Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

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      Water Temp: 51.5

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished all day Saturday with Big fish mike. I won the dollar fish one over 2 lbs. Too bad it was the only fish other than trout which are everywhere.Not bad for $23.00 for 2. Get there early for the zebra muscle check. Gates open at 5am.
      City: orangevale

      Tips: We used a cabellas underwater camer to locate some nice fish and got one to bite. We only saw 4 Bass all day and caught one? Go to clear lake and fish with minnows in the winter.

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      Water Temp: 49.7-50.1

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Just fished tournament at Shasta. Tough bite in post front conditions but still managed 2nd place weight (9.91 lbs.). Fish were holding in 35 ft. but would move up to about 10 ft once water warmed. Certainly don't overlook the shallow bite first thing in the morning in low light conditions although it didn't play out well for us on tourney day. Run points. About ramps because of low water situation... Jones Valley is in decent shape and so is Centimude. Jones Valley has no dock. Packers is a no go.
      City: Nevada

      Tips: Run points but fish them slow.

Friday, February 6th, 2009

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      Water Temp: 47-50

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Tues evening I was able to guide the father of one of my previous clients. Great guy and good fisherman! He wanted to try night fishing for the first time - in the winter?!! He did well considering the bite was fair. He did land a limit with his last one being 4 1/2 lbs. He missed several fish, as did I. The bass just wern't taking the baits like normal. I landed 5 or 6 also - one did go 6 1/2 lbs. A couple of monster bites for us, but they didn't see the net. Wed night I fished with my hometown buddy, Mike Sperbeck. We did well but struggled to land any good fish - he caught the biggest at 4 lbs 6 oz. He was fishing the back of my boat and landed 15, I, only 5! Payback for our previous trip!!! My client caught all of his on a sweet beaver and most of mine were on a D&M spin jig. Wed night Mike and I found the jig to be the bait of choice. I think the Rodstrainer jig is all he threw. I showed him a subtle ledge that I have been fishing recently and he stuck 5 the half hour before dark - all 3 to 4 lbs. I got one bite! He had the magic color - purple/brown. My client and I had a limit of nearly 21 lbs while Mike and I could only manage an 18 1/4 lb limit.
      City: Yuba city

      Tips: Once in awhile folks say that the person in front of the boat catches most of the fish. That may be true if they are fishing down a bank. Not so in open water! It's just who is doing the right technique with the right bait. Mike cleaned my clock in back of the boat! It was interesting that a few areas that were good Tues evening had no takers on Wed evening! It was finally cloudy and warmer Wed evening but it didn't seem to help the bite at all. I was surprised. I talked to another friend who was out Wed night and he reported slow fishing also - until after 1 am where he did find some quality bass. In winter is it a good idea to keep moving!

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Water is terribly low! Thank god its raining. Saw a kid fishing with red worms hook into a 8+ pound largemouth that snapped his line right at the shoreline. Happy to see that there are some fish left in that "pond".
      City: San Jose

Thursday, February 5th, 2009

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      Water Temp: unknown

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished at about 5pm under the Coleman bridge on the north side of the lake. Just testing some new Dobyns rods from shore & not expecting to catch anything. Pitched a 7" watermelon color Senko with flakes and was dead sticking it. 15 seconds later....tap, tap....Landed a 3 lbers for my first for 2009. The bass was in 5 feet of water.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Nothin on spinnerbaits, or crankbaits.....just the Senko worked. Plastics always works better than hard lures.

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      Water Temp: 52.7

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished at safe light to 2Pm Didn't catch first fish till 130...Tough bite for some reason. Saw bass guys all over (Shallow to Deep) Didn't look any better for them. Please post any tips for this tough time...

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      Water Temp: 50-53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished with a client yesterday, rained early, then stopped until about 2:00pm when it started again. Bite was really good during periods when it was raining and very slow in the middle of the day. Most fish caught on the rocks with deep water near by as the fish are once again with this storm as the last, moving up and becoming aggressive. Many patterns are still not there yet for this time of year and the bite can still be tough if ya plan to fish tulles all day.
      City: Oakley

      Tips: If you for any reason plan to catch fish and put them in yer livewells, either fer photos or tournaments this weekend, be sure ya bring yer needles! The fish here are just beginning to run up to the bank ta feed from deep water and heading right back down. Even here on the River, when doing this, their gass bladders will fill quickly when placed in yer livewells.

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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: With the previous hot weather, it made fishing strange. Fish have been pushed to shallow, I was able to catch 3 fish with frogs ON Winter. Tried the trout swimbait with one follower but it didn't take it. Think outside the box, try something new, you will be surprise!!!
      City: Concord

      Tips: Go Shallow. Fish are ready to spawn so I caught them with frogs.

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Granite Bay is open, I don't have 4 wheel drive and can launch just fine. Give it a shot, just watch out for submerged rocks close to shore.
      City: Rocklin

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

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      Water Temp: 53.2

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Beautiful day on the lake weather-wise. Mostly cloudy, very slight e breeze. There's a lot of dead algae clumps staining the water. Bite was extremely slow and light. Papa Smurf and myself took 2 smallies on plastic worms drop-shotting to 20 to 35 ft. Missed maybe 8 on very light bite. Fish were hoboing the bait. Hopely we get some rain to bring up the temp and water level.
      City: Vallejo

      Tips: Fish as slow as possible and then slow down even more. Bite is so light that its a good idea to set on any pressure on the line.

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      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: launched at granite bay around 8am. dragged a robo worm 15 to 20 feet deep. caught a 3 pound spot. switched to a dart head caught one more at 30'. scoped no bait balls all day. off the water at 1pm. 25 car/trailers in lot.
      City: carmichael

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: The lake is so low right now, does anyone know if there's a launch open that is usable if you don't have 4 wheel drive? Or do we have to wait for the coming rain to help?

      Oh, and any tips of where to fish with the water this low and the time of year I'm assuming the main body?

      Thanks in advance.
      City: Sacramento

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      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great day. Minnows only and caught a 12.7 and a 9.5 keep tight lines. Camanche tomorrow and will let you know how I did. Minnows Only!
      City: concord

      Tips: Minnows Rock!!!

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      Water Temp: 42-48

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: It's been while since Iv'e had a report. Since the end of Dec. when the cold snap hit, the bite has really slowed up. The tournaments have produced some nice 3lb. to one 10lb. large mouth. Our trip out yesterday was productive with the biggest at 2.5lbs. and the rest in the bracket. Paradise Tackle jigs have prodcing with the colors changing each day out. Senko's and Bucket Mouth stinko's have also been working. Texas and shacky head worms and beavers and drop shot methods have all been working. Some swim baits and a few reaction baits have also produced bites.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: Fish real slow.S

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

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      Water Temp: 53-59

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Not much has changed since my last visit a week ago. With temperatures in the low 70

      Tips: <a href="http://www.russnyders.com/">Rus Snyders Guide Service</a>

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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Skunked for bass that day. Fished between 10 and 4. Tried fishin with jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, drop shot, shakyheads, swimbaits on points, rocky points, rocky slopes, found a creek arm with tons of sunken trees and nothing. Not a single bit, from bass. My friend got little nibbles on a white gambler meano that we found out was a trout so we tied on some kastmasters and put 5 in the boat at the end of the day. All in the back of that creek arm between some trees. Did not have a sonar by the way, rented boat.
      City: Gustine

      Tips: Get your war face on, find baitfish.

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

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      Water Temp: 46

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Just got back from a two day trip with two fisherman. Day one we caught 18 fish between us. Today they were more interested in plastic than minnows?? Only 1/2 were on minnows. Day two was a better day with a total of 35 fish, including one 5-lbs and another 3-lbs on a spinnerbait. Most fish today were on minnows. Only seven were on plastic or the spinner bait. Very windy today!!!
      City: Rough and Ready, Ca

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Thanks John
      EVERYONE DO THE RAIN AND SNOW DANCE. WE NEED WATER !!!
      City: Coast

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

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      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Finally found a good rip bite this weakend!Fished for three hours on saturday and and four on sunday for a total of 25 nice keeper rip fish to 4 lbs.It seems like every fish in the lake has migrated to Jago,it dosent take a brain surgen to throw live bait and boat 30 fish in a day.I myself would rather provoke strikes than wait for them, but thats just me.
      City: lower lake

      Tips: The fish get fired up right before dark.I stuck a dozen withen 15 minutes on saturday.Fun!

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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Media Event took place with 18 boats. Out of the 18 boats only 11 fish were taken with the biggest going around 5 pounds based on info given. Very Slow!