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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, March 13th, 2009

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54-56

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Out with my 4 year old for around 5 hours. Flat calm blue bird day. Great weather but the fishing is still a little slow for this time of year water is still a little on the cold side. Water is in good shape with a nice green color and a little stain to it. As far as the bite we cought 8 fish in the 5 hours all on brush hogs and jigs none on reaction and all of them buck small mouth running around 1.75-2.25 lbs. Not a very big limit around 10, will be looking for bigger fish next week.
      City: Vacaville

      Tips: All of the fish came from spawning areas so the small mouth are definitely staging.They were holding in water from 2-25 ft. Did not seem to be any real big numbers of fish just one here one there. I will be on the water March 20th helping out with the Future Pro Tournament. If any of you are looking into starting tournament fishing Future pro would be a great place to start wish they were around when I started.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Friday 7 AM to 2 PM. Sunny, no wind. Fished Old River and Mildred Island. Caught 1.5 to 2 lb'rs all day. 1 Every 15 minutes. Fish were spread out. Tried everything in the tackle box, NO reaction bite. Only took 6" worms Watermelon or green w/red fleck. Absolutely NO bite, NO movement. Still A GREAT day
      City: Hayward

      Tips: Pull up sloooow and stop if there's ANY resistent set the hook.

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59-61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fish are up getting ready to do their thing. Lots of males on beds. Found a couple of areas where the females are ready to come up on the the beds. Got an 8lb and a 6lb, all the rest of the fish for the day were in the 2-4lb range. Looks like it will only keep getting better. More and more boats every week. Good luck.
      City: ventura

      Tips: Fish shallow, senkos, worms the usual spawning baits.

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52-55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Back out to collins whith my good friend will took our time rollin out of bed and got on the water around nine not much going on for the first twenty minutes the wind was calm and there were alot of trollers since they stalked on the 12th the lake is about 17 or 18 feet from spilling so we headed for the points with light on them first had no takers on cranmkbaits or tubes switched to rof 12 hud and picked up a 3.75 so threw the huds for the rest of the day i got two more a 4 pound spot and a 6.75 large mouth will picked up his 3.75 largie on a rof 5 hud i lost another giant close to ten in the same area as last month this time she hooked up jumped and threw the bait i will get this pig!! I hope? talked to a few bass guys but they were'nt having any luck back out tommorrow hope for the same sucess its beautiful out there right now so go have fun

      Tips: the water is still cold alot of the fish are very pale so there coming out of deep water i have been cathing them in about 5 to 8 feet on points and dark rock areas so throw huds till your arm falls off just chuck and wind like crank bait it will work.

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Hi, this is for the person asking for help on the rip bait. I am telling you right now, go to folsom, put a Lucky craft staycee 90 on in any shad type color, then find the warmest water you can locate, hint, not in either arms where cold water flows into. Then, find points, toss swallow, and start ripping. you will catch a limit in less then 1 hr right now, and a good limit at that. hope it helps. Mesh matt Triton tr-21
      City: folsom

    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: my tournament partner and i went out on my bday yes friday the 13th.Pulled up to our first spot i was tossing a spinnerbait caught 2 fish right away chris was throwing rip bait 2 caught 2 also and missed about 6 fish we also tossed jigs and worms caught a few more fish biggest fish was a small mouth on a blade over 4# our best 5 went around 13#
      City: Roseville

      Tips: Slow roll blades rip slow and work points.I would also like to think renee byer for putting our picture in the sacramento bee.

  • Mariposa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 51-55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from noon to 3pm. Wind pushed strongly from the dam toward piney creek and a bit east as well. The water was very clear at over 8 feet, debris dimishing everywhere except an area near horseshoe bend, likely an inflow from bagby creating flotsam area. Water much higher over the last week. THe pilings near south barrett are covered. The water is approaching the tunnel at mclure point. The water is remarkably unchanged in temprature.

      Fishing was inactive.

      The trout trollers seemed centered at the dam, and hugely at bagby, but the bank fishermen were doing well as well.
      City: Atwater

      Tips: look deep again...25-30ft and slow....some fish may still be shallow, but I missed them.

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out Friday with a buddy fished from sun up to sun down with no bites we did not even see a fish. You can see down 20+ feet in some areas. We tried everything from deep to shallow cranks, swimbaits, jigs,drop shot, shaky head, off of points,islands and drop offs. There was not a cloud in the sky with hardly any wind i think that played a roll as well as the fact that it is just starting to warm up out there. Good luck and tight lines.
      City: Citrus heights

      Tips: It should be getting better everyday as long as the weather permits and we can get that water temp up so the fish become more active in there journey to the spawn.

Thursday, March 12th, 2009

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Rivers End. No bass bites at all trying Senkos, jigs, rattletraps, Stacey90s, & Nates bait. Switched up to swimbaits and caught 6 stripers and many more near-catches near the surface. Biggest was 32". Watch other boat catch bass from a distance using dropshot in less than 10ft of water.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: If ur after bass, use dropshot.
      If ur after stripers, use white swimbaits.

    • By

      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Me and my master angler buddy float tubed out of Westgate Park. Nice day with windy,bluebird skies. We started fishing about 10:00 and took about two hours before we nailed our first three fish. Two of them weighed about 2 lbs each and the other was 3. We caaught all 3 in the same place with in 20 minutes. I think the water was starting to warm up. We were using texas rigged plastics. Later, probably around 3:30 my master angler buddy nailed a nice 4 lber on a 5" swimbait.
      City: Galt

      Tips: Fish deeper,outer weedlines. Don't waste your time waking up too early.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 51

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished for five hours this afternoon and had a good time.concentrated on deep rock piles in the south end using the shaky-senco.Stuck around 20 with a 4 lb kicker and a few nice 3,s.Couldent get em to bite the cranks or swims today.
      City: lower lake

      Tips: Use smelly jelly or other sents on your plastics,it makes a big difference.

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 51-54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Found a good bite in the 10 to 15 foot range on jigs. No rip fish, mybe because I have no clue what Im doing. Seems odd the fish are so shallow with the cold water.
      City: Citrus Heights

      Tips: I could use some tips from anyone.

  • Mendocino County
    • By

      Water Temp: STILL COLD

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Took a chance fishing the island for smallies on a buzz bait. Surprisingly, picked up two (a 4 an a 1.5). This bite only lasted for an hour at best in the morning. The water level still really needs to come up for the fishing to turn on. There is o much great structure that is still high and dry right now.
      City: Ukiah

      Tips: Pray for rain!!

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55.0

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished for about six hours all over Holland tract then went back to slough in the Marina and caught three only two and half pounds best. Caught 6.6 last weekend. Used white crank baits and Ike tungsten minnows. Fished Super slow. repetitive casts to outside weed line at low tide seemed to be the ticket. Shouldn't be long now...can't wait till water temp is up two more degrees down below.
      City: Newark

      Tips: Slow down is right!

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 8:30 to 1:30. 2 spots all day and about 7 bites. Threw jigs, tubes, jerks, and cranks. No reaction bite at all
      City: sacramento

      Tips: Both fish came on a drop shot MMII as did the vast majority of the bites. Wait for the water to stay relatively level for a couple weeks and then give it a shot. The fish are confused just like the fishermen. It's still very low though

Tuesday, March 10th, 2009

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: 1 fish all day. Dark jig. about 4lbs.
      City: Newman

      Tips: wait a few more weeks

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: How does it look now Jesse?

      From what you said earlier, it seems only the south end ramp will be available to us??
      City: Sacto

  • Mendocino County
    • By

      Water Temp: COLD!

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: With freezing temps in the morning, the Smallmouth bite was the only option. Caught three (two 4's and a 2.5) on a white spinnerbait shorefishing the river channel at the north end. The bite COMPLETELY shuts down by 10:30 at the latest.
      City: Ukiah

      Tips: Slowrolling a spinnerbait along the bottom.

Monday, March 9th, 2009

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53-56

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched around 11am, fished 6 hrs. Started out in Little Portuguese, nuttin'. Moved to main body, was blowing like hell for first hour or so, had to find areas inside coves for a while to even feel the bait; wind died down, moved back out to main points- nailed 7 total. Best 5 went about 12 lbs. Mixed bag, spots, smallies and a couple largemouths. Most came on plastic in 15 -25 ft of water. Two came on a jerkbait, including a big crappie that went 2 1/2 lbs! All in all not a bad day....
      City: vacaville

      Tips: Slow presentation seemed to be best, until the sun got low in the sky, then the reaction bite started to come on.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: What can a 27 degree morning at Clear Lake do for you - not much!! I notice we were the first to launch at the Oaks - smart people slept in! Actually it didn't matter as I was helping a client learn off-shore structure and new areas. We had a great time once we thawed out! We ran to several spots for our 5 hr trip - looking, metering, and doing some fishing. The bite was very slow in the morning which was no surprise. He did catch two nice bass and I got one about 3 1/2 lbs. Several bass would pick up our baits - bite the tails, and stuff like that. Maybe the afternoon was better - it usually is after a morning chill like that. All our fish and hits were on jigs in water over 10 feet deep.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: The bite will certainly improve when this very cold March weather moves out. The jig bite remains pretty good. I did try spinnerbaits but got no action. We basically fished rock piles and rock flats - some around dock pilings. BRRRR!