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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Monday, February 28th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Jack - You can obtain current water temperatures (and much more information)on a website operated by the Department of Water Resources. Here is a link to the information at Little Potatoe Slough: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?LPS

      IDs for many other locations in the Delta can be found at this this link: http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/mapper?level=2&map=17&quad=14

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

      Report: We all know the fate of the bass in this lake. The real mystery is what the hell happens to all the trout planted. The birds take some. The fish and fisherman take less. I think most of the trout swim str8 to hell.
      City: drawbridge

      Tips: Fish here long and fish here often. Expect to get skunked. Only then are you a quarry lake guru.

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49-52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Saturday the 26th myself, and two other anglers, Nick and Steve, got to the Lake Sonoma at around 7am. We had post-frontal conditions, with partly cloudy skies and a light north wind. The water temp was 52 degrees with 2-4 foot clarity. Our first stop was a big flat with a few scattered rock piles, in the Warm Springs Arm. The bite was on, and in the first 20 minutes of the day we landed 7 bass, a mix of large-mouth and small-mouth. We fished 3/8 oz. jigs and Dry Creek Tubes fished in 15-25 feet of water. The key was to find those larger rock piles, and make sure to drag the bait as slow as possible. We put a few of the bass in the livewell, for pictures at the end of the day, and a couple crawdads got spit up. They were light brown with bright orange claws. We matched our jigs and tubes accordingly and worked our way through the narrows, stopping to fish any of the points that had rock. We picked up a few more small-mouth bass, all around 2lbs. From 10am-2pm, the bite got tough for us, we didn’t catch any bass, but Nick caught a nice 4lb steelhead on a crankbait. We then made a move towards back of the Warm Springs Arm. We found a couple rock piles that were stacked with fish. All were large-mouth bass, with the largest one going just over 4 pounds. By the end of the day we had caught a total of 20 bass. Monday the 28th was quite a different day. A cold storm had just arrived as we pulled up to launch the boat. There was a south wind and a heavy mist, which created a drizzle type rain that never let up all day. Right away I noticed the water temp had dropped a few degrees to 49. Ron and I fished all the areas through the narrows, where we’d been catching some nice small-mouth on Saturday, but only managed a couple tiny largemouth. It seemed many of the bass were suspended of the bottom. We worked reaction baits (spinnerbaits, ripbaits, and crankbaits), but had no luck. We went towards the back of Warm Springs to fish the rock piles that were productive on Saturday, and caught two more large-mouth on jigs, both were about a pound and a half. I dropped Ron off at the ramp at around noon and my friends, Hank and Chris, met me at the ramp. We fished around the narrows for a while but couldn’t buy a bite. For some reason this weather front really shut off the small-mouth. We then bounced around to a few new points in the Warm Springs Arm that I haven’t fished lately. All the spots were secondary points with rock. Using jigs and spinnerbaits (3/4 oz. white skirt/white blades), we caught a few more large-mouth. They weren’t as schooled up like they were before, we would hook one fish every half hour or so. By the end of the day we caught 12 large-mouth up to 3 pounds, and no small-mouth.
      City: San Bruno

      Tips: Please visit www.russnyders.com for more fishing reports, videos, and info on Northern California Guide Trips.

      <a href="http://www.russnyders.com/">Rus Snyders Guide Service</a>

Sunday, February 27th, 2011

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

      Report: Drove to the lake this morning to find that both ramps (Emerald Bay and Dark Day) are closed due to snow and ice.

      Tips: Call the Emerald Bay Marina before you go to make sure the ramps are open!

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49-52

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I did not take the custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" out this afternoon since I was "on call" for my family. As nice as the day appeared to be this afternoon while I was walking the banks around Ladd's Marina and the Sail Boat club across the street. The jig bite was still going good, largest bass cuaght/released this afternoon went 6 lbs. using a brown jig w/punkinseed & chartruese power craw trailer. With the second month of 2011 almost gone I'm almost out of jig supplies as well. The water clarity still needs to improve from the last storm, but spring is coming soon. :-)
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Must keep looking for clearer/warmer water, sprint time is around the corner.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Would any of you be so kind as to pass along some water temps?
      City: Lodi

Friday, February 25th, 2011

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Lake opens on april 14th to all boaters....Coyote Bait and Tackle is holding a small tournament the week before at Anderson on day one and Coyote on day two in early april. Top 20 are given the opportunity to fish yote one week earlier than the actual public opening on april 14. Ill be there hoping to get a chance to get some pigs before everyone else gets at em
      City: San Jose

Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 47

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Well for you Grown Men that Like to Tease and Make assumptions, I personally seen Jim's Bag and took a Picture of his fish with His camera..Now at that time He didn't have an 8 pound fish, But He did have 5 fish that would have went around 18-20 pounds just from looking! He had 3 spots that were 5Lbs easy, a small mouth that had to be 3-4lbs and a dink..He said he caught them on a swimbait and Honestly I have no idea how he caught them, but he did have 5 nice fish!!
      City: Sac

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: That's wat happen when u fish behind Jim...lol

      Tips: Fish in front of Jim

Tuesday, February 22nd, 2011

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got a chance to go out and saw Jim at the ramp. He said he caught 25 pounds in the morning with an eight pound kicker.

      My partner and I blanked again. Hold off on Folsom for now. Its still cold and really fluctuating which can turn the fish totally off.
      City: Mactown

      Tips: None. Didnt even get a bite.

Monday, February 21st, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49 - 52

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Still haven't serviced my Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" yet and the motor told me so. I just worked my way out to 14 Mile sluogh and back. The jig bite is still on, though I lost every jig I used becuase still trying different knots to combine braid and flouracarbon. Just before typing this report I learned how to tie the Duoble-Uni Knot. It looks good, also applied superglue to it hopefully to help it to move more smoothly through the guides while casting.

      I was getting bit from 5 - 10 feet of water using black and black/blue jigs and pork chunk trailers. All my jigs I lost this year were rebuilt jigs up to 1/2 oz. in size. Good excuse to buy "new" jigs soon. :-)

      The coves along the main channel reached 52 degrees today and a little clearer. I found schools of bait fish around the sail boats and the graph showed fish were on them. Tried a small jigging spoon in about 8 ft. of water around these schools of bait fish, no bites. Crank bait bite hasn't started for me yet, but tried bumping the riprap with a firetiger pattern.

      For me the bulky jigs worked better than plastics today, tried finesse up to 10" Power Worms with out a single bite.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Look for clearer and warmer water. Keep the boat moter serviced so you don't ruin your fishing day. :-(

Sunday, February 20th, 2011

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 50 degree

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished in Markley Cove for only about 4 hours catching KY Spots. From 3:00 to 4:30 pm the fish turned on. Largest was 3.5 lbs using a tube bait. The rest of the Spots were caught on Shakey heads and Robo worms in Oxblood color. Fish were schooled up around 20 to 30 feet.
      City: Davis

      Tips: Fish the docks and fish around 30 feet deep.

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Temp: 51-55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Lake fished like I thought it would following the rains. Slooow.
      3 people on the boat fishing. Only scrounged up 3 1.5- 2 # smallies. Fished from 8:00 til 3:30
      City: Ventura

      Tips: All 3 fish came on split shot robo hologram shad curlytail 2-12 ft of water.

Saturday, February 19th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out today and didnt even fire up the big motor, dropped the trolling motor and started fishing. Scratched out a limit for 13lbs dropshoting a 6" 082 red flake worm, tried other colors and never got bit. Not bad for my first time dropshoting i guess. Stayed in the marina all day, I know some big females gotta be there staging, maybe they will eat next time.
      City: modesto

      Tips: deadstick,shake short and gentle and deadstick again.

    • By

      Water Temp: N/A

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Got Out to the delta this morning at 7:00am broke off one about 5lbs, then about a half hour later i caught a 1.5lb, 2 3/4lb, and a 3.5 lbs.. I also had a hit and miss I got to ancy on the hook set.. I had a feeling it was gonna be an early morning thing..
      City: Galt

      Tips: fish slow..

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The rain hasn't slowed the bass down here. The jig bite is still good on bass from 2 to 5 pounds in 20 to 32 feet of water. Green pumpkin/black green crystal or Hunter green/red flake/watermelon candy jigs in 1/4 oz bullet head 3/8oz football head & 3/8oz arkie head all work well. We also stayed with single tail 5" yamamoto grubs as are trailers. It got breezy at timeS but wasn't a factor in the bite it still held up good. Lake is up about 4 feet from last sunday and there was water running in from several creeks around the lake. Traffic was very light today 6 boats on the water when we left at 2 pm
      City: madera ca

      Tips: Fish slow bump the bottom with your jig in a slow swimming action back to the boat. The bass are holding on and round rock structure and alot of bass are hold off of humps and dropoffs in 20 to 32 feet of water.

Friday, February 18th, 2011

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52-54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Despite the freezing temperatures, the bass fishing at Lake Sonoma was surprisingly really good. I was supposed to head up to Clear Lake to do some filming on Friday, but Hwy 29 was closed because of nearly a foot of snow on the summit from the previous day. Luckily my buddy Hank was able to get a “sick day” from work, so he met me at Lake Sonoma at around 10:30 am. We were in between storms, the sky was clear, there was a light south wind, and you could still see last nights full moon in the sky. Water temps were in the low 50’s and had about 3-4 ft visibility. We idled toward the Warm Spring Arm, and started fishing before we even got out of the no wake zone. It only took 10 minutes to get our first four fish in the boat, three smallmouth and one largemouth bass. All were in the 2-3 lb. range and came off the same point. A 3/8 oz. football jig (brown/red) with a Reaction Innovations Smallie Beaver (California 420) as a trailer was the hot bait. We then moved to another point across the way and caught a few more bass on the jigs, including a nice 4.5 pound largemouth. All the bass were sitting in 15-25 feet of water, and were in areas with a mix of rock, wood and a ledge. It was now around noon, and the next storm front was beginning to move in as the sky darkened. We hit a few more points in the area, but it seemed the fish began to turn off a bit. Hank had to head home, so I dropped him off at the boat ramp at around 2:30. I went back out and started fishing the area just passed the no wake zone. Finally at around 4pm I caught 2 more bass, fishing a steep rocky wall, one largie and one smallie. Both came on a Lucky Craft Staysee 90 (Table Rock Shad). I then bounced around to a bunch of similar looking areas to try to duplicate the pattern, but had no luck. Right before dark I managed one more smallmouth bass on the jig.
      City: San Bruno

      Tips: Please visit www.russnyders.com for more fishing reports, videos, and info on Northern California Guide Trips.

      <a href="http://www.russnyders.com/">Rus Snyders Guide Service</a>

Thursday, February 17th, 2011

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: Cold again!!

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Rain, rain go away. Come back again another day, please. I've been tying flies for this years bass fishing season. This is the first year tying deer hair poopers and it is fun killing time waiting for the weather to get better.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: To service my custom Valco boat "BassBuster1" I'm have a hard time finding this particular model spark plug (NGK DPR 6EA-9), any suggestions?

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

      Report: Tough day due to the wind. Fished from 7 to noon caught three, (all were spotts). Used dd 22 shad pattern in 18' to 25', very windy made it hard to fish. Largest catch was a good 4.5# spott.
      City: Delhi

Monday, February 14th, 2011

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48-52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great weather and great fishing this last week on Clear Lake,

      The water level is up and the fish are biting, catching healthy and strong fighting fish from 3 to 5 1/2 pounds on Jigs / Shaky Heads and minnows, the LV 500 bite is also good and some fish can be caught on the medium size Swim Baits, both fished slow on the bottom in 5 to 18 ft of water.

      I fished in the Red Bud arm and only had to fish a few spots, most of the fish had moved up from the deep rock piles to the first break on the shore line.
      City: Clear Lake

      Tips: Fish the Jigs slow, and work them from 5 to 18 ft, most the bites came from the 12 ft range.

      The best time for me was around noon,.

      I know there is a good Rip Bait bite up north to, i just had fun fishing the rocks down south. .

      Lets hope this year will be wide open at Clear Lake !


      Have fun..... .
      for more information... StevePerkinsFishing.com