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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, January 8th, 2017

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: DanIsaac » Sun Jan 08, 2017 9:00 pm

      Clear Lake this week 1/8/2017

      As everyone Im sure has heard, this storm system has dealt moderate to severe damage throughout Lake county and conditions continue to be iffy at best.

      Major mudslides around the county make navigating treacherous as does moderate to severe flooding in Hidden Valley, Kelseyville, Upper Lake, Lower Lake, and areas in Lakeport
      as well.

      The lake itself continues to race towards full pool despite Cache Creek dam dumping near 3k cfs, and Putah Creek is near flood stage in the Hidden Valley area as well.

      I think I'd exercise some discretion if one really needs to come up early this week, ss the forecast for Thursday through Saturday looks much better, which would give conditions a chance to stabilize a bit.

      Should you choose to take a chance please be aware that there is a ton of debris in the lake
      so be careful!

      Dan

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: NorCalBassnPJ » Sun Jan 08, 2017 4:41 am

      No good at Shasta either for me yesterday. Can't say i really gave it a fair shot though. Started out with me casting from the deck and my buddy holding his S-Waver 168 in his hands with his rod stretched forward. I caught his line with my line and the S-Waver slid off his hand and buried one treble point into his thumb way past the barb. he pulled it out we put some superglue on it and we kept fishing. Launching at the Dam was out only option since the snow was coming down hard and sticking in town that morning before i had even left the house. so our options were fairly limited to where we could go launching down there. We stayed in Li'l Backbone all 2 hours that we were there and maybe had 2-3 bites no hookups. fished 1/2 oz football jigs with hula grubs, a little spinnerbait, and would've fished some osprey but that was the rod i hooked my buddy with so I couldn't back the backlash out and use it the rest of the day..Add on to that, my buddy didn't grab any gloves so his hands were numb and frozen the whole time so that was a big reason we came in early. We definitely should have fished deeper in the calmer water but the wind was about perfect for a reaction bite elsewhere on the lake. Just couldn't do much with my buddy getting cold quick and me hooking him first cast didn't help that either. If it would've went to plan we would've bounced around a bit more and tried the mouth of the Sac or some more main body stuff yesterday. But just wasn't gonna happen with how the day got started on a bad note out there. I would say though we were probably the only boat out on the water yesterday with how much snow we got. Now all this snow is melting and its pouring rain up here in Redding. The lake should be pouring water in from everywhere right now. Levels are going to rise quickly and muddy the water. Its a somewhat warmer rain too. Water temps at Shasta are hanging right around 50 degrees, at least down by the dam. I'm sure it fluctuates in different areas by a degree or so..

Saturday, January 7th, 2017

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: Delta Report…. Bait fishing Stripers Sturgeon Reigns
      Still very little pressure from anglers on the river this week, Gonna be a wash out, as some of the most intense rain we have seen in years is bearing down on our area. Short term, hazardous conditions are ahead with 5 inches of rain expected at River level. Long term a much needed “flushing of the system”, while the river may be a wash a great time to stop by and get tips and tricks for higher water conditions.

      Isleton Fishing Report
      Debris in river, Sturgeon anglers are heading to 41, Cache Slough areas with roe and eel reporting success. Cooling water have slowed the stripers in the Cache Slough area. Spoons and hair Jigs have become favorite tools of lure tossers in the area. Many guides are drifting minnows in the area.

      Rio Vista Fishing Report
      Still, The best place to score a striped bass or sturgeon seems to be below Decker Island in the area of the Power Lines at Light 14 and the Red Barn, where boaters anchor and use threadfin shad or sardine filets. Small stripes and occasionally, a 10-pounder is caught. Eel continues to lead the way for sturgeon anglers in front of Collinsville

      Walnut Grove Fishing Report
      Cold blown out conditions, Slow for the trolling anglers, but stripers cracking the 15 pound plus keeps anglers hopes up. Savage Prey series and Angry Eyes are the top choices here as well, there seems to bit more call for chartreuse patterns here. Bank anglers tossing shad and eel prevail for an occasional Sturgeon or Striper those looking for Cold night fun.

      Discovery BayFishing Report
      Black bass bite is Tough. Most Blackie anglers are sticking with rip baits and a-rigs searching near running water. Others looking to beat the clear conditions are drop shotting Strike King Half Shells and Strike King Finesse worms. Nice sized stripes are grabbing Diamond Shad . There seems to be a run on Crappie Jigs. This would indicate a crappie bite but no ones talking.

      Frank’s Tract Fishing Report
      Black bass bite both OK but ya gotta Slow down with the weather rolling through more consistently. Ripbaits are great options while Bobby D’s spinnerbaits and swim jigs get the mention as well. We found plenty of Stripers and Black Bass with Hair Jigs, Swim Baits, like the BIG 6thSense Hollow Bodies getting grabbed. Lot of Stripers in main River and Mildred areas.

      West Delta Fishing Report
      Sturgeon leads the way. Eel is the best bait over all, but roe and shad also scoring diamondbacks Broad slough and surrounding cuts. There were many shaker sturgeon reports in double power lines in Decker Island and Sherman Island. There were few shaker sturgeons also reports from Light 42 to Light 49 in the deep channel Most of the nice stripers coming soaking Shad, anchovies and sardines allow Sherman Island rd.

      Contra Loma Fishing Report
      Trout fishing has been good. They have been biting at the East Side, North side of lake or from a boat with nightcrawlers, power eggs, or mice tails Best catches Reported Bob Petersen caught a 6.3 lb. trout on Power Bait from a boat near the dam John Bloom caught an 9 lb. Black on A-Rig from a boat by Swim Lagoon. Sonny Larson caught a 6 lb. trout each on Power Bait at the East Side of Lake.

      Photo: Charlie King

      Provided by Dan’s Delta Outdoors, 1625 Main St Oakley CA 925/234-4694 Follow us on Facebook

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: Gary Dobyns » Sat Jan 07, 2017 6:31 pm

      At Shasta I'd start in the rivers. The Sac or Pitt probably. But with Shasta you can catch good ones about anywhere. Oroville report is not good. Caught plenty of fish but nothing worth a crap. Reaction bite killed me as I wouldn't give up on it. Stupid too. The fish simply weren't chasing. Crazy I figured on a shallow water, load the boat on reaction bait bite with this big weather front. It did not happen. Some shallow water fish by anglers today but most guys caught them fairly deep. My best fish came out of 50' on one ounce jig with Yamamoto Hula grub. I sucked today. Shasta had to be better...I hope :)

Friday, January 6th, 2017

  • Napa County
    • By

      Report: Lake Level Status: 1/6/17

      The latest 4 day rainfall (2.88 inches) has raised the lake level by 1.8 feet (7.5 inches rise per inch of rain) and it is still rising.

      The lake level is at 405.5 feet - 34.5 feet below Glory Hole.

      From Lake Berryessa News
      The Bureau of Reclamation is preparing to open the Capell Public Launch Ramp but their dock needs some repair first

      The level has risen 6.9 feet since its low of 398.6 feet on 10/23/16.

      At the present level, Lake Berryessa holds 958,207 acre-feet of water - 59.9% of its 1,600,000 A-F capacity.

      The lake level at this time last year was 396.75 feet, 8.75 feet lower than today.

      Rainfall total (as of 1/5/17) is 11.68 inches, 3.4 inches more than last year at this time.

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Report: Glory Hole Sports
      January 6 at 5:21pm ·
      Water levels at New Melones Lake have risen 2 ft. above the high water mark of last year, which was 886.90 on 6/14/16. With the impending storm coming we could certainly see the 895' mark. That will bring in the 4 lane ramp on Glory Hole Point and 4 lane Tuttletown ramp come in the water within a week!!

  • Butte County
    • By

      Report: Gary Dobyns » Fri Jan 06, 2017 11:25 pm

      I'm planning on throwing reaction baits all day but will have a Senko nearby just in case. I know i'll catch them but I worry about size. Oroville has been tough for a bigger bite. I'll start in the rivers and play it by ear after this. Hopefully I get a big bite to get me started. I rigged a rip bait, crank bait, A-Rig, spinner bait, a Chatterbait, and one senko rod.

    • By

      Water Temp: 46-47

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Burr, talk about cold and windy, coldest day ever for me and yes, I do dress for it. Got launched about 6:45am at lime saddle, and never left the general area as the winds were blowing way too much to head to the N. Fork or main lake area. left home in Magalia 33 degrees, ramp 36 degrees. Bite was ok, picked up 6 spots, best one about 14" and one was a largemouth, but just 12" My feet got cold, so ended up pulling out of the water at 9:30am, shortest trip I ever made. Figured today would be my last chance fishing as the rains will be all next week and lots of it. No pictures as I somehow deleted them all!! not sure how!

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: NorCalBassnPJ » Fri Jan 06, 2017 9:17 pm

      Not sure if this will help or not. But, with that being said, I'm planning on heading out to Shasta tomorrow morning for the first time in 2 weeks. Hopefully I don't sink my 17' bass boat in the process as this big storm is projected to start rolling through.. lmao.. planning on throwing reaction baits tomorrow for the first half of the day or all day depending on conditions. Going to throw some ripbaits, mainly a vision 110 and 110+1, along with some Staycee's and couple other LC ripbaits. In my very limited knowledge i've gained through reading articles and watching tournament results along with tips and tricks videos, I really believe ripbaits (jerkbaits as others might call them) are one of the most under-utilized big fish bait on Shasta. Everyone throws spinnerbaits or crankbaits on the windy and stormy days along with the keitech swimbaits on small ball head jigs or darterheads. And depending on where you are on the lake they all produce well from what i understand. But i really want to get good at throwing ripbaits because it kinda seems like they just elicit some monstrous bites from bass of all sizes because sometimes they just try to rip the rod out of your hands it seems. Also, I am a huge fan of the Hula grub on a football head jig of various weights (depending on the conditions, wind, etc). You may already know all this already so i might be just putting my .02 in the conversation but the comments before me know what they're talking about. I'm sure Gary Dobyns knows way more than any of us on Shasta and Oroville though, especially with the ripbaiting and other reaction style of fishing. I actually went to the FLW Costa Tournament weigh-ins at the beginning of the year which was way cool. I would definitely listen to what Gary has to say regarding the bite with the incoming water run-off we are projected to have from all the rains. Good luck when you get a chance to go! i'm just trying to beat a personal best tomorrow haha! Since a 3.3lb Spot isn't extremely big for Shasta lol..

    • By

      Report: Larry Hemphill » Fri Jan 06, 2017 2:26 pm

      If you can find an "edge" - a line between murky and clearer water, bass tend to move up and down between that "edge." If that edge has some cover or structure - even better! Bass will follow a moving mud line. Also, look for clearing water at the mouth of incoming runoff a few days after the storm is over. Bass will avoid muddy water if at all possible!

    • By

      Report: Gary Dobyns » Fri Jan 06, 2017 12:45 pm

      The fish bite better in storms. The low pressure really helps shallow bites. Great time for reaction baits. Also they love incoming water so this is a plus as well.

Thursday, January 5th, 2017

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: From Lake Camanche Resort

      Fishing Report 01/05/2017

      The New Year has started off strong with trout, crappie and bass being reported.

      We received a another big fish plant for the holiday weekend! 2,250 lbs. of Mt. Lassen trout was delivered on Friday 12/23 with 750 lbs. each to the pond, and both north & south ramps.

      Heavy rains and warm weather will keep Lake Camanche capacity up to 70% or possibly raising higher . Lake Pardee has been releasing large amounts in anticipation heavy runoff to adjust for flood control. Lake Camanche has been receiving 1,463 C.F.S. from Pardee and Camanche in turn has also been releasing heavy flows into the Mokelumne River at a rate of 1, 346 C.F.S. Lake Camanche’s elevation as of this report at Camanche was 217.15 which puts the lake at 18.35′ from the spillway. Water temps was reported as 52-56 degrees.

      mrs-lenard-12-31-300x400Nathan Lenard was out with his family and gave us a report of his trip. “Did a crappie only trip today at Camanche with the family. 1:30 pm or 20 fish was our stop time. Started fishing just after 8:00 am. Finished with 20 by 1:10 then we noticed two hitchhiking fish as we reeled them in. 22 fish came home. Best depths were 13-18′. One triple two doubles. Great tasting fish. Great meat gathering trip.”

      James Sanchez asked Nathan for his secret which Nathan replied, “ no real secret. Grubs with a 4′ 10 lb. leader trolling 1.2-1.3 mph. 40 feet setbacks with a fishy scent. Yellow power egg in front. No dodgers. You troll over the schools they’ll come up and fish on.

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Report: From Glory Hole Sports

      Bass
      The winter bite is in full swing and most anglers are catching some really nice spotted bass and largemouth. The water temperature continues to cool, but is not extremely cold yet. The fish are relatively active and willing to bite. Many fish are going to be holding in 30′ to 50′ of water.
      Some fish will move shallow periodically to feed and can be caught near the shoreline. The shad and trout have moved into creek channels and pockets off of the main lake. The bass will follow the bait. A great deep water technique that will work during the cold winter months is a vertical jigging spoon. Try locating large balls of bait and fishing a spoon near the edges, under and above. Sometimes the bass will hold in large standing timber near the edges of creek channels. They will wait for the bait to push into them and use the tree to coral an ambush. Try using a weedless worm fish in and around standing timber. A Texas Rig with a shad patterned worm or a Senko is a good choice for catching fish in heavy cover. Small swimbaits fished at various depths will also coax these fish into biting. Many fish will scour the bottom and feed on crawdads and other bottom dwelling creatures. A football head jig will work great fished slowly across the bottom. Light jigs work great when the fish are biting on the fall. Use heavier jigs for bumping into structure and grinding the bottom. Some anglers are catching big largemouth on trout patterned swimbaits. PLEASE PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE. Take photos and carefully release the fish back into to the lake to maintain a healthy fish population for generations to come.

Sunday, January 1st, 2017

  • Amador County
    • By

      Report: 13 pounder caught on jig - info here:

      http://www.westernbass.com/article/first-camanche-teener-2017-dave-gliebe-catches-13-lb-bass-new-years-day-tournament

Friday, December 30th, 2016

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: Delta Report…. Bait fishing Stripers Sturgeon Solid
      Happy New Year! Still very little pressure from anglers on the river this week,. Great tides combined showery days ahead to be setting as the Best winter bite we’ve had This Season.. Still there is some really cool water and tough bites. The Good News Fishing Licenses stayed the same price get yours online at https://www.ca.wildlifelicense.com/InternetSales/CustomerSearch/Begin

      Isleton
      Sturgeon anglers are heading to 41, Cache Slough areas with roe and eel reporting success. Cooling water have slowed the stripers in the Cache Slough area. Spoons and hair Jigs have become favorite tools of lure tossers in the area. Many guides are drifting minnows in the area.

      Rio Vista
      The best place to score a striped bass or sturgeon seems to be below Decker Island in the area of the Power Lines at Light 14 and the Red Barn, where boaters anchor and use threadfin shad or sardine filets. Small stripes and occasionally, a 10-pounder is caught. Eel continues to lead the way for sturgeon anglers in front of Collinsville

      Walnut Grove
      Slow for the trolling anglers, but stripers cracking the 15 pound plus keeps anglers hopes up. Savage Prey series and Angry Eyes are the top choices here as well, there seems to bit more call for chartreuse patterns here. Bank anglers tossing shad and eel prevail for an occasional Sturgeon or Striper those looking for Cold night fun.

      Discovery Bay
      Black bass bite is hopeful as water temps stabilize in the fifties. Most Blackie anglers are sticking with rip baits and a-rigs searching ledges near flats. Others looking to beat the clear conditions are drop shotting Strike King Half Shells and Strike King Finesse worms. Nice sized stripes are grabbing Diamond Shad . There seems to be a run on Crappie Jigs. This would indicate a crappie bite but no ones talking.

      Frank’s Tract
      Black bass bite both OK but ya gotta Slow down with the weather rolling through more consistently. It’s no secret what a little fall weather can do. Ripbaits are great options while Bobby D’s spinnerbaits and swim jigs get the mention as well. We found plenty of Stripers and Black Bass with Hair Jigs, Swim Baits, like the BIG 6thSense Hollow Bodies getting grabbed. Lot of Stripers in main River and Mildred areas.

      West Delta
      Sturgeon leads the way. Eel is the best bait over all, but roe and shad also scoring diamondbacks Broad slough and surrounding cuts. There were many shaker sturgeon reports in double power lines in Decker Island and Sherman Island. There were few shaker sturgeons also reports from Light 42 to Light 49 in the deep channel Most of the nice stripers coming soaking Shad, anchovies and sardines allow Sherman Island rd.

      Contra Loma
      Trout fishing has been good. They have been biting at the East Side, North side of lake or from a boat with nightcrawlers, power eggs, or mice tails Best catches Reported Mike Erickson caught a 5.3 lb. trout on Power Bait from a boat near the dam Will Smith caught an 14 lb. striper on A-Rig from a boat by Swim Lagoon. Larry Lua caught a 6 lb. trout each on Power Bait at the East Side of Lake.

      Provided by Dan’s Delta Outdoors, 1625 Main St Oakley CA 925/234-4694 Follow us on Facebook

  • Butte County
    • By

      Report: Larry Hemphill » Fri Dec 30, 2016 2:53 pm

      I had my first guide trip at Oroville in awhile and turned out to be a very nice trip - WHEN it warmed up!! I took a father and his future "bass pro" 15 year old son yesterday and found the winter bite to be OK. This kid is "all business!" We fished the main body and the middle fork. Both were good stiks and the young man had a color worm that the bass just loved!! He was the hot stik with the most hookups - and the largest bass - a 2 1/2 lb spotted bass. Our bass seemed to be pretty good quality, several in the 1 3/4 to 2 lb range. We had 45 to 50 bites but only landed about 25. Bass seemed to be on steep clay banks with small rock (what else is new?) and from 20 to 40 feet deep. I was happy that they were good enough anglers to recognize the "pressure bite." We tried to fish any subtle differences in the miles of rock walls. I believe this was their first trip to Oroville.

Thursday, December 29th, 2016

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Think oroville needs a new name, wood lake right now. The rains brought lots of wood and large stuff, so be careful on the water. Launched about 6:45am at lime saddle, lots of wood on the ramp, so typical this time of year. Water came up 38 feet since my last trip on the 12th, total gain this year 54 feet. The stick bushes are getting back in the water, but were not holding fish today. Muddy, stained water everywhere I went. Tough bite, just 4 fish for me today, but first fish was a decent and rare 14" large mouth. Spots basic 13". Gave up fishing, as my trolling motor reverse gave up on me, so called it a day at 10am, just couldn't hold the boat in position with just one direction. To top it off, forgot my camera!!!.

Wednesday, December 28th, 2016

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 51-52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Headed out for some mid-week fishing this holiday week. Fished mostly on the main lake and in the Warm Springs area. Bite was slow all day, but we caught about 10 bass to 3 lbs. Some nice smallmouth and a few largemouth. We caugh on a variety of baits including a shakey head, drop shot, and jigs. Colors ranged from brown, green pumpkin and black/blue.

      Tips: Winter time at Sonoma typically means sticking to the main lake areas. Look for rocks with sun. Depth range from 10'-25'. Dress in layers. Watch out for floating logs.

Tuesday, December 27th, 2016

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: Doug, Coast Guard » Tue Dec 27, 2016 9:29 pm

      The Henderson and Shag Rock points are the community holes this time of year, but a couple other patterns to consider are Wheeler Point, the deep east side of Monitor Island and cove near Indian Beach Resort. Make sure to use your electronics and do a little scanning. The docks near Nice/Lucerne in deeper water can hold schools, but you have to work a lot of docks to find one holding. But the fun part is there is typically a school when you find one.

    • By

      Report: DanIsaac » Tue Dec 27, 2016 6:03 pm

      Clear lake this week 12/27/2016


      Brrr……about says it best! With the lake at the highest level it’s been at this late in the year in a long time, the bite has slowed considerably for most. Morning air temperatures hover in the mid to high 20’s, as the day time highs struggle to get out of the 40’s, both have driven surface temperatures down into mid 40’s and the bite has suffered for most as a result.

      The good news, this week we find the lake at 3.56 Rumsey, an absolute great way to end the year. One or two more good storms and we may just see full pool by the end of February once more.

      Everyone wants to know “what should I do”? Well, if you find the secret please let me know. I fishED Christmas day and had the lake to myself. Unfortunately, I only managed to boat 6 keepers for about 22 lbs, and a dozen or so crappie to 3 lbs.

      Brown/brown jigs, 2.0 Squarebills, and a shakeyhead accounted for the bass, and the crappie feel for micro-swimbaits, all fished in 10-35 feet of water.

      All in all this time of year is pay your dues time for me, though it should start to improve when the day time highs start poking the 50’s once again.

      Happy New Year all and here’s to an awesome 2017!