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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, May 22nd, 2011

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 76-69

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the West side of the big island, caught all of our fish in cuts and small wind blown coves in 8 to 10 feet of water. We caught 10 fish on drop-shot robo worm in morning dawn color. Had another 8 to 10 bites but couldn't land them in the boat. Our best five fish went 17.5 lbs with the biggest fish at 3.5 lbs and included three smallies.

      No takers on rattle traps, crank baits, jerk baits or top water...Drop-Shot was the meal of the day.
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: When you get your first bite look at your depth finder and see how deep of water your boat is in...then keep your boat in that depth as you fish. Every time we moved deeper we lost our bite; once we got the boat back at the right depth of our first bite we would get hit again.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62-65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 5:30 am - 1:00 pm in the east. Fished last 1/2 of incoming to last 1/2 of outgoing. I was in a jacket and beanie until 10 am! The incoming tide was slower and as it was cold, I was not surprised I got skunked incoming. Once things warmed up at 10:30 for outgoing and with a faster tide...the bite picked up. Got them crankin. Caught 10 bass and 4 stripers. For the most part the bass were all the males too small to be on beds (most were about 12"ers with a few 1 1/2 - 2 lbers). The stripers were 12"-14" also the fish too small to try to head up river to spawn.

      Tried senko a bit with no bites. Tried topwater first hour with two nibbles and one good boil with no hook ups. Tried small swimbait late in the day with 3 nibbles and 2 strikes.

      Wow, saw quite a few school of bait (too small for the bass to focus on), but it nice to see some of them back! I thought they might be baby bass, but they were not. Threadfin shad if I had to guess. They schooled under my boat while I was taking lunch at 10 am.
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: None as I did not do to well...

    • By

      Water Temp: 66

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Someone help me: try not to feel discouraged it happens to alot more anglers than you may think. This sat I went all day with only 2 bass and today I didn't catch one dang bass all day but I did come across the mother load of a striped school though. Like deep v said create a mental check list and just go down the list of what works and what doesn't. I like black and chartruse color jigs with a sweet beaver or a rage draw. Post spawn u want red cranks lipless or not it don't matter. Senkos always work but I don't have the patience for them; same for drop shotting. Spinner baits in a white and chartruse color parallel to grass lines on low tide and between the tules and grass on high tide. But im no pro so I have good and bad days also so try not to get discouraged and have fun while your out there.
      City: stockton

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62-64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: got a real nice 6 1/2 pounder yesterday man was he fat!. sinko's and drop shoting was about the only thing working i spoke to some guys just comeing in from a tournament on sunday and thay told me that it was a slow and hard day on the water. the bite is hard right now but if you fish hard and try to find them you just mite get lucky?....the fish are just not realy eating much right now but give it 2 to 4 weeks from now the fishing will be on!
      City: sacramento

      Tips: the fish are out there. just get on the water have a good time good luck!

Saturday, May 21st, 2011

  • Mason County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished 9-1 today. WX was great. Bite was on early and seemed to slow down around 10:30. Caught 12 bass up to 2 lbs. Caught 2 on crank bait, 1 on tube, and 9 on Crig plastics. All fish were up shallow around shoreline with stick-ups. Water is rising.
      City: Foster City

      Tips: Fish shallow with plastics along shoreline with weeds or sticks in the water.

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Subject: Fishing with Sid

      This past weekend I went fishing with Albert and Jory. What a difference a week makes the lake was calm and clear and I decided to retrace our pattern from last week. We started out by the Ranch house and the water was crystal clear we could see the bass 12 feet down but they would not bite. I guess if we could see them they could see us. Decided to head straight to the Vineyard. The first fish was caught on brass and glass so were the next few. Albert had set up his rod with a weight that was too heavy so I suggested he make it lighter. He decided to use only the glass bead and boy he was raking them in. His first fish (which he lost) must have weighed almost 8 pounds but every fish he brought in was a good size. Of course Jory and I switched to using the same setup and it worked for us as well. I believe that part of the formula was using the Procure crawdad scent on the worm and the other part was using a very light weight. Albert had to go home early so after leaving him off Jory and I went to my favorite cove and I threw a six inch watermelon red senco on top of a submerged tree and "POW" a five pound bass hit it on the way down (see photo). That was a nice catch!!! Jory largest fish did not make it into the boat because he got so excited he lifted it out of the water to early and the fish spit out the hook and waved goodbye. Jory did catch some nice bass that he did land using a rattle trap. The top water bite is not happening yet at least not for me and trust me I tried very hard. The water temperature was close to 68 degrees which was a huge difference from last weekend. All in all it was a great weekend for fishing.
      'til next weekend.................................................................good fishing!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
      City: Napa

      Tips: Waiting for top water to turn on,fish were caught in 5 feet of water,try shallow to deep,try everything in your fishing tackle box till you figure out a patern.cesparce abcence

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 61.8 to 65.2

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: My sister-in-law's brother, Johnny, had not gotten to fish the Delta this year. I launched at Russo's and fished in Franks, catching a few, while I waited for him to arrive. He was at the dock at 6:00, as scheduled. We fished around Franks for a couple hours and caught about 15 fish in the .5# to 3+# range using Speed Traps, Senkos and Spinnerbaits. No action on topwater. We hit three more areas heading East in the main river with only a few more fish in the 1# to 3# range. The last are we fished was a marina that we got another 5 fish in 2# to 4.5# range. Johnny tossed a small orangeish spinnerbait and got the best fish of the day 4.81#, it was the same one that he was getting the 5" fish on in the early morning. Great day fishing, fair day catching and our best 5 would go about 14.5#. The Senko bite was very light most of the time.
      City: Antioch

      Tips: Fish slow and pay attention to your line when throwing Senkos. The Speed Trap and Spinnerbait hits were solid.

    • By

      Water Temp: 56-58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: someone help me: you're not any different than a bunch of other bassers who employ techniques that you're aware of. keep logs or mental notes of what worked for you and be open to experiment with techniques you read or hear about. my brother and i have techniques that work when it's really on, and those techniques shut down at certain times. that's when we start going through the list of possibilities. don't give up! my brother caught plenty on dropshotting when i wouldn't give up my spinnerbait or crankbait. list of things that work on the delta...lipless crankbaits (my fav) in red crawdad/chartreuse belly or straight red crawdad. same colors in speed traps (dive 3-5-7ft)...work slow when over weedbeds, work hard and bump bottom in shallow clear areas (bro caught nice 3lb12oz fatbelly near a lone dock bumpin mud). spinnerbaits...outside weedline or right up against the tules...look out for grass/weed clumps. dropshot...up against the tules, in the pockets between the tules, and deeper dropoff outside the weedline (7-15 or deeper)...watermelon or oxblood works for us 4-6". Senkos in watermelon/red, junebug, pumpkinseed, or sweet tater pie also work (4-5"). Bro loves to throw jigs/beavers too; i like punchin' with sweet beavers or rage craws or creatures (anything similar works) in pumpkin, watermelon, blue/black, and whatever combination works for you. but my fav delta presentation is crankin', and it can happen any time. Look for transition points where moving water riffles and meets a different current like in points entering inlets or main channel current creating some eddies. also fish wind-blown tules or if it's a tule island, fish the inside lane and not the main channel. then go back up and fish the rockwall side of that same lane. all these are hit or miss but eventually you'll run into fish. really!!!
      City: sac

      Tips: all of the above. that's the best i can offer you since no one else wants to lend you a hand. my brother and i are in a tracker 185 targa and you'll see my yellow lab, tofu with us. if bass fishing was the only fishing we do, we'd be in a glitter boat, but since we enjoy so much other fishing, we have the tracker. feel free to say hello if you see us. we're happy to share what little we know that has worked for us. some of the pro-am guys we've met have also shared their knowledge with us. some don't. oh well, we love to fish! best of luck!

    • By

      Water Temp: 63-66

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I knew Saturday would be great since it was overcast and very little wind, unlike the week prior. Got busy right off the bat and it never stopped as I worked spawning banks and coves using a tube all day. When something is working, why change? It got stupidly congested with power boats and skiers and called it a day by 1:00 but I gotta say that I normally don't count my catches, today I did and I caught and released 71 bass with my best 5 only going about 13 lbs. Great day but looks like you need to go middle of the week.
      City: Wheatland

      Tips: Tubes on a 1/4 darthead worked off shallow banks and into the backs of coves.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: est. 57-63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Its hit and miss out there for all you bass hunters, with the spawning taking place 95% of bass are suspended...and boy do I mean suspended. I had two 3-5 pounders bedding in about 6-7 feet of water near 5th street launching facility, literally hit them in the head with everything from senkos, jigs, pop-r, spook, #13 rapala diver, minnows, spinbait (you get my point) and they still wouldnt bite. most everyone i talked to was getting skunked...except those who used a VERY sligh stealth approach and presentation (i.e. kyack with a trolling engine or paddles, or waiting a few minutes after a cast to retieve). Bass were hitting in 3-12 ft of water in gravel beds, near the tullies,marsh, high grass and other covered areas mostly on minnows, senkos, and 4-6foot diving shad replicas with light coloring/white tummy(rapalas were killin it). for catfish stick to 3-10 ft deep densely covered vegatation or along the veg line and other natural/man made variations in landscape (i.e. points, submerged fence, retaining wall etc.) with brawtwurst or chickenliver. as for the carp, try whole kernel corn cut fresh off the cob, boil it in cherry cool-aid in the marshy, dense veg areas. chum out 4-6+ cup fulls(the more the better) and let it soak in real good in ur area of presentation. then string some up on a brushless hook like you would salmon egss and drop shot it 4-12 inchs from the bottom of just sink it down to the bottom. theres nothing more exciting to a 12 year old than settin the hook and fighting in a 15-20 pound carp. not much for eating but sure makes for one hell of a fishin story, good luck and happy catching
      City: Roseville

      Tips: be as stealthy as possible, and be patient. you can fish for 2 days straight and not catch nothin but a cold, but it only takes half a second to land that trophy status lunker so dont give up. they are out there its just gettin them to bite is the hard part. I had multiple anglers on $50,000 dollar boats come in skunked yet i watched a guy on a grapes of wrath style kyack with a trolling motor jerry-rigged to it reel in twp 4-6 pound large mouths and a 7 year old boy land a 6 pounder of the dock at the skylark by flippin a minnow 5 feet off the dock for less than 10 minutes.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58-61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got exactly 30 fish today. Most Fish were tuckeys...two smalljaw...Big fish #3 spot. Most 13 - 16 inches , one 18 inches. Caught fish on yum DIngers in watermelon \Red flake in 3 inch , and yamammoto 4 and 5 inch senkos...baby bass. Drop shot hook barbless...got rid of wide gap and caught more fish. Only lost one fish barbless. Fish fought well better than in the usual summer. Fish scattered in coves and off points 15-35 feet. Great weather till about 7pm started raining..didnt stop the fish in evening bite. Heard there was a lot of tourney traffic..didnt see much of it though. Great day!
      City: Klamath falls ,

      Tips: Be patient....bouncing techniques not working like usual...slow down presentation a little bit...unless you already fish slow..!

Friday, May 20th, 2011

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 60 morning - 66

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Its been a while since the last report. The lake is full again and looking great.We caught a lot of fish yesterday but nothing big, 2lb. average.They still seem to be in a spawn mode, weird spring and changing water levels has seem to prolong the spawn. Tried jigs on steep banks, spinnerbaits with no takers the first hour,then went flippin' the tules with creature baits... Hogs etc. About 15 fish for the day. Primetime if you like to flip.Stayed mainly in the south end. Goodluck!
      City: Fremont

      Tips: Cover water and flip deep into the tules,let the bait sit for a few seconds,lift and watch your line as it moves. 17lb. florocarbon and 1/4oz. blk.tungsten pegged. Have Fun!

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: around 60?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: fished from rattle snake, my special cove about 2.5 miles left of 5% launch, out to grantite point and along the dam with no luck, then went trolling along the dock and caught 2 12-14 inch trout about 70 feet down. not much bass activity, everything thats been caught has been one senkos or dive/crank bait and drop shot/carolina riggin off points,coves, and open windy/choppy areas. bass are suspended while spawning the only way to hoax a strike is to hit em in the face with it or piss em off by draggin past thier nest. should be good fiching here in a week or so
      City: roseville

      Tips: alot of people have had good results with very small top water and shallow diving swimmers retrieving very very slow in open water. takes for ever and doesnt always get results but when it does, oh boy. especially towards the evening when light starts to fade off the bass see something floating across the top and its dinner time. take care not to use something big enough to cast a sillohuette that will spook any hungry bass, insect replicas and small shad/millow topwater/divers are what was workin divin anywhere from 2-6 feet on a slow retrieve

  • Merced
    • By

      Water Temp: 67?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 6am to 130pm. Early shallow crankbait bite and a buzzbait bite til the end when the wind kinda died. best 5 fish 15lbs, big fish 4lbs.caught a couple dinks on drop shot too.bass fry everywhere.
      City: atwater

      Tips: Beded bass in outlet side of lake. best fish on buzzbait near shade of a willow trees sitting in water.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62 to 64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The lake is just over 3' from capacity. Look for staging fish on main and secondary points and around the willow trees. Most of the bass being caught have been on 4" & 5" senkos in natural shad, Baby bass and green pumpkin or 4" & 6" Mother Finest worms in Morning Dawn and Mojave Oxblood. 4" Zoom ringworms and small flukes in Watermelon seed have also been producing well. The topwater bite has been happening in the evenings but not very consistently, Once the weather stabilizes that will improve.
      City: Shasta Lake

      Tips: if you are planning on heading up to Shasta Give us a call at 1-800-462-3917 or 530-275-4939 for the most current info on the lake.

Thursday, May 19th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished out of Whiskey Slough starting at 8:00 am. We caught a couple keepers, couple dinks and one about 5 lb in Whiskey. The smaller fish came off the islands and the 5 came off a rocky point w/ tule. All the fish were caught after the water started to move out. Bite slowed down by 10:00 Ran up to White Slough didn't do any good. Fished Telephone Cut Caught one more keeper and a couple more dinks.
      City: Sunnyvale

      Tips: Get out earlier than we did. We used Senko's and Frogs.

    • By

      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Can someone please help me. Got a 1.5 lbr with a jig then all he'll broke loose. Hurricane winds in little potatoe slough and I tried everything that fishermans warehouse has to offer. No luck just a few nibbles and couldn't get a bite even of my life was on the line. Maybe someone can help save me from my pathetic fishing. Normally I do pretty good but today was Awfull. Can someone give me some tips. I rather be honest and get alot of tips than to lie and run my lips. Westernbass folks help me
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: I guess that's why it's fishn not catching

    • By

      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Can someone please help me. Got a 1.5 lbr with a jig then all he'll broke loose. Hurricane winds in little potatoe slough and I tried everything that fishermans warehouse has to offer. No luck just a few nibbles and couldn't get a bite even of my life was on the line. Maybe someone can help save me from my pathetic fishing. Normally I do pretty good but today was Awfull. Can someone give me some tips. I rather be honest and get alot of tips than to lie and run my lips. Westernbass folks help me
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: I guess that's why it's fishn not catching

    • By

      Water Temp: 56-59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: In the water from New Hope at 7:15am; started on Mokelumne fav tule strips...picked up a couple 2lbers on white spinnerbait and speed traps. Moved to connection slough and on the way, big brother nailed a nice 3lb 14oz fatbelly bumpin' the bottom with a speed trap. found some transition eddy points and picked up a few more comin' up from the grass beds. tried st francis yacht harbor...brother caught one then not much else......short strikes but nothing in the boat. went back to mokelumne tules but low tide moved 'em out and we couldn't find 'em. wind threw us around all day....guess that's what the big boys in the bass boats can deal with when they have 24-36v 70-100lb trolling motors...i bet it helps. oh well, good day for big brother and at least i got a couple decent to keep the skunk away.
      City: sac

      Tips: High tide work the speed trap slow over the grass/weed beds...they'll come up from below and smack that speed trap. white spinnerbait worked for my brother and the red craw/chart belly redeye shad worked for me...lost a good line stripper on the redeye shad.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: My son and I fished the Thursday nite tournament out of Lime Saddle. For those of you not familiar with it, its a $10.00 buy in per angler and first place goes to longest fish. Anything over 20 paid entries and they pay a second place. Starts at 5:15 and runs till about 8:30. We opted to fish the west branch cause it was close and we hadn't been in there in awhile. We started fishing in the willows but after 45 minutes or so with no luck, switched to fishing shade pockets, cuts and anywhere water was coming in. The bite picked up immediately with the Reaction Innovations worm in the "Juicy" color, dart headed, working best for me, and my son using a tube, from the same company, in green pumpkin, working best for him. You can find these baits at either Oroville Outdoors or the Tackle Box in Chico. We caught some nice chunky fish but managed only a 16 and three quarters for our longest. That fish came on a jig in brown/purple with matching trailer. Winning fish was close to 18.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: I'd venture to say you could catch fish anywhere right now but if I were to go again, say this weekend, I'd concentrate on all the running water, shade pockets, and steeper banks. The willows should hold fish as well. Senkos in green pumpkin seem to be the hot bait according to some but we didn't use any on this trip. There is some debris out there so be aware of that. Hope to see you Thursday.