Submit
Report

Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

  • Plumas County
    • By

      Water Temp: ?????

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Best top water bite i have ever had popr were ticket JACK AND MADDIE DRILLED EM Madddie got her first senko fish Myron would be proud best year ever cant wait to go back.... tried dropshotting big browns to no avail
      City: mountain view

      Tips: rainbow pattern popr

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Caught a nice bag of smallies and hybreads spooning w/ a few largemouth here and there. The bass would not touch a dropshot where I was spooning. My wife caught a nice smallie #3.5 (~20")! Boy what a treat. Bait was still around 45-50 ft deep.

      Talked to a guy said he caught them deep with rattle trap, dropshot, and spooning.
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: Don't give up on a spot with a lot of bait. We only caught squaw fish and king salmon for the first hour of spooning. I thought the bass were turned off or somewhere else (The last few weeks they were mixed with the other fish in our spot). Returned an hour later and the bass were on the bite! It was weird, at first the smallies were hitting, then an hour later the hybreads hit.

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59.5

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Was second boat on the water. Went to the cove that is thick with shad and tried spooning and throwing an ice jig to see if I could get any takers, nada. They planted on tuesday so I threw the swimbait the rest of the day. Had lots of followers and saw bass chasing trout at most of the spots I was fishing. Finally got one to play with me and landed a nice 9.5 on the swimbait. Threw it some more and only had more followers. Conditions seemed good for the swimbait but couldnt get many to play. Saw other boats netting and fishing with shad, with some success.
      City: ventura

      Tips: Fish were up shallow today, I stuck with the big bait all day. Live shad, spoons would probably work for numbers.

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: got out early tossed swimbaits allday caught 6 fish only biggest was a 8.45 worth the day but arm is sore
      City: Roseville

      Tips: fish big baits the fish are there

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I went to Folsom primarily to mark low water spots. This was my first trip this fall/winter. Wow, I knew the water was low, but to see it was something else. The temp break was about 1/2 up north fork and at New York Ravine in the south fork! Yes the south fork was flowing like a river just above New York Ravine. What a trip. Anyway, was only looking for bait to spoon or dropshot. Only found one good pod of bait fish. I did not see any fish around it, but spooned and dropshotted it with no luck. Also went over to Mormon Island to see the old house foundations. I found them and I was disappointed. There was not a whole lot to see. I'm going to wait until we get some water and fish the spring!
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: None.

Tuesday, December 18th, 2007

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Not sure about the bluegill fishing now. But i have never been able to catch a bluegill in the Winter at Berryessa.
      City: San Bruno

    • By

      Water Temp: ?????

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: sorry for being a jackass but can someone tell me how the bluegill fishing is at Berryessa right now?
      City: Hell Cerrito

      Tips: If someone desperately wants to catch any sort of fish, big or small, it's all about bluegill fishing here! (At least in the summer and early fall).

Monday, December 17th, 2007

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Played hooky and went fishing from 7:00 until 1:00....Caught a fish right off in 30 feet on a spoon. It went dead with no takers so I moved on. I came upon several boats in a shallow cove and by the wheeling seagulls in the air I surmised that the bait was up and the locals were using live shad. I stayed "offshore" on a breakline and as I slowly eased into the area that was obviously having some action I managed to catch 4 more spoon fish in 35-40 feet. When I did get into the area I found it to be shallow in nature 10 to 5 feet and had a slick of shad just below netting depth but still visable ( I'm sure that earlier the bait had been right on top ) . I never saw a boil the whole time I was there ( 1 hour ) I don't use live bait but it's always intresting to watch the results. The other boat in area was throwing a shad type swimbait and not having any success. The live bait guys caught two three pounders but in my mind they were going about the fishing wrong. If I flyline a shad where there are a zillion shad than am I not one in a zillion? For my buck I'd had taken that healthy bait and flylined them on the mainlake points that have no schools of shad on them....I'm sure that the action would have been at least as good and most likely better. I went about spooning in deep and shallow without any action so I went in for lunch. Back out to my best spoon spot yielded me my best fish of the day...just over 3 pounds and that was it. I am used to catching more than one spoon fish on a spot and this has not been the case for me in my last two outings here. It must be because of a lack of cocentrations of bait so I must be barking up the wrong tree with the spoon....???slow down even more and use a jig or ???? I know the bite is tough right now but fishing for swimbait fish still doesn't turn me on....It probably would have the next day in the rain though ;)....
      City: Ojai

      Tips: The folks I did see fishing artificials seemed to be moving around at a good clip....I think slowing down and hitting them where they live is best somewhere in the 25 foot depth. For some reason my spot for spooning always produces yet some of my others are hit or miss...Strange year. I hope you do better than I have been experiencing...it just seems mighty quiet on my meter at times.

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52 thru 55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: It was a very cold weekend up at the lake. On Saturday my wife and I headed
      out to the vineyards. The water was very calm and the fishing was fair. Every-
      thing I threw caught fish. My largest fish was 3+ lbs. I caught it on brass and
      glass and a watermelon black flake five inch senko. I had quite a few bites on
      a spinner bait and lost a good size bass at the boat. I tried top water with little
      success. We hit a few fish on crankbait that went down anywhere from six inches
      to eight feet. Sunday was overcast most of the day and I went out for a couple of
      hours with Fred and his brother Jeff. They caught a couple of trout and I caught a
      bass (see photo). Before we went out I was fishing at the dock and caught around 14
      bass the largest one about 2 lbs. 'til next week......................good fishing!!!!!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any stories you would like to share please
      email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
      City: Napa

      Tips: Bait balls seen thru the lake throw SPOONS<TUBES<RATTLE TRAPS<RIP BAITS<MINNOWS<

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 45

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out with a friend for a foggy day and cold Delta day of bass fishing.Out at daybreak and no bites till 1:00 then wham,25lbs.for 4 fish.We were south delta and the fish were very active after a long search.I gotta 5 and a 2.He gotta 9.98 and a 8.Really was fun.
      City: Orangevale

      Tips: Hang in there,don't stop grinding it out till you find the fish.If you are not getting bit then move.Fish the current then fish the slow water.Jigs and brush hogs slow.Danny.

    • By

      Water Temp: 51 across the l

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Well I had to tow my boat with my new truck and I had to take my cousin out fishing, so why not do both at the same time.

      Wintertime bassin, never the best, but it sure never dissapoints!!
      Launched at about 10:30, fished till about 4:30.
      Water is up since I was last out. Started down by the dam, had a quick bite, but couldn't connect on the T-rigged Berkley Chigger Craw. Shot up to the mouth of Bear River, and my cuz stuck a decent spot on a black hula grub.
      Went up further to the "tree cove". Tossed a bandit crankbait up to the rocks and stuck a nice 3 lb largemouth, just around the corner (upriver) tossed a brown jig n' pig to a small stump and stuck another 3 lb largemouth. By then it was cold as #$&% so we went back down to the dam for a quick bit, nothing else, decided that a warm truck on the drive home would be more comfortable. Not the biggest bass, but two 3 lbers is a nice treat for the middle of December out at CFW. Didn't use any dropshot or darthead B.S. rather stick some big fish than a bucket full of 8 inchers!
      City: Lincoln

      Tips: Keep fishin deep with the drop shot, I'll stay shallow and catch the big ones!!!

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Ripped eight decent fish today and had one very nice jig fish. Today I fished the mid-lake area and found fish just about everywhere I stopped. My best 5 today went just over 14lbs. I observed several folks fishing for crappie but didn't see anyone actually hook-up at Kono Tayee or at Shag Rock. Sure seems like crappie fishing is slow compared to years past.
      City: Petaluma

      Tips: A decent shad scent is used on all my rip baits. I believe it definitely makes a difference.

Saturday, December 15th, 2007

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: On a cold and foggy morning, I knew winter had settled into the delta. What happended to the fall bite? I don't know, I guess I missed it.

      The fog was thick, so I didn't get on the water until about 8:30 and started by throwing beavers without any takers. I did some shallow cranking in and around franks track, again no luck. I found myself near little franks and decided to toss a hula grub on a football head to the rip-rap. Of course, the first cast hung on the drop. So I moved in to retrieve it. I was able to pop it free and my rod immediately loaded up with a nice delta 4 pounder. And I knew I was on to something. This fish had a full belly and I realized that I had missed the fall bite. It was in the rocks and the "special of the day" was crawfish. With the tide almost bottomed out, I called it a day.
      City: Walnut Creek

      Tips: Who knew, they are between the weedline and the rip-rap. Work the gap

      For those that are interested in expanding they knowledge and fishing partners, Devil Mountain Bassmaster is quickly growing as one of the best bass clubs for the recreational tournament fisherman.

      If you are interested in learning more, please go to www.dmbass.com or give me a call at 925-639-7724.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Our club fished Saturday and found great weather but a tough bite. My partner and I decided to take a chance and stay on the North end to see if we could get a reaction bite from the bigger fish up North and it almost worked. I thought I could get a few bigger fish ripping a LC pointer 100 in shallow water first thing in the A.M.and our first three fish were 2.5 lb, 3.5lb and a 5+ with the biggest one coming unbuttoned at the boat. I was feeling pretty good at that point and then reality set in and 3 hrs and no bites later, I realized I should have went South. The rip bite died in the sun and with no wind and some pretty clear water for this time of year, the bite turned off for us. We tried swimbaits, speed traps, dropshot, shakey head worms and jigs with no takers. I finally was reduced to a wacky rigged worm to get the rest of my limit but I might as well of used a box of "Decon" since all we could find were rats!

      I know the bite was better from the narrows South but I thought we could at least get 14-16 lbs fishing a few select spots on the North end. Oh well, as my wife keeps telling me....thinking is not my strong suit!

      We ended up with just over 11 lbs but at least I got home in time to see the 49ers win one for a change. Probably should be thankful I didn't fall in!
      City: Ukiah

      Tips: Go South young man!!!!! The fish on the North end do not want to bite.

      One other thing I noticed was I do not remember hearing a single boat go by Corinthian Bay/Long Tule point area from 7:00 am to 10:00 am. Now when can any of you remember THAT happening on a sunny Saturday even in December?

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Chris with the 17 foot green nitro boat get a hold of me. I talked to you yesterday at folsom low level ramp. Send me info to the above email address. Went out today to take pictures and there were at least 15 bass boats....
      City: EDH

  • Mariposa County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I've been going every weekend and the fishing is not good.It has been tough. I've only been catching 15 inchers. The only things that i can catch my fish on are dropshots with a shad patern worm or a green worm and berserk bait jigs.In the past month the only good fish that we have caught were a 10.4lb black, 6lb spot, and a 6.98lb spot and came on berserk jigs. The best bit has been right at daylight and about noon. I cant catch any good fish up river so stay on th main lake.
      City: Atwater

      Tips: Use berserk bait jigs and stay on the main lake.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Spillway ramp closed due to water level Launched out of Bidwell No dock and a sketchy ramp at best very shallow I still launched 7am cold no wind water was calm started fishing points drop shotting my son was trowing some top water no action I had a drop shot with a worm mouth 3inch worm got a hard hit pulled out a trout fishing 25ft second fish was a bass 2# fatty on a football head 1/2 oz with a white single tail grub good solid strike in about 12 ft of water
      started trowing a stacy 90 on points and was getting trout like crazy just nailing the bait left around 3pm with 2 limits mostly trout good day
      City: Roseville

      Tips: when the wind picked up so did the bite fish slow

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The Redwood Empire Bass Club held their annual open tournament on Saturday. We had a great turnout with 32 boats. It took 16.84 lbs get 1st place and we paid 10 positions down to 11.65 lbs. Not a lot of big fish overall, but a 7.52 lb bass earned the big fish prize of $450. 2nd big fish weighed just over 6 lbs. Check out the complete standings at www.rebc.net.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: Most anglers were catching bass on jigs, but overall the bite was very slow. Work main lake areas around trees. Try a black jig with a black/blue trailer between the trees. Work it very slowly and wait for tension on the line before setting the hook. Don't set on the first tap or you'll miss the fish.

Friday, December 14th, 2007

    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: This is a little late but better late than never I guess. I took the boat out to get some stabill put in the gas tank and get a line wet! I hadn't had the boat in the water since a August Delta trip, so it was certainly past time to get it in the water. She cranked up just fine! I took off around to the left of the launch ramp and fished by an old road bed opposite of the camp grounds with no takers. I was throwing reaction baits looking for some fun fishing, anything but a DS or DH rig!! Well after about an hour and a half of dinking around, I flew up to the dam and went around with more cranks and rattle traps with no takers. So I finally secumed to the DH with morning dawn as my color had a few hits in about 18' and I finally stuck a Larry on the north side of the dam went 1.25lbs and was 17" long. I was happy with that and called it a day. I take it the water is up now, that's great, we need all the water we can get.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Dress for the occasion, bundle up, and have fun!

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54 Degrees

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Granite Bay at Noon(by the way it's the only ramp that is still open) lake water level down to 370 feet air temp at 54 Degrees and I was told that the lake hasn't been this low in 2 decades. Started by fishing in 100 feet depth and slowly moved hoping that the fish would tell me at what depth their sitting in. Found a lot of bait in 80+ water but No action. Only had one hook up in 13 feet of water on my 6 inch swimbait. This spot was 4lbs 6oz and was huge. My very first swimbait fish came at 3:30pm. What a fight she put up!! Chris email me so that we can start sharing ideas. There were about 8 other boats on the water and talked with a couple of boaters pretty much had the same luck I had. I don't know why there are not more posts because there sure are plenty of boats on the water.
      City: EDH

      Tips: Just get out and enjoy the water.....Tight Lines