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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, March 25th, 2011

  • Fresno County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Friday was a beautiful day, a gift not to be wasted. After 2pm, hiked the banks at Winchell Cove on the opposite side of the marina. Found a little shelf and tossed out a River2Sea craw and pulled out two two pounders within 10 minutes of each other. Tried different presentations in the same location but to no avail. Walked further East to hit more banks, pulled in a short fish, and that was it for the day. Little craw was all that seemed to work that day.
      City: Fresno

      Tips: Uphill bottom bump plastic craws

Tuesday, March 22nd, 2011

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50.5

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: awesome day yesterday. fished for three windy hours with 7 fish coming in a 45 min period which included a 3.1 and a 3.9. all fish caught on reaction in 3-7ft water, working fast through the rocks. love days when you can fish like that! 6 of 7 were spotted... all fat and white as wool.

      Tips: don't give up too quickly on a pattern you know should be working.

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 51-52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: went to the lake this morning to let the dog run and noticed the water level dropped and all the driftwood is sitting on the shore until they close the spillway and the level rises again. found a rattlesnake at perish cove, almost stepped right on top of her. It's a good thing it is still pretty chilly out or I might have had a rude begining to my Tuesday. Every year the lake fills up, the rattlesnakes get real bad around the shoreline. Today was was close enough for me to call it good on any further shore fishing for the season. Just boat trips from now on.

      Tips: the lake looked to have dropped 5-10 feet the water was a bit cooler and a bit murky. caught 1 spot pushing 2 lbs and I didn't try real hard. she was caught on a wacky senko in green.

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 48-51

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went fishing, caught fish. Hopefully this weather holds up and they keep biting. No real pattern, just kind of hit a mis. Tried to stay on main lake areas and then headed back into creeks. Most fish seemed to be in transition.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Fish the main lake areas looking for transitions. Any bait will work as long as you paid 4.95/pk. or more. Really, bait doesn't matter, they will come out with another one the catches fish down the road at some point.

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: With my Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" still being serviced at Delta Marine I had no choice this afternoon but to walk the banks around Ladd's Marina today. Even though we have this bad windy storm blowing through the region this weekend the BITE IS STILL ON!!!

      I caught my first duoble-digit bass of my career (10.5 lbs) witnessed by my friend and fishing buddy. I'm very greatful he was willing to take the time to come out in the rain with a Berkley Digital scale and his camera.

      The huge bass was caught in about 6 ft. of water with a custom built jig, Brown/Orange flake skirt and a Berkley Power Craw trailer (Punkinseed/chartruese). She gave a good fight after smacking my jig.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Even though we have bad weather this weekend persistance pays off. I did not see a single boat trailer in the launch ramp parking lot.

      Also, I was wondering if the angler happens to be reading this report I found a 6" Lizard with a 5/0 super line hook in her if you were the one that possibly got broken off. :-)

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48 degress

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I started on north about 6:30am and fished points and rock piles. I fished about 22-35 ft deep of water. I showed all sorts of presentations and got no hits. For the second week in a row I got skunked. Water was really murky and windy
      City: Sacramento

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Temp: 60-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: This report covers the last three weekends for me at Casitas. It should be noted it snowed down to lake level on the weekend of Feb. 26th-27th when the fish were in full swing for an early spawn. I fished all three weekends with the same partner who had been fishing in deep water with big jigs at Piru and could not wrap his head around the fact that Casitas fish had been spawning in Feb. until I showed him all of the beds.The water temps initially started at about 57morning /59 by the end of the day, This third week just prior to a whole lot of rain on Sunday water temps started at 60 and I saw 62 most of the day under overcast skies. The first trip after it had snowed we caught fish shallow but while there were beds everywhere it was evident that the main portion of the fish that had built those beds had pulled off leaving slim pick'ns up shallow. The second week we did much better but were still lacking in numbers using the same baits as the week before, We sampled the lake and caught fish every where we went but not bed fish. They were at the entrance to the backs of coves in 10-15. This past weekend 3/19 saw us fishing in the middle of a WON tournament with 24 boats in the field. There were fish actively spawning on this day and it was fun to watch and move on. I did my best at keeping my partner from molesting to many of the locked on fish. We never had anyone around us all day as we again sampled different areas and found the fish much more active. I had 4 in the boat in the first 10 minutes of our morning of the 19th when I put down a senko and used a ripbait on an outside point. The fish were farther offshore than I would have thought and liked a slow rip pause retrieve. Color: Ghost Tennessee shad Lucky craft 127Mr.These fish would have been culled by later efforts easily but I found there location to be the bigger mystery. We moved along on the trolling motor from the back of a long cove towards main lake and found bigger females on dropshot worms on the entrance to the coves. Color watermelon candy 4.8 worm rigged wacky. These fish were offshore on the outside of the secondary flooded brush about 15-20 feet. That bite evaporated as we got closer to the main lake. I moved the boat onto main lake structure around noon and caught nothing in 20 minutes on my best stuff so I quickly left that and went back to the back of a cove and worked my way out. We popped a bunch of fish on senkos from 1:00 until 3:30.... Color: green pumpkin black flake rigged wacky weedless fished on 8 pound/10 pound flouro dbl. Uni power pro. The water was ultra clear but the storms pounding the area right now could help us out from the 15-20 foot viability that we have now. The outlook for April is very good as the fish that pulled off the beds in March are going to supplement the fish that had an April time frame.
      City: Ojai

      Tips: The water is clear. Use polarized glasses and fish the offshore 12 foot deep wood and weed edges. The spawning activity is evident everywhere in the shallows so focus just off those beds...or of course you can go around catching buck bass off of beds instead of the better quality to be had just a few feet deeper at this time.

  • Fresno County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Tons of Spots everywhere. Surely in prespawn and will readily bite plastics, ripbaits or jigs. Windy today but a good bite anyway. Most fish we caught today were on points or along cliff walls.
      City: Fresno

      Tips: Plastics, jigs, ripbaits, spinnerbaits all work great now.

Friday, March 18th, 2011

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

      Report: I was just wondering if the inspections up there are still hard to pass.
      City: taft

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Cloudy with some wind. took the son-in-law since he too is not working. first and only stop was the second dike. we had over 30 fish each and they were all around a pound. we could of looked for bigger fish but the dike blocks the wind so good why leave. I let my son use my old pistol grip rod from the 1970s and told him to set the hook as hard as he could when felt a bite. After the 8th fish he caught on to my joke asked for a different rod. most of the fish today were spots with a few trout mixed in. we stay next to some old tree line in 35 ft of water we lost about 12 jigs and a few drop shots. good day
      City: Lodi

      Tips: the crazy color did not do well for us, the more natural colors were getting snacked hard. for jigs try 1/4 or 3/8 clear olive with watermelon or light smoke. drop shot was not as good but did produce. we use 4 inch green robo worms the purples, shad patterns and the larger worm did not work for us. when you catch you first fish start fishing small and slow. good luck and be safe.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 51

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: first time on clear lake ever,being from so. cal. my wife asked where i would like to go for our anniversary and i said clear lake. we got there late sat. and left tues. at noon. Fished some on sunday and had no idea where to fish and there was a big tourny going on so i just picked a spot and fished . managed to catch a 2# fish on a jerk bait . threw all i could think of that might trigger a strike and no luck. had some bad weather and with the wife it shortend my fishing time. monday nite was nice and my wife said she would try some nite fishing. went where i metered some fish during the day and my wifes first cast was a nice 5# and i managed a 6# fish. only fished 3 hours befor wife got cold and called it a nite . Realy had fun and loved the lake, it was just a huge lake and a little intimidating. plan on another trip as soon as i can.
      City: tehachapi

      Tips: caught my best fish on home made 7" pastic green weenies

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

  • Yuba County
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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tried to get on the lake today but could only stay out for 45 minutes due to weather. May try again tomorrow as the rain is supposed to let up then get ugly again for another few days.

      Tips: Fished Bullards several times but never saw it this rough. Ready for the rain to stop but it looks like it is going to get worse over the weekend. Didn't catch Sh!t today

  • Mendocino County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Walked the banks on the north end of the lake in the rain and wind throwing 6" worms and lipless cranks, caught 4 fish. 2 rats, 2.25 and 3.5. 3 LMB, 1 SMB
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Once the weather stabilizes the bite will be wide open. All fish were caught in less than 10 feet of water.

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50.8 - 55.2

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: This might be a shame - no posts since my last one? I guess there is no one fishing the lake much! Must have been a quiet weekend!! Not much pressure at night either - Mike Sperbeck and I were the only ones on the lake last night during a stunning, beautiful night. Dead calm sea and half moon in and out of the clouds. Air temp around 48-50. Now for the really good fishing report!! A 30-10 night again - FINALLY! Didn't know if it would ever happen again at Clear Lake. Mike and I boated a 30 1/4 lb limit and I landed my first "10" in awhile - #48 in my quest for 50 bass over 10 lbs in northern California. More importantly, Mike caught an 8 inch bass - a rarity these days. All our efforts were from below the narrows to the state park. We fished a ton of rocky areas and pitched to brush and trees. We ended up at Shag Rock where there are no fish left - except two. Mike caught a 2 1/2 and on the famous "last cast", I hooked another gorgeous bass - this lady at 8 lbs 1 oz. During our 6 hr trip, Mike caught 7 with his biggest at 5-2 (plus the dink) and I only caught 4, but their weight was about 24 lbs. Nice!! I lost 2 big bass and Mike dumped a 5 or 6 at the boat. We could have had a truly amazing weight - but no complaints from either of us. We did miss or lose about as many as we landed - Mike about 7 or 8 and me losing the 2 big ones and 2 others. Mike got some shallow bass to hit when the moon was brightest around 9 pm. but most of the quality bass were again around 20 to 35 feet deep. Bulky baits like the brush hog and Yamamoto big Flappin' Hog worked best.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: I figured weather conditions would be ideal last night and that is why I called Mike about 3 PM and said "WE'RE GOIN'"!! Cloudy nights mean less heavy, damp air and an improved bite. Last night the boat was hardly damp and the bite was excellent. I did notice that many of the big bass were on the secondary ledges - 20 feet or below. When the bait fell off a ledge and landed in deeper water - I would let it sit - then shake it a bit. Bang!! That worked fairly good last night. While most of my bites the last two evenings have been just pressure bites, the "Lady 10" just CRUNCHED the bait. Probably the best hit I have had in over 2 years. I just kept setting the hook over and over while driving home. Nervous twitch???

Monday, March 14th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56-59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started fishing around 1230 around disappointment as the tide topped off. Fish were up tight to cover until the tide started to move and the dark clouds and wind came. Caught many 1 lb cookie cutters on a crankbait but was catching better quality on the hula grub 2lb up to a 7 lber.
      City: manteca

      Tips: Pitched the hula grub tight to logs and tules until the weather showed up. Then started dragging the hula grub across flats and past small tule patches. Tossed crankbait anywhere the current was moving swiftly for the small fiesty ones.

    • By

      Water Temp: 55.7 to 57.9

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The bass are still eating Jigs Baby brushogs and 5" senko's The warmer weather is producing bass in the 2 too 4 pound range
      City: madera ca.

      Tips: Fishing vertical right now is the hot ticket here fine and target small isolated rock piles or brush piles or off shore structure you can catch bass in up to 40 feet of water.

  • Fresno County
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      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: This lake is hopping with tons of small spotted bass that are willing to bite plastics from the banks to 40 feet deep. However if you want to find a larger fish, jigs or swimbaits are the ticket. This is a great lake to take a kid fishing now and my nephew and I had great fun jumping from cove to cove nailing spots up to 2 pounds on jigs. Will try this lake again this weekend.
      City: Fresno

      Tips: Plastics, jigs, ripbaits all work here now.

    • By

      Water Temp: pretty cold

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: a few sessions for me this week, all pretty slow a fish here fish there, got 4 today in 5 hours of fishing, all on senko's, mostly dinks, biggest went 1.5lbs......weathers been pretty bad, I am hoping its slowing down the bite, so I have alot more to look forward to this spring...... :-)
      City: San Anselmo

      Tips: wish I had some, anyone wanna go fishin?

    • By

      Water Temp: 50's

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: i post reports on this lake maybe too much,your right. but at the same time i have buddys that fish this lake and some of them have to drive a ways.im sure when you go to the delta,clear,sonoma or whatever bodys of water you like to fish im sure you check out reprts,ask freinds and family,call campgrounds,tackleshops etc etc.just trying to be helpfull.just to let you know spring lake isnt a secret,nor are lures. oh yeah reports dont ruin lakes if antthing it helps em.if any thing is ruining the lake its the sonar herbicide they spray,so you should do something bout that instead of bitching at me.i do fish from a belly boat(pontoon) and can post where i like.
      City: rosa

      Tips: just go out and enjoy the water and maybe catch some nice bass!! oh yeah dont turn into a bass nazi zzzzzzzzzzzz !! good luck.

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 51-55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished school house with crawdad crank and basstrix drop shot and caught two butter balls on each. Then fished skiers cove and marked fish every were and could not get bit. I tried main lake rocky shores with trees down NOT a BITE. Then I decided to shot over to Markley cove and cruise with the trolling motor on high and look for beds. I was unable to find one. Only fished for 4 hrs before the rain chased me home.
      City: Napa

      Tips: This SUPER MOON on the 19th might start something in the right direction. GOOD FISHIN.