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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, May 28th, 2006

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      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Whoever said he caught the 2 big ones in the preserve area, i believe you. I went out there in my float tube and saw some lunkers cruisin. I think they are still spawning and can be caught.
      City: San Leandro

Saturday, May 27th, 2006

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Temp: 69

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: WINDY - WINDY - WINDY -

      Thats what I hear from three guys that did the Gold Coast Bass Tourney so I am sorta happy that I had to work today, missing out on the havoc of dead trolling motor batteries trying to keep the unit in place for more than a minute. Lots of wind and no place to hide.

      Lots of fish caught but most were dinks. Keepers were in the 2-3 pound range and my co-worker ended up 3rd on a spot I told him about. The boys from Tackle Warehouse in SLO town grabbed the big kitty for the day.
      City: Santa Maria

      Tips: Blades were working as were watermelon blk/red flake softies.

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished top water early and only 2 applied. Missed a couple lazy ones. Went to dam and cranked a couple. Jumped around a lot hitting spot we have caught fish in the past. Bite was off due to the cold wind. Ended up with small limits. Mike D dropped a 3lber or was I to slow to the net? Bite will pick up with the warmer weather. Tell Joe M to wave when he idles by next time.
      City: orangevale

      Tips: Lake is full fish are off the beds. Lake is full of crazy people Memorial Day weekend. Sheriff is writing tickets like crazy. Did anyone slow down?Jet skiers are in the narrows? Go on weekdays.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Hit the lake at 7:30 and blown off at 10:30. Caught 2 spawned out 1 lb males off a 4" green weenie drop shotting off a ledge in 20' of water by the dam. There was no reaction bite (popper, blades, jerkbait). It was a brisk morning at 48 when I arrived and a cool 62 when I left the lake. It was WINDY all morning.
      City: San Jose

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took out 2 guy's on Saterday. Started at 5:45 before the zoo showed up. Had a big fish on a topwater first off, but came loose. Rip bite was fair. Most fish were taken on grubs with 1/8oz. darthead and Carolina riged Magic worms in the North Fork.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Keep that rod down when you get a good fish on a Topwater bait.

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

      Report: Out from 10:30am to 4:00pm. South and North lakes and impoundment. It was windy - again and primarily threw a Bass Assassinator spinnerbait and flipped YUM Wooly Hawg or Berkeley 6" plastic worm cinnamon brown w/ black flecks and chartreuse curly tail into tules till about 3:00pm. Ran into a couple of bassers tossing spinnerbaits. A day in the sun and wind, with nary a bite, bump or hit. Went back to impoundment around 3:00pm and tossed a jointed crankbait, Excalibut Spittin' Image top water, wacky rigged Senko for an hour- to no avail.
      City: Daly City

      Tips: I'm gonna wait for conditions to settle down a bit - go back out tonight (5/28)at a little before dusk...the bass are out there...I can just feel it.

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      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Shallow or deep...take your pick. There was a good buzz-bait bite beginning late in the morning for me...got seven small bass on three different buzz-baits beginning about 11:00 a.m., mostly on rock banks. Meanwhile, John caught seven nicer bass drop-shotting in 25 feet out side the deep weedbeds. A couple of trout fisherman caught nice bass while trolling for trout over the main lake basin...must be some suspended bass out there recuperating from the spawn.
      City: Monterey

      Tips: Try buzz-baits early, then drop-shot until late in the morning when the buzz-baits might work again. Lake level was dropping again, about a foot in the last week. If that continues, the fish will probably move off the banks and go deeper.

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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the preserve area and did extremely well. I caught 1 bass that weighed 17.4 on the digital scales and 1 15, both on a 10 inch lizard.
      City: Orinda

      Tips: Fish huge baits for huge bass.

Friday, May 26th, 2006

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Took Fri off and decided to make it a 4 day weekend. Slow morning, but the bite picked up in the early afternoon. Biggest fish was 4'3 on a rip bait, but lost an 8-10 pounder as well. The fish were definitely in a post spawn pattern. The plastic and jig bite was slow, but the fish seemed willing to come up and get reaction baits. This is typical of post spawn fish. The one thing I like about Amador fish is that they can bounce back in a hurry due to the abundance of food in the lake. Best lures were rip and top water. I also hit a 15 pound cat on a zipper worm and a 4 pound cutbow on a jig. Did get some other bass on brush hogs and jigs, but no size. Finished at 3pm with 25 fish or so.
      City: Roseville

      Tips: Throw reaction baits and stay erratic. Make the fish hit out of aggression.

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 67-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: just to confirm some of the previous reports, that this lake is wide open. went friday and found pockets of schooled up aggressive fish. the only thing that kept this from being a triple digit day was the big winds. The early morning started calm then went to strong northlies to calm and and then strong winds from the west...Throw your favorite bait and fish no deeper than 15'. Cover water til you get bit, the fish will tell you the rest...good luck, have fun and be kind to the fish...........
      City: orinda

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: wind sucked. Fished for a half day, no reaction bite. Several fish caught on the bottom in approx 3-12 feet of water. Hi Dave!
      City: San Bruno

  • Alameda County
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      Water Temp: 69

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Very windy and cold on the lake. Caught 7 fish total of which only 4 were bass. Caught 2 very nice 3lb trout and a 6lb salmon all on bass lures. There was no soft plastic bite except for a trout that kept following my spinner bait but would not stike. I followed up with a brush hog and nailed it. The other trout hit a spinner bait and the the salmon fell for a drop shot robo worm - what a hog. The bass were shallow in the tulle line taken on spinner bait. Nothing flipping wood or carolina rigging the weed line or creek channels or points. The wind made the spinner bait the right choice.
      City: Foster City

      Tips: Read the conditions and throw the bait that matches the conditions. Big wind would lead me to a spinner bait, jerk or crank. Fish are shallow in the weed lines.

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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Just wanted to reply to comment posted by "Mark" regarding recent big fish caught at this lake. I fish local lakes 3-4 days a week when not at work and catch a lot of big Bass(3 this year over 10 lbs.) I carry a scale and camera every time out. At Los Vaqueros, I hike a couple miles away from other bank fishermen to reach my spots and am not willing to risk killing these big Bass in order to prove myself. It would be nice to have my photo posted at the marina, but I am satisfied having my extensive photo album with all of the large bass I have caught locally.
      City: Antioch

      Tips: Get away from the normal foot traffic and hike in to the areas that see little pressure. You will likely see other great sights as well. My son and I hiked 3 miles in on the dam side of lake and watched an Eagle swooping on trout at the surface in a little cove. This is a beatiful lake with lots to see if you are willing to make the hike. GOOD FISHING!

  • Mariposa County
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      Water Temp: 69-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Absolutely beautiful day on the lake. I love this lake and wish I was closer to fish more often. A little slower than it has been but we still managed about 25-30 fish mostly using rip-baits, and tubes along the rocks. We did best upriver.
      City: Hanford

      Tips: Be extremely careful now with the higher water, it is barely covering several island tops and we had a very close encounter with one near McClure Point.

  • San Francisco County
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      Water Temp: getting warmer

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished same spots as on the 23rd. Conditions very different today. Cold and Windy - whitecaps on the main lake body (South). Just stayed out for an hour and a half. There was the carp guy at the impoundment. No other fishermen were out this morning...I flipped a wacky rigged senko along the tules at the west end of the bridge on south lake. Dropped a small minnow bait along the tules at the John Muir Drive pier. Nothing doing today. I brought very little tackle with me. I shoulda had a spinnerbait, with the windy conditions.
      City: Daly City

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 68-70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Calvin, Rich and I hit this lake. I must admit I was a little apprehensive about all the reports I've aread on Oro but they came true. Lauched out of Lime Saddle and saw some fish boiling right in the launch area. So we started throwing ot top water...fish on...lots of junk in the water all the way to the bridge. Headed up some place (great thing about being the back seater, did know where I am I just fish) and the game was on. Cal and Rich boated at least 35-40 apiece, best limit between those 2 was 13-15lbs as our scale was on the fritz. At one point Cal put 5 fish on in 6 casts. I had fun learning from those two as Im not much of the finasse type of guy but I think im starting to see the light. Thanks for the leasson guys.
      City: Plumas Lake/YC

      Tips: If its squishie...throw it. As for set up...I think all you need is a hook a weight and a squishie thing and you will be all right. As said in a report earlier, keep a top water on at all times just in case they start to boil. See ya on the lake.

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 64-68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had a great day, fished from 6am to 6pm didn't want to leave, better than 75 fish for two of us all reation bites but for one jig fish best LM 3lb best SM 4lb. my best five 16lb3oz and the SM wasn,t part my bag.If your not getting bit change colors til you do than burn the banks it worked for us. PS thanks to Larry H. for his post with gas prices it's nice to have an idea of whats going on before you head-up.
      City: Oakley

      Tips: Take a camera I ran into a guy with a 8 1/2 LM no camera,

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

      Report: Decided to hit the lake before the big weekend and was rewarded with fish all morning. Caught the majority on crankbaits but got a few on the senko and dropshotting. Was on the lake from 7am to 11:30 and caught fish on the walls, points and flats. Wind was up around 9:30. Most fish were in the 12" range but caught 5 between 3-5lbs. Overall a fun day.
      City: Ventura

      Tips: Crankbaits, oxblood worms

Thursday, May 25th, 2006

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I had a boatload at Amador today - father and 2 sons - maybe 18 and 21 years old. They were visiting from Texas. We fished Senkos - mostly color #221, worms, and a little drop-shotting. Dad got the biggest at 2 lbs 10 oz, I had a 2 1/4 and the son that fished the whole time got one just about 2 lbs. About noon - in the main body - I threw a junebug 7" Power worm on a 10 foot breakline and hooked a good one - 6 to 8 lbs. Nobody could get the net in time and we lost her. We got to see her however. Because of 4 in the boat, we only fished worms and drop-shotted. We were there during an approaching cold front and it seemed to slow the bite a bit.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: The person they were staying with fished a little in his boat and landed a 5 pounder using a Chug Bug topwater lure.

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 69-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished around Capell. Windy on and off all day - made me keep switching between plastics and reactions baits. Found quite a bit of bait on two main lakes points (at one point bait was 1

      Tips: Enjoy the bassing before they go deep