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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, November 18th, 2005

  • Trinity County
    • By

      Water Temp: 60ish

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: It was one of those days on Trinity Lake. This lake will humble you, believe me I've been there. But it can also produce some of the finest bass fishing in Northern California. I fished today with John Gray. The day started out slow. We managed a couple of smaller fish on gitzit and dropshot around the ballpark area. We moved out to a little deeper water and all %#@& broke loose! First, John hooks a dandy. Got her in the boat, 5 lb. 1 oz. Next cast, a six lber. It went on like this with us alternating hogs, including a six coming off right at the boat. I am not a tournament fisherman but I have been fishing bass for over 15 years. I have never had a day like this! I caught my personal best largemouth and my personal best smallie on the same day! We only fished for about 5 hours. The best seven fish went 36lb. 3 oz. Big fish was just over 7lbs. What a day! I owe it all to John. He is not only a wealth of knowledge and a genuinely nice guy but I have never met a man with more heart. If you spend an afternoon with him, you'll know what I mean. I recommend him as a guide to the beginner as well as the seasoned veteran.
      City: Eureka

      Tips: Get out into a little deeper water. We all get stuck in our comfort zone, don't be afraid to try something new.

Wednesday, November 16th, 2005

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

      Report: Zack, Sorry for taken a shot at you.The following letter I sent to every goverment angency I could. Hopefully it will explain my attitude towards rangers.
      -------------------------------------------------
      My wife and I have a 4 month old and needless to say I haven

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

      Report: Went to Clear lake for a 2 day mid week trip...and JUST KILLED'EM!!! over 20 bass all over 3lbs!! mostly 5-7lbs but the smallest being 3lbs! got the pics to proove that too!! I do want to thank the shasta boys..that we fished next too for the tips. that was incredibly nice..Ive noticed that many bass fisherman are too serious and not friendly so thank you!!
      anyways..fish on action all day...maybe 1 hour pause but the fish were all deep. 2 boat lengths from shore in 25ft water. we were fishing with Drop shot robo worms in a shad like color. with about 8 inch drop. just boucing it down from 10ft -25ft shelfs.. also we were using kastmasters that produced alot too. but maining the dropshot hooking into them almost right under the boat. very suddle bite..tap tap tap..then a little pressure...felt very much like the perch that we were catching all day too. some nice big ones...if you like that sort of thing :) but a unbeliveable bass fishing trip..a touney guys dream! saw a few boats fishing close to us..but t didnt seem that they were getting the action we did..kinda funny seeing them get pissed and leaving.
      bigeest fish of the day was on a carolina rig. I casted it out and I got a HUGE black lash..I was picking it out for about 10 minutes and i didnt even get a chance to get it all out.. when my pole doubles over! A nice 7lb 4oz! it was so funny that that happened! :) Ill post pics some where on this site
      Thank YOU!
      City: walnut creek

      Tips: look for 25ft water on rocky shoes that have like 8-10 ft right off the shore! a good spot where everyone fishes is the little rock islands by the narrows..went there and fished by 3 other boats..with in 5 minutes a 5 and a 6 lber fish are in the deep...at least the big ones are.. DropShoT rocks if you shake and work it slow.. and use shad color 4-6in. carolina worked for the one fish...and we caught a few on spoons...but mostly dropshot... if you have no fishfinder.. 2 boat lengths away from a steep shoreline..is where they are at..

  • Yuba County
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      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I took a friend of mine to Collins today for an afternoon bite - hoping the warm afternoon would trigger a better bite than previous trips. Bingo - it did - in a big way!! The bass were biting a little when we started around 11:30 as I caught a 13 inch largemouth under the boat docks. That was followed by a 2 lb spotted bass and then a 3 lb 2 oz largemouth. I definately felt things were going in the right direction! Little did I know!! I lost the next bass on a west shore bank - snapped my 10 lb test! We saw the fish try to spit the jig - she was at least 4 lbs. After another nice largemouth was caught and released, around 2:30 pm, it happened! Collins is usually tough mid-afternoon when the water is clear and the sun is bright. There is really no shade around the lake. Only one big bass has come in my boat during those conditions at Collins and that was an 8-10 largemouth caught by a lady client - in late November, several years ago. I was casting the same brown/orange Rodstrainer jig with a #180 Yamamoto grub that had caught the previous 4 bass, in about 20 feet of water when my line just got tight. I was about 100 yards off-shore on a favorite rocky area in the main body. Thinking it was probably a bass, I set the hook. Wow! The line just kept moving!! VERY soon I yelled "get the net"! After about 3 1/2 minutes, my friend netted a bass that nearly made me freak when I realized it was a spotted bass! She tipped three scales at 7 lbs 7 oz - 3 ounces better than my previous biggest (at Collins) of 7 lbs 4 oz. What a beauty (photo on westernbass.com)! After photos, she was put back in the lake in prime condition! My friend didn't catch any this trip. after beating me during the last trip. My 5 fish limit was around 16 1/2 lbs. What a great trip!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: I think the bass are tired of waiting for foul weather and are beginning their fall feed. I saw several good fish on the meter in 20 to 30 feet of water, as well as 60 feet too! There are fish on the steep dropoffs at Collins and the underwater islands. Most of those are still underwater since Collins is about 10 or so feet above average for this time of year. In the afternoon, try to fish facing west, fishing the shadows that form above and below the water line. A cloudy day should produce better results, but as this big spot proved, miracles do happen!!

    • By

      Water Temp: 60-62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished until noon with my dad. We caught about 15, a 5lber, 3, and the rest were about 2lbs with some dinks. Lost an 8lber first thing in the morning. Our best five would have went 14lbs
      City: Delhi

      Tips: fish were in shallow early and moved out to about 20-25 ft later. Some were still shallow looking for bait.

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

      Report: Thank you Bigfish.
      City: Sac.

Tuesday, November 15th, 2005

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: high 50s

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished with another Fish Nut and potential relative, Kane Fong, that I met on this site. We fished Beaver, Hog, and Sycamore. Got action only in Sycamore -- 4 salmon (8, 14, 14, and 22 lbs - 3 of them had the nice silver color) and 3 keeper size bass (1+ lbs). Introduced Kane to cranking Rat L Traps for salmon and he caught the largest. Winds were minimal.
      City: Dixon

      Tips: 3/4 oz chrome w/blue back and bleeding shad w/blue.

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

      Report: Hey cn, The slot on Oroville is 12"-15". This means to keep a Bass it must be under 12" or over 15". Good Luck Bigfish.
      City: Cameron Park

Monday, November 14th, 2005

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 7 pm to midnight - had to leave early. Full moon, light fog, and high, thin clouds, air temp about 45 at start to about 39 when left, fair amount of dew. Slow but steady bite. Got 3 all under 2 pounds. Missed a couple of good bites - always give fish a second or two when using the largest Senkos before setting hook. Found fish both in coves and on main lake points mostly in about 15' - 20' of water. Had problems with moss and some weeds in areas making worm and jig fishing tedious.
      City: Folsom

      Tips: Get there earlier if you can - I couldn't. Days probably better than nights. Areas near steep banks/walls seemed a bit better.

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Cool... I read these report's and obviously none of these are about fishing... If we knew what we were doing.. with the water temp's and lately full moon .. My question is where are the big one's. I don't drop shot.. doesn't work.. waste of time in wind... crank. my freind's..boat 50 off bank.. and cast a deep diver.. chartruse and blue.. Have fun.. It work's...
      City: morgan hill

      Tips: the tip.. stay away from "Smaa" the shit that ya gotta cleean of the hook;s and swivels. Cast just short... or along side.. Oh hey like I said..fishing is fun.. some people get angry at these report's..if You get angry at me let me know.. last tip... white spinner, indiana, colorado..half ounce.. make sure ya got the trailor hook on.. good for 2 to 3 's out side of the line.. slow roll... good luck.. Zack

    • By

      Water Temp: ????

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I floated good old Contra Loma on Monday. Fished all morning with swimbaits with no takers. Gave in and broke out my drop shot rod and landed 15 in a couple of hours. I got one a hair under 4lb and the rest were a mix of 1-1.5. Paddled around the whole lake and hit all the main points. I did see a guy land a nice catfish maybe 6 or 7 pounds on what he claimed was catfish stinkbait. No other anglers that I could see on the lake today. The usual color(purple) was the ticket today as it has been lately. I am still waiting for the swimbait fish to come my way. I also caught a 21" rainbow in a rattletrap 12 inches off the shore right at the dam.
      City: Antioch

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

      Report: Can anyone provide information on what the slot limit is on the lake? I think it is all fish from 14" and under are to be relaesed. Is that correct? Thanks for the info.
      City: Sacramento

Sunday, November 13th, 2005

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62-63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I took a father and 14 year old son to Berryessa Sat to show them around and teach some techniques of the lake. It was their first trip to the lake. Too bad the bass wern't willing to help the teaching process! I was there last Friday in horrible post-front conditions and at least small bass were busting bait all over the lake. We only saw one small school of bass chase any bait all day Sat. No surface activity at all. There was even some cloud cover mid-day but it didn't help the fishing. I noticed that the boy was having bites on his rod but not connecting, so I asked him to use one of my Loomis 782's and that changed his life! His first fish on my rod took nearly 3 minutes to see and I finally netted a 3 lb smallie. Wow! And then a 2 1/2 lb largemouth - and then another - same size! I had a 2 1/4 spotted bass and within an hour we put together a limit near 11 1/2 lbs. We only caught a few others - very slow for numbers. Dad, for some reason, had one of those days and missed every bite he had. I thought the last hour of light would be great - it wasn't!! It was like they were on a one hour feed. The trip was worth seeing that smallmouth!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: As with many nor Cal lakes, Berryessa needs some nasty weather - bad!! The bass are used to a good cold front to kick them in the rear and get them feeding. Hasn't happened this year - yet. No cold nights yet. As the previous post mentioned, we found the willing bass below 35 feet. All of our bass were caught split-shotting in the narrows and around Big Island. Sharp drop-offs were a key - they are hanging out near very deep water - especially if the sun is bright. Clay-small rock areas are good. A purple Camanche Jack 6" worm was the top producer. I spooned a lot - no bites. No jig bite either. I guess bass fishermen better wake up and see what "our" government folks want to do with this great lake in a few years. I don't think any of them bass fish by the way. Hmmmmm - I wonder if I can drag a worm from a sailboat? Yea, the wind will never blow then!!!!!

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59-61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished on Sunday with an annual customer, Burton Lee and his three grand kids. The Lee's have taken a trip with me the past 3 Novembers in search of Stripers. Unlike the previous two years, the stripers were there for us on Sunday in a big way. Started in Big Break tossing 3/4oz traps in shad and bleeding shad. Young Kailyn hung a huge tuxedo on her first cast, it got the best of her after about a 10 minute battle. Two casts late she snaps up another fish, after a little coaching and 15 minutes, we boat a 10.5 pounder(Photo's page). We moved out into the middle of the break at 9:00am and found a school of much smaller fish. After 10 non-keeps we git 1 keeper and move on. I caught two in the 9 pound range in Ironhorse on a shad Stacee. Moved to the clear water of Taylor and managed four more shakers. Then proceeded to chase largemouth the rest of the afternoon and caught 22 on dropshots and four on the lizard. Biggest black went 4.5 pounds, with most between 11-13 inches. At 3:30p headed back to the Break for one more run at the stripers and had a double hook up of two fish close to 20 pounds. Too much confusion with the teens and both came unbuttoned. All in all, awesome fishing day with the Lee's! Take a teen fishing guys, it's the perfect receipe for a great day on the river right now!
      City: OAKLEY

    • By

      Water Temp: 55-59

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the Hook tourney today. Started off in Franks rippin pointer minnows and put a quick limit of 13" clones together. Headed down south and threw traps along grass lines giving us three more keepers to cull with. At the bottom of low tide we began flipping senkos/jigs off the ends of docks and were able to cull out some more. My partner and I each stuck a 5lb fish pushing our weight up to about 20 1/2lbs....good enough for the runner-up spot. Winners had 22lbs
      City: Tracy

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: What is going on at Conta Loma, I haven't been out in like 6 weeks. Any tips
      City: Oakley

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: 60-63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: WENT OUT TODAY WITH MY KID .WHAT A NICE DAY CLEAR WARM AN NO WIND.TOUGH AS HELL ALMOST THOUGHT IT WAS A HOLIDAY THOUGH .NOBODY AROUND TOOK A QUICK RIDE UPSTREAM STARTED TO SEE PEOPLE ABOUT HALF WAY'S UP.WENT UP TO THE 120 BRIDGE SAW A COUPLE MORE BUT NOT THAT WAS IT .ANYWAY'S WE TRIED DROPSHOTTING, SWIMBAIT'S, SPOONING AN NOTHING. STILL HAD FUN, ALSO BREAKING IN MY NEW PROP SO IT WASN'T A TOTAL LOSS. ANYTIME YOU CAN RUN A CARBED MERC OVER 70 MPH IT'S NOT BORRING. THE CONDITION'S WERE PERFECT,AND MY KID LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
      City: TURLOCK

      Tips: FISH LIKE HELL- CATCH & RELEASE- TAKE A KID FISHING

  • Mariposa County
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      Water Temp: unown

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing tough all day caught 2 fish one 2.5lbs. split-shoting brushhogs and crawdads.
      City: Kerman

      Tips: TRY UP RIVER

    • By

      Water Temp: 62-65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: fished by myself on sunday at mcclure, launching out of Barrett cove. started on the main body dragging 1oz hulas and dropshot. caught small fish shallow with a few 13-15" spots out in the 40-50 range. bite was tuff. ran up the river to explore the brush and found schooling fish but they were all 5inch blacks, no keepers. back to the main body for a few more dinks and one 16" spot in 50'.

      Tips: better fish seem to be deep on the main body

    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I have been fishing Nicasio for 20 years. Most people try for crappies or carp. This lake is full of fish. You must think like the fish in this lake.
      City: Richmond

      Tips: I caught a 7# bass on a minnow bait at the dam.My buddy Don caught a long catfish at the dam on chicken liver.I can only tell people don't give up on this lake.I can go early or late and catch something bass,crappie,catfish.throw everything including the kitchen sink. good luck!