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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, March 18th, 2007

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 61.4

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I got to the lake Saturday night and you could feel the wind howling. I hoped that Sunday would be calmer. My buddy and I left the dock at about 9:00 AM. We headed out towards Monticello Ski School fishing along with no results to speak of. The water was crystal clear where you could see down at least sixteen feet. Saw some crappies and small bass in the trees. We fished by the Ranch house with only a little luck and small fish. The water temperature was over sixty degrees so I thought the vineyards would be a good spot. There was a slight wind and a slight chop on the water which made it ideal to drift along and work the bottom. I landed a nice bass that was over three pounds on a weightless worm that was just tipping the top of the grass. We were in seven feet of water. The other fish we caught were on brass and glass with a senco worm. They were all nice size. Did not notice any top water activity. The lake looks like it has turned or is in the process of turning. Fishing should only be getting better and better as we head into Spring. 'til nex week.................good fishing!!! www.fishingconnection.net If you have any fishing stories to share, please email me at bestguide@hotmailcom or call me at 650-583-3333



      San Pablo Reservoir - March 12, 2007

      COMMENTS: Sunny skies, beautiful surroundings, and hot fishing. Did somebody say San Pablo Reservoir? The fishing continues to provide an eventful day out on the water. The water clarity is great and warm weather continues to slowly increase water temperatures. Get ready for the Bass!

      HOURS: 6:00 am to 5:30 pm. All boats are required to be off the water by 4:00 pm. April hours will be 6:00 am - 7:00 pm.

      SURFACE WATER: 52 degrees. Water clarity is good with small particulate matter.

      PLANTS: San Pablo Reservoir is following a strong plant schedule this season. Over 10,000 pounds of rainbow trout have been planted at San Pablo Reservoir since opening day, February 16th, 2007. Another 2,400 lbs are scheduled to be planted this Friday March 16th.

      TROUT: Trout, trout, trout. Need I say more. I saw an eight year old girl pull out a 5 1/2 pound trout this weekend. The trout fishing is hot. Both bait fishing and trolling have proved to be able to pull in both limits and whoppers. Hot spots for shore fishing include the bank off of the main rec and down by the launch area. What's working? Power Bait, in chartrause, rainbow glitter and lime twist is working good as well. Also, nightcrawlers with a Power Egg combo, yellow or white has showed well. Trolling, needlefish and broke back Rapalas are a personal favorite. Go shallow; I recommend no more then ten feet. The real hot spots are on the east shore. Scow Canyon, the rock wall, and Sandy Point, are a few of the hotspots.

      Scow Canyon, the rock wall, and Sandy Point, are a few of the hotspots. Try fishing shallow; 8-10 feet deep is as about as deep as you want to be. Same goes for trolling. The trolling has been hot for those who have stayed at similar depths. Bait fishing is recommended with Power Bait, both chartrause and rainbow glitter are hot, lime twist and greens are working as well. Nightcrawlers have been a sure way to grab those limits and whoppers. Try blowing them, throwing on a Power Egg, or the old fashioned marshmallow technique. Trolling has been hot with broke back Rapalas - fire tiger and needlefish, clown, silver/ blue. Feel free let our staff know whats been working best for you.

      BASS: The water temperature is warming up and so are the bass. Look for bass fishing to really pick up in the next week or two if this warm weather continues. With DFG planting smaller trout at the launch, bass have been making their way over to feed. It is going to be a great spring.

      CATFISH: Catfish are hitting also. Even a few shore fishermen are landing them by accident. Sounds like the catfish are ready for a hot season as well. Chicken liver and sardines are showing great catches. As with the bass, look for an increase in action over the next several weeks.

      CRAPPIE: Crappie are showing well. On average at least two or three crappie in the two pound range are brought up every weekend to get their time on the scale.

      BLUEGILL: No reports yet.

      WHOPPERS: San Pablo Reservoir needs to develop a whole new website just for the display of our whopper club. To be considered a whopper, the fish is any trout or bass officially weighing in over 5 pounds. There is over 125 whoppers at San Pablo Reservoir since opening day this year. Keep in mind these are only the fish that have been brought up to the main rec, weighed, photographed, and recorded. There have been countless other whoppers that have been caught over at the launch (or, as I did just the other day) caught and then released so the large fish are out there for the enjoyment of someone else.
      City: Napa

      Tips: the lake is turning today,call for info or guiding trips booked till april 7 book early,the lake is down 6 feet.VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR MAY 19th BBQ at Steele Park you would take on a project to Shows kid how to fish from the banks and provide the bait and gear for the kids. We intend to use the large pavillion below the SP Park Office. I will call you and discuss this with you.

    • By

      Water Temp: 60-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took the boat for a few hours todya Didn't get on the water till 10:30 and fished till 2:30
      Checked a fcouple of the my usual spots with someone either on them or no fish to be found. Decided to look for new water nd ended up on School house ISland with a bevy of spots and large mouths hitting anything plastic. Double tail Yamamoto Grubs on brass 'n' glass were most effective, but also caught one on a senko and one on a single tail grub on a drop shot. Put six in the boat and had numerous others hit and I, being out of practice, just plain missed them. Had one nice fish break off. Never saw it but it felt big! Best five went probably 9-10 pounds. All-in-all, a nice few hours. Wish I could get out more often.
      City: Sonoma

      Tips: Check what's going on before you leave the house. Some sort of tournament must have been out of Capell, so ended up paying way too much ($25) to launch out of Spanish Flat. But who wants to turn around when you drove over an hour to get there.

    • By

      Water Temp: 61-64

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished today in Berry and had some success drop-shotting 4 and 6 inch roboworms in Aaron's magic. We fished from the mouth of the Narrows South and just hopped from point to point. We caught a solid limit of 12.4 lbs for 5. We went through a lot of small fish but we were able to get some solid fish with the biggest at 3.3lbs. We had to be very patient but we did get our limit by ll:30. We saw a lot of smaller fish up shallow on beds but no big girls to be found. The bed fish were impossible for us to catch but just go out deeper in those areas and there are plenty staging. Visibility is great when the wind is calm.
      City: san jose

      Tips: If you want to get a solid limit don't forget your drop shot rod. We also caught a few on jigs w/ brown/purple twin tails but none of our best fish. Fish very slow and move the worm only slightly. The more shaking seemed to get the smaller fish.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Sunday and Monday day all day and only caught two fish over 2lbs. First was 7lb 13oz fish caught on a Boogie Bait. Second was a 4lb 7oz off of a 7" Black senko by some docks. All other fish were caught on tubes, worms and spinners. They were all under 3lbs and few and far between.

      Night fishing is another story. Caught a 7lb 6oz, 7lb 14oz, 8lb 13oz and lots and lots of smaller after the sun went down. All the big ones were caught on a 7" senko.
      City: Delta

      Tips: Fish night.

    • By

      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great day, caught 16 fish in 4 hours 1-8.3#, 1-3.5#, the rest where 2# clones. Fishing picked up in a big way quick. Cought useing spinner bait and brush hogs
      City: disco bay

  • Ventura County
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      Water Temp: 62-64 deg

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had a great day despite the thick crowd. Bass are definately in early spawn mode with plenty of small males (1-2 lbs) peppering the shallows. Caught and immidiately released 11 nice sized bass from 3-6 lbs, lost numerous the same size, and a couple of small males all by lunch. Lots of action. Made it a point to fish a little deeper to try and not disturb the bedding bass. Found the better ones in 10+ feet. Used a drop shot 4 1/2" Preferred Plastic "Anytime Anywhere" worm and texas rigged 6" "Copper and Coal". A real fun day but really foggy and cold. Sun never broke out of the damp overcast.
      City: Camarillo

      Tips: I really have mixed feelings with guys fishing bedding bass. I am not sure how I feel about it but please release your fish immidiately after catching them. If you must keep bass, please only keep enough for one meal. This is a real vuneranble time for the Bass and they really get taken advantage of. Thanks, just my humble opinion.

  • Alameda County
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      Water Temp: 63.5

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Now now little guy - don't get too mad at these other guys that can't catch as many fish as you. Maybe they're fishing for real 9 pounders instead of dinks and ones "almost" 9 lbs. You'll see after years of fishing that it never pays to brag - bad fishing karma.

      I was just up there at Chabot the other day. Fishing was improving. I would recommend working drop-shot exclusively.
      City: Berkeley

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 60 early

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Hi Neil, sorry man, I didn't get your name Saturday but, glad to help. Started out in main body early, no bites, moved up south fork to Jack's, no bites (swimbaits), moved down to old salmon falls bridge area(brown jigs, 1/4), no bites, went up farther to water temp change on a favorite break, no bites. Decides to go back down stream past bridge and hit some breaks and pockets, no bites. Headed out past New york hit a favorite windy bank, got a 5 pound black and a one pond spot. (brown 1/4 oz jigs). No more bites, left and went home.
      City: Sac

      Tips: Water was like glass at first, did not adapt to conditon or maybe they refused to bite, I don't know. I did find fish on the windy banks. Recommend this coming weekend to fish all of the north fork from the dam to the headwaters. Baits to have on deck are, darthead, wacky-drop shot, crank, spinner bait, 6" swimbait, and of course, jig. Use swim bait on structure, early and midday. Cranks early(slow) and as water warms and mudlines are seen go spinner baits. If no reaction bites go promptly to darts, jigs, drop-shots. Brown and green shades seem to be the ticket. Don't be afraid to pitch a Texas worm into brush if there is any available.

    • 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
    • By

      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
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      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!