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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Saturday, December 10th, 2005

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I fish the Angler's Choice Semi Pro Team at Oroville Lake, My team partner Linda Henderson was unable to fish the tournament, for personal reason. I fish the midddle fork using Rainbow worms # 99, which had been working for me during the week. Came in with 10.41 lbs. for third place.
      The tournament was very professional, and friendly.
      It was a great day to be fishing.
      Bob Smith
      Bassfishing Professional Guide Servic
      City: Cottonwood

      Tips: Most of the bass came form around 30 to 35 feet. Fishing very slow.

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: We also had a tough time of it at Sonoma on Saturday. I took my son and a couple of friends took their boat out and the results were similar to Mike's. We started by the marina and my boy caught a 1 1/2 on a 4" Roboworm right off of the bat making me think we were in for a great day. Well, it was a great day (fishing with my son and two good friends always makes it a great day) with beautiful weather for December but the bite was very slow. We fished the Warm Springs arm all day and found a few fish in the 10-20 foot range but getting them to open wide and say ahhh when your worm was in front of them proved to be a challenge. I threw a spider grub and drop shot pretty much all day and got 4 bites and hooked and landed two fish. My boy also got two for a total of 6 bites in 7 1/2 hrs of fishing. The other boat with us had a little better day with one getting a limit with a 3 lb kicker and the other catching I believe 3 fish. They too were fishing grubs, worms ang jigs. The few people we talked to seemed to stuggle with the bite too, but agreed it was such a nice day weather wise, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. We were glad to return to the ramp and find our vehicles unmolested since three out of the last four trips there resulted in some kind of vandalism or theft of our tow rigs.
      City: Ukiah

      Tips: It seemd the fish we found were nosed up against steep banks with most of the bites coming as the bait worked its way down but it is possible there were suspended fish behind us in the trees thet we were not fishing for. The water was much clearer than anticipated so the 12 lb test we were using probably contributed to the slow bite. Fish deep as we had no activity in less than 10 ft of water.

Friday, December 9th, 2005

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: fished rattle trapps chrome/black and spoons for 2 limits of strippers then dropped shot plastics in under 20 feet for a limit
      City: el cerrito

      Tips: dropshot flat water less current is better slow slow slow limited in a hour and a half sand bottom

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: not sure

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: one of my favorite lakes for numbers. problem is the lake is dropping swiftly and getting drained out real quick for the winter rains. one, visibilty is about 7 inches and cover is basically gone. But, for the persistent, big fish can be caught.
      City: san jose

      Tips: Big spinner-baits and big plastics.

Thursday, December 8th, 2005

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My best fishing bud - Rick Tietz - CEO of Blade Runner Tackle, and I went for our annual November night trip to Amador - except we were a week or so late! We thought the cloudy weather would help the bite. Well, it did for one of us - in a big and quick way!!!! His first cast about 4:30 pm - main body - produced a 9 pounder from about 20 feet of water. He was using a black 10" Power Worm. What a bass!! After photos and the release, I suggested we go home! When we go together, usually only one of us does well. And he started 'way too quick!! Sure enought, he also lands a 5-2 and a 4-5, for about 18 lbs 7 oz. I don't want anyone feeling sorry for me - I did catch a 12 incher - on a 10 inch Power worm. I missed all my other bites. That was it - 4 bass in the boat in about 5 1/2 hours. The night bite should have turned on about 10 pm, but the clouds disappeared and the fog rolled in immediately, and that is the kiss of death for winter night fishing!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We had lots of bites from smaller bass which surprised me. They normally don't bite during the winter at night. Since the cold weather set in so quickly, I think the bass are in transition finally and the day and night bite should pick up. One of Rick's nice bass was caught in only 8 feet of water, the other about 15-20 feet. Don't forget the Smelly Jelly!!

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50 F - 55 F

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the north side adjacent to Hywy 20. Hooked and landed 6 bass from 1# - 31/2#. The best five weighed about 12# - 13#. The bass I caught were on the bottom in 15' - 20' of water on broken rock-covered steep dropoffs. They literally ate Watermelon/Red BrushHogs on 1/8 oz. Slider heads, fished with light spinning tackle on 6# test line.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Use light tackle, and use a good knot for light line. My favorite is the Crawford Figure-Eight Knot. The editors of the old Fishing Facts magazine (1970's) tested every knot they could find, and they concluded that the Crawford had the greatest strength. This is how you tie it:

      Thread the line through the eye, leaving a 3"-4" tail (you can reduce this length with practice).

      Loop the tail under the main line, then secure it with your thumb on top of the main line. The loop should have a 1/2"-3/4" diameter.

      Loop the tail under and then over the loop you previously formed, and again secure the tail end with your thumb.

      Thread the tail end, from below, through the first loop and pull it parallel to the main line away from the eye.

      If you have tied the knot correctly, you will see a figure-eight formed by your untightened knot.

      Tighten the knot against itself, so there is a 1/4"-1/2" loop between the knot and the eye. Then pull the knot tight against the eye and trim the tail end of your line, leaving about 1/4".

      If you tie the Crawford Figure-Eight Knot correctly and are using good-quality (uniform) monofilament, this knot will have a breaking strength effectively identical to the line itself! The Crawford Figure-Eight is the best I've found for terminal knots using light monofilament. Try it out for yourself!

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Just saw something pretty cool, so I thought I would share it with y'all. I have a largemouth bass in my fish tank. When I caught it, it was only about 4 inches long. Now, 3 months later, it is well over 7 inches long. I feed it 3 times a week, on monday, I give it 20 gold fish, thurs, I give it mealworms and crickets, sometimes a few crawlers too!, then on sat I give it 20 more gold fish. This bass is so aggresive, I can pretty much put anything in there, and its gonna eat it. While I was watching it tonight, I noticed something that might be of interest to y'all. There were three goldfish hiding under a rock that my bass could not get to. So, it blew water out of its mouth to flush them out, and then proceeded to eat 2 of the 3. I never knew bass did something like this, and it was pretty cool to watch. Anyhow, I thought y'all would find that interesting. Those bass are a lot smarter than we make them out to be. When I come into my room, the bass follows me. When I open the top, it immediately goes to the spot where I always dump the food. Makes you think a little about trout stocking trucks, and the kinda bass that show up for that deal.
      City: Missoula

      Tips: In case anyone is upset about me having a bass in my tank, just so ya know, I caught it out of a pond in Missoula MT that is frozen solid. There are ponds throughout MT that are stocked with fingerling bass, but that have a very small chance of making it to larger sizes. The one I have in my tank has tripled in size since I brought him home. I plan on returning it back into the wild when I feel as though it is big enough no to worry about being eaten by another bass or pike...FYI

Wednesday, December 7th, 2005

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Redwood Empire Bass Club next meeting is on December 14th 7pm e Rohnert Park Community Center at the corner of Rohnert Park Expressway and Snyder Lane. WE welcome new members both boaters and non boaters to fish our tournaments with us. The next tournament will be on December 17th at Lake Sonoma. This is an "open" team tournament which means anyone can fish even if there not a member. You can call me at 707-578-5762 or click onto the clubs section on this website for further info.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: For anyone interested in learning how to bass fish or wanting to meet other bass fisherman,becoming a member of Redwood Empire Bass Club is a great way to start.

Tuesday, December 6th, 2005

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the North Delta today. Caught 19 fish, big fish was 3.15 on a Brush hog. 1 other on Brush Hog. The rest were caught on a Speed trap crankbait. Fished from 9:30 till 2:45.
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: Outside weedlines got the crankbait fish.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started at first light, with outside temperature at 27. Went up the middle fork, found bass just about everwhere, over 40 bass for the day. Most of the fish on dart head, with Rainbow worm #99, and tubs. some reaction bait the first hour, It's was a great day for fishing. Got to used the new Lowrance LCX 26 HD for the first time, put it up front for now, with the color it is a lot easer to see. It's great. I also put the flat foot in, that is a lot easer to stand when using the troling motor. after fishing all day i was not as tired.
      City: Cottonwood ca.

Monday, December 5th, 2005

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Arrived at the ramp at about 7:00am and found nobody on the lake, not a soul. Can't really blame them. It was freakin cold. It was one of those mornings that you will always remember. The sun coming over the hill, the steam rising off the lake, and the top cap of the boat completly frozen. We did'nt even get the boat on pad until 1:00pm. About ten minutes into it my partner lays into a pig. After a little tug-of-war session, he swings into the boat a toad spot 2 ounces shy of six pounds. The next hour was a little tough as we struggled for bites. We finally found some bait and fish in 30' and caught one large mouth two pounds even and an identical spotted bass. A little down the bank we caught another. This time it was a spot that went 1lb 14oz. Moved over to the dam and started getting them in 20-30' We caught two dinks, another 2lbs even large mouth and three spots that went between 1.6-1.9lbs. Headed up the river at about 1:00pm and that's when it happended. We saw the first boat of the day. It was just the patrol guy doing his rounds. Pretty cool to have the lake all to yourself all day. We spyed a little point with a little brush and a little wind. Banged four in a row 2.4lbs, 2.5lbs, 2.3lbs, and 1.7lbs. Hit all the good stuff to the top of the river and ended up with another 2.4lbs, 1.9lbs, and 2.1lbs. All but one fish in the river were spots. Got off the water in the dark. Man was it cold. The fishing is tough and you have to work hard. Probably missed twenty bites between the two of us. Lost four or five half way to the boat. They did'nt eat the bait real good. You have to feed it to them once you feel them wrap there lips around it. Another week of butt cold night time temps should make them clobber the bait. Once the water temp dips down to 48 or so, those big spots get on the bank and hammer a jig.

      Tips: Fished drop shot 4.5" worms in dark colors SLOW!!!
      1/4oz. Dart head 6" worms SLOW!!!!!
      3/8oz and 1/2oz spider jigs does not have to be SLOW but be thorough.
      No reaction fish. No swimbait fish. They would not follow a reaction bait up to the boat but we had several follow the jig.

Sunday, December 4th, 2005

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: threw reaction first thing in the morning caught 4plus lb large mouth then dropped shot 4 and 6 inch worms 40 -60 feet deep caught 10 plus fish on robo worms finished the day with a 10.67lb limit great day on the water see you next tourney 1 15 06 rastrike
      City: el cerrito

      Tips: try large mouth first if not biting go for the spots and smalley good luck

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: The wife and I fished Mildred on a cold clear Sunday for 6 largies. Chartuese traps and shad color lucky pointer 100's. No sppo bites and no stripers.
      City: Pleasanton

      Tips: Fish with wife and have the best on the water lunch out there!

    • By

      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished for 4 hours and caught 4 fish, between 1 - 2 lbs. Fished the same method like last week but slower. See previous report.
      City: Southbay

      Tips: Stay warm, the water is getting colder.

Saturday, December 3rd, 2005

  • Mason County
    • By

      Water Temp: na

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started around 8:30 and started with jigs. Just love taps. Switched to spinner-bait and caught a nice 2 pounder in about 8 feet of water. Switched to drop-shot and caught 1 dink and missed the love taps. Tough day. Windy and cold.
      City: san jose

      Tips: drop-shot got the most hits. anywhere from 12 to 26 feet of water.

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 8am to 2pm. 8 spots, 7 keepers to 2 pounds. Fish were hammering the jig. They wanted it fast. Just barely tapping the rocks while using the trolling motor was the trick. 25-35 ft. Being delta guys, my buddy and I new we could have found better quality fish in deeper water, but just wanted to get bit. 2 pound spots in 30 ft of water is a not a bad way to go when Folsom is just right down the street and only $10 bucks to launch. We could have caught more fish if we stayed in the north fork, but gave in and tried to get in to the main body in deeper water but by that time the north wind was insane. We spent the next 2 hours looking for decent areas, but couldn't really get on any more fish.
      City: Roseville

      Tips: Fast dragging was the trick. You could let the fish have the jig forever and they would not drop it. Looking forward to getting back out there and learning the lake again.

Friday, December 2nd, 2005

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55.6

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: After the storm on Friday, Dennie Howard and I took a 1/2 day off and hit Folsom Lake from 1pm to 4pm. The water is now coming up again but still cold air. We found a bouy just out from Grainte Bay with balls of bait, using drop shot, carolina rig, greenpumkin lizards and leach. We got three nice fat spots and smallies upto 3 lbs.
      There bellies are full of shad getting ready for the long winter. Slowly drag and shake something on the bottom in 25-45 ft. moved around in the warm afternoon sun for December looking for bait and large arches on my screen. Within the three hours we picked up 5 fair bass.

      The next day out with Joe Miller in his Triton (my pro craft at home), the day was a little different. Light to medium winds and cold. The same at the day before but also using JK brown/brown Jigs with a # 180 double tail. All I can say is dress warm and fish slow. Joe and I had our best was 11.75 for our five.

      Good luck and be safe
      City: rocklin

      Tips: If you can get down with a split shot 6 lb test line works and 50-60 ft with a 1/2 oz jig.

Thursday, December 1st, 2005

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58 Degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: On the water at 10:30am waited for clear skies. Fished right after stormy weather hoping to get a reation bite going. Started by Morman Island which is now completely exposed due to water level dropping dramatically over the last month. water level is down 40 feet and falling. I could not get a reation bite all day. Fished both the North and South part of the lake. Found a lot of fish between the 15-40 foot level which is probably where thermacline is. I did not want to drop shot today and that is probably why I did not get any bites. Had one fish follow my crankbait around 3:30 pm which is when I noticed the fish coming to the surface and busting shad. I saw about 5 or 6 other bass boats on the lake fishing. There were no skiers on the lake due to low water temperature. I thought for sure that the storm would kick these fish in gear and send them into a feeding frenzy and thus a reation bite. No so, these fish are getting ready for the long winter and have started to decend into deeper water......Good luck. Oh by the way, I want to say thank you to the Idiot who thought he was cleaver by flying by me at 70 mph in shallow water just to get to either his spot before me or to see if he could actually out do a 115merc 4stroke with his 200 merc. I hope you made it to your spot without any damage to your boat? People like you are the reason why real fishermen stay away from Folsom. You and your buddy from what I could see were rather young thus the reason for your immuturity. Next time you may not be so lucky and come up against someone who will take offense to your stupitity.
      City: El Dorado Hills

      Tips: Fish are deep so you may have to drag a worm or drop shot a worm. And, stay a way from white bass boat about 19-20 feet in length with a couple of young Idiots on it. They might just cut your boat in half just to get to "their spot"!

Wednesday, November 30th, 2005

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The water was warmer than the outside temp, 42*. We caught around 30 or so fish most in the slot, 6 over the slot. In the morning till about 9 we used crank baits, then drop shotted light colored worms. Most of the fish were in the 50 foot range, caught some at 90 foot.
      City: Yuba City

Monday, November 28th, 2005

  • Mason County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54deg

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the rockwalls just outside the launch area with cranks and dropshots, nothing. cruised to the old bridge area and just inside the 5mph zone fished the south rock walls. Caught one on turqiouse/yellow crank in 8' of water. Spooned just under the bridge with no luck. Moved back into the creek just passed the bridge and got one to go on a Robo FX peoples worm. Rain came and that was it.

      Tips: Shallow running cranks on submerged wood, dropshotting in 25' off rocky points/flats. I think next time i'll spend more time spooning as i believe these bass are suspending big time right now. Slow down and fish thourough(i did not this time and I think i shouldve patterned those suspended bass more)....keep the reports alive, post if u fish. Tight Lines.