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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Wednesday, August 8th, 2007

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: warm

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: This was my third trip this year up to Melones. Again,lots of fish early. My two biggest fish came offthe lunker punker top water.They were 4.5 lbs and 5lbs. Lots of followers. Off the water by noon. Too hot for me.
      City: Farmington

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 73-78

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: With the high pressure system coming in this day, I thiught it might be one of those blue bird days. It turn out to be an outstanding day. I took out a prety good fisherman and started with some top water pop-r's in the North Fork. The blow ups seemed to be a litte short so we went to senkos and flukes in shad colores and what a difference. We boated about 15 bass with two over before the bite tapored off. We then went to the banks and covered a lot of shore line. We threw tubes, jigs, blades, lipless crank, and drop shot. Everything was working. With 80+ bass and 15 over the biggest being 2.72/lb we called it a day.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: With top water action there is more than one way to catch them. Try senko's and flukes. Keep moving on the bank and try different things. Bass were 1 to 30 feet. We fished rocky walls, flats and mud lines.

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took some advice of previous reporters and utilized live craws. Went to the public hole (Levesque point) and worked the bait but no bites. I decided to let the bait crawl around and only move it a bit when it stopped moving. WHAM< WHAM< WHAM, nice fish abundant, even broke my line four times, ended up with a limit about 18 pounds, all smallies. The best trip I've ever had there and I will go back and camp out on that point.
      City: davis

      Tips: Live bait really works great this time of year and I guess all the other months also. I'm now looking for a wall hanger limit of five.

Tuesday, August 7th, 2007

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: mid 70's

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Paradise at 6:00a. Found a weed flat on the San Joaquin as the tide started coming in and started swimming spinnerbaits/chatterbaits over the weeds and fishing the edge with Rat L Traps. In less than an hour, caught 11 keeper size bass and loss several too. Caught a bunch of small ones too. Biggest ones around 4 lbs. Best 5 around 17+ lbs.
      City: dixon

      Tips: Thanks god for 50 lb braided line. Had to drag most of the fish out of the weed flat.

    • By

      Water Temp: Mild

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished this morning out of Oakley. Very low tide...threw a popper and scraped up a few. Went deeper with plastics and found some as well. Worms, Jigs, & Creature baits
      City: San Bruno

      Tips: Deeper off the edges of weed beds. Rock/Tule cuts.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 72-78

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Finally....I broke out of my 2-3lb pattern. Nailed a 7.4 and a 9.5 on a swimbait. Fished South end. Saw and lost other "Big fish" Got a few small frog fiah and a jig and senko fish and a few more on the swimbait. Felt like spring with the swimbait action hot. Finished at noon with 25lbs. personal best. Would have been a bigger sac but 3 of the fish were under 3lbs. I take a near 10lber any day!!!! Thanks
      City: Petaluma

      Tips: I went back to my favorite swimbait in a new color and ...wow...it worked.

Monday, August 6th, 2007

  • Plumas County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished lake almanor on friday afternoon and all day sat. Only second time fishing this lake and we caught some nice bass. We fished the east shore both days, We had planned to try the Bailey Creek area but had no reason to leave. We nailed them on Norman deep little N crankbaits and X-raps when the sun was up. The biggest on Friday came from the X-rap it was 3.4 pounds. We were working both baits fast. Saturday morning gave up a pretty good topwater bite on poppers and props. the biggest topwater fish was 2 pounds. We caught more fish later on roboworms, X-raps, and crankbaits but nothing real big.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: we were fishing the whole east shore. Most of our fish came on the points, but we caught fish everywhere. When we caught the big one on Friday there were two or three smallies following it in that had to be anywhere from 3-5 pounds. We hit that spot again on sat. morning and thats where we caught the 2 pounder on topwater. I wont fish this lake again untill next year so I dont mind telling you guys where we were. There is a point on the east shore just north of someones crawdad traps. There's 3 or 4 bouys marking them. There are some fat bass on that point. Great Lake, great times.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 76-78

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I guess this was the most amazing August morning I have ever seen at Clear Lake in over 30 years - chilly and high fog all over the lake - BUT - no wind!! And, NO carp rolling - they are shivering somewhere! I took a father-son from Southern Cal for their first visit to the lake. I had the 13 year old using a junebug 8' worm and he put the first 4 in the boat. Dad waited for the right moment and nailed his first Clear Lake bass - 5 lbs 9 oz in deep water at Sea Breeze. I had him using a black/blue Yamamoto Kreature bait. We fished rock piles and rocky banks down south for 23 bass and a 21 1/4 lb limit. The young man landed 8 bass on his first formal bass trip! Dad landed another nice one at noon, 4 lbs 10 oz. When the sun did come out around 11 am, the bite really slowed for awhile. I imagine the weather has really got the bass confused this year!! I took a husband/wife from the Chicago area on Sat and found the bite to be off a bit, landing only 18 bass. Bass boats everywhere! We did land 2 over 5 lbs and lost 2 good ones. He spent much of the day rippin' his Rapala lure but it only produced 2 or 3 bass for him. The Yamamoto Kreature bait was again the top bass catcher but Senkos were working well also. Once he gave up on his rip bait and switched to the Kreature, he was hooked and made a quick run to Limit Out tackle after out trip to get some to show the bass in Chicago! The jig bite has slowed a bit but is still good.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: I decided to try rippin' my Lucky Craft 128 hitch colored bait during todays cloudy morning and had the 2 best bites - they nailed it, a 2 1/4 and one nearly 4 lbs. Both trips featured a huge bass following a hooked bass right up to the net. I actually made a swipe at a 7 or 8 pounder with the net - just missed her. Late spawn? Amazing! I have noticed that some schools of bass that have been in place for some time seemed to have moved and concentrations of bass seem to be a little more difficult to locate - at least in the south end. Black, blue, and purple (junebug) in various combinations still seem to be the favored colors. My favorite brown/orange seems to be out of favor right now. That has got to change!! Best depth for us seems to be 13 to 18 feet. The water is trying to take on some color (and smell!), especially in the Rattlesnake arm.

    • By

      Water Temp: warm

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: i've been going to shadow cliffs for about six years and usually have luck every tme i go out there, but this year its been terrible. I went out there in my float tube and used every thing and only caught one small bass on senko.

      Tips: try using different stuf to get the fish to bite.

Sunday, August 5th, 2007

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: warm

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Friday I took Stan and his grandson Jack out for the day. We looked for bass near the BOR to no avail. We saw a lot of boats near Big Island going for kokanee so we decided to give it a try. We had one downrigger at 55 feet and the other at 65 feet trolling for about a half hour with no luck. We headed out for the Ranch house to try our luck at bass again. Stan hooked up to a nice smallie in about 15 feet of water using a plastic crawdad. The lake was full of feeder fish but surprisingly we didn't see much top water action. When we got back to the dock Jack went for carp and caught a very large one. The morning bite was real tough but the afternoon bite was great. Dave brought his kids and their friends down to see my boat and I showed them how to fish for carp. All fifteen kids did very well. We made plans to meet on the dock again on Saturday morning. Scott had three bass take his bait but was not able to land them. Jeff landed a nice size fish. The rest of the day I spent with my family. Abe went fishing again late Saturday night and caught quite a few fish (see photo). Sunday the temperature had dropped quite a bit and there was some wind we headed out for a family day and found a nice cove to anchor in. I hoped with the cooler weather the bass might co-operate but it was still a difficult bite. Early afternoon we saw some whitecaps forming but by the time we headed in a couple of hours later it was like the ocean we got back to the dock soaking wet and chilled to the bone. All in all it was a fun weekend. '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: be prepaird weather can change quickly

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Temp: 76.4-76.8

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started out around 7ish, near the dam on points right of dam. Had two good hits on a jig but nothing else, worked the wall all the way down to little cachuma, with only a few to keep, several dinks, 3 good ones on a drop shot. Ran to the island and caught nothing near or across from there. Ran into Big Cachuma and caught on on a jig in 20-2 feet. Stopped once I was across from the floating Jon. No other fish. Wind up and lots of waves.
      Gave my batteries a good checkout as I just installed the second trolling battery yesterday. No discernable loss of power even though it was on max for most of the day into the wind.

      Left around 1300. Not a bad day.
      City: Lompoc

      Tips: color didn't seem to matter today...just slow presentation

  • Alameda County
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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: First trip to the lake. Went out with my brother and my cousin to catch some largemouth. Fished about 5 hours. We worked our way up the right side of the lake(from the marina), casting the banks. First bass was caught around 2:00pm (non-keeper)on a booyah spinnerbait near a drop-off by some cat tails. At 3:30pm, I reeled in a 20" bass off a senko in a cove. Shortly after, I hooked a different lunker in the same cove but lost the sucker on my 6 lb test.

      It was an overall great day of fishing, though windy and misty.
      Chabot is a great-looking lake with minimal boat activity, good structure, and one extremely rude employee in the tackle shop! It's the best lake i've fished in the bay area so far...
      City: San Francisco, CA

      Tips: Slow Retrieve, light line, multiple casts, & patience of course.
      Slow down ya'll, it's summertime!

      The john-boats for rental are loud, I find this lake very "bank-fishing-friendly"!

  • Ventura County
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      Water Temp: 78

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Well, I got to the lake at 3:00 for a Sunday afternoon session and it was SUPER windy. Fished up the narrows first thing but got absolutely nothing. Then moved to the eastern coves and proceeded to get 9 (honestly 1 pounders at best). Overall, it was a tough day, but I'm happy with 9, especially considering the hot and windy conditions.
      City: Moorpark

      Tips: Fish slow-moving baits... At least for me, the reaction bite was non-existent. And whenever possible, fish rocky/shaded spots. That's where I had the most luck yesterday.

Saturday, August 4th, 2007

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

      Report: LAUNCHED AT 530 AM FISHED FRANKS,FALSE RIVER BAGGED 18 LBS BIG FISH 5.1
      City: MERCED

      Tips: BUZZ/RATTLE TRAP ,PLASTICS ALL TYPES BEST ON 7.INWORM

    • By

      Water Temp: 82-85

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Took out my girlfrined, her friend, and boyfrined on Sat. Got a late start about 8 AM. Caught a rat on the first cast of the day. Had everyone dropshoting all day and stuck 11 or so. I did catch one reaction fish on a chater bait. Would have caught alot more had I been able to concentrate on fishing, but had fun trying to teach others.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Dropshot....Droptshot....Dropshot

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 80-83

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Water still very clear, spoke to a guy who had 26 lbs on frogs up at near Niec but it died after 9:30 am, I think the water is still to clear for an all day frog bite. I brought my 3 year old twins with me for the first time together and they did very well but we mostly swam, I fished about 4 hrs on Sat and 4 hrs on Sun. I fished Senkos, Sweet beavers & trick worms for 14 fish to 3 lbs, had a 4 come off on Sat:( On Sunday had around 7 fish to 3lbs but again we were mostly having fun in the sun.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Bubba shot Sweet Beavers in front of tullies, Senkos under deep docks and you can always catch a ton of rats with 6 inch watermellon trick worms drop shottin. Find bait and toss out the drop shot and don't move it for 20-30 seconds and when you feel for weight there usually a 1 lber on it.
      I fished the south end on Sat and North end on Sun.

    • By

      Water Temp: 79-83

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Lake is getting low. New parking lots and boat ramps are made. We got on the lake at 6AM and fished until 12PM. We caught around 30 ranging from 10"-19". Biggest was 3.6. All the fish were caught on Carolina rigged plastic worms Oxblood in color. Fish were caught in 6-20' and the bigger fish were the deeper ones. There's quite a few bowies showing up.
      City: Los Banos

      Tips: Fish submerged rocks and trees.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 78.7

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got the wife up and was out on the lake by 6:30 started fishing around 30 to 35 foot on main body drop shotting bite was great caught a 4 pound smallie what a fight color really didnt matter 5 fish total about 15 pounds
      City: Roseville

      Tips: only thing wife needs to learn to back down the trailer.

  • Amador County
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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: did not throw for bass much manly troling for the kokane. but went out for bass in the evening with buzzz bait and did ok picked up two smaller ones then got one around 4 pounds. all in about 2 hours. had a few other blow ups though.
      City: Rocklin

      Tips: go for the kokane the bite was on fire by the mouth

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 78-81

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went camping with my lady and boated into skunk creek. Campsites were awesome, but the the people surrounding you can be complete idiots. Anyways, as for the fishing, tried the late bite on Saturday...didn't get anything with exception of a small trout going after my crank bait. Sunday morning was not much better, missed one on a spook and only a couple bites on senkos. broke for lunch and a swim and got back to fishing by 4 pm. Already frustrated with this lake and how I was unable to catch anything, consulted a map, and headed back down to the main lake and started fishing the dam. Tied on a deep diving crank and just drove it as hard as possible. After 4 casts, caught my first keeper LM, 5 min later, hooked into a keeper smallie (felt alot bigger than what actually came out). 10 more minutes, hooked into another fat bellied LM (spat out a shad) so I guess I caught these fish while in their feeding frenzy. Few more minutes later, hooked into my biggest fish 2.5 lbs smallie. All in all, those 4 fish made my day and entire camping trip for that matter all worth it. Landed only 7 fish for the weekend, but boy where those the most satisfying 7 fish I've ever caught. Summer Time lake fishing is very humbling especially if the lake is brand new to you. Being a Delta Rat my self, struggling to catch fish made me realize how spoiled i was. Now I know i'm not as versatile as I thought, so I have a lot more to strive for in my fishing endeavors.
      City: el cerrito

      Tips: Fish extended rocky points and just wait for a smallie to nail your bait.