Submit
Report

Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Saturday, December 17th, 2005

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: low 50's

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started with rip baits / swimbaits, no takers. Checked for bait, bunched up and deeper on the average. Spooned tight bait shools no takers. Moved to deeper drops drifted with one-ton, notakers. Moved to thiry five to 75 feet structures with drop shot, got a quick limit of average size. (12lbs) 6# flourocarbon, 3" shad Robo leech (scented). Very light nudging of rod tip.All but one came from around 75 Ft. Tight school in creek channel past Redrock, up the South fork. Good luck, release your catch.
      City: Sacto

      Tips: Go for the gusto early and again mid-day with swim baits then follow the bait this time of the year. Don't be shy of the greater dephts.

    • By

      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Last trip of the year for my son and me today. While the fishing has been slow, we both managed to catch fish on our last outing of 2005. John got two on a Carolina-rigged lizard, a nice 3 lb'er and a 2 lb'er. I managed a single 2 lb'er on a large tube lure while trying for the big'uns. Not many boats on the lake. It was cold and overcast but not much wind so it was a very pleasant half-day of fishing. Still lots of fish showing on the graph out in the main body of the lake, suspended from 40 to 60 feet. Still not able to get them to hit anything that usually works for deep, suspended fish. Shallow zone still appeared to be virtually baren of fish.
      We're looking forward to getting out after the first of the year. San Justo is still a gem of a lake and although this winter it seems the fish have had lock-jaw much of the time, our sense is that they are still there and waiting to get figured out.
      City: Monterey

      Tips: Keep a lure in the water, move it very slowly, and hang on! Merry Christmas!

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: low 50s

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: fished shasta with 3 friends in 2 boats. We split up first thing and I went up the pit arm and they other boat went up the squaw. We met back up at packers at 3.
      PIT ARM 15-20 fish day, dart head and dropshot rainbowtrout pattern worms from 5-40ft. SQUAW ARM 60-75 fish day, dart head and fluke from 10-30ft.
      City: central point

      Tips: squaw arm fished better then the pit. robo natural shad worms seemed to be working best.

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Saturday from 10 am to 2. Saw no surface activity for bass or steelhead. Tried several techniques to 50 feet in Yorty and Cherry Creek. Got one on in the trees drop shotting a red worm, but it broke off in the branches. No other hits.
      City: Novato

      Tips: No tips. Did anyone do well?

Friday, December 16th, 2005

  • Mason County
    • By

      Water Temp: not sure

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: fish are still on a reaction bite real early. after that, fish it slow with your favorite bait. my favorite is a hula grub bounced right on the bottom.
      City: san jose

      Tips: anderson fish are pretty aggressive and ready to be caught. tips???, fish 35-45 feet in the morning.after that, I don't know. help me out.

  • Santa Barbara County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Smallmouth biting in 10 - 35ft on jigs. All the smallmouth were between 2 - 2.8 lbs. A couple of largemouth mixed in but small.
      City: Oxnard

      Tips: Fish steep rock with a 1/2 ounce Yamamoto spider jig (two piece) 5" twin tail. Watermelon red flake. Fish slow. Fish were not agressive

  • Trinity County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: FINALLY! I got to go fishing today. It's been amost 3 weeks but it was worth the wait. 5.52 lb. smallies are fun wether you catch them by the head or by the tail. That fish anchored a five fish limit that just reached 20 lbs. All smallies. Caught 10 fish in 4.5 hrs and not a largemouth to be seen. Weird. 3 weeks ago smallies were hard to come by on the same spot.
      I guess it's time I let the cat out of the bag. As you can see by the last couple of reports, and this one, that we've been having some incredible days winter fishing Trinity. All I can say is Duh Team Spoons rock! The fish are holding on deep rock piles ambushing Kokanee, and I guess they can't tell the difference between flesh and lead. The Duh team spoons match the size of the stunted Kokes we have here to perfection. Smear on a little Pautzkes' Bass Factor and you have a deadly combo. Now that the ramp is finally clear of snow I guess I'll just have to go again tomorrow. Stay tuned.
      City: Weaverville

      Tips: The fish we've been catching have been schooled up in tight bunches. When you get bit or chart a bunch of fish throw a marker. You don't have to miss the spot by much to come up dry.

Thursday, December 15th, 2005

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: TROUT AND SALMON ARE THE ONLY REPORTS. TROUT 5 TO 20 FT TROLLING EX-CEL SHAD GREEN BACK AND GRAY BACK PATTERNS. SALMON AT THE DAM TROLLING FROZEN SHAD TO 40 FT DEEP. BASS ??? WHO KNOWS ?? ONE HERE AND ONE THERE ON YOUR BEST CONFIDENCE BAIT ?

      Tips: ITS COLD AND FOGGY , DRIVE CAREFUL AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS. IF YOU THINK YOUR FISHING TO SLOW, THEN FISH SLOWER !!

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Reguarding my prior post & my comment about "WHO NEED'S SWIM-BAIT'S" Well for some reason not all of my post was printed. After "WHO NEED'S SWIM-BAIT'S" It should have read "J/K " My oppion is, If you want to catch a DD Bass then Swim-Bait's are the bait's to go with, I just got VERY ,VERY LUCKY. Also the Bommer-A I was using ,was given to me by my old friend K.B. AKA Kent Brown, THANK'S BUD & NO YOU CANT HAVE IT BACK.Time for a new computer. ~MJB
      City: n/a

    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: FISHED NORTH FORK FOR THREE SMALL FISH ON ROBO WORM; DROP SHOT. CLEAR DAY, WITH FOG CLEARING AT NOON. BITE WAS EXTREMELY LIGHT IN 55 FEET OF WATER.
      City: CARMICHAEL

      Tips: SLOW IT DOWN

  • Mariposa County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: FISH DEEP TO 40 FT. YOU MAY HAVE TO FIZ YOUR BASS FROM AIR BLOAT ? KEEPER WORMS, YAMAMOTO KREATURE BAIT RIP BAIT AND SPINNER BAITS ALSO ARE WORKING WELL. SPOTS IN THE 2 TO 3LB RANGE ARE BEING CAUGHT ALL OVER THE LAKE.........SILVER SALMON (COHO'S) WE HERE TO 4 LBS ARE ALSO BEING CAUGHT TROLLING EX-CEL IN BLACK AND GREEN SHAD PATTERNS !

      Tips: DRESS WARM, ITS COLD AND FOGGY !! DRIVE WITH CARE ! HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM JIGS

Wednesday, December 14th, 2005

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 44

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Previous report should have been December, not November.
      City: Folsom

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48-50

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the hook tourney sunday. Fished dead end sloughs, deep weed lines, rip rap, around holland tract, orwood, and disco bay. Flipped and pitched jigs, robo worms, mini sweet beavers. Tryed rip baits. Drop shotted for a while. Cranked speed traps and r-traps too. Not more than 4 bites all day and boated 3 small fish. Water was very clear and cold. BIG DADDY BLUE RANGER - can you give a hint to the vicinity where you are getting the rip bites?
      City: Brentwood

  • Merced County
    • By

      Water Temp: 47/48.5

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: one more thing
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Oh yeah! If your using reation type baits, KEEP MOVING AND LOOK FOR THE SCHOOLS!

    • By

      Water Temp: 47-48.5

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the Forebay today, heavy fog in the morning, lifted a little on the south end but not much. It was real cold out there but no wind all day. Lanched at 7.30am. Started at the spill way, one blow up on my buddies super spook in bone color near the buoys, I hooked a 15" on a american shad color lucky craft rip bait about 15 yards off the rock wall next to the buoys. Then hooked a largemouth a few casts after on same rip bait. Next peice of action was on the flats. Two more 15" fish on the rip bait, and my buddy hooked a 18" on a blue back, babyblue body swimbait in 5" size with a 1/2 oz. head and a small largemoth right after. Then hooked a couple of shakers on a rat-l-trap in the same area. A few more blow ups on the spook and then the day was done. Off the water at 2:00pm.
      City: SanJose

      Tips: Best action came off the flats in about 8-12 feet of water. Positioned my boat on weed lines and butterfly casted along the weed lines and into open water. Didn't get to stay for evening bite but the evening bite has always been the best for me on the flats. Ripbaits(color according to water clarity), 3" to 6" rubber swimbaits with at least a 1/2oz. in shad colors. Larger baits for larger fish. The stripers like the baits presented fast, fast rips on the rip bait. Cast swimbaits and let sink to botttom and then burn it back home. Most action on super spook came when the spook disturbed the water a lot and made a ruckus on the surface. Burned the rat-l-traps too. Hope this info helped a bit. Any tips for me, I'd appreciate it.

Tuesday, December 13th, 2005

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: One of my regular clients decided it was time for some winter punishment, so off to Clear Lake we went on Monday evening. We were hoping for the cloud cover to hold for awhile, but no luck. Clear sky, cold damp night, and a moon that was too bright. Sunday night would have been better. I think many of the large bass fed Sun night as conditions were perfect then - a warmer cloudy night. Anyway, to our surprise, the bite was good from about 7 to 11 pm. We caught 16 bass on jigs, 10" Power Worms, and brush hogs. The biggest was only 5 1/2 lbs and the best five a little over 18 lbs. The bite died after midnight as the temp really dropped. So did our attitude as we each lost a big bass at the last rockpile we fished. Bummer!! When we left Clearlake Oaks at 2 am, the temp was 29 degrees. I was happy to see that my new Ranger 520 and Evinrude E-Tec could handle the cold night just fine! We did too in snowsuits and hand-foot warmers!! Funny thing - we didn't see another boat!!!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: I was really surprised how active the 3 to 5 lb bass were considering the terrible post-front and moon conditions. For example, the jetty north of Konocti Resort (lower lake) had bass all around it - including the 5 1/2. Early in the evening too. 50 degree water means feeding bass - day or night. The problem with winter night fishing at Clear Lake is to fish slow enough without snagging every rock you hit. If your bait gets stuck on a rock - release the pressure and see if it will back off - then pop it a bit. Often the bait will jump right over the rock. Or -- you are snagged big time! Well, the bass will have a rest from my hookset at least, as I will be gone from the lake for 2 months. I hope everyone saves some dumb ones for me. Good luck!!

Monday, December 12th, 2005

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I guided a fellow Fri on one of the most beautiful December days I can remember at Berryessa. Too beautiful - not a breath of wind. We fish shadows mostly - steep banks and found quality bass which surprised me. Our best five were 12 lbs 2 oz, but we only caught 11. I broke off a Berryessa bass for the first time in awhile - big fish! Biggest was a near 3 lb smallie. Sat I guided 2 guys - totally rookies in bass fishing. They could cast and that was all that mattered! One of the fellows who hadn't fished in 12 years landed the first 3 bass! Well, I guess this isn't as tough a sport as we think it is!!! Fishing was different on Sat for my boat. We caught nearly 20 bass but got into a lot of 11 to 13 inchers for some reason. Our limit was under 10 lbs. They had a great time and we now have 2 new converts to bass fishing!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: I was surprised to see a big wind come up about 10 am on Sat. I think cranking would have been the way to go as the previous poster said. Jigs works very well both days as did worms - especially morning dawn. We found most of our bass both days in 15 to 40 feet of water.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I keep hearing about no fish in Discovery bay. There stacked in there.I live there and the fishing is great now.Have faith in your fish finder. Drift Bluegills. What has been working really good is Hair Razors and a nice 6" Storm swimbait.
      City: Discovery Bay

      Tips: Trust your fish finder. when you mark fish put the swimbait and Hair Razor to work. Good luck

    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: fished plastics on drop shot,carolina and darthead big fish 3.83 limit around 10 lbs stayed under 15ft and around wood. rastrike
      City: el cerrito

      Tips: heavy fog didnt start big motor till 11am robo worm mm11 6 inch

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Finaly got out to Eastman Lake first time ever there early this month.Then took a trip out again right away.Bass couldnt get enough of us hit like 60 bass on first trip, between three of us drop shot action was insane. We had multiple double headers of two pluss pounds and a big of 3# awsome first day at lake. Then we went back 12-08-05 . Got me a 6# 4# 3.5# 5# and about 7 others oround 15 to 18 inches awsome day ill be back soon. :)
      City: Visalia

      Tips: Fish around 35 feet