you find grass on a point spend some time there. There is a lot a bait jumping in the evenings so keep your eyes open for surface action.

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished White's Shough this afternoon/early evening for a good frog bite before the current quit. More blowups than hookups, sadly. Fish really weren't eating the bait, just merely slappin' at it. My girlfriend stuck a 5 and a four, all the rest were average delta keepers.
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Stay with the current

Wednesday, August 31st, 2011

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 80*

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Tues and Wed in Rattlesnake/south end. Tons of dinks, with a some good fish thrown in. The little guys seemed to be closer in to the tules, though there were exceptions. Got them on everything, small 4" senkos, jigs, curly tail worms. They really liked the jig, got most big fish dragging jig slowly on outside weedlines in about 15'. Whalen cove and thereabouts was most productive. Two 30 + days, lots of 1lb fishsticks. Keeps it interesting though! Big fish about 4 1/2, with 9-10 fish 3lbs + - over the two days.
      City: Clearlake Park

      Tips: AM and PM best, they really turned on at dusk. No crank/blade/swimbait bite to speak of. Senkos in rainbow trout and a blue color I found in the bottom of my bag (?). They seemed to want some brighter colors on senkos, but were hitting the old green pumpkin jig/rage tail trailer.

Tuesday, August 30th, 2011

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We fished the County Park area from our float tubes between 9AM and 6PM. We fished up against the tules with drop shotted Roboworms, as well as some house docks. We pulled in tons of bass, but most were non-keeper sized fish. The most notable fish were 5-15, 4-9, 4, and 3 lbs. A few other good sized fish were lost too. The rest were basically little dinks at 10 inches and below.
      City: Livermore

      Tips: Drop shot Roboworms - in Folkestad Special, Margarita Mutilator, and Morning Dawn colors - right up against the tules. The deeper and thicker the tules, the better. Fish it slow and keep an eye on the line for movement. Focus particularly on the east-facing side of tule points leading into creeks and small openings - this is where all of the bigger fish we caught were residing.

Monday, August 29th, 2011

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Capell's around 11:00. Algae Bloom is starting to take over the north end of the lake. Fished Putah Creek most of the day. All you want on the 8 inch fish on the dropshot. Two nice keepers on the Dirty Jigs Swim Jig. Fun Day all in all.
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Find the bait in cleaner water. 20-25 Feet with the bait and you'll find the bass. Wear Sunscreen!