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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, July 15th, 2007

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 73-78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I took a couple and their 10yr old grandson out today. We started this morning again with top water pop-r's. They caught about 12 on top water before moving to the bank. Switching to tubes the bite was on as they focused on the shade lines and inside points. We then looked for incoming water and found lots of nice bass taking the tubes. Our next stop was mud lines useing rattle traps in the shad colors. They were pretty excited with 50+ bass with 6 over and 1 salmon for the day. It was great watching the grandson get more and more confidence the more fish he caught.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: Early morning look for top water action and throw pop-r's or spooks. Look for shade and mud lines and throw tubes

    • By

      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started the day with a nice 3 lb bass on first cast with a buzz bait right off the end of the dock (before untying the rental boat I was sitting in!) We had noticed a large school of baitfish on the surface between the ramp and the fishing dock, with bass surfacing amongst them. The fish hit the buzzbait just before it reached the rental boat tied on the end of the dock. Nice way to start the day!
      I got two more nice bass, one on a Powerbait Critter craw imitation in green pumpkin color (on a 3/8 oz. Jobee head) and the other on a shad-colored Rapala Risto Rap #7 crankbait. They both were taken in about 12-15 feet.

      John nailed eight nice bass, all taken on soft plastics, mostly green pumpkin Double-Wide Sweet Beavers, again in 15 foot depths.

      Many casts with large swimbaits were fruitless, and the buzzbait didn't draw any more strikes either.
      City: Monterey

      Tips: If they're not hitting in the shallow zone, move out deeper, slow down, and fish uphill.

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 84-87

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I guided two good anglers at Amador Friday late afternoon/night and we really had a good trip. We started in the Jackson Creek arm, using black/blue Yamamoto Kreature baits, Dead Ringer worm and black/blue 10" Power worms. On a point - about 10 feet of water, I got nailed and set on a 7 lb 3 oz bass - sweet! After a few more bass for all of us, one of the guys made a long distance hookset and brings a big bass out of the water. A spectacular jump! I soon net another "7"!! Fantastic!! Beats his personal best by 2 lbs. He was using the Yamamoto Kreature bait. That bass was in the Mountain Spring arm. (See photos on photo page). After dark the lake went dead - just an occasional bass here and there with a little flurry of action around midnight. The quality was excellent however - many 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 lb bass! All the night fish were caught on worms, Kreature baits, and one of two on a Weapon jig. Our very nice July five fish limit was a shade over 23 lbs.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Amador is dropping fast and is predicted to be down 30-40 feet by fall. The lake is dingy which means the bass will make short feeding movements to the shallows but won't stay there for long if the water temp stays in the mid "80's. Look for steep banks and drop-offs. The shad never left the screen of my Lowrance X-26 - looked like Clear Lake from last year. I threw some cranks and topwater - no takers. Bass were feeding in the 10 to 20 foot range - and the shad are hangin' at the 15 to 25 foot range. They should move deeper soon but may not if the lake stays real dingy. Depends on the thermocline depth too.

    • By

      Water Temp: surface temp wa

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished saturday night (7/14/07) from 6:oo pm to midnight. Caught about 15 fish, no big ones. Cauhgt them off of rocky points befor dark on dart-head and dropshot with purple and brown worms. After dark, points near the dam seemed to produce the most dropshoting the same worms. Had no reaction bite and couldn't get any pick ups on the ten inch worms.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Russo's...saw lots of boats near the launch area, fishing the boat docks and bullrushes. Didn't know why so many boats were hanging out in this protected area, but once I moved outside of the wall and into tract, it all made sense. Big chops and strong winds. Hard to control the boat and hard to get out to areas to fish. Hit up all of my favorite fishing spots, but couldnt get anything to bite. ended up with 2 keepers by 12:30 and was extremely frustrated. Took a break, contemplated going going home since the wind never gave up. but then tied on one of "panic lures" (Lucky craft fat BDS) and gave my self 1 more hour to fish. Good thing I stuck around, since I caught 2 really small fish holding tight and shallow on wind blown banks and decided to stick with that pattern. Caught 4 fish that went for about 14/15 lbs and missed my last fish that would have put me over 17 lbs for 5 fish. Not bad for 1 hour of fishing...and pretty darn fun. Turned my fishing trip around and made it into a more memorable one.
      City: El Cerrito

      Tips: Call it luck or perseverance, but once you find that pattern...fish the heck out of it and have a great time. Stuck with a chartreuse crankbait since the water was stained, borderline muddy...and the first big fish literally swallowed the lure. Lucky to get the hook out of its throat with out killing the fish.

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

      Report: Fished the day after Kelly. Tks for the usual great report! I was fishing with wifey and tossing Senko. Went sightseeing and found a couple of fish on the points alongside the reeds as Kelly said. Believe the long casts helped and let Senko drop a bit before moving. Alternating with drop shot but Senko caught 4, drop shot 0.
      City: Santa Barbara

    • By

      Water Temp: 78+

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I am out at first lightI am throwing an all white dble buzz 1/2 oz with a white zoom split tail worm and a 3/0 trailer hook. I find the fish in small isolated pockets with tullies in the back and near the points just prior to these pockets. The fish on the points are off the bank a bit on brush that is 5-10 feet from the bank otherwise they are in the backs of the coves where it's nice and quiet and dark. I run the bait very slowly almost submerged and they tend to sneek up on it or just plain whack it. An albino shad or white soft jerkbait got a few today but my better fish have been on the buzzbait. I try to fish areas of shade all morning long as this concentrates the fish towards these pockets but is by no means the only water I visit in my morning as someplaces still produce fish because of their proximity to bait....Buzzbait fish are crawfish fish and by that I mean.... put some fish in a livewell sometime and you will have shells everywhere. Once the sun is blazing or around 10 when I can't buy anymore topwater. I fish a shakey head or dropshot a worm. Oxblood light red flake and the like were working great last week for good quality fish on deeper areas like what I described for my early morning thing but I go to that after I can no longer find any more shade. With the buzzbait Rocky banks are better than sandy and while fishing shear stuff you must put the bait right on the bank in order to get bit. With wind Prefered) or not on the mainlake points after 12 I"m using my big baits....That is how I've been whacking my best fish and farmed a few PB's in the last week or so on the bigger baits. I hope all goes well for you and this can help some who are struggling or are in need of some information in some small way. ...Be safe on the water and look out for the morons on the road...
      City: Ojai

      Tips: ,You'll see the fish are either up or not in the areas your at...And weather (overcast or scattered light) REALLY helps your topwater..I move along quickly but fish slowly. As the fish tell you about your particular day on the water move along with confedence and try to remember where/why the last fish was but keep on the move....You will hit two in two casts and then go two cuts without being touched. You must keep moving but with a purpose ...AND...You must take shots where you can...If there is a perfect crank piece than go to that... Big swimbait water ahead okay!!! But move forward and keep quiet. These fish hardly ever get pressure...Not!

      Become a nutcase by joining the forum on this site...There are a lot of "nutcase's" there that can help you and can answer some questions .

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

      Report: Fished on the 14th to the 20th and had a great time. We caught lots of bass up to 6 1/2 lbs on Shakey Robo MM-III and watermelon candy worms in 20-25 ft of water. Our best bite all week was frogs and spooks all day long with the largest at 7 1/2 lbs. We also got on an awesome jig bite blk/blue ripping it off the bottom and they would slam it. Around the rattlesnake the wind was down one morning and I lost a 8-10lber on a Spook. The last evening around the Redbud area I dropped a 8-9lber on a frog off a dock. I'd like to thank Joe Pool from the Tackle-It in Lakeport for giving us some great tips.

      Tips: Try to find areas out of the wind and throw topwaters and frogs. Shakey head MM-III in 20-25 ft. Jigs in Black/blue fished around docks and weed edges.

    • By

      Water Temp: 78080

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The water is cooler than a week ago. Mike Landy and I got a late start, hit the water @ 7:30am out of Red Bud. We started in shallow water with a spook, missed 5 blow ups. Fished around docks and got a 4.0 plus along with 5 smaller ones. We spent the morning looking for the bigger bass. We headed to Jaco bay @ the points with rocks finding 1.5 to 3.0 lbs. The wind picked up so out came the spinner and buzz baits. Had three more blow ups. Found thick weed mats, senkos and braided line found more bass upto 5.0 lbs.
      Capt. Jack's Jigs in Green Pumkin with green/purple helped find 10-15 more of our fish along the rocky points.
      The day ended @ 4 pm with 35-40 bass, 5 best 16-17 lbs.
      City: Rocklin

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: i caught a 5 pound bass by the small pond near the 2nd dock on a black and blue jig with a sweet beaver on it also black and blue. That fish came up and jumped to get my jig before it even landed in the water. also lost a nice 2-3 pounder on a spinnerbait 5 feet from shore on the boat dock area.
      City: Pittsburg

      Tips: Try bigger lures for the big bass.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 81

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hit some off shore structure, fish had already suspended. Left and started with chatterbiat and jigs up shallow on wind blown shores. Wound up with 17 pounds, One mule over four and the rest were spots. Left at 1130
      City: sac

      Tips: Every trip should incorporate some experimentation to get out of the box. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don't.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 73-78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I took a mother and son out today who were learing how to fish for bass. We started out with pop-r's in the North Fork. After learning timeing on the top water action they started catching bass. We then started fishing the shade lines on walls and dark side of rocks with tubes to catch more bass. With only a 1/2 day to fish, they did pretty good with around 20 bass all in the slot.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: early morning top water with pop-r's and tubes in clear sparkle and motor oil colors on shade lines

    • By

      Water Temp: bath water

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: For a change of the norm....get to the lake and go cat fishing. A buddy and I wanted to switch things up for friday the 13th so out came the big poles, treble hooks, chicken liver and chairs. I have lived here in Paradise most of my 33 years and have fished this lake for cats every year. we haven't caught fish like this since the days of the drought. For those of you who remember how this lake used to put out catfish back then, you know what I'm saying. It took a grand total of 2 minutes to get our first fish. 2 MINUTES! it never slowed down. I'm serious, I had a hard time getting to the cooler for a beer, it was non-stop. 2 guys 4 poles over 25 cats. we took 9 home (all 9 between 2lbs and 5 lbs) our smallest fish of the night went 1.10 lbs our biggest went 8.9 lbs.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: we were fishing on a boat ramp. My buddy would cast as far out on the ramp as he could, I was fishing on the edge of the ramp where it dropped down to about 15-20 feet of water. Chicken livers and cut baits, and a hook, That's it.

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 80 0r so

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Worked levesque point with crawdads, got only three fish from it , but they were very nice. Got broken off once. I was using flouro 15 pound test and it still broke it, must have been huge. Went ove rto dam and got some more on top water. Can't afford swimbaits, I bet they would be good in trout color. Did not have a scale , but I had around 14 pounds, I guess.
      City: lodi

      Tips: Save money, get better equipment, to catch the ones that got away. That's why we keep comming back.

    • By

      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught and released 5. 3 on a watermelon Yamamoto DT Hula Grub on a football head jig, In Granny's Cove by the dike, 2 dropshotting a Yamamoto watermelon and black flake shad, at the point before entering Darrell's h\Hideaway.
      All caught dragging lure from deep to shallow a good ways, (30-40') off of rocky banks. Largest on HulaGrub 2lb 11oz.

      Tried cranking a Rapala DT10 in shad without success.
      City: Monterey

      Tips: At the ramp, saw a couple of boys release a stringer of 12 bass. (Good on Ya!) They said they caught them on Texas rigged Zoom BabyBrush Hogs in JuneBug color in 17-20' of water. Mostly small, but they had a couple of nice 2#'rs.

Friday, July 13th, 2007

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

      Report: I saw a report that the stripes are in. What do you guys usually key in on when your fishing stripers? Strong current? Any info helps and yes we have a boat. thanks.
      City: fremont

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: blue ranger do you have any areas to recommend around tracy any tips will help thanks
      City: modesto

      Tips: e mail me with tips if possible thanks

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 77-85

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Played hooky Friday the 13th and was happy that I did. Actually got there on Thursday night and picked up a few until I went to sleep at 11:00. Down on the south end of the lake, I couldn't find any fish that really wanted to bite after dark. (Black spinner bait, crankbait, and jigs) Caught 12 before dark up to 4 1/2 lbs. Started fishing on Friday at 3:30am and still couldn't catch any night fish. The bite came on just after daylight with a couple of top water fish. Started throwing a 6" senko in the watermelon color and caught a 7.2, 4.12, and a couple of 4's. Caught around 20 on the senko. I then started drop shotting the deep water docks along HWY 20 and caught numberous 1 to 3 lbers. Fished a point that went out into 30 feet of water and caught 6.0 on a MMIII drop shot rig. Ended the day with between 30 and 40 fish with the best 5 going just under 26lbs. (My personal best for 5) Had a great day but fighting the wind was a constant battle. I only fished until 3:30 on Friday. Probably could have been a 60 fish day if I had chosed to stay later.
      City: Redding

      Tips: Caught a couple of reaction fish on a crank bait and a jerk bait (samller fish). Most of my action was on plastics and all of the big fish came on them. Don't be afraid to throw the bigger Senkos as the little ones and the big ones will eat them.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 80

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We fished the Thursday nite tournament out of Lime Saddle and congratulations to Jimmy and his dad. That was an awsome fish. Guess we would have been 3rd best with a 17 and a half. We fished north as well but with not as much luck. Our best fish came late using a Bass Patrol jig in brown/purple and matching trailer. And we agree, darker colors are working best in off color water.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: Besides the jig we caught some on a home made senko in black with blue flake and hula grubs. Fish were right on the bank. A gentleman we met in the parking lot said he caught 21 with 3 over fishing all day in the sun, so if you can stand it you can probably get bit most anywhere. Rocks near the bank are starting to show now so be aware.

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 78.2

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: got on the water at day light, hit a point just out of the 5mph area and took a 4+ smallie on top water. Fished the main lake with small plastics, ended up with about a 14 pound limit. All but one fish were on small plastics
      City: rio vista

      Tips: get your fish early, work them slow and use everything small