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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 66

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started early on Disappointment Slough throwing lipless and squarebills to see if anything would react. zip. Next threw black/blue jig; picked up 2, about a pound each. Brother threw Tokyo rig with junebug beaver, picked up a couple more, one was about 2.5lbs, the other barely a pound. Worked rock wall leading to the main channel at St Francis/Tinsley with whopper plopper; couple 12"ers and couple more blowups. Moved to another rock wall at Columbia and worked towards the other yacht harbor; Started picking up a lot of 6 - 12"ers on lipless cranks in the flat; was using a floating rat-l-trap and when i stopped to chat with my brother, hard strike almost pulled my rod out of my hand...turned out to be a 2lb crappie. Started pausing the floating lipless 10-15 seconds and picked up a bunch of 10-12"ers. Got tired of that and headed to White Slough. Nothing on reaction there, even with the long pause. Went to 5" General on 1/8oz shakey head; caught 3 more each. 1pm, called it a day.

      Tips: Not qualified to give tips... we junk fished trying different baits just to get bit. I didn't think the water had cooled that much from a week ago when it was 76; not sure what to try now but I'm thinkin' going forward, I want to keep trying the squarebills and lipless and add in jerkbaits with long pauses. For plastics, senko types in 5" are my go-to but I'm forcing myself to throw jigs; still not that great at it. Tokyo rig with sweet beavers work for my brother. Ned and Neko will probably get some play time too. Hopin' more reports come through with more real tips.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: By StanL

      Day Trip Fishing Clear Lake

      As you know my fishing reports usually come from Camanche, but the opportunity came up for me to take a day trip to Clear Lake and I jumped at the chance.

      It’s been quite a few years since I’ve been there.

      My buddy Ryan and I left early and made our first stop at Limit Out Bait and Tackle and got our Quadra muscle sticker. It was the first time I've been in the store since Bob left. I hope to be back soon.

      We got on the water about 8:00 am and the surface temperature was 69°. The water visibility was about 2 feet.

      We decided to start fishing around Anderson Island and we both started out throwing reaction baits, mostly crankbaits, swimbaits but after a bit with no luck, we both picked up bottom baits. Ryan started throwing a River2Sea Papa Mur jig and I started throwing a Frenzy Nail with a Berkeey Green Pumpkin “The General “worm. With those we got a few small fish until we backed out Into a little deeper water. Then Ryan picked up the Frenzy Nail and BOOM, he caught one about 41/2 pounds. So I tied on a Carolina rig Baby Brushhog and we concentrated on deeper points and breaks in the midsection and lower parts of the Lake.

      We had to be off the water by around 3:00 pm. So all in all we had a great day and we ended up catching-eight fish. Our best five went around 17 or 18 lbs. I'll take that any day in October.

      I hope this helps good luck fishing!!

      Stan

Monday, September 30th, 2019

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: by StanL » Mon Sep 30, 2019 8:54 pm

      Fishing Lake Camanche Sept 30

      What a difference a day makes. Me and my buddy John finally made it to the lake at the crack of dawn. Even with the surface temperature at 73°and a front coming in, we both started throwing reaction baits.

      John was chucking a spinnerbait and I was throwing a crankbait. After about 15 minutes of that, we moved out to a main lake point that was adjacent to the river channel.

      As soon as we got there, John picked up a brown 1/2 oz jig with a craw trailer and on the first cast he picked up a nice fish, so I went to a Frenzy Nail with a Berkley PowerBait Bottom Hopper worm in green pumpkin and it was on ..
      For the next 30 minutes, we jump

      We didn’t catch another fish until after 12 o’clock and we ended up moving out deeper and catching them on steeper points between 35 and 50 feet of water. All of those fish came on the same jig and a dropshot rig with a shad colored 4 inch worm.

      There was 613 CFS of water going out with 355 CFS going in, which might be contribute to a little better fishing than what it was a week ago when it was 1,899 CFS going out and 216 CFS coming in. The watercolor is still good with about eight feet of visibility

      Overall, it just goes to show you, when you’re fishing, everything could change every hour during this time of year. Keep an open mind.

      I hope this helps and good luck fishing.

      Stan

Sunday, September 29th, 2019

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: Postby On The Water Guide Service » Sun Sep 29, 2019 2:19 pm

      With the summer coming to an end, fall patterns are begging to emerge up here at Clear Lake and the lake is changing daily. Cooler overnight air temperatures have brought water temps down a bit this week with readings in the high 60's in the morning and low 70's by the afternoon. Another noticeable change is that the weeds are dying back slowly and are becoming less numerous around the lake. There is still however a great deal of matted thick weeds all around the docks in Lakeport from the Skylark Resort up to about Rocky Point. The docks and shoreline are very fishable all along the Nice, Lucerne and highway 20 side of the lake as well as the rock piles in the narrows. The tule edges from Konocti Vista Casino all the way down to the State Park have been producing some nice fish for fisherman flipping the pockets and edges. Another good bite in the north end is to fish any isolated offshore weed clumps you might find in 6' to 10' of water. These weed clumps can often be way off shore by the 5mph buoys or way out in the middle of a bay. Drop shot, Senko, chatterbait, and spinnerbait have been working well in these areas. There is a lot of silverside minnows up in the shallows in the North end and the fish are keyed in on them right now. I did have a couple fun days catching them on a Lucky Craft Pointer 65 jerkbait, but you do have to go through a bunch of little fish before you get a good keeper it seems like. The LV500 or lipless crankbait bite is starting to come on strong up north and the yo-yo technique ripping it out of the weeds has accounted for some of the bigger fish being caught on that end of the lake. Topwater has been pretty much non existent for me ever since the cooling trend began but i still have my topwater box in the boat just in case we get a few warm days in a row.

      It still seems like most of the people are fishing the narrows and south two arms right now and with good reason. There is a good jig bite down there and a Carolina rigged brush hog is working well also. I was able to find some schools of big threadfin shad (3" to 4") suspended offshore in like 25' and those areas were definitely holding the bigger fish right now. I had a couple good days throwing a Speed Trap squarebill crank bait in a shad pattern down by Rattlesnake Island and over by Monitor Island but you do have to weed through some dinks to get a good one. I'm looking forward to a good S-Waver and glide bait bite to be starting up soon. Water temps need to get just a bit cooler.
      Sometimes the bite can be a bit tough this time of year especially with all the tournament pressure and the abundance of baitfish everywhere. If you find yourself struggling at all. I would recommend drop shotting a 6" purple plastic worm real slow on the bottom and you will catch them.

      Good luck out there and we will see you on the water,

      Troy

Friday, September 27th, 2019

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 75-79

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Amazing day at Berryessa yesterday - and not in a good way! My client, who is an excellent bass fisherman, and I stared out in areas near the dam with no results. We went further up the narrows and found a nice, deep point. We threw topwater and soon I had a vicious hit and after a major tussle, landed a 3 + lb spotted bass. This is going to be THE day!! Not so!!! We drop-shotted a dink, then headed for the main body where my previous trips had worked out well. I stared looking for the bait that had been everywhere in previous trips - filling the screen of my HDS 12. NO bait here, NO bait there, NO bait anywhere!!! Moved around quite a bit - still NO bait. And, no bites. Couldn't believe it. He finally did catch a small bass. Hard to remember a trip that tough after the overall good September. The thrill of the day was getting across the main body after the cold front wind hit about 2 pm. Wow, that lake with all the open water, like Clear Lake, can get nasty in a matter of minutes. Only speared one wave - highlight of the day

      Tips: Obviously, the bait made a fall move and we didn't make the same move - I guess. We got a few spoon bites but missed 'em. As we moved back to the narrows in the afternoon, we did see a little more bait on the meter. Bait could be moving towards the north end of the lake

Wednesday, September 25th, 2019

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Report: by chadmitch » Wed Sep 25, 2019 8:04 pm

      Want to put the heads up for fisherman heading to bullards bar and specifically dark day launch ramp. Just spent a couple of days on a friends houseboat. Fishing was great , no big ones but lots of fish and fun.Got back to truck and trailer to pick up ranger and found that the twekers had cut my main gas line and also took a grinder and cut open my job box in bed of truck. Just want people to be aware. sounds like they have stepped up security at marina parking lot.I guess they have had over 30 of the same crimes in the last 3 monthes. The manager at the marina said that there have also been stories of them drilling out the gas tanks to steal gas.

Tuesday, September 24th, 2019

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72 to 79

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 830a to 8pm. Started north end of lake in the weeds. For only small fish then moved to the docks more small fish. Final move out to 15 feet of bbn water out in front off weeds and rocks. Finding the bait. Caught better fish but was a challenge to stay on the fish. Ended the day with a fish an hour best 14lb

      Tips: Go early. Best bite of the day is from sunrise to 9 I found last week.

Sunday, September 22nd, 2019

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: by StanL » Sun Sep 22, 2019 12:24 am

      Fishing Camanche This Week Sept 21

      Camanche report
      Today it was my daughter's birthday. I took both her and my daughter inlaw fishing for celebrate my daughter's birthday. We got on the water at safe daylight and I wish I could say we hammered them but to tell the truth we struggled.

      The surface temperature was 73 degrees. There was 1,899 CFS (cubic feet per second) going out and 216CFS coming in. It usually makes the fishing extremely challenging whenever more water is going out then it is coming in and it usually makes the fish suspend at Camanche. You can see what it looked like on my Lowrance

      We caught four fish all on the dropshot technique with a Strike King KVD Dream Shot worm.The fish we did catch were on points where there was a break from 20 to 40 feet hope this helps good luck fishing

Monday, September 16th, 2019

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70’s

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Crazy weather day. It rained for three straight hours. Had fun day with bites on everything we threw. Super tough for us to nail anything down specifically. Of our best 5 two were flip, one was punch, one was plopper, and a chatter bait. Lots of little fish on senko. Super fun

      Tips: Still trying to figure out better fish. Flipping is my dead ringer was best.

Sunday, September 15th, 2019

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: by Kyle46N » Sun Sep 15, 2019 8:44 pm

      Anyone see any salmon in tbe sloughs off the Mokolumne yet? I was up there 3 weeks ago, and not a fish to be seen. I have 1 or 2 more trips to the Delta before I head to Afghanistan again. Hoping to put the kids on a slough salmon. I will say, the bass were chewin red squarebills along any rocks in the river though. We caught a ton after we realized the salmon were not there yet. That'll be the plan again this week. Thanks!

Friday, September 13th, 2019

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished four of five days around this date. Fishing was slow but I did manage to catch 1-2 okay fish in the 2-4 pound range each day. Farther up the river, there seemed to be a morning topwater bite at dawn that lasted only 20-30 minutes. After that, deep was the ticket with underspin swimbaits working in 20-30 feet of water but again, pretty slow bite. Also snagged a 2.5 pounder under a rock with a wacky worm. And dredged a few out in the late morning near shore using a deep diving crankbait (orange).

      Tips: Fish the points, as I had zero luck in the pockets

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 74-78

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Kayak fishing for spots at lake Oroville launched at String Town ramp at 6am, fished until 11am, 22 fish, most in the 15” to 17” range with one 18” to 20”. Most of the fish in 40’ to 45’ range a few in the 30’. Submerged rock piles and islands seem the be the best bet. Friday was a great day only saw one boat on the south fork. See fishing forum for pictures.

Thursday, September 12th, 2019

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 78-82

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I took my first-ever (I think) clients from Iowa, who wanted to fish Lake Berryessa while they were in the area. A wonderful husband/wife couple who has been traveling around the country. She read - he fished!! I always wish the fishing would be tip-top for out-of-state visitors. Actually - it wasn't bad! If Berryessa wouldn't go dead-flat calm in the fall afternoons, the morning bite would continue. After 1 pm the lake was like a pane of glass! But the morning was breezy and the bite was on - sorta. We drop-shotted Robo worms in shad and morning dawn colors until about 11 am and then switched to spooning with Blade Runner 1 3/4 oz spoons mostly in the morning dawn color. Around noon he hooked the big-un of the days at 3 1/4 lbs - a nice spotted bass!! We had a few dinks, but most were 2 1/4 to 3 lbs - all three species! His best five - around 12 or 13 lbs.

      Tips: We started early out of Markley Cove and fished shadow areas in the narrows. We went thru a tough stretch, losing several quality bass. Just think they weren't aggressive early since we saw NO topwater action - only a dink or two. Our spoon bite was interesting as we found the most active bass closer to the bank than I expected. That's where the bait was. Didn't find many schools of bait far offshore as we usually do. Most were in 20 to 35 feet - close to Big Island and the west side. Interesting that we didn't find many huge schools of bait. Last week they were everywhere!! Fall fishing is here at Berryessa - hunt bait - fish. Hunt bait - fish!!

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 76.4

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: A quick trip, fished from 5 pm to 9:30 pm. Fishing was slow overall. I caught about 7 small fish 12" and smaller on jigs, worms, and spinnerbaits from the bank out to 20' depths. Maybe the fishing will pick up when cooler weather arrives.

Wednesday, September 11th, 2019

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: by ElGuapo » Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:09 pm

      Launched out of Russo's at 7 and started a low tide milk run. Water temps were in the low 70's and never got above 77 throughout the day. Air temps were comfortable all day, in the 80's. Wind around Franks Tract got into the low teens in by mid-morning which made boat positioning a challenge.

      Thankfully recreational boat traffic was significantly down from the previous holiday weekend and water has cleared up a bit in some of the areas where ski/wake boats had muddied the water.

      Caught a lot of fish throughout the morning on the punch rig but they were all smaller fish. Also had a ton of short strikes tearing the tails off the baits. Started getting more quality bites as the water warmed and we were further south. Here's the best bites:

    • By

      Report: by jeffrm20 » Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:15 pm

      My son and I launched out of Tiki around 4pm and headed towards Mildred Island. Picked off a bunch of dink bass wacky rigging a 222 Senko along rocky banks and tule pockets. Found an open water flat and fished jerkbaits and lipless cranks. Found some dink striker and picked off a little better bass before having to call it a night.

Monday, September 9th, 2019

  • Lake County
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      Report: by Bjrano » Mon Sep 09, 2019 2:03 pm

      This was Labor Day weekend. No one was fishing but I was surprised at the location for my catch. It was right next to the walking foot path not 40 feet from our tent. I will give credit. It seemed as though there were multiple casting lanes along that trail. I I only fished about 50 yards of the path but got multiple strikes in my frog. Near campsite number 41 I dont recall the name of the slough.My son in law caught this one from the boat on a Ned rig.y Bjrano » Mon Sep 09, 2019 2:03 pm

      This was Labor Day weekend. No one was fishing but I was surprised at the location for my catch. It was right next to the walking foot path not 40 feet from our tent. I will give credit. It seemed as though there were multiple casting lanes along that trail. I I only fished about 50 yards of the path but got multiple strikes in my frog. Near campsite number 41 I dont recall the name of the slough.My son in law caught this one from the boat on a Ned rig.

Saturday, September 7th, 2019

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 80

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Some top water very early or late on Berkley Choppo. Bass are heavily feeding on shad and most are on points. Favorite plastic or jig in 10-30 feet on points will get fish. Although it’s past Labor Day weekend, there are still a lot of boats on the lake.

      Tips: If not fishing top water then be sure your jig is in contact with bottom.

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019

  • Solano County
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      Report: by DBbass » Tue Sep 03, 2019 7:48 am

      Fished around Discovery Bay on Friday and Monday. Caught a lot of fish, but nothing with any size. The highlights were watching the sheriff marine patrol pulling over multiple bad actors around the west entrance into Discovery Bay. Great people watching for sure. Very happy to have law enforcement out on the water.

  • Lake County
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      Report: by coyote268 » Tue Sep 03, 2019 6:30 am

      Daughter Sandi came up as I live in Lakeport. We fished Saturday and Sunday and it was a zoo. Saturday we had a good day with around 15 in boat drop shotting north end with the best a 6.4 on a puff ball jig. Trying to get out of the water at 5th street was impossible so finally lucked out at third street. Sunday launched at state park and ran south and did good with smaller fish around Rattlesnake. Again mostly drop shotting. Sandi was on fire and had 3 over three but not quite four. Pulling out was easier at the park. A lot of nut cases out there and very rude boaters. Had to have a Danhatten Sunday night to calm down.