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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, April 26th, 2009

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

      Report: Did some experiment today by using assorted dark-colored worms---they all worked! Nothing big to brag with the biggest about 4.5 lbs. A lot of 1.0-2.0 lbs. Of course, they were all caught by the wall in front of Sugar Barge. I just threw them dark worms (Texas rig) in the tullies and let vibrate. Maaaan! A lot of boat in the area.
      City: Bakersfield

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

      Report: I love how I read all these fishing reports about these guys having such great days on the water, catching so many fish and so many 5lbs and 10lbs fish and big but then none of these guys post pictures. Let's see the pics and everyone can back up what they are saying. 15pounder let me see a pic....please hahaha i've seen one pic on these things and it was for CHabot lake.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: yea here's a tip. don't post a report about how you had a awesome day and caught 40 fish and don't put pics up. lame. show the proof

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I fished the Chico Bass Club tournament on Saturday and just wanted to compliment the club on putting on another wonderful tournament. I couldn't stay till the end but 13 plus won it with big fish over 4 pounds and at least 80 boats if not more. We caught a bunch of fish but only managed a shade over 9 pounds. I think we got bit on just about everything we used. Hey take a kid fishing now specially if they have a short attention span. Looking forward now to the Stren tournament in a few weeks.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: Tubes, senkos, worms, even got tapped on a swim bait. Get out and enjoy it before they pull the plug.

    • By

      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Pulled a two pounder and a dinker out from under an overhanging tree. White spinner with trailer hook.
      City: Santa Rosa

Saturday, April 25th, 2009

  • Mason County
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      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished in windy cold conditions from 1-5 Pm. Caught 10 bass in shallow water 3-5ft using senkos and drop shot. Nothing big. Had one very large female on for about 3 head shakes before she said see ya. Not many boats or fishing activity due to the weather. The bite seemed to pick up late PM. It took a while to get a pattern figured out. Tried a little reaction with spinner and crank but nada.
      City: Foster City

      Tips: Shallow with soft plastics on muddy banks.

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 59-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched from free ramp at 6am shot up to Putah fished top water after getting short strikes,switched to robo and boated 15 dinks. switched again to fat free shad and boated 3 more nicer fish 2-3LBS. Home by noon. The lake is looking good and gearing up. I only saw two other boats in putah.
      City: Napa

      Tips: Find the shade after the sun rise and fish slow. I found most of my fish in 8 to 15 feet of water. I fast cranked the shad bait to get depth and then went as slow as I could reel to keep it down for my best fish. Good Luck

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Thanks for that great report Bill, that is sharing some good info....We had a good day sorry for the late report. We fished Senkos and jigs most of the day with senko fish comming early and Jig fish later in the day. Most fish were caught on docks it deeper water. We did catch one 3 on a deeper rock pile early in the morning.
      City: Grass Valley

      Tips: water is pretty clear you can sight fish for bass even in some deeper water, most fish were suspended.

    • By

      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: big storm the day before but blew past pretty quick...next day went out with a fishing guide...ross...took us site fishing...caught a total of 12 bass all 3+...biggest about 4 and a half....great day of fishing...after went to the tackle it shop and bout a powell spinning rod..130 bucks!! geeze..well worth it...the next morning i fished the sloo and saw tons of spawning bass..the problem was getting them to eat...well anyways...caught about 6 bass within 2 hours and a guy was trying to get a big bass to bite...it looked like a 10 pounder...well he was trying to fish it for bout an hour just bouncing tubes by it and finally caught it...ended up being a 7 and a half pounder.. pretty nice fish...had a great day a clear lake...cant wait to go back during the fall for some amazing top water bites...yah!
      City: salinas

      Tips: find a spawning bass and dont spook him but creep up with the trolling motor and pitch a drop shot worm right past him bout 2 feet then drag it until it bumps the fish and keep repeating that and within 5 bumps..the bass should take it for sure and if not then give up on the fish and find one that wants to play..goodluck!

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 62-65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The Day after a rainy storm for Basin Bassmasters small club tournament, it turned out ok. The 45 deg. temp didn't stop 11 boats to hit the lake to find that big bass that was left from the Future Pro Tour last weekend. Everyone had a place to go to and see if any bass was around still. Bass are in the trees, banks and in back of coves. I found some on beds in the North Fork, worked them with a 6" Senko. Rip-in only got one, but dragging a darter head with a Oxblood worm in 5-15 ft was the main lure. Split shot on points and trees.
      City: Rocklin

      Tips: Try a top water and rip-in first thing in the morning.

    • By

      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: caught a total of 12 fish most of them were 1 lb smallies that would hit a 5 inch senko. biggest fish was a 2 lb spot that was caught on a bed. I seen a bunch of stripers boiling but just couldnt get them to hit.
      City: San andreas

      Tips: sencos and spinnerbaits.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took my brother-in-law up for the weekend. Had a blast. Caught lots of decent fish. Best came on rocky steep banks. Biggest went 3.5lb, lots of 1.5 to 2.
      Most on Shad Fluke, couple on watermelon jigs and rest on crankbaits.
      City: Fernley,Nv

      Tips: The past few weekends have been pretty windy. You have to be well practiced with the trolling motor.
      Working baits slow has been the best for us.

    • By

      Water Temp: 59-63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: went to shasta on sat. fished afternoon into the dark of night, caught alot of fish..many on the xrap jerkbait as well as rattle trap and right at dusk a zara spook, which was a blast..my first topwater action of the year..a bunch of fish blew up on it and just plain missed, but I caught a bunch on it as well, the biggest fish came on the xrap, fished after dark til around midnight using big spinners and brush hogs, nothing on the spinnerbaits and only one on the brush hog with quite a few missed hits
      City: medford

      Tips: water is quite a bit clearer than a few weeks ago when i went down. also noticed that the in flow is less than the outflow and the lake has started to drop a bit. The xraps produced some quality fish on steep chunk rock banks and points with timber out on the ends, also the windblown side of points always produced

    • By

      Water Temp: 58-63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished a Forest Service tournament on Saturday & Sunday. Fishing was tough and the only fished taht seemed to be hanging out in the shallows wer very small and the bite was sporadic. Tried lots of crankbaits, spinnerbaits, and swim baits with a few bites on frst day. Marked a lot of fish deeper on Sunday and tried plastics and wacky worms with a few bites but still very slow bite. Wind gusts were up to 40 mph in the morning and made thins very difficult for finesse fishing.
      City: Portola, CA

      Tips: Points seemed to yield the most bits and we kept hearing to try fishing deeper, 25-50 feet of water.

Friday, April 24th, 2009

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

      Report: Went out today and hoped for some big fish off swimbaits. tried some spro bbz's and did not get bit. went to my little castaic soft plastic swimbait and caught 4 fish. biggest was 5 and a half pounds. all of them combined went 15 pounds
      City: bhood

      Tips: slow fishing. slipshottin might have down well

    • By

      Water Temp: Cool

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Slow at the main recreation. Few bites in the morning. The shore fishing was slow. Anglers caught 1-2 trouts all day. 1-3lbs average. Caught a 1 1/b trout in the afternoon. Good enough for one meal. Not bad consider the planters are 6-8 inches and 5 planters weight 1 1/2 lbs. One holdover is like a limit of planters.
      City: Oakland

      Tips: Powerbait yellow or green will get the trout to bite.

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 63-68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The water has cleared again since Monday - now about 12 to 14 feet. Back again today with two guys wanting to learn more about the lake and bass fishing techniques in general. The bite was pretty good but the wind did not start during our 7 hr trip. Tough conditions! We did boat 23 bass - they started off kind of slow but improved quickly and landed a bunch!! While they were fishing MMIII Robos, I tried a Chug Bug topwater lure early and finally got some action. Lots of swirls and a few small bass in the boat. Split-shotting was so good I didn't change us over to drop-shotting. The guys caught several nice smallies in the main body - west side. One largemouth. We saw several bass on beds, but all males. I saw a small male on a bed and told one of the guys to cast to it. I was prepared to work him thru the process to get the spawner to bite. So he casts to the nest - the little male charges and eats the worm and finds himself in the boat in about 15 seconds. Is this fair?!! I thought I might have heard my client say: "Wow - there's nothing to this sight fishing!!!" Yea, right!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We found beds in the back of several coves and on some flats that were wind protected. We only saw one big female crusing - maybe a 5 lb spot. We fished shadows in the narrows as long as we could. All topwater fish were in the shadows.

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 67-69 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I never though I would say this in April, but it sort of sucked. 2 bites, 1 fish all day. Although it was 4 lbs. I was reaching for my camera and he sort of shook, and i dropped him (or her) back in -- before i could even weigh it on this cool new digital scale i just bought. To the Report: I started fishing points in about 16-20 feet of water casting to the bank and working back... varying my boat position so i could cast in and work out and parallel at different depths. Never fishing there in my boat before, it was basically new water for me. Found some great spots with grass and weeds - but they produced nothing. I used crankbaits - 40 casts then switch up is my usual move until i figure out a pattern or a bait they like. (Jimmy Houston gave me that tip in February after I interviewed him) I moved to other areas, other depths and nothing! I did see lots of crappie swimming near the surface (not schooling, but singular crappie - nice size) I did see dead ones too as Papa John mentioned. Marked crappie on depth finders too, but they weren't biting. Finally, remembering a tip from this forum, I moved on to the shallow flats between dams. Finally... a hook up in about 3-5 feet of water, close to bank on a Yamamoto double tail grub in green weenie color. Nice fish - 4lbs. I did hook another close by about an hour later, but broke off at boat. Super slow.
      City: Pacific Grove

      Tips: Typically, i can key in on a pattern in a few hours; not this outing. It was tough. Weather was killer - no wind from about 12 - 2; ultra stillness. That is actually when i caught the fish. Most guys i talked to said it was slow and all plastic or finesse. No reaction bites at all (as indicated by Papa John). First time i went through the mussle inspection Bull-****, and it was just fine.

      Anybody know what is up with the crappie? Dead ones floating, close to top swimmers all appeared to have big white splotchy stuff on their bodies... gross. And the Jet Skiers are pricks. They have the whole lake and insist on buzzing right by the fisherman. Go during the week to avoid the idiots.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 67-70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I knew the warm spell was comin to an end so I told the boss I had to go to the dentist, but i meant the delta dentist,yeah! Started the day on the west side of franks with only 2 fish, but the old dudes next to me were killin em with a bobber and live bait. Decided to move after 2hrs and 2 fish for 4#'s. Kept tellin myself gotta find some deeper water. Went to the south side of franks and found some 5ft water with deeper nearby. 2nd cast i pitch into the tullys and drag into deeper water i fell tick tick and the line takes off. I reel down and set hard. 10 seconds later i see a behemoth of fish surface. She looked like she swalloed a football. I'm freakin cuz i only had 12# test on. Close enough stopped reelin but held hella pressure on her as i had to open the storage compartment and fumble around thru stuff till i find the net. Finally get her in the net and i am shaken and freaken out. She weighs in at 11.7. I almost shit my shorts. Put er in the live well to go take a picture at Russos. Wind picks up after lunch so i decide to get out of franks and find some "new water." Found some and i like it, will be back. Ended up getting a 5.1# and a bunch of 2's and 3's there as well. First limit of the year goes 21#'s. This morning I told myself to make the net more accesible, i dunno why but i am glad i did. Launch $10, worm $5, gas $30, catching the LMB of a liftime,,priceless.
      City: fremont

      Tips: Patience is a virtue. Dropshot. Deeper water. Keep your net close by, cuz i never did but i learned today. Listen to cooch.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 62-68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Jimmy F, most of those ropes attached to docks are to keep the docks from swinging left or right... You have a float tube, you can float right up to those ropes and fish the insides. On to the report... Fished from friday to monday and had 2 good days and 2 mediocre days. I saw tons of spawners and cruisers, but most of them are spooked. I did pretty good throwing senkos along the sides of low docks. I caught a couple on the frog. It seemed like the fish were biting better on friday and saturday when the temps were'nt in the upper 80's yet.
      City: San Jose

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Great day off the docks of Jago! So clear you could see the bottom of the lake and about ten bass guarding their eggs. Dropped a jig in front of them and annoyed them into the bite. After we released them they went right back to their eggs. What fun! 6-8 lbers.
      City: st. Helena

      Tips: If you can't fool em, annoy em!