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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, March 11th, 2011

  • Mariposa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54-56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Tough day on the lake...cold, windy in the afternoon. Fished all over, got only 3 bites and three fish..two on brush hogs, one on Natural Shad Senko. All fish were 25-35 feet. All we need is about two weeks of warmer weather then watch out!!!
      City: Merced

      Tips: Saw two guys with at least 25 Spots 3-5#..all caught on live crawdads...pretty awesome catch...sad in a way though, they were mostly females full of eggs...

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 52 TO 54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught 6 fish all on yum dingers in 10 feet of water.All in the 2 to 4lb range.
      City: SANTA ROSA

      Tips: Garlic scent and dark colored dingers.

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

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

      Report: Boat's in the shop, so walked the back side of Calero throwing spinnerbait and jigs this Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was pretty good, only three fish, but biggest was 6.4. Other two were 2-3 lbs. Lost a much bigger fish in the back arm of the lake - was throwing a chartreuse spinnerbait with chartreuse/orange blades when something hit it and started ripping line off the reel. I had 12 lb test, could not turn the fish, which ran into some wood and broke me off. Came back the next day, caught 4 from 2 to 5 lbs on jigs and another spinnerbaits as well. Hoped to get another chance at the monster that took my first spinnerbait, but no luck. God Bless, Rob T.
      City: Half Moon Bay

      Tips: Big fish are definitely moving up. I caught my biggest fish all near the bank on wood or other structure. Both jigs and reaction baits worked.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Boat's in the shop, so walked the back side of Calero throwing spinnerbait and jigs this Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was pretty good, only three fish, but biggest was 6.4. Other two were 2-3 lbs. Lost a much bigger fish in the back arm of the lake - was throwing a chartreuse spinnerbait with chartreuse/orange blades when something hit it and started ripping line off the reel. I had 12 lb test, could not turn the fish, which ran into some wood and broke me off. Came back the next day, caught 4 from 2 to 5 lbs on jigs and another spinnerbaits as well. Hoped to get another chance at the monster that took my first spinnerbait, but no luck. God Bless, Rob T.
      City: Half Moon Bay

      Tips: Big fish are definitely moving up. I caught my biggest fish all near the bank on wood or other structure. Both jigs and reaction baits worked.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 55-58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Always nice to get out during the week, saw four boats all day. Caught two fish in the 4lb range and two dinks, 1 striper. larger fish on plastics, not much action crankin. Fished south and middle.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Gentlemen, let me remind you that this is a fishing reports section. In as much as Pondpoacher has violated posting policies, and we love the response by our FellowFisherman, which we couldn't have said better ourselves, we will be removing both posts as this type of ethnic slander will not be tolerated here or anywhere on Westernbass.COM.
      City: oakley

      Tips: Stick to reporting your fishing results, good or bad. This is not a chatroom or platform for you to spout off otherwise.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 49-55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I took myself to the lake yesterday afternoon to check conditions and also keep up with the night bite, assuming there was one! The night seemed especially quite after watching all the bass boats buzz around during the day. I guess gas must be cheap somewhere! I started about 3pm on a series of rockpiles in the Rattlesnake arm and actually went to the wrong one - but tried it anyway. On the first cast, my BladeRunner brown/orange jig w/180 Yami grub got heavy - no bite whatsoever. I set anyway and lo and behold - a 3 3/4 pound was holding on. Nice fat bass! I did some looking around, checking water temps and conditions. Did find 55 degree down south. As night fell, the bite was dead and the skies cleared - as usual. Finally it clouded up about 9 pm and the fun began!! Until midnight, I was 6 for 7 which included a 5-2, 4-10, 4-9 (those two 4's on back-to-back casts!), 4-3, 3-9, and a 2 something. Limit was about 22 lbs. After midnight the skies cleared again and I went home, At least I had a few hours of cloud cover!! Even though the water averaged 50-51 at night, there was NO bite. As I have said in the past - it was either a bass or a 5 ton rock!!! The Power Hog or brush hog just got heavy. I caught one of the fish on a black/blue D&M Piranha swim jig, but didn't get any other bites on that bait, which was surprising! The bass were all over the place depth-wise. The day fish was 11 feet and the night bass were 20 to 38 feet.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: It was fun to run into my former client - Marty P., last night. I can't spell his last name - it has 20 letters, har!). He has become quite the night fisherman, as some of you know! It is fun for a guide to light the fire under someone and see them take off and become who they are! I believe lighting that fire has cost him a hundred grand or so!! Don't blame me! As a final thought, watch the lake level - it is about 7 1/2 feet (Rumsey Scale) with more rain coming. I think they close the lake to boating at 9 feet. Not sure.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: not sure but co

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the Dike8 cove shoreline while I let my dog exercise; got 1 hit but came off on the way in. Was using a brown/orange jig w/Yamamoto #180 single-tail grub for a trailer.
      JimEaton, thanx huge for the insights on your techniques...makes alot of sense and we'll be trying it next time out on the boat. Really appreciate you taking time to explain. My brother and I are on a Tracker 185WT deepv and my yellow lab is always with us. Thanx again!
      City: Sac

      Tips: None to offer other than seems like plastics are the offering right now and I'm gonna try what I've just learned from Jim. If/when I have something that works, I'll offer it up here.

    • By

      Water Temp: ///????

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Im not sure that the bait needs to "sit" there at all, if anything, maybe 30 second pauses. but when I do decide to move the bait (in this instanve a tube) I move it extremely slow, making it pause when I hit a rock or a stump. I dont feel a spinner should sit at all, if you can maintain contact with the botton ( bumping rocks, dragging dirt) that should be plenty slow. I personaly do my best in the early spring here using white everything, tubes, senkos, beavers, blades, cranks etc.......I hope this helps you guys go out there and catch some toads.

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: na

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Correction: It was Russ *Meyer*, not (Rus Snyders) showing winter bass techniques at Shasta; he was slow-rolling a spinnerbait in coves with feeder creeks. We were trying that at Folsom. Jim E's post proves it works at Folsom too! Just gotta keep trying and working at it. Thanks again, Jim!
      City: Sac

      Tips: Keep trying!

    • By

      Water Temp: na

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Jim, thank you for that...yes, real meaningful. We targeted feeder stream coves and I tried the spinner bait (watched Rus Snyders doing that at Shasta)... but I guess the most meaningful part is your direction to fish S-L-O-W. We thought we were fishing slow but obviously our slow is still too fast. How long does a bait sit to be considered slow? 2mins? 5mins? 10mins? and how slow is slow when working a spinnerbait? do you let it sit still on the bottom as well? we're rookies and just want to learn. REALLY, THANK YOU for a real and meaningful report. btw- to everyone else..sorry to treat this report like a forum...had to thank Jim for his post.
      City: Sac

      Tips: Jim E.'s previous report is the tip.

    • By

      Water Temp: ///????

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I HOPE THIS IS MEANINGFUL ENOUGH..............MY TOURNAMENT PARTNER (STEVE ADAMS) AND I WENT OUT FOR A LITTLE FUN FISHING TODAY AT FOLSOM LAKE, ENDED UP WITH OUR BEST FIVE SPOTS GOING 21 PLUS POUNDS BY NOON. HERES THE TRICK, FIND COVES WITH DECENT CREEK FLOW, FISH SLOW. SPINNER BAITS AND WHITE TUBES. DID I MENTION SLOW YET? THEN, WHEN YOU DO THAT, FISH SLOWER. I HOPE THIS HELPS. THIS TIME OF YEAR OFFERS UP BIG SPOTS ON FOLSOM. GOOD LUCK.

      Tips: PICS ARE UP IN PHOTO SECTION.

      SPONSORS: D&M BAITS, ABU GARCIA, TRILINE, BERKLEY

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: 53-58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got on the water around 1030 at Tuttletown and water is getting close to being at the top ramp. Havent fished New Melones since September but immediately caught a decent rainbow on a shad swimbait. Fished from 30'-50' but only brought one fish to the boat by 1pm. Started fishing shallower from the bank to 25' and began to catch bass. Biggest fish was only 3 lbs but it was a great looking largemouth. In the back of one cove the surface temp reached 58 degrees.

      Tips: Tossed baby brush hogs, dropshot green-weenie magicworms, and once in awhile a roboworm ez-shad swimbait.

  • Butte County
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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: fished a bit on Tuesday and the lake looks GREAT. I will go out on a limb and say Oroville will be full this year for the first time in a LONG TIME and that is exciting. As for now, we found fish shallow and deep. Perrish cove had a few shallow fish in it that hit a white spinnerbait with double willow blades. Caught a few out in deeper water with Bold Bluegill RoboWorms. Caught a nice 3 to 4 pound largemouth on a crankbait.. Normans Lavender shad.We even had a blow up on a topwater. LOTS of driftwood in the lake right now which is a good sign of the water level on Oroville.But that wood can ruin your day in a hurry so stay alert.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: we caught 8 fish in 4 hours between two people.Only one fish out of the slot but all the fish were FAT. Not a great day but those days are coming. I'm sure you could have a better day sitting in about 30-60 feet of water with a dopshot or tube. I would rather go after those active ones with a spinnerbait or crankbait. All we need now is warm weather for a stretch.

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: luanched out at new hope headed down no. mok. and found some stripers bustn on the surface so i threw out some spooks had a few 5-7 lbs stripers following but no takers.so i switched to a lucky craft pointer and got a 6 lbr .rite before i landed him ive seen it spit out some steelhead about 4 or 5 inches so i continued fishing along the rocky banks scoring 8 stripers 5-9 lbs. got to a shallow flat and all the sudden i hooked up a 4.5 lgmouth. then a few stripers then another lgmouth about7lbs.before i could make another cast a few idiots that had nothing better to do but go ski n in 52 degrees along my boat screwd up the action.had no more bites after.
      City: sacramento

      Tips: to all the folks who love to ski. have some respect for fishermens who share the water with you. we slow for you when you have your flags up or not. so please slow down when u see us cause we do have braided lines and trebles which can be thrown your way.

  • Ventura County
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      Water Temp: 59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Water a little stained with the high wind yesterday. Came out for 3 hours this morning and ran the banks. Caught a few with drop shot (Aaron Magic/ Peoples)
      City: Ventura

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 47-49

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: fished rodmen to redbud 0 fish

      Tips: the weather killed the bite :(

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

      Report: Thank you Brent for the information on the coho size and limit. I fish this lake every year starting around late march. I usually have pretty good luck there. Like everybody I do alot of dart heading at the lake. To get the most action, I use smaller plastics with 1/16 oz. jighead. Try dragging a splitshot rig with veriety of plastics behind the boat around 15-20ft. range. You will find that this time of the year the fish are skittish and the bites are usually presure bites. I bet if you dragged plastics behind your boat, you will catch way more fish dragging then casting! Especially if you splitshot. I was fishing on my friend's boat a couple od years ago around late march and I cuught way more fish dragging then casting. Hope you try this method and maybe you can give me a report. I'm planning to go there in a couple of weeks. I'm gonna see if I could get some cohos for dinner too! I hope you're right about the limit and no size limit. I usually fish for trout and not cohos. Thank you and good luck!
      City: san mateo

      Tips: When your splitshotting, try to use the the lightest line and splitshot you can get away with. Just make sure you're always contacting the bottom. By-the-way, I don't fish fish tournaments. I just fish for fun and don't really care who reads this. Afterall we're all out ther trying to have a good time catching fish.Bass fisherman are way to hush hush about their secret lures and techniques. Its sad to say all these tournament fisermans are too much about the money. If a ask a tournament fisherman what kind of lure they're using while your're fishing and you're not fishing a tournament, they won't tell you. If they tell you, they will probably ignore you or lie to you. I would never fish tournaments. Its too much about the money and the presure. It should be about having a good time and sharing tactics and information with each other so we can all have a good day!

    • By

      Water Temp: na

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Day two.. Fished Hard! 6hrs 2000 + casts. Wacky Senco Chatter Bait Blades Texas and heavy jig n cover. Gosh Dang showered up and still smell like skunk. sheee.t Not even a bite i just might... Aint done son. Picked up a three plus and a dink last night after a cold front and day. Thought the warmth would bring em up. Had the warmth but barely a breeze not even a sneeze from the good one. New to this area and like the potential this water seems to hold. I catch and release and deal any one who doesnt! Your water is safe with me, just need to get into some fish. Ill be back
      City: local

      Tips: There is some sick individual that is pulling tricks with birds. came across a few suspended beneath the surface on line and anchor. just like the others youll get dealed if i catch you in the act. Sick Fu<S

Monday, March 7th, 2011

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: Cold

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Why pay $20 when you can launch for free?
      City: Free Launch