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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, July 16th, 2010

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72+

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Got to "pink house" near Widdow Island by first light. stayed 30 minutes, threw everything. NO takers. I'm guessing the 6 otters that call this home have something to do with this. Headed to (south) Mildred Island. Fished tight. Nothing to brag about. Went back to Widdow Island and fished the entrance. Lot's of "followers" and even saw some in 5lb range but only aggressive males hit me. Ended up fishing mouth to Italian slough at high tide and got pounded by 1-2 pounders using green worms. Got hot out so i got the boat back on the trailer around noon. Left the marina and the temp outside was 94 degrees. Too hot to have fun.

      Tips: Haven't figured the pattern for low tide yet. High tide is good.

    • By

      Water Temp: unknown

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I've fished here a few more times, and I can now see why boating is such a big deal here. Much (if not most) of the shoreline is nearly impossible to access which means a lot of the lake (shoreline, that is) is effectively off limits without some means for getting out on the water. I'd love to get out there with my inflatable kayak. Anyways, I'm going to complain but I don't expect it to do any good.
      City: Los Gatos

      Tips: I still just catch little ones, but I've talked to a lot of people who claim to have caught good sized ones recently, so it seems they are out there...

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

      Report: lAKE MENDO IS STILL VERY , VERY FULL. LOTS OF FLOODED TIMBER. WATER TEMP IS WARM 80 - 83 DEGREES. FISH ARE ACTIVE . BEST TIME IS MORNING, EARLY. THE BITE IS PRETTY MUCH DONE BY 10;30 AM. MY WIFE CAUGHT HER 1ST CRAPPIE. NICE FISH. 1 1/2 PONDER. SHE CAUGHT IT ON A CHAD COLORED CLACK'IN-RAP WHILE FISHING FOR BASS. GREAT MORNING ON THE LAKE!!!
      City: UKIAH

      Tips: TRY WATERMELON-CANDY BABY BRUSH HOGS. WHITE SPINNERBAITS. RATTLE TRAPS. SENKOS AND SO ON. HAVE A POLE SET-UP & READY FOR STRIPERS. THEY WILL COME UP BOILING @ ANY TIME RIGHT NEXT TO THE BOAT. AND MOST OF ALL KEEP IT REEL.
      DON

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 78 to 82

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: fished friday thru saturday night, first fish was a 4lb smallmouth on the swimbait...then a 2lb largemouth on swimbait, got a few more smallmouth but nothing real big, only a couple fish after dark one 3.5 largemouth on the brushhog but it was real slow. saturday was a little slow in the morning as I lost my favorite swimbait but once the breeze picked up so did the fishing, caught a bunch of smallmouth on the drop shot with aarons magic, nothing real big but lots of fun 1 to 2 lbrs that fought like crazy. Saturday evening I lost two real big ones on two consecutive casts with an xrap on a submerged rock pile I found that afternoon and went back to...great trip, cant wait to go back.
      City: medford

      Tips: drop shot worked well also the osprey 5" swimbait and xrap in the evening, was surprised that the zara didnt work to well for me.

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

    • By

      Water Temp: 81.9/82.6

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from about 0800 until 1330, boated 5 fish. Two on spinnerbaits on weedlines, one on a crank, one spot on a rip bait, and one 4.3lb largemouth flipping a jig into willows. Missed a couple drop shotting and had a couple whacks that I missed on the spinner. Pretty slow, no real consistent bite.
      City: Orland

      Tips: Tons of shad. Tons. Everywhere you go. Fish are gorging themselves on 'em. Lots of suspended fish as well. I couldn't get them to hit though.

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

      Report: Launched out of Orwood @3pm. Fished outside of Indian Slough and got a lot bites, but many were pretty dinky. Fished a buzz and frog = 0. Crank and threw swim bait with the same results. My bud started catching them on a Ika. Until the last hour of light most of the fish were 1-2#. He was half of the double we had and they both buried in the weeds. We had to debate whose fish to go after first. He finally relented and we went after my fish first. . Somehow the small senko hook held, as we weed through and pulled out a beautiful 6-10! Then we also got his pounder in. What a great way to finish the day. Ran out of light.
      City: orinda

      Tips: Threw reaction baits without a touch. All fish on plastics. Even tho most of the fish are under 2#, it's alot fun.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 76-79

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hey Mike, thanx for the straight up word on current condition at Folsom. Have always known it can be good at times but it's a hard lake..many others have said the same thing. But you're right, just gotta keep at it! My brother and I are thinkin' they're moving or have moved deeper. Next time out we're gonna brave the chop and skiers/wakeboarders and hit our favorite structure out on the main body.
      Thanx again for the true skinny on Folsom!!
      City: folsom

      Tips: Same as Mike's and Chris B's and others who know Folsom.....keep at it and don't let low numbers discourage..I did and now I'm back with a purpose!!

    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Folsom is really tough right now brother, we went out of Granie Bay yesterday morning and went all the way up the North fork to the river. We manged to get 2 fish up there and that was it. We then hit the main body and Browns Ravine with no luck. All I can say is keep at it.
      City: Anterlope

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 80-82

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I guided a great fisherman yesterday in his boat with the idea of teaching him some good off-shore structure areas for summer and fall trips. We started with topwater baits of all sizes and one paid off for him! I saw this smallie clear the water by at least a foot in the morning sun - what a sight!! She went 3.84 lbs - post spawn fish. He hooked another good bass on the same bait but lost it right away. The rest of the time we ran over the whole lake - looking and fishing several shoreline and off-shore structures. The cold front had pretty well shut the bite down with a very chilly morning wind and fog in the distance. We caught several small largemouth and smallmouth for our efforts. We did see lots of suspended fish on his meter, but couldn't get them to bite.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Topwater is always a good bet this time of year. Fish shadows for as long as you can. Several color worms worked for us, mostly drop-shotted and dart heading.

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 71.6 - 77.4

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished before first light until noon. Started with top water on rocky points and spinners around wood. there was a bit of wind until around 8am. Caught a few bass,then swithed to cranks a little deeper back in coves on steep rocky banks for a few more bass. I did try on of my favorite spots with no bites at all(skiers Cove)Usally a hot spot.
      City: Napa

      Tips: We were the only bass fisherman I saw all morning. Keep fishin

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 78-81

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Sorry AB, but I was there on july 13-14...why would I lie about the water quality. Anybody who has been there lately will have to agree with me. The water is terrible. I love Clear Lake, we used to catch 80+ fish a day during this time in the past. We were lucky to catch 15 fish in two days now...and 1 cat! if you say the water is fine you must be talking abot a different Clear Lake.
      City: S.S.Francisco

      Tips: Be prepared to work very hard to find a clear spot to fish. I did catch one 4.5 lb on a rago swimbait (Velvick BV 3D) and the most on sweet beavers. 2 on jigs.

    • By

      Water Temp: 78-81

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: ok Steve, why don't you tell your possible clients about the worst water quality I've seen at DIRTY LAKE since I started fishing there about 10-12 years ago...I know is not your foult, but it's hard to read a report that doesn't even mention all the crap in the water. If you bring a boat there, be prepared to have wash it right after, not to mention having to replace all you line in all the reels. the only clear water I found was at the south west side near the end by some rocks. from konocti vista marina it's a loooong run to find clear water...I used to love this lake. Now I'm sad to say: no wounder all the for sale signs!
      City: S.S.Francisco

      Tips: try a different lake.

    • By

      Water Temp: MId 80s

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the north end to the narrows the last couple days, we caught lots of fish up to 4 pounds. Most were strong fighting 3 pounders.

      The bite was different both days, yesterday we got into a great swim bait bite, We caught them on the 6" Osprey and the 5" Hippo. We also caught fish on soft plastics, frogs and the shakey head.

      I took out a guy (Chris) that wanted to learn how to catch them on swimbaits, well he flat out whacked them and I think he is addicted.

      I was fishing the sinko with only 1 bite and he was throwing the swim bait and had a limit in about an hour once we found out how they wanted it.
      We continued to run our pattern all the way down to anderson island and back up north.
      City: Clear Lake

      Tips: Tips: We covered allot of water to find the fish and changed our presentation until we found out how they wanted it.
      If you can get a pattern going it should work on most of the lake now. Each day the pattern has changed for me from a slow presentation to a reaction bite.

      Have fun !
      ...
      StevePerkinsFishing.com

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 76-79

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched Dike8 and started ripping out left along the rock wall/construction road; also had dropshot..zip/zero. Ran to Brown's Ravine willows using senko, darthead, dropshot, even topwater-zip/zero. Next to NewYorkCove trying all same-zip/zero. Next further in at dogleg before Jack'sShack...zip/zero. Continued up river into 5mph but not quite to SalmonFalls Bridge...zip/zero. Back out to main lake peninsula willows-zip/zero. Submerged islands in front of Dike8 and out to depths of 30ft-zip/zero. Even tried countdowns and some slow-rolled spinnerbaits at depths we saw fish (7-12-20-30ft.....ZIP/ZERO! Trying real hard to like this lake in my backyard...real easy to dislike it...but still trying to like it! Chris B....help!!!
      City: folsom

      Tips: ZIP/ZERO - Tried everything that worked during similar conditions each year...each year changes. Thought going out middle of the week would help with less boat traffic...NOW THAT WAS NICE! Saw other bassers...saw no fish but I want to believe they caught. Haven't tried N.Fork....Should I??? Maybe Chris B. might help ...That is always appreciated!!

Monday, July 12th, 2010

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 79-83

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: This is the year of the "grandpa!" I had another grandpa/grandson (13) trip last night - a little tough on a Sunday night with all the weekend traffic on the water. The boy became a good caster thru the trip and missed a couple of bites. Grandpa missed quite a few until about 1 am when he was 5 for 7 with 2 "overs" - one at 17 inches. I hooked one "over" and a few others before dark which I let the boy land. Though the fishing was overall surprisingly slow, the quality was excellent with only one dink (12 inches) in our catch. We used Robo worms before dark and 7" junebug Berkely Power worms after dark. Very few bass shallow - which they usually are in the dark of the moon. Most were caught 15 to 30 feet.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: After discussing the slow bite with grandpa during the night, I came to the conclusion that the bass may not have had the need to move shallow since there was so much weed growth cover at the 10 to 30 foot depth. That is not normal for Oroville except after several low water years. Several of our bass were caught ticking the weeds. I have to mention - stunningly beautiful night in the north fork - not a hint of a breeze. Quite dark of course. Once we got close to the dam - the east wind was howling as it does during a heat spell. Big waves! Getting the boat out was a challenge!!!

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Sorry Stoveguy, kept callin' ya Stovepipe....
      All in all, had a good day; see prev post. Gonna try Folsom Tue with nephew and his girlfriend; look for my Folsom post Tue or Wed.

      Tight lines everyone!
      City: folsom

    • By

      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hey Stovepipe..thanx for gettin' back to me and sharing the info..very cool of you!
      Launched today from New Hope, tried Beaver Slough to start; one blowup/miss on black/yellow frog. Nothing else on senkos/beavers this slough; went straight to our fav Mokulemne tules around the corner from B&W; boated 8 between Bro and Bud; then Tower Marina/Little Potato into Potato for couple more each; then all the way around back to B&W tules for couple more. Good day but all mine were strictly lipless crank (red craw); Bro and Bud mixed bag on plastics, lipless, and spinnerbait.
      Thanx again Stovepipe!!
      City: folsom

      Tips: Worked outside edge of the weedline for my crankbait hits. Bro and Bud hit tight to tules for senko plastics. Graphed lots of fish during low tide at the weedline and dropoff 7-12'. Dropshot didn't excite them.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 78

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: fished when it was cooler
      City: martinez

      Tips: check out bass fishing on clear lake with russ and roy on you tubethe

    • By

      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went in the afternoon, mainly to check on how my boat was running after a few adjustments. After paying the $17.50 fee, I figured I should make a few casts. The good news is the boat ran fine. Unfortunately can't say the same for the catching. Fished for 2.5 hours and threw plastics and blades and didn't receive a bite. The previous reporter obviously knows a lot more than I do.
      City: orinda

Saturday, July 10th, 2010

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 78-82

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I guided a father and 2 teenagers yesterday early evening until 1 am. For the first time in a long time, I was disappointed with the bite - though they all caught a fish or two before dark - mostly largemouth and only one dink smallie. The size of the bass was good. After dark, the bite was horrible with only 2 bass being caught. The guys were fishing pretty good too - it wasn't their fault. Usually in 80 degree water the bite will start an hour after dark. Not so late night. The night was very quiet - no bird sounds, fish working, - AND - not a boat after dark around Big Island and north. Amazing!! I guess the 4th of July weekend must have done in the bass!!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We mostly drop-shotted Robo worms before dark, but dad got the most bites split-shotting his Robos. After dark we used my favorite Berry night bait, the 7 inch black Power Worm - normally red-hot after dark. Brush hogs didn't work either. Most of the fish were suspended in the top 30 feet of water, but many were sitting on the bottom - maybe carp and catfish. I wanted to try topwater and cranks, but no-can-do with 4 in the boat. We did see some bait balls also on the meter.