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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, April 24th, 2016

  • Yuba County
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      Water Temp: 62-65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I had a guide trip Friday and today - Sunday - a rare Sunday trip for me. There really wasn't much fishing pressure either day. Mornings were calm with bad winds both days starting late morning. I guess I should start with todays (Sun) trip as the father of my father/son trip showed son how it's done!! Did he ever - to the tune of a 7 lb 14 oz post spawn spotted bass. That's the way to start a trip!!! I had him fishing a morning dawn 6" Robo worm. When I saw that fish rise to the surface, I just about freaked!! Quite a tussle at the boat but I somehow got her in the net on the first swipe. After those Bullards spots spawn, they are still tall - top to bottom! After that, they just caught small ones up to 13 inches - smaller than the Friday trip. That trip started off well as I put a 4 1/4 lb spot in the boat and lost another big one which broke my line. In spite of the horrible wind that came up, we caught several keepers up to 2 lbs. The total bass caught on both trips was about the same, 25 to 30+.

      Tips: One has to assume that the bigger spots are only up shallow early and maybe late in the day. They just are hard to find now during the post-spawn. I was surprised that the Senko bite hasn't been very good - at least in my boat. It is hard to get away from the Robo worms - in 2 or 3 favorite colors, when trying to get clients into post-spawn action. Almost every cove now has flooded trees - some totally submerged. Wow - talk about cover. The lake is still rising - now about 91% - and should fill before long. Bullards Bar is a simply gorgeous lake when full - enjoy!!

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Big Break on Sunday with my buddy Tom. They predicted Gale Force Winds in the afternoon around 1PM but we blew out of there around 11AM before the wind starting to kick up. Was out on Dutch around 630 AM and the rollers were already moving in. Moved into Emerson to get out of the wind, with a slow moving outgoing tide. Between my buddy and I we caught around 14 LMB using wacky-rigged 5 inch worms (Stick O's and Senkos) in motor oil color and black. Largest fish was about 4.5 pounds with a number of 2-3 pound fish. My buddy threw everything out there, from crank baits to jigs. I even through out a R2SEA Whopper Popper but to no avail. The fish were only hitting slow dropping plastics. All were great fighters.

      Tips: If you're fishing the sloughs of Big Break, on a full-moon, remember to get the hell out of there before low tide moves in or you may get stuck. There are some place that are less than a foot of water. Also don't blow in too fast because there are at least 2 submerged tree branches that you don't see until really low tide.

  • Riverside County
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      Report: Elijah Lewis and his dad Elliott Lewis had fun shoreline fishing today! Elijah caught a 20.59 lb carp all on his own, and Elliott's bluegill weighed .93 lbs. They caught both fish using a nightcrawler near the East dam.

    • By

      Water Temp: 50-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went fishing yesterday using a swim jig and reaction inavation sweet beaver Texas rigged. Fished for 3 hours on the left side of dam caught 7. Biggest was around two pounds. This lake has a high population of bass and they are in the coves.

      Tips: Fish in coves and near brush.

Saturday, April 23rd, 2016

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We launched at about 7:30am at Spillway. We headed straight to south fork and started our fishing across the shoreline from Stringtown. It was nice and calm while we're trolling on and off using natural color crankbait (10-15ft divers) and suspending jerkbait. Our first catch off a crankbait was about 3-4lb. We caught around 20 fishes around the area (more smaller ones 8-10inches-12-13 inches). We traveled towards north fork and decided to fish along the banks, just a little north of Bloomer's boat in campsites. We were slowing drifting south while using Keitech swimbait and watermelon brushhogs. Brushhogs was hitting like crazy!! We fish about 8-10 feet off the shore. We caught over 50 fish along that strip of shoreline. It was a decent day of fishing for us!

      Tips: We use watermelon tiny and baby brush hogs rigged in a size 1 worm hooks (weedless) with a free sliding 1/8 oz bullet weight. Bass love em!

Friday, April 22nd, 2016

  • Solano County
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      Report: A great Time to remember to Join California Striped Bass Association! Need More Members that Love to Fish and Support this Great fishery! Join Here!
      Isleton Striper Trolling and plug casting has toughened the last few days. Water temps raised a bit this week and a few more stripers in the Cache Slough area responded. Trolling the Angry Eyes and Savage Preys is the best bet. Sturgeon anglers moved west .
      Rio Vista- Trolling is scoring many limits stripers and occasionally, a 12-15 pounder caught. Savage Prey and P-line Angry Eye lures are key for the trolling anglers. Red White Classic Shimmer jigs around pumps getting stripers. Shore bound anglers are scoring both species. The best place to score a striped bass or sturgeon remains Sherman Island in the area of the Power Lines, use Sardines or Red’s Bloody Eel.

      Walnut Grove . Bank anglers tossing shad and eel prevail for an occasional sturgeon or Striper those looking for bigger bites. Drifting live baits for stripers cracking the 10 pound plus keeps anglers smiling. Trolling Savage Prey baits colors 8 to 10 foot deep is key as the spring push starts up. The Dirty “D” is clearing its name and conditions are improving. Stay in the Wimpys area for best conditions. Best bet, Savage Prey and P-line Angry Eye lures.

      Discovery Bay The Bite is On! The black bass bite has continued rolling. Biwaa Sevens in Bluegill and RedHorse patterns rocking the Bed fish are around. Most Blackie anglers are sticking with Senkos and Tail Slapper swim baits paired with Fatsack Swim Jigs, Wind and overcast this weekend slow rolling Fatsack Tackle blades and Rat-LTrap Echos searching ledges near sparse tulle flats.

      Frank’s Tract Black bass bite is at a consistent pace warm days only helps the Big Girls bite. Hematoma Beavers on over cast days also working well. We found a few Stripers and Black Bass with top water and Chili Craw Red Eye Shad. Others looking to score are starting to crank Chartreuse Shad 6th Sense baits and Big Poppa’s are solid options. Keeper sized stripes are grabbing Bubba Shad a bit more this week and trolled Angry Eye baits.
      West Delta The stripers are here anchovies and sardines in many areas for bank anglers, Antioch Pier and along Sherman Island rd. Stripes to 18 pounds have grabbed Red/White Classic shimmer jigs. Trollers it’s getting started on both sides with Red Barn being the top choice, if they aren’t there move to the Eddo’s Side. Chartreuse patterns are the best bet.
      Contra Loma – Black bass have been biting on artificial baits/lures and nightcrawlers around the lake. Try a AC Minnow wake bait or a Savage Trout fishing is still consistent on the east side, north side of lake or from a boat with nightcrawlers, Power Eggs, or mice tails. Too many bank walkers popping Bass to 8 pounds off the beds.
      Los Vaqueros Trout action best bet. They are being caught in South Cove and Oak Point as well as Cowboy Cove. The baits of choice for shore anglers is garlic scented PowerBaits, nightcrawlers or Kastmasters. Trout average a pound and a half but range to over 5 lbs. Light tackle is important for catching trout with 4-6 pound test being plenty. There was a 1000 lb DFW plant on the way. There was also a 1000 lb Lassen plant this week. With the continuing plants, trout fishing has been holding steady with more limits being caught from all around the reservoir.
      Del Valle . Black Bass are on fire with anglers reporting having caught and released up to 12 bass. Most are smaller and in shallow water creating their beds. Best bet is still Senkos, either wacky or Texas rigged. Also try a plastic crawdad, on either a half-ounce, or a one-ounce football jig head. If you do catch a bass, please release it, as she maybe pregnant. Remember that by taking one bass, anglers could be taking thousands away from the lake, so please, during the crucial spawning period, release any bass caught. Trout have been active this last week. They have been in the shallow water; anglers are having good luck on Power Bait, nightcrawlers, Rapalas, mice tails and Kastmasters. Many anglers have reported catching their limits.
      Provided by Dan’s Delta Outdoors, 1625 Main St Oakley CA 925/234-4694 Follow us on Facebook

Wednesday, April 20th, 2016

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68=70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I took a father/son team visiting from the mid-west yesterday. They wanted to see and fish the lake. I'm sure they saw more bass boats in one day than they would in a year back home!! We visited all three arms, fishing different on shore and off shore structure. They caught a lot of bass - several keepers, but nothing big. Dad tried a sort of buzz-bait technique with a plastic bait he was using. Kind of a weird technique, but several large bass came up to look, No takers however. The lake is in beautiful shape and weather was perfect. The 3 day tournament will provide a variety of weather patterns - probably with some wind and rain.

      Tips: No tips before a major tournament.

Tuesday, April 19th, 2016

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66 - 72

      Report: Great top water bite on the IMA Little Stick, that lasted until 10:00am...just had to let it pause and then they would smash it. Most fish staged on shoulders of points. After top water subsided, a breeze allowed for a spinnerbait bite but those fish were committing toward the back of cuts. Threw a jig and stick bait but fish were smaller than the reaction fish.

Monday, April 18th, 2016

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: Yep, FLW is in town this week, and with the Lake at 7.59 feet Rumsey anglers are running around everywhere just hoping to figure something out, but it is not easy, and I guarantee you it isn’t what most expected. Really? Absolutely, this place has spun more than one good stick out this past 4 or 5 days, and what’s to come offers even more challenges.

      Water temps are now in the low to high 60’s with an area or two reaching into the 70’s.
      Bait is everywhere, mainly shad and fry is all over the place. So, obviously February did indeed harbor some illicit activity in the tules. As a result we have some pre-spawners, some spawners, and a ton of post spawn fish around the lake. I suspect the later will play a larger role than the others when it comes to this week’s event, just as I suspect it did this past weekend when CTT was here.

      The coming forecast for the remainder of the week is warm through Thursday with possible rain on Friday and Saturday. The other twist I eluded to earlier. What’s going to be the result? Well, with the continued poor bite down south, I’d expect the north end to get fairly crowded, but who knows, this one is gonna be a tough one to call.

      We made it out today for a six hour trip and we had to work for our 24 lbs of bed fish, and I mean work. Six fish total for six hours. Not your typical mid-April by any means,
      still, this lake has not been this alive in 10 or 15 years. There’s shad everywhere, tule perch, hitch, crappie, bluegill, black fish, silversides, and yes an occasional bed fish.

      All we need now is some clean water and calm winds……..it’ll happen!
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  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 61-62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at 6:30am at Lime saddle, stopped fishing about 10:30 am. Fished the west fork area out in the Nelson bar area. Damn, lots and lots of wood in this general area, be careful. Fished some old spots used to fish a few years ago and found fish at those locations. About half the fish on wacky weightless Senko's, the other half on roboworms, texas rigs. Found the better fish came from the senko's, the roboworms got much smaller fish today, a couple barely big enough to be fish. Managed just 18 fish today, largest at 14 1/2" with the rest 10-14". Water looked lousy in this area, much nicer in the middle fork. Seeing lots of carp in shallows, must be spawn time for them or they like eating the green growth that went under water. Pictures in fishing forum.

Sunday, April 17th, 2016

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64-70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched Paradise @715am at low tide...started in Columbia Cut but managed only a few dinks. Moved up to Little Connection and zip...killin' time for the tide to come in since we're not that good fishin low tide. Nothing on cranks or topwater though I'm hoping it turns on soon. Moved into St Francis and picked up a 1s, 2,s, a 3 and a 4....continued back to Columbia and picked up a few more 1s and 2s. Headed to Mildred (northwest edges) and again, a few more 1s and 2s. All on 5" senko-type baits...Stik-Os (Blk /red flk) and Big Bite Baits (watermelon /red flk)..bites were subtle in the morning ... line would just start moving. Toward afternoon and warmer water, bites were more solid. Ran back to Paradise and fished the section between the houseboats and 8mile road and picked up a nice 2.5. Senkos ruled but sure wish the crankbait bite turns on soon!

      Tips: Not qualified to give tips. We just tried moving out to 6-10 ft and looked for drop offs but still couldn't put anything together so we junk fished ... worked a stretch with cranks and topwater, then went back over the same line with senkos. Senkos got the hits. I coulda brought 1 rod. But who does that? Hopin a week changes things!

  • Riverside County
    • By

      Report: Congrats to Noah Guerrero on his 3.99 lb redear!! He was

Saturday, April 16th, 2016

Wednesday, April 13th, 2016

  • Alameda County
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      Report: 750 lbs. of trout was just planted into Chabot!!!

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 62-53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Drove to Bidwell so I could fish the middle fork, rather then launch at Lime saddle. Launched at 6:30 am, stopped fishing about 10:30 when the breeze picked up. Decent day, managed 24 spots this morning, Only one solid 15", 8-9 in the 14-14 1/2" range, with most other the basic 13-14" variety, and yes 2-3 dinks. All fish on wacky weightless Senko's, easy old man style:>)) Water is a tad warmer, 62-63 degrees, making the spots want to spawn. Love the middle fork! Pictures in Fishing forum

Monday, April 11th, 2016

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 67 droped to 61.5

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: From: Sidney Silberberg (bestguide@hotmail.com)
      Sent: Mon 4/11/16 10:31 AM
      To: Sidney Silberberg (bestguide@hotmail.com); lake b Peter Kilkus new (pkilkus@gmail.com)

      This time of the year is one of my favorite to go fishing the reason being that I can fish in shallow water and see the fish chase and hit the bait. Shore fisherman are doing well also because they can see the fish as they walk the shoreline and throw their bait where it will do the most good. Last weekend Jim and his son Joshua went out with me and had a good few hours out on the water and landed a nice 4 pound bass (see photo). The next day Albert and I headed out and caught a nice limit with the largest fish weighing in at 3.6 pounds (see photo). This weekend I took John out to an area of thee lake he had never been to. I showed him the bass nesting in the shallow water and there were quite a few nests he was fascinated. I went into a cove where we saw fish swimming and I cast out a Carolina rig set up and was immediately hit by a nice size bass. It was a beautiful warm day almost like summer but that evening it started to rain and the next day I went out with John and Albert wearing our rain gear and it did rain all day long. We caught a limit of fish right in the area where we launched the boat. We could see a large cement slab in the water and the fish were roaming in that area. John and Albert were drop shooting and I was using the Carolina rig and on my second rod I was using a River2Sea crawdad. Our last stop of the day was at the tree laying in the water in Willie's ski school and the amazing thing was an approximate 10 pound bass was swimming next to a one pound bass and of course we all tried our best to lure the big one or tempt her but to no avail but it was fun trying. We headed in for the day a little damp but we had a good time.
      'til next time..................................................good fishing!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

      Tips: I Love pro cure scents works all the time ,if you want more fish try it the fish hold on longer to set the hook

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: by ElGuapo » Mon Apr 11, 2016 8:13 pm

      Last week was a grind so I took a mental health day today.

      Launched out of Russo's at 8. Water was 62 degrees and stained but getting clearer. Probably 2'+ visibility. Fished inside the islands, protected coves, looking for spawners. Got a bunch of bites early on but couldn't set the hook. Caught some small ones then a 3#, few more small ones then a 5#. Great day out on the water. Weather was perfect, warm and no wind (when you got a tin boat, no wind is perfect). Felt like I had the whole place to myself.

      How did everyone else do?

      Watch vid: http://www.westernbass.com/forum/post561293.html#p561293

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: Clear Lake this week 4/11/2016

      Today the lake level rests at 7.64 Rumsey, above full pool of 7.53. Flows have been reduced to approx. 175cfps at Cache Creek Dam.

      Water temps continue to range from 60 degrees up to 68 degrees on sunny afternoons.

      Clarity continues to change daily as a result of the afternoon S,SE winds which have resulted in some significant wave action hitting the entire N, and NE corner of the lake, while other areas of the lake are dealing with pollen issues along the banks.

      These conditions along with the overcast and rainy skies have limited the bed fishing action of the past couple of weeks, and drop shotting, Carolina rigs, and jerk baits have begun adding numbers to one’s limit. While these fish remain on the slighter end of the scale, say 2-3lbs. it is the most consistent bite right now. The exception is when you can find cleaner water and the sun comes out. When that happens there are some good fish shallow.

      This week we have CTT here on the weekend, and the warmer, sunny skies should at least help some put 25+ lbs in the live well. FLW follows CTT next week, and with the forcasted sunny week, this one could be be a shoot-out. Still, in general the bite remains “haves and have-nots” when it comes to quality, and for the most part, the south end bite remains shut-down compared to most springs, as does the Rattlesnake arm.

      Obviously, this is in direct conflict with most springs. However, the bait has finally begun to break up, and I suspect we will see a dramatic improvement in the bite down south and in Rattlesnake once the water clarity improves.

      So, with the coming warm weather, and rising moon, the end of April could really be something special. Be safe and watch for debris which continues to move around the lake. Hope ya catch a bigun’!

Sunday, April 10th, 2016

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 66-68

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: So fished again TBT not with the same luck, our big fish were not biting for us. Last week hot and sunny caught 25lbs on the buzz bait in 1-5 ft of water on the flats with shade and something different (log, launch ramp, weeds, etc.). Sunday rainy and overcast, we caught em just no size, biggest 3.1. Tried the buzz, caught 6 around 2, but the senko was getting bit. We lost some fish at the boat going around 4 from 10+ ft on senko. Moved to another stretch no one around, made the mistake of trying the shallow bite again for only little guys. Just about to cross to other side to fish a deep tree I know about then boom another boat pulls right on it and sticks two 5's right in front of us. Demoralizing! We just didn't put it together. Oh well that's fishing the CA Delta.

      Tips: Don't get rattled, keep fishing hard. (Might be more of a tip for me)

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 61-63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Jones Valley both Sat and Sun mornings first light. Small tourney happening but managed to squeeze through the crowd of anglers. Rained off and on both days. Headed up the Pit and began the mornings by throwing dart heads with shad imitations (natural & rainbow sparkled). Second cast in a cove hit a 12 inch crappie. From there on it was nothing but exciting! We boated 86 fish total and missed/lost that many more. Biggest was a surprising 16.5" 2.8 pound crappie and an 18.5" 3.5 pound bass.
      My thumb was sore from lipping all the fish...

      Tips: Take a kid fishing they will remember it forever!