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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, March 18th, 2007

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: Too many boats

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Question for Jim Scarlett. What exactly are these white 1/4 oz jigs you are doing so well in Folsom Lake with? Who makes them? Got a link to a pick and info on these magic white jigs? Thanks
      City: Sacramento

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I have to say I have seen him catch at least 10 in front of me about a week and a half ago he gave me his spot and a jig that he was using I am in for a little bragging rights my self
      City: Roseville

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

      Report: Fished Impoundment with my son today. Got a couple of strikes on light tackle(4lb line) and small floating Rapalas and Senkos. No fish though... When and if we get a couple of warm days,the fishing will pick up. time to get out the tube...
      City: Daly City

    • By

      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Time to get caught up...Weekend before last, John had a super day with no less than nine bass, largest at 7 lbs (his personal best), a couple of 5's, 4's, 3's...really nice bass. They were mostly caught on soft plastics in the 6 to 8 foot depth range. He was really dialed in...and in the Zone!
      Last weekend, we both played "Lost in the Fog" in the early morning. The fog was so thick Saturday morning, you could barely see the bow of your boat. We both headed across the lake on bearings we were sure would take us to specific places. Both of us wound up swinging in large circles to the right and wound up on banks far from our intended destinations. We now have small compasses to keep us on track next time we encounter fog like that. (Automotive accessories section at WalMart has small, sealed compasses with suction cups for mounting on a dashboard or vehicle window, but they'll also work great in a boat. They only cost $2.79!)
      Saturday was an OK day with a few mid-range bass caught by both of us on a variety of presentations, both slow-moving plastics and reaction baits (crankbaits, buzzbaits).
      Sunday was an even better day with both of us catching several nice bass (five for John, seven for me) but the largest was only 3 1/2 pounds. Most of mine came on buzz-baits within a few feet of the rocky shores. John used buzzbaits near shore and soft plastics in the 6 - 8 foot depth for his.
      City: Monterey

      Tips: When there's a ripple on the water on windward banks, try your buzz-baits.

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 55 to 62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The Redwood Empire Bass Club first draw tournament was held yesterday wth great results. We had 17 boats with 32 anglers catching 127 fish with average weight of 2.29lbs. The winners were 1st. Jared Adams with 23.44lbs.(7.95lb. big fish)-, 2nd. Chris Franks with 15.39(5.36 lb. 2nd big fish) and 3rd. Bill Snow with 13.61lbs. The bass ate jigs, senkos, worms,crankbaits and spinnerbaits. In other words the bite was really good.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Redwood Empire Bass Clubs next meeting is April 11th at 7p.m. at the Rohnert Park Community Center at the corner of Rohnert Park Expressway and Snyder Lane. Our guest speaker will be Jimmy Reese who was voted the top bass angler In California last year. He is the reigning angler of the year for the FLW and WON Pro Tours.Our next tournament is at Clear Lake on April 14th and since this is Jimmy's home lake I'm sure he will be sharing his favorite techniques with us.

Saturday, March 17th, 2007

  • Mason County
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      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great fishing at Anderson Sat. Caught 22 bass up to 4.5lbs but most were smaller 1.5 to 2lbs class. Caught 5 on spinner bait, 3 flipping wood, and the rest on soft plastics from 3 ft to 15 ft mostly where there was windy banks and mud lines. The crappie bite is also on. I saw a bank fisherman pick up a slab every 5th cast for a half hour slow rolling a crappie jig under a bobber.
      City: Foster City

      Tips: Work the mud lines with whatever you are confident throwing. If no bites then switch baits and work shallow to deep around any structure you can find. Also they are pumping a lot of water in to fill the lake so you know what that means.

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 62-64

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: launched out of putah creek and stayed in the north end of the lake. started searching to find a pattern. Got a couple near the entrance to putah, by the bridge. Then ran to the north east end. Got five nice fish on white spinner baits, one casting to a boil. Ran a little south along the east shore and started seeing fish in the clear 8' water near the brush. The water was so clear the fish you could see would run from the baits. some were on beds already. Found that if I cast a long ways from the boat with a gray and clear jerkbait they would hit. Also shaking black 8" worms cast into 6/8' of water a long ways from the boat produced. Also throwing senkos right into the brush and only 1.5' of water worked. if the water had any stain to it white spinnerbaits gently laid down next to the brush produced. GREAT warm day with my buddy Doug who has fished with me 20 years. I ended up with over 40 fish, top 5 over 20lbs. Doug ended up around 25 fish. Went back with my son on Sunday, and found it a little slower. I had 32 fish and my son had 12 in the boat. I had one well over 5lbs and my best 5 fish over 20 again sunday. We could have ended with alot more fish but had to pull out at 1:30. The bite picked up more as the day went on and warmed.
      City: BRISBANE

      Tips: Clear water use black plastic and stay off the top of the fish. open water look for any rubble on the bottom or grass in 4 to 8 ft of water. Gentle presentation is really a key. I ended up using 8lb test and slide casting for the larger fish in and around the brush. Lost a few but got bit alot.

    • By

      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out of Markely 6:30 AM went to Puta Creek with not to good of results.Then went out to North East side of lake flats. Cought fish on swim bait,brown/purple jig and spinner bait. Water cleared up in Puta since the last time I went and the size of fish I was catching went down. Saw fish all over on beds North/East side flats seem to be all males so the femals can't be to far behind. Went back down South and found some mud line on wind blown point and landed fish after fish on crank bait and jerk bait. Cought over 60 fish easly.Maybe 10 lbs for our best 5.Good luck, Terry
      City: sac

      Tips: If you are not getting bit move fish are biteing anything that is being put infront of them.

    • By

      Water Temp: Low 60's

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Put the boat in late Saturday. Headed to Putah Creek. Caught a 15" Rainbow with a needle fish. Talked to a couple of guys who spent the afternoon in Capel Cove. They had great success with leadhead jigs and six inch worms in root-beer color. With this lure they caught two fat rainbows, several small/large mouth bass, and two FAT crappie. They said the key was to work it slow.
      City: Middletown

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63.5-67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Crowded House! Got there extra early and launched in pea soup fog. Drove straight to first spot and fished for an hour without so much as a tap. Back in at 7:30 and picked up another buddy. So three in the boat we drive straight to the next spot in pea soup while I get everybodys gear stored and straight. Come out of fog dead on second spot. Another boat has anchored exactly over the spot so we started to the side and moved along. Shaky head, Huddlebug, and I threw top secret stuff for the morning. The huddlebug drew a lot of strikes but hook-up ratio was less than perfect ( no fish landed this day out of 7 bites). He missed three fish and claimed the hook wasn't big enough. Well a number 4 drop-shot hook should be perfect. He switchs hooks and procedes to loose every fish that ate the bait. I then notice he is using a rebarb worm hook. After I was done yell'n about the stupid hook choice ...he retied but then he didn't get another bite. Buddy " Dave 19X " shows up and we took pictures of his first two casts in the morning. 7 pounder and one over five. There was no way to throw a swimbait with the three of us in the boat. I threw it when there were two of us but it's scarry with three unless everyone is doing it. I had some follows but no takers. Bumped around the lake and didn't do very well at all. I moved back to second spot and we caught a few and moved in towards some tullies in the Wadeligh arm. We had a triple hook up and I caught some more on senkos etc. very tight to cover. Drove the boat over a multitude of beds and fish in the act of spwaning. Put number three buddy on the dock at 1:00 and back at it. The bite got way better in the afternoon for us (wind?). We didn't do well except on one arm of the lake. Everytime we'd go to the Station Canyon side we'd go hitless...Back to wadeligh and fish on. I finally broke down and tied on a drop-shot. I don't know the true numbers. Partner got 8-9 including his first Casitas limit and new personal best for the day. I probably got 20 or there abouts. Better fish were deeper all males shallow. The boats thinned by at least half by one o'clock and there were only a handful in the parking lot at the end of the day.
      City: Santa Barbara

      Tips: Drop-shot Roboworm oxblood light red flake fat 6 inch straight tail with a #4 hook and 1/8 oz. drop-shot sinker with only 5-6 inches from hook to weight. Transition spots from one type of gravel to rock were best. When fishing tullies fish extremely tight and work away to deeper water. When fishing brush...go weedless presentation if your in tight otherwise fish the dropshot about 10 feet from the bank and work your way deeper. Good luck on your new P.B. and see you on the water!

      Rip

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hey it's me again here to talk about today. It was great! Bass fishing here is perfect right now so if you go in a boat head over to bass cove and fish the coves. I went with two of my friend and saw tons and tons of bass!! It's hard to catch them though. At the delta it is easier. We caught two though both about 2 pounds. I don't know the name of the jig I was using. We also trolled on the way to the bass spots we were going to fish and caught 5 all together. I caught 3 off of a krippled lure and one of my friends caught 2 off of the same thing.
      City: Castro Valley

      Tips: If you're trolling for trout use silver krippled lure (looks like fingernail clippers). If ur going for bass, take your time and fish bass cove in the coves off to the right (very back of lake off to the right).
      GOOD LUCK!!

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55-61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished 4 days (Thursday-Sunday)two pre-fish and then the Holder Ford Tourney and had a great time. Got to the Lucerne ramp at 6:30 Thursday and after launching, found out my new starter I had just installed on my Merc didn't work so I loaded up and went back to Ukiah for additional repairs. Got back to Lucerne at 11:00 and after hitting the water I couldn't believe what I saw. I stopped to apply some sunscreen and happened to look down into a submerged tule patch and saw no less than 5 bass over 7 lbs swimming around like they were waiting for the dinner bell! From my position, I could see over 20 bass from 2 to 10 lbs and that was just the beginning.

      Over the next 4 days, I saw so many huge fish that I still can't believe it. I started fishing and caught over 20 fish in 4+ hrs on Thursday with best 5 going about 23 lbs. They ate my swimbait...they ate my shakey head worm....they ate my ripbait...they even ate the cracker I dropped while eating lunch!

      I went back Friday morning and tried the Lakeport side and and found pretty much the same thing...fish everywhere! I threw frogs in a slough at daylight and had 8 blowups in about 15 casts so I put THAT away. I threw a white 5" swimbait and hooked a 3.5 on about my 7th cast so I put THAT away too. I made a run to Horseshoe Bay and hit a tule line next to a dock with an L.C. Pointer 100 in the Hitch pattern and hooked a 5 and a 3 in 10 minutes so I put THAT in the ol' rod locker as well. So now, since I am prefishing for the weekend, I figure I will drag out a spot remover worm head and a Zoom trick worm and try to figure out a backup pattern in case the reaction bite died due to the pressure 130 boats put on a lake. I just wanted to find the depth the bigger fish were crusing in without "using up" my water and it didn't take long to find it. I threw in about 8 ft of water next to the dock I caught the ripbait fish from and felt the "tick" that I was waiting for. I set up and my 7 ft spinning rod buckled and my Shimano reel started screaming (at that point, I think I started screaming too)and the fight was on! She made a short run at the dock pole and then came flying out of the water just to mess with my head...SHE WAS HUGE! After I thought what a dumba$$ I was for not having my net ready, I somehow got it set up with one hand while holding on to my rod with the other. At this point, I was real happy I has just re-lined with P-Line CXX 12 lb since this fish kept rubbing the bottom trying to throw my shakey head. After an exciting 5 minutes I finally got her in the boat and weighed her at 8 lb 11 oz. What a blast on a spinning rod!

      I caught so many fish between 2-8 lbs in 4 days I don't know if I could count that high even with my shoes off. While we didn't get the weight we needed for a top 20 finish in the tourney (I think I would have needed TNT and blasting caps for THAT much weight), I would be hard pressed to say we didn't have a blast getting our butts kicked. This lake is freakin' incredible!!!
      City: Ukiah

      Tips: I think it would be easier to list what didn't work this weekend.....um....hell, EVERYTHING worked this weekend! These fish are on right now and I don't think it matters what you throw at them, they will eat it. Ripbaits in shaded dock areas...red worms on a darter or stand up jig head...of course 5-8 inch swimbaits will work for the next month. I caught fish dragging a splitshot worm around tules...I even caught fish on a 4 inch Senko wacky rigged under docks. I didn't go South of the narrows, this was all at the North end but I'm sure those fish are moving in down there too. Just go fishing and have fun. No telling when the lockjaw might show up and kill the bite. There were males on bed all over the place on Sunday so it won't be long until the "big mommas" will join them!

    • By

      Water Temp: 57++

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Man oh man fishing.....the good, the bad and the ugly.

      I had a real interesting day today.

      First the good.

      I started the day ripping 8 fish. Everywhere I stopped I connected on at least a fish or two or three. The lake is paticularly clear (I could see down upwards of 8'-10' in some areas) and with the lake dead calm I had a lot of follows, packs of fish, but none committed to the bait. Once the wind picked up this changed dramatically and that is when I finally got bit. I then hit a spot where I had a pack of fish follow the rip bait but again none committed. I decided to try out the shakey head worm....what a decision, for thee next three hours in little more than a 40 yard stretch of shoreline I caught and released 52 fish ranging in size from 1/2 lb to just over 4lbs. It was like I had died and gone to heaven....absolutely unreal. I fished until the wind picked up and my trolling motor died

      Now the bad.

      I pull up the trolling motor and say ahh what the hell let me make a few rips. I take one average fish then get a real nice hit, the fish jumps once and I see it's a decent fish probably a good 5 to 6lber. The fish jumps again shakes it's head and thows my bait

      Now the ugly.

      I leave the spot and head back to the marina. Bummed that I just lost the best fish of the day. I make one more stop in the wind and make a few last rips. On my second cast I get bit hard. The fish surfaces and I can see this is a BIG one. The fish jumps once and I see OHHH MAN IT'S A REAL BIG, LIKE PB, BIGGEST EVER FOR ME, ONE....I fight the fish carefully to the side of the boat (man I wish the trolling motor had juice so I could better position the boat), get the net and am just about to net the fish when she shakes her head once and spits the bait............I had a very good look at this fish and I'm fairly certain it was double digits, had to be at least 8, big, fat with a mouth as big as my head...damn.

      Hard to believe I drove home from the lake "bummed" I only caught 60+ fish. (Best 5 went 16+)
      City: Petaluma

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: warmer

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Started out early, same places, same baits, something different, no biotes. Moved upriver (south) to spot fished last week, not even one bite, kinda crazy. Moved to an area about 100 yds and took a limit for about 15. One smallie fours ponds, ret were spots, no blacks this week, go figure. From 11:00 to 1:00 tossed Huddlestons, saw two nice followers but no takers, was using Rainbow Pro-cure.
      City: sac

      Tips: I think this moon has changed the bite, plus it was a little bit cooler last night. It was darker in this morning as compared to last week's moon. I don't know.

  • Benton County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Correction of date on my report, 3-17-2007
      City: San Jose

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Correction on the date 3/17/07

  • Mariposa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 65-70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: will second steve's post. however i was there earlier in the day, and fish were killing wacky rigged zeros in the white/pearl color. later in the afternoon, the midnight/chart baby brush hog was my weapon. got fish on topwater in late afternoon,hit on impact, no moving topwater fish. boated 36 total, biggest was 3.12. did you happen on any extremly lg crappie, steve? i got 3 on the brush hog. biggest was 2.1. will be out on thurs. again, will post report
      City: modesto

      Tips: keep your bait wet, fish are evrywhere.slow fall baits, slow moving topwater.don't crowd the bank, big fish are there and spooked easy.

    • By

      Water Temp: 65-68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: One last trip to McClure for the evening bite. I couldn't help myself. Took a friend bass fishing for the first time. Continued w/ the same thing I've been doing all week w/ the same results. However, did find a good spinnerbait bite along a wind-blown steep bank and point in Cottonwood. Biggest fish was a 4lb. spot. Friend boated about 12 fish and had a great time. It's sure nice to introduce people to this great sport.
      City: Atwater

      Tips: Still dartheadin' worms and now throwin' more spinnerbaits. Tried the swimbait for a while w/ one bump but wouldn't commit. Caught a few on a creature bait as well.

  • Mendocino County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Headed out with wife and dog. Haven't fished this lake in about 10 years so I thought we would try out our new boat somewhere other than the Delta. Managed 4 bass from secondary points on same dropshot setup I kill 'em with on the delta. All fish were from 3 to 5 lbs. Lost 2 other large bass that threw the hook at the boat. Also landed one on a craw colored lucky craft lipless crank bait. This fish went about 3 lbs. Long drive for me but I will surely be back very soon. Much better than I remember when I fished here with my grandfather as a kid.
      City: Antioch

      Tips: Watermelon/black flake 6" yamamoto dropshot worms fished in coves and on points on Eastern side of lake.

    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Crappie bite was great my boy's and I took home slabs all caught on a little jig.
      City: Ukiah