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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Wednesday, July 12th, 2006

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      Water Temp: 81 to 83

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Well the algae bloom is starting to break up and is about gone and the lake is at 88% of capacity. The bass are in 8 to 30 feet of water in brush piles around rock piles and in the larger open trees supended. There hiting on jigs brushogs and sweetbeavers and senko's.Topwater rico's zara spooks buzzbaits are all working in early morning or late evening. Bass are up to 4 pounds there were 3 nice bass of 7,8 ,11 pounds caught this past weekend and senko's with there top producer. traffic is back to normal but still heavier on the weekends.Night fishing is still hit and miss but should really pick up when they start moving some water. park number 559-689-3255
      City: kerman

      Tips: Targeting your areas is the key i like the 5mph area lot of different areas to fish and your out of the traffic.

  • Benton County
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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: hey miltshake. I actually went out last week and only got two dinks. The fish there are very picky sometimes and seem to go on the bite in streaks. I deffinately suggest a boat for bass, because most of the good fishing is on the far end of the lake and on the bank opposite of the marina. There are a few good coves and holes walking distance of the marina, but a boat is definately the way to go.
      City: scotys valley

      Tips: the fish seem to be spread out thin, its just about finding the fish.

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

      Report: PLEASE DONT TELL ME YOU ARE KEEPING THE BASS ????????????
      City: mountain view

      Tips: PROTECT OUR SPORT

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: 1st time at the lake and had an ok day. My dad and i fished from a rock peir near the marina. We walked down, found a spot, amd on my 2nd cast, I caught a 2.6 lb largemouth. My dad then casted out a few times and nailed a big smallmouth(Maybe 3 lbs?). That was it for the day. There are a million bass in this lake, there were about 50 bass 2 feet off shore ranging from 8-14 inches. Saw a couple of huge 8+ pounders cruising the shore. Caught both fish on crawdad lures.
      City: sonoma

      Tips: rent a boat if u dont have 1. guys on boats said they caught tons of bass.

Tuesday, July 11th, 2006

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 80-81

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished 4 pm till 12:30 am. One day after full moon. 5 feet below max pool. One small fish, very few bites. Cold front, wind. Was heavily pressured with 3 tournaments on the weekend. I knew all this before going but took a chance anyway. Probably early AM bite is best. Fishing may have picked up if I'd stayed later.
      City: Folsom

      Tips: Air temp dipped into low 50's - bring jacket.

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      Water Temp: 72-82

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Wife and I fished from 7:30 AM till about 10:30 AM and worked the upper Bear River Arm. Got 3 for 6 lbs. Bite was super soft. Water temps varied dramatically. Two of three caught on steep walls in 20'. The third was in the channel at 20'. Plastics and let if fall straight down. No topwater, blade or reaction bite found. Moved to the dam. The wind blew me off the main body. Headed for home.
      City: Citrus Heights

      Tips: Super soft bite. Watch your line. Water clairity was poor. Watch the water temp. Got our bites in the color water.

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

      Report: Eric,

      You sound like your pretty knowledgable of this fishery. How is shore fishing here? Is there access to the dam area without a boat? Was thinking of heading there this weekend to get some bass fishing in. Would appreciate any tips and answers you may have for me. Thanks.
      City: San Francisco

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: Bath Water Warm

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My partner, his son and I got on the water a bit late about 8:00 am or so. We headed up the middle fork where my partner took the first fish of the day on a blade. I lost 2 fish on jigs and one on a custom bait that a buddy of mine crafted called the "Voodoo" this Voodoo bait impressed the heck out of me I tell ya. My partner and I got some viscous strikes that scared the living dog lights right out of us. You would just be reeling along and WHAM!!!!!!!! almost take the rod right out of your hand. I have caught some really quality fish on this bait. Keep your eyes open when this hits the shelf. Anyway from the middle fork we went North searching for new water. I switched to shaking a 6 inch robo worm and sure enough my first fish came to the boat. We stayed north and did very well shaking robo worms. I cant tell you the secret color but just try different colors. All in all best 5 would have went 11 pounds. Not bad considering the extreme heat and winds.
      City: Roseville

      Tips: Bring plenty of fluids and sunscreen. Fish are in about 8-15 feet of water on points.

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      Water Temp: N\A

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: This lake has been tough on me last two weeks... Last week July 3 about 5pm I took my daughter fishing using mostly inflated nightcrawlers, we also tried some spinnerbaits, and spider grubs. We fished by the dam near the road. High skies, relatively warm day no action at all. I hate taking the kids out without any action but... A lot of hey! look at that bird, or did you see the lizard scoot by? Oh well, it's cool to hang with the young ones..

      July 11 fished by myself from 4:30-8:30... nothing but a suntan.. fished the launch cove with lipless crank, spinnerbait, brush hog, tube, yada, yada, yada.. no action, it was really windy.
      City: San Jose

Monday, July 10th, 2006

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 77

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: SPLASHED THE KLAMATH BASS BOAT AT BETHLE ISL 6:00
      A/M SATURDAY WITH A FRIEND, BOTH MANAGED 15 FISH EACH 1 TO 2 LBS, ON PLASTICS UNTILL 10:00, TOOK MY DAD OUT OF ORWOOD SUNDAY6:00 AM, DADS FIRST BASS TRIP, HAD A BALL HE CAUGHT AND RELEASED 12 FISH, GREAT 2 DAYS FISHING, PLASTIC WERE ROBO WORMS AND SINKOS, DARK RED WITH RED FLAKES.. TOP WTAER BITE WAS NOT AS GOOD AS LAST WEEK-END SAME PLACES, WATER TEMP WENT UP, MAYBE THE REASON?
      WELL GOTA GO , KEEP TIGHT LINES, FISH-ON YU ALL!
      City: PITTSBURG

      Tips: FISH TIGHT TO THE ROCK WALLS, PLASTIC WORMS AND POPPERS DO WELL, CRANK BAITS AT TIMES (RED)

Sunday, July 9th, 2006

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 82

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: CHRIS please call me at 650-583-3333 be more than happy to help you catch more bass Sid bestguide@hotmail.com Subject : Fishing with Sid

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      This past weekend with the full moon was a perfect opportunity to do top water both morning and evening. Steve caught his first top water fish on a "Zara Spook Jr" in the twilight hours. I was working on my boat at the marina and had a rod with a piece of bread on it out just for fun since I had seen some large carp in the area. I hooked an eight pound carp and called to my neighbour to assist me. The first thing he did was grab the net but I told him I want you to bring the fish in. Using six pound test line on a light rod he had alot of fun bringing in the carp. Dustin, Blake and Savannah (who were at their boat at the marina) heard the commotion and came over to see what was going on along with their Dad. I showed him how easy it was to catch the carp and they all wanted to try. The two ways that I suggest to catch carp are on the surface with a piece of bread or on the bottom with a dough ball. On the surface you take a piece of bread with a small hook and let it float on the top the carp will go for it and you set the hook and then the fun begins. Pound for pound carp give you a good fight and the kids love to bring them in. Plus their size are impressive for kids they think they have caught a whale. If you loosen the drag, that carp will take a few runs. When the bass are not co-operating carp can be fun to catch during the hot hours of the day. A special ingredient that works for carp is boil cornmeal till you can form it in a ball add vanilla extract for the scent let it cool and then you can break off chunks and form them around your hook and the carp love it. I took my friend Travis out for a couple of hours. We were fishing the points around the BOR and he landed a nice two pound spotted bass. He used brass and glass and a four inch senco. Later in the day he was fishing on his own when he landed a five pound catfish. In the very hot weather my recommendation for catching bass is to fish early morning or late evening in two to ten feet of water and during the day twenty to thirty-five feet of water. "til next week...........good fishing!!! www.fishingconnection.net or email me at bestguide@hotmail.com if you have any fishing stories you would like to share. You can call me at 415-583-3333.
      City: NAPA

      Tips: Summer time can be a hard time of the year to catch fish but not impossiable,in clear water in worms i like natural colors,in stained waters i like it dark try any lure in your tackle box if you present it correctly it will catch fish.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: warm

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Extemely choppy during the day which makes any type of fishing a challenge. It got smoother in the late afternoon to evening. I caught 7 bass between 4 and 7:00 PM. 6 were on a senco (no weight) and one on a large crank. All the fish averaged about 1 to 3lbs.

      The water was still quite green with lots of algae. Took the bass with the senco around the
      tall weeds at the shoreline.
      The crank took my largest fish with the strike at a rocky point.
      Interesting note: The week before I caught a 7lb
      catfish on a crankbait off some rocks. That really blew my mind. Is this common at Clear Lake to catch Catfish on a crank.
      I have never seen that before.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: The heat is a killer. Get out early or late.
      Too hot during the day. 100 degrees (+-)

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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got on water around 12:00 .fished for about 20 minutes with a dropped shot minnow and caught a 5 pounder
      fised for quite a few hours later and caught a 3 pounder
      using a fubber minnow not on the drop shot.Got off water around 6:30. Caught some other small ones nothing big. Pretty slow day. Beat the heat though.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: You have to be pretty patient out there but there are some big fish. Thought I better fish Lexington some, before they drain it to fix the pipe or whatever they're doing. Darn shame the lake is sweet right now. Poor fish don't even know what they're in for. Sheduled to be drained in 2007.

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

      Report: Fished South Lake and Impoundment from 10:30am - 2:00pm. Tossed GULP!6" nightcrawlers, 4" Senko (black w/blue flake), Gitzit Paddle Fry minnows.

      I managed to stick a couple of bass on the Paddle Fry and Senko baits fishing from the bank. I have had great success with the GULP! baits at other lakes, but haven't got one here at Merced, yet. Water levels are starting to drop and the carp and bass fry are still plentiful. I've bank fished the Lake 3 or 4 times the last couple of weeks, without any luck. Looks like it might be turning on again.
      City: Daly City

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished north lake off beach for about 2 hours.
      split-shotted robo worm no takers. Did get a big trout 3-4 lbs on PB on my other rod.
      City: ssf

      Tips: ??? no bass for awhile,for me anyway.

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Float tubed the arroyo for 3 hours Sunday morning. Very few fisherman. Fished all kinds of soft plastics. Bite was slow. Did land a nice 4 pounder on a baby brush hog. Fished all the way around the pond then caught him right next to where i started. Saw a couple of people tubing the main lake. How's the bass bite in the main lake?
      City: Fremont

      Tips: When the water is warm, throw the smaller soft plastics, and slowly work them along the bottom.

Saturday, July 8th, 2006

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 75-76

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: WENT OUT AROUND 6AM WITH A LOCAL GUIDE OUT OF KNOCOTI RESORT, WE HEADED SOUTH TOWARDS LOWER LAKE. WE FISHED A ROCKY AREA AROUND SOME DOCKS. WE HAD 30 FISH IN THE BOAT, LARGEST 5LBS BY 7:30 AM AND LOST 10 BEFORE WE GOT THEM TO THE BOAT. WE WERE CRANKING AND DROP SHOTING BRUSHOGS. WE DIDN'T LEAVE THE SPOT TIL AROUND 9AM WITH A TOTAL OF 50 FISH IN THE BOAT. WE HEADED BACK TOWARD KNOCOTI AND HIT A ROCK PILE OFF OF A POINT. I HAD 10 FISH IN THE FIRST TEN CASTS. IN A HOUR WE GOT ANOTHER 30 FISH, BIGGEST BEING 4.5 LBS AND LOST 7 OR 8 MORE BEFORE WE GOT THEM TO THE BOAT. WE CONTINUED NORTH TOWARDS THE RESORT AND STOPPED AT A SMALL ISLAND, WE PICKET UP ANOTHER 20 OR SO FISH BY NOON. BEST DAY FISHING I EVER HAD. I CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK NEXT MONTH
      City: GILROY

      Tips: FIND ROCKS CLOSE TO DEEP WATER. DEEP CRANKBAITS AND DROP SHOTTING BRUSHOGS CLOSE TO THE BOTTOM WAS THE TRICK. EMAIL ME IF YOU WANT THE GUIDES INFO.

    • By

      Water Temp: 72-76

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Another "double-duty" day (or days) for me yesterday at Clear Lake - a day trip - rest and dinner - and a night trip! 25 hours total including travel - I'm resting today! Really, they are pretty easy for me when the clients are eager to learn and the fishing is good!! I hate to say this but the larger bass were more active during the day than at night - same thing at Amador last week! It kills me to say that!!! I would like to report that we caught 50 or 60 bass, but that doesn't always happen when one is guiding. The local client hadn't fished in a year and his buddy from Tennessee hadn't bass fished much. We still boated 30 bass. What was more impressive - I thought - was our 5 fish limit of nearly 25 lbs! I was showing them how to fish a rockpile near Rattlesnake Island - especially the deep-ledge side, and a 6 lb 3 oz bass had the nerve to take my brown/orange Rodstrainer jig, about 9 am. Imagine - when I am trying to teach, har!!! We never left the Oaks arm - fishing was that good. Unfortunately, the fellow from the east struggled with setting the hook but got better as the trip went on. He probably missed 20 fish. I think together they landed 21 of the 30. The jig bite was good for me so one of them wanted to fish a jig for the first time. We were in a rocky area near Windflower Point, but I rigged him up with the "Hemphill Special" anyway. Bingo - a 5 lb 10 oz bass said: "I'll take it"! Pretty good start to jig fishing? He caught several more too. The worm bite was good too, especially anything in black/grape. Green pumpkin was yesterday's news - not a hit on that color. No crank fish either. I think the water color favors darker colors now. Most of our bass were 7 to 18 feet deep and on off-shore structure. Summer is here!! I wondered if the day bite was that good - what was the night bite going to be like. I met another great client - eager to learn - at 7 pm and off we went. Sure enough, it was slow around the narrows though we got a few quality bass and thankfully he boated a 4 1/4 pounder before dark near Anderson Island. After dark, it was mostly school size bass - 2 to 3 1/2 lbs, though I got a bull of a bass at 5 lbs 7 oz. I never thought I would get her in! This client started slow too, but wound up doing well - lots of hookups and landed most of them. We wound up with 23 bass and a limit pushing 20 lbs. Interesting to note that the fish were more active (in dingy water) when the moon was up. After it set the bite died for us. About midnight we found one small point with an adjoining cove and the fish were stacked there. Because of the wind, we would drift through - hook 2 or 3 - move the boat upwind and start over. The best bite seemed to be about midnight. Brush hogs and Kreature baits seemed to out-produce worms, again, maybe because the crawdad population must be up this year.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: I know I have mention in seminars and maybe on this forum that largemouth take the rap of not fighting like a smallie or a spotted bass - and there is some truth to that. However, I have also mentioned that a spawned-out female largemouth that has recovered and now feeding heavily will really impress you when on the end of your line. They are lean and mean!! Maybe because the water temp was perfect at Clear Lake yesterday, I really can't remember largemouth being more difficult to land. Regardless of the size, they would not give up! They are also slightly heavier for their size because of the abundant food supply. I hooked that 5-7 on my 844 G. Loomis med-heavy rod - a good heavy duty stik - and I though I would never get her in. Fun, fun, fun!! Remember when taking photos - do it quickly this time of year, especially if the bass is large. They can't be out of the water very long. Also, many are afraid to fish jigs at Clear Lake because of the nasty rock structures. One advantage of summer jig fishing is that you can fish them a little faster - ticking the tops of the rocks. You don't need to deadstick a jig in the summer. I only use 1/4 oz jigs in the summer because they are easier to swim over shallow rocks. If it is real windy, go to a 3/8 oz but keep it movin' a little. Try it - you'll like it!

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Hey Lone Angler, you said the 3/8 rodstrainer jig did the trick. Were you using a trailer like a double tail, or were you just tossin the jig itself? And what were you looking for, rocks, docks, or weeds?
      City: Fremont

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      Water Temp: 80-83

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: well myself and my girlfriend went out night fishing.thing started out kinda slow usinf spinner bait`s an top water...as night fell i put on 10 1/2 inche black zipper worm with red flk...frist cast BAM 3.5 lber next cast BAM and other 3.5 lber....the about 20 mins later Tick Tick BAM a 5lber and next cast same rock pile TICK TICK BAM an other bass 5.5lber...then got slow again and move about 30 yrads down,thew right by the banks line headed for deep water and BAM a 6.74lber...night was going good...about 4am it slowed down again,but by then i was so tired i couldnt set the hook if i wanted to...so i did what any bass fishermen would have did took an 30 min nap and was back at lol.....only cuaght one more fish after that and it was only 2.80lbs..but still when u can catch that good of fish when the water is as hot as it is that is good night in my book
      City: Atwater

      Tips: GO BIG AN GO BLACK...I ALWAYS USE 10-16 BLACK WORMS OR LIZZ THIS TIME OF THE YEAR AT ANY OF THE LAKES AN U MAY NOT CATCH A LOT OF FISH BUT THE ONE`S U DO CATCH ARE BIG......GOOD LUCK AN HOPE TO SEE U ON THE WATER