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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Tuesday, March 17th, 2009

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Mar 16, 2009 5:18 pm US/Pacific
      Overfishing Likely Under Delta Bass ProposalSTOCKTON (CBS 5) ―
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      Striped Bass
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      numSlides of totalImages Bass fishing and the Delta are synonymous. In a sports industry that has no parallel in America, hundreds of thousands of dollars are won each year in Delta tournaments stocked with anglers wheeling around in specially built boats that can cost $75,000 or more. But pretty soon bass fishermen on the Delta may become an endangered species.

      Bowing to water interests, the state legislature will consider lifting all restrictions on bass fishing-in effect allowing fishermen to take as much catch as they want - possibly decimating the population.
      City: Newark

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: On the water at 2:30, nice spring afternoon. Worked main body south of GB launch to about halfway to Beals. Caught 4 spots total, biggest was 2 lb. 3 caught on darthead with 4" worm, 1 caught on spinnerbait. All fish in 8-12'.

      Tips: Look for rockpiles and areas near buoys, then rotate through baits and colors until you find the right combo.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48-50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Now that the Anglers choice Pro-Am is over I can report about my bite. I fished the 2 weekends before the event when the lake was rising like crazy. during those practices, with the exception of an occasional swimbait fish, my bite was senko fish. I used black/blue 4" baits because of the water color. I was keying on the flattest points for the few, but quality, bites I got each day. I practiced for the event on 3/12 with my travel partner, Ken Allerton. I felt that the fish were trying to spawn, so we fished from 0 to about 6 ft deep only. we were throwing 1/8 darters with 6" MM and 4" senkos in black/blue or Junebug. We easily had a 25-30 bites. we cut our hooks for most of the day, but the fish we boated went right at 13 lbs. I was focusing on the inside of secondary points, usually the first 50 yards had the bigger fish. tournament conditions changed drasically, and pushed the fish off a bit. for the event I stayed with the darter right on the bank, and had my am fish deeper with an izzy type rig. both mornings were slow with the bite picking up around noon both days. I had 9.58 on Sat. and 9.82 Sun., enough for a 15th place check, as the weights dropped off a bunch from practice. As for what kind of bank, it seemed to change from hour to hour. Points seemed to hold staging fish in the morning, but the vast majority of my quality fish came on smooth, red clay in the afternoon. My big fish each day came ultra shallow,off a smooth clay spot on rocky banks. thats where the girls were. The rest of our fish came out just outside that 6 ft. depth, probably around 8 ft. these fish were PRE SPAWN!! 14" fish were pushing 2 lbs. Super fat! I think the moon had them up, and they got trapped by the barometer change. The reaction guys ripped alot fish as well, so that bite is coming on. I think quite a few of the anglers that finished above me ripped most of there fish. I caught alot of fish that were trying to bed, so dont be afraid to fish real shallow for the bigger fish, especially later in the day. want to talk?, go ahead and send me an e-mail. Jason
      City: Hollister

      Tips: I fished darterheads and senkos exclusively. however, those shallow fish wanted the bait REAL slow. my dart presentation was to rock the bait, like a jig for awhile, then drag it an inch or two, and rock it some more. the bite would be a pure pressure bite. Ditto for the senko. I would throw into 2 feet of water, and count to 15. slowly drag it about a foot, kill it and count to 15 again. no shaking, wiggling, nothing. it would just swim off, when the fish was on. with both presentations, WAIT to set the hook!!! let them eat the bait or they wont get to the boat. Also, when they started biting short, I changed to a 4" mm for my darter and that fixed the problem.

  • Riverside County
    • By

      Water Temp: didn't check

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Had a great day with Guide Pete Marino. Had a great day learning how to look for active biting fish. Pete worked really hard on putting the pattern together. Once we found the active biting fish it was game one for my cousin and brother-in-law. We caught at least 40 fish. all fish were healthy and chunky. we brought in a few 4 1/2 - 5's and the rest were all 2 - 3 1/2lbs. Pete taught me some valuable info that i will be taking back to my home waters.

      we fished water from 8' all the way out to 30'
      City: san francisco visiting S.D.

      Tips: If your looking or a good guide Pete Marino is worth it!

Monday, March 16th, 2009

    • By

      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: spring lake was all right. 5 fish caught total between me and my buddy.(cold front...)
      just watch some of the video
      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDe-BWmYohk
      City: santa rosa

      Tips: cranks, dropshot, dont eat bass...

Sunday, March 15th, 2009

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 51-53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I took two great guys on a 6 hr trip Sat but found the fishing not so great. We fished the narrows and some of the southern past of the main body. Water was a nice color but still cold. I think the later afternoon bite would have been better but we had to quit earlier. We caught most of our bass on jigs and MMIII Robo worms. Nothing bigger than 2 lbs - disappointing! Our last stop - in Markely Cove - one of the fellows had a good hit on a 5" Basstrix swimbait/Blade Runner Swim Spin head - but lost it. That was a nice fish that had moved shallow.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: A pretty stiff wind made it a little difficult to fish - they missed a few bites. If the warm weather does make an appearance this week, I'm sure the bite will pick up. Berryessa is usually a bit warmer by mid-March.

  • Santa Barbara County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53.6 - 55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fish are definitely on their beds, not all but spooked some toads. Came back later to a clamshell lipped LMB. Managed to put 4 in the boat for approx 7 pounds. 3 smallies and one LMB. LMB on a drop shot in 3 feet, smallies on a DLN in sexy shad
      City: Lompoc

      Tips: even the cranks were slowly cranked. If you didn't hit structure you didn't get bit. Watermelon green seemed to be the best on the stained water

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: What's up with the government? How could they put a no limit fish on bass? That's insane.
      City: SF

      Tips: Anyways, they ain't biting nothing. I mean nothing. So I decided to fishing with minnows for STRIPERS!!! Caught a 10 lber. and a 8 lber. OTHER than that, no LM bass. Water needs to get clearer. Its too muddy, fish cant see.

    • By

      Water Temp: 54-57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished clear, colder water and caught one striper on a speed trap in open water. No bites in warmer, muddy water.
      City: Cameron Park

      Tips: Yesterday was very windy and I got a couple. Today, little wind and tough. Thought it would be good with storm coming in.

    • By

      Water Temp: 52-53

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 9a.m. till 5p.m.. The wind kept us off the main body so we concentrated on the coves. Didn't see any fish schooled up on the graph so we wen't with a "run and gun" approach throwing white and chartreuse chatterbaits from the edge of the shore out to 15'. Ended the day with 6 fish. Big fish about 4lbs. Tough day but should turn on with a warming trend.
      City: Rancho Cordova

      Tips: Worked the baits with a lift and drop then pause. The fish hit on the fall. I'm sure the weather shut down the bite.

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Wow is this lake getting crowded....a ton of boats out patrolling the flats for spawners...We worked some of the non-traditional areas and found a bunch of fish on beds or in the staging area. Surprisingly we did our best damage working the points and coves with a crankbait. Had about 8 fish on cranks and maybe 5 or so from beds. Biggest was a 5lber which hit the Norman.
      City: Ventura

      Tips: Be respectful on the water....its a big lake and you don't need to stop within 25 ft of another boat....

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out today for 5 hours and i only caught 1 fish on a red eye shad in orange craw color by the rocks, it hit 3 or 4 feet from shore i was sitting on a rock and casting and i saw it hit it when i almost pulled my lure out of the water.. its good to see that they are moving into the shallows again.
      City: THA P

      Tips: should be happening soon.

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: unknown

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: tough day at ilsanjo...
      hiked in and fished at/near the dam for about an hour and a half.
      tried senkos, and two jointed rapalas with no luck.
      decided to try shore drop shotting (not sure if it's still considered "drop shotting" if one is shore fishing) and caught one nice bass, about 1-2 lbs. threw a black and smoke 4" worm with no luck, then threw on a purple and white minnow pattern that was maybe 3" long. left it dead in the water and would just shake the slack in the line. the one i did catch was a VERY soft bite. let him have it for at least 20 seconds before setting the hook and just barely had him in the lower lip.
      nice fight on an UL rod and 4# test.
      a beautiful, misty day out there. no mountain lions though.. bummer.
      City: petaluma

      Tips: the lake is way up!
      lots of debris in the water and as a result lost three rigs drop shotting.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Took a recon trip up here on Sunday, but still 20 feet needed to launch off of a ramp at the south end. I don't think it will make it this year without a bunch of rain. At this point it is cartops only. The Northend is way high and dry. Ramp at the North is probably 1/2 mile from water. Very very very disappointing.
      City: Woodland

  • Leon County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Just got a bass setup and would love some tips on where on the lake to fish for these guys. Have senkos, spinner baits, buzz baits, and a rattletrap.

      I've also tried for trout 3 times in the late evening this month for trout and been skunked. Fished 2 rods, one with a pumped up night crawler on a sliding sinker 18" off the bottom, and the other throwing kastmasters, rapallas, and superdupers with no luck.

      Any tips appreciated for this beginning angler.
      City: Walnut Creek

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: My club was planning a tournament at this lake and a few members pre-fished the lake. While they were there they saw the Park Rangers getting on a club for not notifing them of the tournament. They asked what was going on and found out that there is a form u have to fill out and pay $50 to have a tournament there if u have 50 or less members. I've checked several web sites on New Hogan and not one has said anything about a fee to fish a tournament there. If anyone has heard anything about this or have seen a posting about this fee PLEASE let me know!!!!!!!!!!!!
      City: Rio Vista

    • By

      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Today was a very slow day. I only caught one dinker. I couldn't see its bed, but i knew that it was on one. It was a male fish that was waiting for a female to come along. It is still the pre-spawn. I parked next to the damb and hiked in for about an hour before i tossed out my line. I pulled about fifteen ticks off of me, so for you panzy's i suggest that you don't fish nicasio. The fishing here should pick up soon once when the water temp increases about six degrease: DuckMan415 :(
      City: San Rafael

      Tips: Fish very slow. Watch your line to see if you have a fish cause you won't feel it. Use dark colors and big baits if you want to catch the big onezzz: DuckMan415 :(

Saturday, March 14th, 2009

  • Mason County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: went south first thing in the morning. then went north. water is down about 30 feet. all my favorite spots are 5 feet out of the water. water temp was 52 degrees. threw rattletraps. only 6 small ones. nothing over 2 lbs. we didn't fish deeper than 20 feet. pasted a few trollers. nothing big. wind picked up. off the water around 12:30pm.
      City: Fremont

      Tips: if i was in the mood to fish slow and deep, maybe could have gotten a good limit. naw. i'll wait until it warms up.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Had a great day on the delta. Caught lots of crank bait fish and a handful of swim bait fish on wind blown rip rap in the south. We had a little over 26 pounds for 5 fish to take the win in our club the Santa Clara Bass Busters tournament.
      City: cupertino

      Tips: Use cranks to find them. Follow up with your favorite swim bait.

    • By

      Water Temp: 55-57

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished current slowly with BHS for 2 fish during low tide.
      City: Cameron Park