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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, December 29th, 2006

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: used swimbaits to get a couple of good fish then switched to spider jigs and finished up with darter and drop shoting worms cuaght 30 fish best five 13-15lbs
      City: el cerrito

      Tips: all tackle 20% OFF AT BAY TACKLE COME SEE ME AND I WILL HELP YOU CATCH MORE FISH RUSSELL AT BAY TACKLE GOOD THIS MONYH ONLY

    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: This holiday season from Christmas thru New Year's was very cold on the water.
      Trolling on the surface
      early in the morning produced trout and some salmon. I took someone out from
      Spanish Flats as a favor
      to Mike and we headed for the vineyards. The lake was very calm over the
      Christmas weekend and it
      was easy getting around. All over the lake there were grass mats floating which
      made trolling almost
      impossible so I changed to throwing a top water chugger in about three feet of
      water. This produced
      some activity and I landed a two and a half plus pounds spotted bass on a slow
      retrieve. Now I had him try it and
      he had a couple of good hits but didn't land any. Next I tried brass and glass
      with a pumpkin senco and
      landed another nice size bass. My deal with him was everytime I landed a fish
      he got to use the same
      rod after me and he had some bites with the brass and glass but no luck bringing
      them to the boat. The
      next day I went straight to what I call catfish cove. Using hotdogs and liver
      on two separate rods and
      listening to music I spent a couple of hours relaxing and catching six catfish
      ranging from three pounds
      to twelve pounds. The secret is to leave your rods alone and just wait for the
      action. The fish usually
      bite just when you'r about to have your lunch or are not paying any attention.
      Being I was the only
      one on the boat what do you do when both rods hit at the same time.....well this
      is how I handled it.
      I took the rod with the most line started to bring in the fish and I saw it was
      hooked securely so I put
      the rod back in the holder and went to the other rod which was almost at the end
      of the line and
      brought that fish in which happened to be the twelve pounder then went back to
      the other rod
      and brought that fish in too. Some of my friends said they had luck drop
      shotting in forty to fifty
      feet of water once they found the fish. Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and
      I wish you all
      a very Happy New Year. 'til next
      week.........................................good fishing!!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any fishing stories you would like to
      share please email me
      at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
      City: NAPA

      Tips: fast or slow let the fish decide how they want there presentation

    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: It was a slammin' day on Lake Berryessa for one of our members yesterday. While nothing was unusual in how he fished the lake, between he and his partner they boated 28 fish with many in the 2-3 pound range. The interesting thing is that most of the fish were caught in 15'-25' range on dropshots, worms and the best fish coming on jigs. Cranks and jerk baits didn't produce.

      If you are looking for a quality club experience that is focused on fishing and not club politics, then go to www.dmbass.com and discover the Devil Mountain Bassmasters. We have a great meeting location in Walnut Creek at the Diablo Hills golf course and we are look to expand our membership with both boaters and non-boaters. Our next meeting is Wednesday January 3rd at 7:00.
      City: Walnut Creek

      Tips: Sleep in, the bite didn't start until after 8:00.

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

      Report: Pete, fyi, DFG does not plant trout in Calero. I imagine its because of the mercury in the water.
      City: San Jose

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 46

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Me and the Big A fished today, weather was cold, but nice. Pitched a jig all day while partner tried other baits. Had two legit bited but did not connect. Fished Mildred area, Victoria and Whiskey. Spoke to many other fisherman and no one I talked to was catching them.
      City: Brentwood

      Tips: Cooch, we need you!

    • By

      Water Temp: 46

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of H&H at 8:30am air temp at 37 degrees and water temp at 46(Berrr it's cold). It was a very nice day winds were calm and the sun was up but the fish were not cooperating and I think it may have been due to the front passing and high pressure building back in. Tried rip baits, slow rolling spinnerbaits, crankbaits, jigs, texas rigged baby brush hogs, drop shot worms, creature baits on jig heads and even crawfish imitators with no luck at all. Didn't run a lot and that may have been the other reason for no bites just didn't cover enough water. I have always had problems locating fish in the winter. Should you try to locate bait fish on the Delta like you would any other lake? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks !
      City: EDH

      Tips: Don't ask me I struggle on the Delta in the winter.

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 51/53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: 7 spoted bass 5 bigest went 13 to 15 lb my partner had the bigest at 4.75 and the rest where 2 to 3.5 most where in the 3 lb. range.cold in morning better in afternoon then cold in that magic hour.
      City: sacto.

      Tips: deep and slow real slow

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: $24.00 for a Camamche run? WHAT IN THE HECK IS GOING ON WITH LAUNCH FEES? Isn't 10 bucks enough? $15.00 at at Folsom during peak PERIODS is very questionale in my opinion. At least at Amador they at least stock the H$%% out of the lake! But that dosen't mean you are going to bring home anything..... WITH the price of gas ect. turns a day outing into a hundred dollar adventure!
      City: ANTELOPE

  • Alameda County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I heard from people who are fishing at chabot that the bite is hot! Trout fishing is booming at this lake right now so get your poles and reels ready and head towards the lake!
      City: ?

      Tips: Yellow power bait and power eggs.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 44-46

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Buddy Forrest and I heard about the great crappie bite so we gave it a shot first thing in AM at the Rock, Forrest got 5 fish that I would like to call medium pizza's before I got a nibble, these fish were ginormis, finally I told my buddy you take over the trolling motor and I finally got 3 in the boat, after 3 hrs we decided to go for bass and just got a bunch of 10-12 inchers.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Fish Bass Assasin 1 inch jigs for crappie and toss it out and let it set for 20 seconds and than reel in as slow as you can with out stopping, no pause or jigging, If it were not for my buddy I would not have got one crappie because I could not get this system down, I have trouble reeling that slow on 40 oz of coffee:)Use drop shot 4 inch robo's for bass. Spoke to many bass fisherman and everyone was having trouble putting any quality fish in the boat, that is fisherman that were fishing in daylight hours.

    • By

      Water Temp: 44-47

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Spent a few hours around Anderson Island throwing a 6" swimbait. No fish, no hits and no follows. A bit too cold for swimbait fish but I had been dying to try out my new setup. I did fish the bait as slow as possible but no luck on this day. The lake conditions were decent and there was quite a bit of traffic, mainly other folks fishing. The fishermen I spoke with weren't catching a lot of fish even the ones using minnows, which surprised me.
      City: Petaluma

      Tips: Happy New Year !!!

    • By

      Water Temp: 48-51

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I have been float tubing the reservoir on the weekends for the past 2 1/2 months or moreand have done nothing but kill anything that swims. I have gone from days catching trout 3.5-8lbs left and right to catching catfish in the 5-8lb range and bass to 6lbs. I notice that when I get back to the docks that there have maybe been a stocked 12" trout or 2. lol If you know how to fish you will catch fish with regularity. This place is hot.
      City: Walnut Creek

      Tips: worms are the key

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 48.8-49.9

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took a buddy to Folsom to show him the dropshot technique. I was a bit concerned about fishing in post-frontal conditions and following all the icy-cold north wind we've had for the past 2 days, but we didn't fare too badly. Started on the main body fishing points adjacent to spawning areas in 25'-50', and quickly landed 2 spots in the 2.5lb. range on the dropshot. A 4.5" Roboworm in the Prism Shad color did the trick, fished on 6lb. Cuda line with a 1/4oz. weight. We were fishing channel drops and small irregulartities in the bottom conture, and occasionally some isolated balls of bait. After another fruitless hour, we moved to a series of steep primary points and I picked up a beautiful spot pushing 4lbs. on a 1/8oz. darthead tipped with a 6" Fat Roboworm in the Morning Dawn color. The next point down produced another fat 2+lb. spot on the darthead, but by about 10:30am, the bite just DIED. The next 5 hours produced just 3 more bites - one missed on a darthead, a small 13.5" spot caught in a fairly shallow creek channel on a dropshot, and a beautiful King Salmon caught on a darthead! All in all, a pretty tough day on the lake, but at least we did manage 5 keepers. On an interesting note, we found the bait - boy did we - unfortunately it was all swimming out in open water at approx. 120'! This had to be one of the biggest schools of shad and/or pond smelt I've ever seen, and these recent cold temps we've had have pushed the majority of them DEEP!
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: Typical winter holding areas produced early, but then the fishing slowed to a crawl... for us anyway. Throughout the day, we fished dropshot, darthead, jigs, spoons, and even threw a crankbait and the Huddleston a fair bit. Vertical structure was the key for us, and all fish came from anywhere between 15'-40'. Stick with it... you will get bit!

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 47

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Made it out for a few hours today. The launch ramp was a bit of an adventure but no problem with 4X4. The fishing was slow with only 6 fish caught in 3.5 hrs, but a 5 lb smallie made it more than worthwhile. Where was he when the camera was rolling? With no weather predicted for the next several days I expect the fishing to improve daily. With luck I'll find out.
      City: Weaverville

      Tips: The ramp is a little icy right at the top and it only has a single lane plowed all the way down. The parking lot is an ice skating rink. For those of you who feel they need a little adventure in their lives, it's an excellant time to fish Trinity.

Thursday, December 28th, 2006

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Buddy Forrest and I fished Thurs the 28th and we got 13 fish in the boat to 3.5 lbs, no smallies or spots just largies, used 4 inch robo's, we got one in 5 feet on a jig and all the rest on robo's in 10-40 feet. Could not get out of the 2 small coves we were in because the waves were tossing my 18 foot Ranger around like it was a twig on a ragging river.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Shake and than drag your drop shot very slow and you will just feel weight than reel in, do not set the hook just keep steady presure on the line.
      Watermelon black flake hula grub jig works also, just drag it on the bottom as slow as you can only when you get a bite on these you get to swing for the fence! I love that! God bless and catch and release so my 3 kids can do it when they are my age.

    • By

      Water Temp: 51 to 53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Jig fish and live crawdads were the baits that work well this week bass to 4 1/2 pounds on jigs and a 6 pounder on live crawdads. There still a good bite on bass in the 12 to 14 inch range 35 to 50 feet is a good depth to fish. I was up last saturday and we found most of are fish from 38 to 50 feet. Traffic is light. Brown/purple jigs 3/8 or 1/2 oz ( Bullet head ) tiped with a 221 cinnamon twin tail 4" yamamoto trailer worked well. Lake is at 56% of capacity and there should be another trout plant after the new year. 559-689-3255
      City: kerman ca.

      Tips: 5 mph flats in 38 to 50 feet of water also isolated rock piles are holding bass. Dont forget to move up on the dam in the early morning or late evening. Slow down swim the jigs keep in contact with the bottom some bites are lite.

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

      Report: To Jim Scarlett,

      Congratulations on your success at Folsom. Most are struggling out there so it's nice to see a someone cathcing some nice fish out there.
      I was under the impression that this site was designed to help others. Your reports do indicate where you can try and fish but there is a total lack of information on the exact types of baits to use. I am all about sharing everything I know because I get just as much enjoyment out of teaching others as I do actually catchng. I guess this is where we will have to disagree.
      thanks for the insightful reports.

      As for myself I found some sucess tossing 3/8 oz brown jig on both steep walls and points. Most success has been dragging the jig. Darter head Arons magic will pick up a few as well.

      Tips: look for reports where people are sharing what they know and who are willing to teach what they know to those who what to learn.

Wednesday, December 27th, 2006

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Three fish over 4lbs. biggest a 6.8 by the dam brown with red skirted jig and texas rigged watermelon seed w/red flake 6" yamasenko caught the bigger bass today. Six tiny 1/2lb dinkers caught on various drop shotted fx worms.
      City: Bonny Doon

      Tips: swimbaits??? when do they plant trout

Tuesday, December 26th, 2006

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Cachuma yesterday for a pretty slow day. The weather was absolutely amazing. Hardly any wind and pretty warm. I fished all depths 10 - 70'. Yeah I know... 70'. You wouldn't believe it but I actually pulled a LMB from 70'. Fishing was slow all day. I used Jigs, Drop-Shot Robo and Spoons. I'm pretty sold on the Spoon concept for Smallies after reading the past reports from Kelly. I'll be up there this Friday and Saturday. I would love to learn some of your techniques. I'll pay for food and gas.
      Thanks and God Bless,
      Joe
      City: Camarillo

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Hey, wanted to know if anybody had any tips on spring lake??? I fished it a few times catching 1-2 lbs bass (mostly west side). Used senkos and plastic worms with a texas set up. anybody know any other good spots on the lake that produce some big fish, and what baits? Or want a fishing partner this spring/summer? I got a bass tube, boat would be nice to join in on though. write me back bklein@linfield.edu
      City: Sebastopol

      Tips: senkos, plastic worms on a texas set-up will produce a nice catch.