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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Saturday, April 13th, 2019

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: This short report is late since I have been very busy with family activities lately - like going to grandson's little league games which seem to be every day - lOL!! And - 45 miles away! I did a Berryessa trip with 2 excellent bass fishermen on Tuesday. The day started out with a beautiful morning, clouded up at noon, and rained a little in the afternoon. Then, post-front. Not sure if that was the reason, but the bite was slower than previous trips - and - the bass were a little smaller. Again, we stayed in the narrows as there was a lot of afternoon wind. They caught all three species, and they were all caught in deeper water. Those shallow bank bass that were so willing in recent trips seemed to be less active - lots of pressure bites. They were drop-shotting their favorite baits I tried to get a jig bite going - no luck. I was really surprised at the slow bite, but that is what a weird weather event can do.

      Tips: Nothing much to offer as a tip because the bite was really off compared to previous trips. It is very interesting to see how the bass react in the spring to various weather patterns. One little weather change and they will change in a hurry! Still, overall a good day for numbers, not size.

Thursday, April 11th, 2019

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Enjoyed an awesome midweek day, weather dropped 10 degrees from the previous couple days, overcast all day never saw the sun. Got on the water about 7 off by 2. Caught all three species from 6 to 20 ft, there moving up towards the spawning areas for sure. Besides one reaction bite on a square bill all fish caught on finesse bites, dropshot, shakey heads, wacky, Texas. Nothing big but caught 10-12 fish. Should only be getting better specially when the water temp goes up some.

Monday, April 8th, 2019

  • Butte County
    • By

      Report: by Inland fisheries advocate » Mon Apr 08, 2019 7:38 am

      I miss Tom's weekly reports on Oroville so here is mine for Sunday. Fished about 4hrs. Caught about 12 bass, mostly on wacky senkos & drop shot white paddle tale grub. Mostly in back of coves & some rocky walls..

      Not on fire..but water clarity is decent... nelsen

Sunday, April 7th, 2019

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57-59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Again, guided another adult father/grown son team yesterday. I know there weren't any big tournaments out of Markley Cove, but getting out into the narrows about 8 am was weird! NO boats anywhere - coming or going - on a Saturday!! Eventually saw a few around and many coming back in the late afternoon, probably from up north. As was the case during my last trip a few days ago, we never made it out of the narrows. The bite was great IN the narrows - certain areas - and my guests landed another bigger bass - about 3 1/2 lbs - and many, many quality bass. Their limit about 15 pounds. They were self-contained with their own equipment and baits - excellent fishermen!! A lot of drop-shotting. Always fun to watch an excellent fishing team (father/son, etc.) do their thing! I was almost a hero as I hooked a giant fish in the afternoon. Tried to slow it down for about 20 seconds but it came unbuttoned. I will think about that for a few days!

      Tips: I was SO happy that for the second trip in a row, rain cloud gathered and sprinkles began. This looked serious!! But as the last trip - it stopped and just remained cloudy all day. I was surprised to talk to a few tournament guys as they were securing their boats, and heard about their slow bite. One is well-known and was surprised at his somewhat slow day. I started wondering if the north end of the lake was slowing some and the lower end was getting better. That is a normal pattern for Berryessa - and Clear Lake. Just wonderin'. I threw jigs some but didn't get much action. We tried the backs of coves again this trip, but found more action in the main body. The lake is dropping some and that may have move them out a bit. I didn't look this trip but hear the Glory Hole lake release tube is nearly finished for the year. What a sight three weeks ago!!

Friday, April 5th, 2019

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Was on Clear Lake April 3rd-5th. The week prior had a nice warming trend with some sunny days, but naturally, when I arrived I brought the rain and cold temps with me.

      The first day was the best day. We scored around 30 fish on the north end, mostly up shallow around the newly submerged areas. I was throwing all sorts of reaction junk - crankbaits, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits all produced about equally. I would change it up depending on the water clarity and the surrounding cover. My buddy had success on dark colored plastics, again mostly fished up shallow. Largest fish was 5 pounds - they are short and chunky right now!

      After that, the bite seemed to continually decline parallel to the cooling trend. Had to fish significantly slower to draw bites, and the bites we got weren't nearly as aggressive as before. Still, we found them up shallow near the fresh cover - just had to work a little harder.

      Heading back up in early May to hopefully catch some warmer conditions!

Thursday, April 4th, 2019

    • By

      Report: by WB Staff » Thu Apr 04, 2019 7:26 pm

      Posted this one sent in by StanL this week.



      This week we decided to head on over to Hogan. Here's the report from the day we were there.

      The surface temperature was 57° and and the fish are shallow.

      The quantity of the bite was pretty good, There was plenty of action; but most of the fish were in the 1 1/2-pound range.

      We caught them on everything from A-rigs to dropshots.

      We ran into Hogan local Kevin Caufman who had caught some nice ones. This is him shown.

      Good luck fishing!

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2019

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I guided two very good anglers today, staying in the narrows because of the good bite. I suggested we not start too early - hoping for a better afternoon bite. Love it when plans work to perfection!! We did get an afternoon bite - a pretty good one! We worked lots of points, ledges, and other structure with fair results. I played a hunch with them in the afternoon. We started working walls with cover, and found lots of active bass. Some were very shallow and would hit their baits as soon as they sunk a foot or two. Deepest bass they caught were only down to 10 feet - if that! I don't want to reveal all their ideas, but some included swimbaits. I lost count, but they landed 15-20, almost all smallmouth. Biggest at 3 lbs.

      Tips: With this never ending weather pattern, you may need to move around quite a bit to find active bass. Look for shallow bass in the afternoon. I could not get a Senko bite at all. Hope to see some of you at Sacramento Fisherman's Warehouse tomorrow night. We'll talk about spring fishing!

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing bankers hours again after kindergarten drop off. Looked to expand on last weeks rip bait fish and started on the flats down in rabbit creek for zero fish on various pointer minnows and rattle baits.

      After an hour or so, ran across the lake and tried again on a big flat just short of the dike. Again zero fish, but drifted in shallow while getting a drink and started to notice cruisers and beds everywhere. Perfect conditions for sight fishing with greasy slick surface and a flat sky. Realizing I left my bed fishing box on the bench I quickly rigged up bubblegum and white/chartreuse senkos and got to work.

      First cast to cruising 2# and he rushed up to grab it on the fall. Next 3 beds each had solitary 2# class fish locked up and eat on the first casts. Turned and worked the other side of the pocket for 2 more cruisers then found 2 more beds with aggressive occupants. I’m no sight fishing expert, but it’s been years since I’ve found fish so aggressive and concentrated all at the same time.

      Got on the trolling motor and turned up the speed looking for bigger fish but only found 1-2# class fish as I worked my way up towards the submerged island tops closer to the entrance to South Shore.

      Went old school with a crawdad colored fat rap and dredged up 2 nice 2.5# spots in about 6’ on an island top. Hit the spot lock and fan casted a wacky rigged green pumpkin senko for 4 more chunky spots and LM up to 3#.

      Ran up to China Gulch and continued prospecting with the fat rap and followed the same routine. Most spots would only yield 1 fish on the crank, but more often than not would surrender additions fish on the senko. Crossed over to the West Bank, lather rinse repeat.

      Moved out to the north wall in Launcha Plana and the Fat Rap continued to be the hot bait. Coasting downwind through the submerged boulders the bite was interesting as the fish all hit immediately next to the bank or right as the bait approached the boat and turned up to the surface, nothing in between.

      Cranked rock piles on the east side for the same pattern as the morning. 1-2 fish on the fat rap, spot lock, then another couple of fish on the senko or drop shot.

      My Motorguide Tour TM’s served me well for 30 years, but now it’s hard to imagine fishing without spot lock and auto pilot. Minn Kota has figured it out!

      Surprised the Jerkbait bite vanished, but very pleased to see the fat rap still produces.

      Maybe 3 dozen fish, 1/4 LM, 3/4 Spots in all stages of the spawn, but did not see any fry yet. Best 5, maybe 14#.

      Water started at 59* and peaked at 63* with solid 4’+ clarity and partly cloudy skies with variable winds up to 10mph

Monday, April 1st, 2019

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: by Synwyn » Mon Apr 01, 2019 6:59 pm

      I did very well on the delta this weekend. On Saturday, some friends and I fished Sugar Barge/Frank's. I searched isolated tullies near deeper channels and caught 4 fish between 2-3 lbs. I was pretty confident in the pattern, but every fish was pretty cookie cutter. After that, I went looking for docks near deeper water that had isolated rip rap near them. I found the bigger fish stacked on the docks and the rip rap. Pulled out a 3lber, 4lber and a 6lber on this pattern with a few others between the 2-3 lb range. My best 5 probably went for 18-19 lbs.

      On Sunday, we fished Big Break and I caught a good one on the same tullie pattern on the outside of big break near the main channels - the big girls haven't moved up in there yet. Caught that 4 lber and a few in the 2lb range, and probably 25+ dinks between 8-12 inches

    • By

      Report: by HavocTheBeast » Mon Apr 01, 2019 4:02 pm

      Fished the Delta Saturday and Sunday. Both days we're pretty much a struggle.

      On Saturday, my friend caught a nice 4lb striper (probably 25in+) and another large 9lb 2oz striper (probably 40in+... forgot our measuring tape that day) within the first 20min. Released back. The rest of the day was brutal. A few shakers here and there, but bites were few and very far in between (sometimes a few hours between bites). marked a few spots with fish, but they weren't biting in the afternoon.

      Went back out Sunday with the wife, and I caught a 4lb 15oz largemouth in the early morning with a jerkbait and a 6lb 7oz largemouth in the afternoon on a dropshot. Both released back. Again, it was a slow bite with only a very few shakers here and there. The wife only got 1 bite trolling minnows all day and that was her only bite. She was pretty bummed out.

      Water clarity was pretty good over the weekend. Sherman Island was slightly murky in several areas, but for the most part, visibility wasn't too big of an issue. Big Break, Bethel Island and Franks had much better visibility though.

      Going to try again next week.

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50-63

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: 3-30-2019
      Fished Lake Sonoma at least once per week since February. Still a mud puddle for most of the lake with heavy debris in many coves. Main creek entrances are the clearest. Water temp on both Yorty and Dry creek side up river is high 50's. Picked up 1 or 2 early bass on jerk or chatter baits along the banks in the afernoons each time out. Waiting for the weather to warm and fish to move up. On Saturday, 3-10-19, my son and i finally found them up near the Yorty Creek day use area. Water temp 61-63. Still muddy, but fish were up in the brush and shallow along banks. Flipping bright jigs, shallow cranks and drop shots into shallow creek arms. Weather was mixed sun, but pushing 70 degrees in the afternoon. Since we fish Lake Sonoma exclusively and I don't see many reports I thought i share my experience with anyone wanting to give this lake a try.

      Tips: Spoke with quite a few other anglers. Those doing well have been fishing suspended bass in 40' plus water. I don't enjoy this type of fishing so I stubbornly stick to shallow target fishing. I added this since drop shotting and dragging swim baits deep has been the most successful method from what I have seen.

Sunday, March 31st, 2019

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: by StanL » Sun Mar 31, 2019 9:40 pm

      At Camanche this week the water is stabilizing with 2,218 CFS coming in and 1,601 going out. The surface temperatures of the water is hitting 61° in the afternoon, in some places and the fish are moving shallow.

      If you go, make sure you fish THE DAY, meaning fish the conditions of that particular day.

      On stormy days, you want to throw reaction baits and on sunny and callm days, stick with the bottom baits like worms,jigs, Senkos etc.

      Check California data exchange center provided by Westernbass.com on the forums. https://cdec.water.ca.gov/resapp/ResDetailTop?resid=CMN

      If the inflow and outflow are close, fishing is usually pretty good and if the outflow is greater than the inflow, it usually makes the fish suspend and that is when the fishing can be challenging.

      I hope this helps.

      Good luck fishing and please practice catch and release

  • Butte County
    • By

      Report: by Joe daddy » Sun Mar 31, 2019 7:14 pm

      Jp/jitterbug caught this one today 15’’. Launched at enterprise but probably not much longer. Heard they’re letting water out Tuesday...nice to see fish starting to get some color!

Thursday, March 28th, 2019

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56*-60*

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Gave up holding out for the perfect weather day and packed up and headed to Camanche at the crack of 9 after kindergarten drop off.

      Light wind and scattered clouds set up for what I hoped would be a nice reaction bite. Water temp ranged from 56* to 60* and 3’-4’ clarity from mid-lake up to Launcha Plana.

      Slow start throwing basstrix, senkos, underspin rigged fluke and a drop shot Aaron’s Magic 4” Roboworms until pulling up to a channel ledge in the houseboat moorage. 3 quick dropshot fish from 1.75# to 2.25# in 28’-30’ H20.

      Moved on throwing Lucky Craft Pointer Minnows and Basstrix around the houseboats before moving uplake for 1 more dink spot.

      Focused on secondary points around Launcha Plana and got in to a nice rhythm on a half dozen chunky 2# -2.5# spots ripping the Ghost Minnow 100 Pointer and an old school black/gold Bomber Long A.

      Starting to piece together where they were holding, I slowed down with a wacky rigged green pumpkin senko and picked off a nice mix of 8 spots and largemouth up to 3.25# on the next 3 points, all hitting on the initial drop in 4’-6’ of water.

      A brief squall came through late afternoon so we ran down lake to get away from the showers and ominous skies. Tucked in to fish some sheltered pockets along the north shore campgrounds and day use areas for 2 more LMB on senkos before calling it a day around 6. No giants, but a nice day on the lake with steady action and virtually zero boat traffic.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: by On The Water Guide Service » Thu Mar 28, 2019 7:33 pm

      Enough with the rain already. I am starting to understand how those poor folks that live in Seattle feel. We sure have been slammed with storm after storm and what seems like record rainfall amounts this year. The last couple storms that rolled through were a lot colder coming down from the gulf of Alaska. This dropped the water temps back down to the lower fifties and for the most part has moved the bass back offshore a bit. This is that time of year where the bass move up shallow and then back out deep based on changing water temps and barometric pressure. The key is making the right adjustments with regard to your techniques and boat position to find them. This coming weekend should be great fishing with warming temperatures and highs in the seventies forecasted. I would look for the bass to head back towards the shore and to get back into a good pre- spawn feeding situation.

      I would recommend fishing lures that you can quickly cover a lot of water like the A rig. Stay on the move until you catch one and then slow down and cover that area thoroughly with slower lures like a swimbait or jerk bait. A white chatter bait with a Keitech trailer has been working well out in front of the docks. I have also done well on a crawdad pattern square bill crank bait when the fish are up shallow on a hard rocky bottom. I talked with some anglers that were doing quite well and catching good numbers while throwing a 6" worm on the drop shot this past week.

      Crappie action remains good especially in the north end with lot's of one to one and a half pound slabs being caught on a variety of different colored crappie jigs and small live minnows. The action should get even better this coming weekend with the warmer weather.

      Tight Lines,
      Troy Bellah

Friday, March 22nd, 2019

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52-54

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I had a chance to guide a wonderful husband/wife team on Tues, two days after the big tournament on Sunday! Yea, the lake was it's usual quiet self - even on Tuesday!! But there was room to fish and fish we did. The bass greeted us with open mouths! The morning was cloudy, but very nice with calm water. That lasted for several hours and then things changed - quickly! The south wind came up, and up, and UP, and soon, everyone was running - sort of - to the 5th street ramp. My 21 foot Ranger did it's best to keep us dry, but there was as much water above us as below us!! As we got to the ramp, waves were coming straight in - tossing our boats around. Grown men were running for their vehicles everywhere!!! I got a little bit of the trailer in the water and waited for the next swell to place my boat on the trailer. Worked perfectly!! I only had to juice the Evinrude a bit to place the boat up snug at the top. I checked everything over, and not a scratch. Very grateful!!! I wish there was some protection for one or two of those ramps. Some kind of wall. Southeast winds can be real nasty up north.

      Tips: Fishing was fairly good in the morning, though we didn't get out as early as I wished. We used a variety of baits - drop-shotting Robo worms, crankbaits, swim-jigs,and the new Yamamoto cowboys (great bait in dingy water!) The blue/black was the best color. Bass were pretty shallow and some where next to deeper docks. Not sure how many we caught, but several from 3 to 3 3/4 lbs. Best 5 about 14 - 15 lbs. We fished one of the long canals on the west side. it was either cleaned out over the weekend or the fish hadn't moved in yet. We were almost out to the main lake and - he catches a 2 pounder! Saved the reputation of that area!!!

Thursday, March 21st, 2019

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: by StanL » Thu Mar 21, 2019 2:22 pm

      This week things are changing up here at Camanche. The lake is clearing up. The surface temperature is up to 59 degrees in the afternoon. The fish were just starting to pull up to the banks but then they dropped the lake about about two feet in four days This happens every year with Camanche since it is the fluctuating pool for pardee.

      We ended up backing out into 10 to 20 feet of water and catching all our fish with a 6 inch worm on a Frenzy Nail “ Shakey Head and a wacky Senko. We got them on places right outside of spawning areas.

      And I also have to congratulate Tim Wells for that 15.1 pound giant last week.

      And remember it is springtime so please practice catch and release and good luck fishing!

Wednesday, March 20th, 2019

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54-58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Four day trip with Pony Boy from the 20th through the 23rd. The BBT event was postponed, but we decided to spend the time on the lake anyway. Who doesn’t want to be on Clear Lake in March when they have the opportunity, right? We launched at the casino every day, however fifth Street ramp is apparently been open for over a week now. Heard rumors of a reaction bite especially on A rigs and we saw lots of guys and gals throwing mostly reaction. However that was not the case for us. We threw jigs and plastics up on the north end and that worked well enough for us to catch just under 100 fish in the four day stretch. Our big fish was just over six and we caught quite a few between 3 1/2 and 4 pounds but no real giants on this trip. Most of the fish we did catch were as fat as footballs and put up excellent fights. Besides the 3 to 4 foot rollers and whitecaps on Friday, the real disappointment of the trip was other anglers with no common courtesy. It’s unfortunate that you can be fishing a point, a rock pile, a dock and another boat is so inconsiderate that they will either drive their boat with their trolling motor between you and what you’re fishing, or right over the top of where your fishing, or they put down their trolling motor had a far distance from where your fishing but then just creep up on your spot and start making the same cast that you’re making right in front of you.Absolutely no communication or even a wave hello, but just the entitlement and attitude that they’re the only real angler on the lake. Too bad we can’t use the “jerk rule” while out on the water fun fishing and disqualify them from being on the lake for the rest of the day. However it is quite rewarding when somebody pulls up and starts pushing the same pile of rocks that you are and you stick a couple of fours and a six right in front of them and they don’t catch diddley squat.

      Tips: Communicate with your fellow anglers, be courteous, and either get there first or wait your turn until a boat has left the spot you want to fish. Keep your ears open for what the bite may be, but don’t let that be your only resource because the bite is always changing so try other techniques.

    • By

      Report: by On The Water Guide Service » Tue Mar 19, 2019 7:55 pm

      The bite is really starting to heat up on Clear Lake. Spring has Sprung and the results of last weekends tournament is testament to that. I had a chance to get out today and do a little fun fishing with a friend of mine and we absolutely crushed them on the A-rig. Conditions were just perfect for the rig. We has a cloudy sky with a slight breeze coming out of the northwest and the water temps were 55* to 59* with slightly stained water and about a foot and a half visibility. Granted we didn't catch any real giants but we stumbled on a mega school of 2 to 4 pounders and the action was just phenomenal. I had intentions of going out and mixing it up between a swimbait, glide bait and the rig but for the life of me I just couldn't put that A-rig rod down. Hell I even caught a crappie on the darn thing. Lot's of Fun.

      It appears we have a couple storms supposed to come through later this week but I suspect it wont hurt the bite any. The lake level is on a slow downward trend and was at 8.91 on the Rumsey scale this afternoon. We are only going to get a little over an inch so hopefully there won't be any flooding issues.
      The Hitch have been swimming up the creeks and inlets on the first part of their spawning run and that means it is time to break out the big rods and get to work. The 7" and 8" top hook Tallon's have been working well in the light hitch and chartreuse shad colors. The locally made Trash Fish swimbait has also been working well in the LC hitch and light hitch colors. If throwing big baits is not your thing, try a 4.8 or 5.8 Keitech swimbait on a weighted EWG hook. Should be an epic flipping bite this summer with the high water conditions also.

      The crappie bite is turning on and they are heading towards shore to set up for their spawn. Deep water docks, flooded bushes, and creek mouths have been good areas to catch them. Some of the more successful crappie fisherman have been using a sliding bobber technique with a chartreuse or white jig. The key is to find out the depth they are suspending at and set your bobber stop accordingly.

      Tight Lines and good fishing,

      Troy Bellah
      https://bassfishingclearlake.com/

Sunday, March 17th, 2019

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Water remained muddy as we fished the American Bass team tournament Sat. March 16. You needed over 15 pounds to win it. We got fish first thing on MMIII drop shots in the clearer waters in the narrows but the fish we had been finding all week were not there. We went to cranking in and tossing jigs on the east side of main lake by about 10 AM and got more fish but the bigger ones were hard to find. In the end, we settled in to the middle of the pack. There is a big Wild West tourney and a big high school tournament coming this next weekend March 23-24. We can can say the water is still muddy, the farther away from the dam toward Putah Creek the muddier is gets. It is also high and many of the places you like are still underwater. So plan your time accordingly.

      Tips: I will say from our day on the water that if you are going to the clear water in the Narrows for drop shot and jig water, if it does not happen in an hour give it up and move on. Many thanks to American Bass for a great tournament.