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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Wednesday, November 7th, 2007

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62.5

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out Wed 11/7 with a new friend who fish's in a lot of tournaments. Left out of Rivers End Marina at about 6am. Tide was rising until 11am. At first a couple of top water stripers near Clifton Forebay some follows but not much. Went to willows for nothing. Went to Victoria Island for a couple of small fish. Then headed up toward middle river and got a pattern going on white spook and white Pop-R . Got about 12 legal stripers and some fat Blacks. The stripers were skinny esp. considering the amount of shad in the delta. Came back down at flood tide and worked Willows again for the same results, zero. Tryed a few more areas near there and got a few legal blacks. Then went exploring some areas that I have never been before. Old river was the main one and not much happening. All told a nice day on the water and over 30 fish between Stripers and Blacks. I have never seen the Delta water so clear.
      City: Brisbane

      Tips: With the water this clear You need to stay way back and make long casts. Plastics did not do much except dropshoting along the edges of the weeds. Work the top water baits real sloooow! Throw them and wait until the circle is 6 feet then just twitch it,let it sit. Spooks leave it sit and then work it real slow. About half normal speed. They will crush it !

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 61.5

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Loaded the boat again. 60-70 fish. Biggest fish close to 4 lbs. A few 2and a half lbs. A few more in the 2lb range and lots around 1-1and a half lb fish. Texas rigged worms again on the same pattern as before .
      City: Redding

  • Trinity County
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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Last year the Forest Service required that the Forever Resorts staff (owners of the Trinity Center facility) cut up and dispose of the floating ramp. Sure would be handy to have right now. As to the why, you'll have to check with the Forest Service. I'm sure they did a study.

Tuesday, November 6th, 2007

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 64-67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Another trip today with a good bass fisherman wanting to learn more about the lake - and his friend just getting into bass fishing. I could tell from the getgo that this day was going to be tougher - no feeding activity whatsoever - all day long. Again, bright skies and a totally flat lake. Actually I haven't seen the Wragg Canyon entrance area totally flat in many years - not a ripple!! We found lots of bait and were able to get some action on drop-shotted Basstrix flashtrix minnows and split-shot worms. The jig bite was dead as was topwater. The whole lake seemed dead except for a bunch of deer of the bank! We looked for whatever shadows we could find and that did help. All of our bass were caught deeper than 25 feet. A few large coves had a little color to the water and that seemed to help. My clients missed the usual 15 to 20 bites but did well putting 11 or 12 in the boat including a nice largemouth and spot - both about 2 1/4+ lbs. I tried to get a spoon bite going but it has shut down for awhile - only got 2 - again! I was hoping to get them into a spoon bite, but it didn't happen today. Overall, the bass were a little smaller, but we did get 16 total but only about 9 lbs for the 5 biggest. Clouds anyone?!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Some of the bait schools I have been working are starting to break up and move. For the first time, I saw bait close to deep banks - as shallow as 25 feet. Also saw bait at 70 feet - welcome to fall! I would think that this bait movement will signal the begining of better topwater action. This weekend should see much better conditions - clouds - and some rain?

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: out for the afternoon, started at 2:30, hit the island tops first fish a 2.5# on a hula grub, missed a smaller one on dropshot, move to some tops that are out of the water and started throwing a Vixen, got a short strike, followed with the grub and nailed a 3# repeat the cast and got another about the same weight. Got dark fast so the wifey and I called it a day.
      The lake is turning, big fish are becoming active, moving shallow, chasing smelt.
      City: Folsom

      Tips: Be patient. find the baitballs and you will find the fish. Go on top fpr agressive fish, go under the bait to get the shy ones.

    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: got out on the water after 6am first boat out started with reaction baits nothing so went to dropshot caught a few nice fish bite is starting to turn on pretty good 5 biggest fish for around 12 pounds
      City: roseville

      Tips: the bigger fish are biting alot of bait in the water even the trout i caught spit up bait dropshot dont shake your worm just lift

Monday, November 5th, 2007

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: Mid 60's

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Well for the third time in the last week I have caught nothing under 3 lbs for Bass. Tops this week was 5lb 5oz. They mostly came on crawdad patterns drug slowly across the bottom through weedlines in about 10' of water. A senko type stick bait will get them as well. A few have com on 5" white tubes and Blue and black tubes
      City: St. Helena

      Tips: The water is gettin cooler as fall turnover is in effect so I recommend slowing your presentaion down as these fish become more lethargic.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 62.5

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Loaded the boat. Approximately 50 fish. Biggest about 2lbs. Most fish came out of 1-10 ft of water on isolated cover.Texas rigged worms.
      City: Redding

Sunday, November 4th, 2007

  • Mason County
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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I apologize for hijacking bass reports but wonder if anyone has had or seen good crappie action at Anderson lately? I've posted several LM reports here but have not had a chance to check out the lake for several months Crappie fishing was slow for spring as water level was down...mimimal cover for spawning. So, would definitely appreciate any crappie updates. Thanks.
      City: Santa Clara

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62 thru 66

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing was good this weekend. On Saturday I took Roger out for the day. He wanted
      to know some good spots to fish. He has a tournament at the lake in two weeks.
      We headed for the Spanish Flat trolling because it was too dark to go fast. No fish
      and still dark. We went to my favorite cove and as it started to get lighter fish were
      jumping all around us. Roger used a suspending lure and landed two bass. We
      didn't stay there because the purpose of the outing was to catch good size bass.
      Next stop was the three points near the BOR. We stayed a moment but conditions
      there were not perfect. Our goal was to eventually fish the vineyards so we headed
      in that direction fishing several points along the way and catching some nice bass.
      When we reached the vineyards and we pinpointed the fish the boat was in ten
      feet of water he landed a nice 3 1/2 plus bass using a double dropshot set-up. Coming
      back we explored Big Island and I showed him some key areas. After Roger left, I tried
      the dropshot system he had used and I caught four bass up to 2 1/2 pounds. My
      friend Tony was going to fish and I showed him the dropshot setup and he tried it
      and landed a 2 pound bass in minutes. Sunday I landed twenty-nine bass, two on my
      favorite crawdad bait (R2S) three on brass & glass with a senco worm, one on a top
      water chugger, two more on suspended crankbaits, six on split-shot and minnows and
      the balance dropshotting starting with plastic worms and ending up with only minnows.
      Had a lot of fun. See attached pictures of Roger on Saturday and Ed and his son Jason
      on Sunday with a nice stringer of bass up to 2 pounds. He said he used split-shot with
      a minnow at the end in forty feet of water. All in all it was a very good weekend.
      'til next week......................................good fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection If you have any stories you would like to share email me at
      bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
      City: Napa

      Tips: wEATHER CAN CHANGE SO CAN THE METHODS TO CATCH FISH SEND ME WHAT WORKED FOR YOU ILL PASS IT ON

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: All the fishing shows and all the small talk with other anglers from years past, all have boasted that FALL time fishing is great. To be honest, I've had maybe one good Fall fishing season in my life time...maybe 2. It's not exactly a super slow winter bite, but boy was it tough out there on saturday. My dad and I were out there fun fishing and saw alot of boats from local tourneys and WON BASS. So maybe they took all the fish? Anywho, worked on my jerkbait technique (something I've never put much time and effort to learn) and boy was I glad i did. I didn't catch any big fish, but I was really impressed with how fun and easy JERK BAIT fishing was. Just worked tule islands with DEEP drop offs (20+ ft) and kept the bait paralell to the tules. I played around with the cadence and found out 2-3 second pause, then drag the bait, and pause again worked out best. Lost a really good sized fish at the boat, she just nailed it right before I was about to drag the bait again. If you've never tried the LUCKY CRAFT STAYSEE, now is the time of year to get your hands on one. These baits suspend with perfection, and dive deep enough into the fish's target zone. I ended up catching 12 bass for the day, while my dad couldnt catch anything. He got to the point where he just put down the bass rod and went crappie fishing. And when I saw him pull up 10 crappie+blugill in 5 minutes, I did the same thing. Bass bite was frustrating, but fishing with dad and enjoying the water made the day all good!!!
      City: el cerrito

      Tips: When the bass aren't hitting, go for either stripers or crappie. Wish I was a better fisherman to give you a better tip....Good Luck everyone.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished with a new club buddy on Sunday. We started the day looking for Stripers in Disco with no luck and after a few hours gave up and went bass fishing. It was a brutal day over all, my partner got one blade fish at about 10:00. Otherwise, not a bite to be had. After working the south delta most of the day on an out going tide, I suggested that we work our way back to the Franks tract area and water that I knew well and should hold fish. The tough bite continues for the next few stops Holland, Gino's point and Rondo's cut. When we got to the condo complex (Named because when a fish moves out, another moves in and all of my Devil Mountain buddies know where I am talking about.) I decided to break out the Bang and douse a beaver. Sure enough, I popped two keepers at the condo and my buddy got another. The next stop, produced another 2.5 pounder. With the day almost over, I told him that I had a striper spot to try. I couldn't beleave it when he popped to keeper in the 8 lb class on a tail spinner.

      If you are tired of fishing alone, the Devil Mountain Bassmasters is the place to be. www.dmbass.com or call me at 925-639-7724

      Next meeting Nov. 7, 7:00 at Legends and Heroes in the Diablo Creek golf course off of highway 4. Please come join us.
      City: Walnut Creek

      Tips: When the going gets tough, go heavy on the scent, I was using craw.

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Folsom Lake last Saturday and had six fish for 9.5 pounds. Nothing spectacular but very few fishermen were catching anything. Not a bad bag for the conditions and water level. Had to stay with the same pattern for six hours to squeak out six fish.
      City: Roseville

      Tips: Carolina Rig with a half ounce barrel weight with an eight pound leader 4 feet long. I fished a berkeley gulp worm in green pumpkin and fished a watermelon red brush hog in 20-30' of water. The key to getting the active fish was to fish windy banks with bass in the bait balls. If you found fish without bait around they would not go. The key was to keep coming back through the bait and bass as they moved and fish very thoroughly. Do not spend your time running around. When you find the bait and bass stay there and keep milking it.

  • Butte County
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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Man we wacked'em fish are all over the bank. This weekend when the storm moves in the fish will more than likley be in the first 10 feet of water. We got over 50 fish today all on drop shot in 15 feet of water. Are top five were about 13 pounds. I havent done this well since the spring.
      City: yuba

      Tips: Color matters. We started tossing arons magic, nothing. Oxblood no good. The ticket was stait brown no other color. Cant wait till we get some rain. The lake is real low. The fish are starting to lose there red spots.

Saturday, November 3rd, 2007

  • Mason County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished 8 hours and they everything had lock jaw worse then Jenna Jameson after a porn shoot
      2 dinks all day fished all points high and low
      City: Salinas

      Tips: Don't teach a pig to sing it frustrates you and irritates the pig

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63-68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Wow! A no-wind day and bluebird skies with clear water and my 3 clients actually caught a bunch of bass! This was their first time with a guide and first serious bass trip. They are all brothers and a hoot to fish with. However, they sure found every snag at the bottom of Berryessa, har!!! How many times did I retie for them? We did find bass in some submerged wood, thus the snags. But many bass too!! They really picked up drop-shotting very quickly and one of the guys did well split-shotting Robo worms (MMIII). Again, we looked for the bait and bass were there, but not as many as previous trips. Amazingly, maybe because of flat water conditions, the spoon bite really died - we only got a few. The subtle drop-shot bite with Basstrix flashtrix 4" minnows was a good as ever. 4" Berkley Power worms worked too. Near the end of the trip, about 1:30 pm, as I was running to a new spot, I made a last minute turn to a point that I knew had deep water and shadows - bingo!!!! They caught a bunch!! Two brothers were on the back of my 520 Ranger hooking bass after bass and including a double hookup. Fun to watch people enjoying the heck out of bass fishing! The other brother got big fish for the 3 man tournament - a 2 3/4 lb smallie. We wound up with 26 in the boat - including several largemouth, and a best 5 of near 12 lbs. They probably missed as many as they landed - pretty good bite for tough conditions! After letting them off at Markley, I got a burger at Steele Park and tried a little night fishing. A north wind came up in the evening at killed the topwater bite, though I got a 3 1/4 largemouth on a Chug Bug. About 4 or 5 more after dark - all smallies - but very slow fishing since most of the bass are suspending now after dark. A fun 22 hour day (and night)!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: There are more and more shadows now since the sun is lower on the horizon, and the lake is down 23 feet. By the way, the lake seems to have stabalized for the time being - still at the 23/24 foot level. On clear days, look for shadows in the narrows along steep walls - they should hold daytime fish. The bait seems to have stayed in the same places but the bass are moving some. I fooled around with Rodstrainer jigs and got a few bites but couldn't nail 'em. We saw some surface activity once in awhile, but most were small bass. We are now having early fall weather in late fall which is keeping the water temp above average and might delay the appearence of large bass, pre-feed for winter. It will happen eventually!!

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62-63

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out for a bit with the better half, been slayin em crankin the grass. Top was around 9 lots in the 2-5 range. Been a great summer/fall for cranks, blue and silver worked best for me hands down, though craw a close second. As always cover is the key, run the cranks right through!
      City: Modesto

    • By

      Water Temp: 63.5

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got to Rivers End Marina only to find 40 boats getting ready for a tournament. Got out 15 minutes ahead of them got to my spot off Clifton forebay, and got two stripers right away. One small keeper and a 6# keeper. Then here they came, not only the 40 plus boats from Rivers End, there were 60 boats from another marina. Over 40 minutes of boats flying by which put the stripers down and killed the bite. Headed off to find Black bass and everywhere I went there were boats parked on the spots. Went to middle river and discovery bay, all loaded with boats and all the boats complaining, NO FISH . I ended up with 5 bass that totaled 13#s. My friend with me got only 2 small fish. we got out before the tournament boats got back. When they came in the first few boats had No fish. We left before the rest got in. Blacks came on top water and spinnerbaits fished real slow. Stripers came on top water also.
      City: brisbane

      Tips: get away from the crowd. should be a crankbait bite but it is not on yet. Fish topwater SLOW. Pop it and leave it sit, then pop it again. Spinnerbaits gently laid down, then just tick the tops of the weeds as it falls.

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Sonora Bass Anglers held their November Tournament here today. 16 teams launched out of North Shore. Only 2 teams brought in limits. Tough day for most but not for all. The winners, Mike & Larry Freeman had 12.36 lbs for 5 fish. All were caught on the main lake cranking, top water, and plastics. The top 7 teams all fished the main lake. Big fish of the tournament was caught by Chris Richardson on a shad crankbait. Top water in the morning over grass beds, jigs & dropshotting the breaks caught most of the fish. All the bigger fish came on reaction early in the morning. Good Luck

      Tips: The fish were all relating to shad. Find the shad and you find the fish. Throw a Sammy over grass beds at first light. As the sun gets higher, fish the breaks and islands tops on the main lake. DO NOT FISH UPRIVER!!! Only small fish. Fish are not in the wood, don't waste your time. Remember SHAD presentaion!!!!

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: not sure

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: went out of the oaks at 630 am. fished paradise cove, caught a 3 pounder on a hologram shad robo worm. drop shoting and I was throwing a yamamoto hula grub. I caught 2 3 pounders 1 4 pounds. and several others in the 2 pound range. all on the hula grub,I would take the legs off of the grub and drop shot the grub and hula skirt. we ended up with a total 13 fish. the water temperature has definetley droped since last week.not to bad for not having any electronics.
      City: sacramento ca.

      Tips: fish slow most of the fish were caught in about 10 to 15 foot .off rocks.