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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Saturday, April 30th, 2005

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hit water with the wife at 9a.m. Went to same places I fished in tournament south fork. Wife catchs a 18 inch spot on salt and pepper 4 inch grub mad dog 1/8 dart head.We caught and released over 50 spots. My tubes worked really well today.Last week it was worms. Tried a new hook that lets you dart head weedless. Works really cool on 4 inch worms around wood. Oroville outdoors has them. There out of 3/16 and 1/4 so hurry for the few 1/8 left. Works on 4 inch grubs too. Should be a killer addition to my tackle box.It has a worm hook shape with a black head.
      What a cool place to take the wife to catch fish and relax.Funny how the river had a strong wind and the main lake was calm? Kept changing colors again when the bite slowed and it worked again?Salt and pepper tubes then brite orange tube with green flakes for a while.Sometimes no bite sometimes they bite all the little finger off.
      City: orangevale

      Tips: Go have fun. Lake is on fire right now. If it;s windy use 3/16 dart head. Water is gin clear.Small bucks are everywhere. I was using 4lb test on a little crappie rod just for fun.Caught lots on small green road runner.If grubs arent killing them switch to rubes or 4 inch worms. They are there.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: fish the sac arm fri,sat and sunday. fished all 3 days fom mid afternoon till dark. the bite was hot as soon as the sun went down. from 5 pm on. caught over 50 spots on fri. went threw two packs of robo worms. the fish were biting them in half or just taking them all together. most fish were hitting on the drop. boy they were schooled up! had 10 fish on 10 casts at one point. they maybe small but they are fun to catch. i am only using 6 lb test on ultra light tackle. my biggest spot on fri was a little over 3 lbs. they seemed to be only wanting one type of worm . 4 inch roboworm in the sculpin pattern. redish brown top with off white belly. sat and sunday were good too. saturday produced a good 30 + fish and sunday was around 30 again aswell. sunday i did catch a couple smallies. for the most part the fish are small and super aggressive. fun for light tackle.

      Tips: roboworm in sculpin pattern brown to red colors... 4 inch... back coves, flats that coinside with steep drop offs, submerged brush and trees.

    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Lunched at bridge bay 0530, fishing with clients, father and son team from Sacramento area. Started on the south on name island throwing topwater and a white blade, son gets bit on third cast and lands three fish before dad or I get a fish then we started catching good 1.5 to 2.5 fish. Next stop halfway cove
      where son continues to kick our butts catching two fish to our one, he is catching them on anything I give him to throw, blades,ripbaits hula grubs,worms spooks and jitterbugs. Decided
      to run up the Sac arm to fish the railroad bridge where we got several more. I am really impressed with this young ability to catch fish using the differnt technics. Dad was a very good fisherman. but this kid was awesome for a 16 year old. All total we caught a lots of fish appoximately 100 with the biggest going 3# best five appox. 12.5. Out of the water a 1500. It was a pleasure to fish with them and I feel cofident they will do good in the up comming Future Pro
      City: Redding

      Tips: Start them young

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 58-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Just got home from a 10 day trip and wanted to post a report.My partner and I met John Gray at the launch ramp at 6a.m. on the 26th and were looking forward to catching some big smallmouth. My partner hooked a nice 3.5lb.SM in the first hour and I cranked a 2lb.LM and a small SM.My partner was cleaning my clock as his next fish was a 4LB.LM. As John said the fishing was slow in the a.m. but the action picked up after lunch.I got a 2LB.SM right after lunch and then John saw a big SM swimming in the shallows and I immediately threw my bait and landed a beautiful 3.8LB.SM. We then proceeded to catch another 8 more SM up to 2.5lbs. My partner and I hadn't fished Trinity for twenty years and John was really helpful in showing us the lake and the best baits to use.I highly recommend spending a day on the water with John.His knowledge of Trinity is second to none and he's treats you really good. Also he makes a great lunch.I definetly will return and fish with John again.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Hire John Gray as your guide and you will catch a lot of great fighting smallmouth and largemouth.

    • By

      Water Temp: 66

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught a total of 3 bass. Two must have been a couple getting ready to spawn. Caught the female first, then came back to same spot and caught the male about 20 minutes later. Caught biggest one, close to 2 1/2lbs.
      Only fished for 3 hours.
      City: Los Gatos

      Tips: Crankbaits, slow !

Friday, April 29th, 2005

    • By

      Water Temp: 58-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Arthur- I agree with you the consistency of huge fish seems to be a little off. However, I know there are big fish in this lake because I have witnessed them being caught. All of these larger fish (6 lbs & up) that I've either caught or seen caught have been super late- mostly around 1-3 am, and I'm not totally sure why. I've had some really luck the past few weeks, while it seems others are doing very well. Who knows..... but the line we use does probably have a lot to do with spooking the fish since this lake has so much pressure. I can count on one hand the amount of evenings I've fished the Coleman bridge and not had at least 3 other fisherman around me as well.
      City: Los Gatos

      Tips: Good Luck

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 59-65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had a productive day with a new to bassin' friend Terry.We caught smallies and largemouths to 2.5lbs.Ended with 16 fish, best 5 were 12.5#.Caught em on jerkbaits,rattletraps and senkos(green pumpkin) Fished the northeast shore most of the day.
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Had about a 5#er bust me off,Check your knots after each fish.

    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Nailed the crap out of the crappie!! Huge ones too!!!! We camped there for 3 days at Buckhorn. I got about 20+ bass. Every singe one was under 12 inches! Has any one caught a keeper there? My biggest crappie was 2 pounds!!!!
      City: san bruno

      Tips: Small bass were hitting all day and crappie would only bite in the early mornung

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

      Report: Saw more fish today than in weeks past. Reaction bite is picking up with a few on the blades and a few on the plastics. Saw a few fish on the beds in pairs. Were on the move now and the action is heating up nicely.
      City: Santa Ynez

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: high 50's to mi

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Hog Slough, Sycamore Slough, and Frank's Tract. 3 of us caught 16 keeper size bass (best 5: 14 lbs), a lot of 11-12 inch bass and ton's of small bass, 1 striper (6.5 lbs), and 1 turtle. Bass caught on spinnerbait, rat l traps, and plastic. Striper caught on a white spinnerbait (had a 6-7 lb striper hit a white/char buzz but lost fish at the boat). Turtle caught on a rat l trap (somehow hooked the shell just above the head - still can't figure how it could happen).
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Fished inside/over the weedline during high tide and outside the weedline during low tide. Fish are tight to cover.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: went out this weekend and caught a few. nothing really big. I used a popper in the morning and missed some pretty nice ones but landed one. Also caught a couple off drop shot. Again this weekend i saw some guy keep a nice bass over 5lbs, and the worst part about it was he hooked it in the tail. If these people are gonna keep a bass that's bad enough, but at least catch. dont hook it.
      City: oakley

      Tips: try a reaction lure early in the morning because they were jumping like crazy.

    • By

      Water Temp: 67-70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The bite if finally picking up. Had a 25 fish day on Friday. Would have been better if I had figured things out a little sooner. Fished brushy pockets on the main lake. Flukes and senkos caught most of our fish. Saw some bedding activiy. Even had one small fish eat a white trash sweet beaver that I tossed on his bed. It should only get better. I didn't have much for quality. Best 3 fish went around 3lbs each. Did see a guy lose a 8 lber and talked to a couple of guys that caught 2 fish over 5lbs. I had just fished over that 8 lber. I think I needed to slow down a bit and fish that senko out a little deeper for those prespawn females.
      City: Clovis

      Tips: Fish seemed to be on the outside edges of the pockets. Look for banks that have sand and rocks that do not have much of the sping weeds. Conditions are looking good. The lake is full and has been stable for a couple of weeks now. Fish should get real happy this week.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 62.0

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got a bit of a late start this morning and finding a place out of the wind was challenging. Fished North Fork. Water has come up six feet since last weekend. A bit slow, but in three hours I had six fish, all spots, three of them in the 2-3 lbs range. Saw a few big fish crusing 2-4 foot shallows near rocks.
      City: Loomis

      Tips: Submirged rockpiles.

    • By

      Water Temp: High 50's low 6

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Mather for a few hours today and was pleasantly suprised to see a bunch of bucks along the banks! First I threw a frog no takers, went to one of my hand poured beavers in a golded color and nailed a 2.5lb off a bed walked around teh back side of the lake and fished the frog some more 2 small blow ups and one 4-6lb which came all the way up to the bank and took off. Walked all the way back around the back and front again got 4 more fish on the beaver in a gold color. Fished a small swimbait had some fish wack it could no hook one! All fish came on the beaver about 3.5 hours for 5 fish all 2lbs or better.
      City: Sacto.

      Tips: Don't spend to much time with the frog if there not hitting it. And don't spend too much time sight fishing bed fish because most of them have alredy been cought. Bring a boat or tube

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 61-64

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I guided an energetic senior citzen yesterday (I am resuming my guiding at Pardee), who's goal was to catch a 5 lb smallmouth. Well, he almost got it except for two problems! It was a largemouth and it was 3 oz under - at 4 lb 13 oz. On 6 lb test Trilene!! Those Shimano drags are great!! This was his first big bass and he was excited anyway!! We had a great day in weather conditions that varied from dark rain clouds in the morning to a rather warm, sunny afternoon. We caught 12 largemouth and 7 smallmouth - 2 were under 12 inches, the rest were all good quality. Our best 5 were pushing 14 lbs. The only technique that worked consistantly was split-shotting Berkely and Camanche Jack 4 inch worms. He got the near 5 pounder on a green pumpkin Berkley Pulse worm. We fished the main body until the rain let up, then went into the river arm for the rest of the day. We looked for beds but didn't see many, mainly because of the clouds and breezes. So, we caught all of our fish honestly - no bed fish, har! He had such a good time he wants to go again in two weeks - so - talk to you again then!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We caught most of our fish on the edges of points and near the backs of coves. None in the very back of a cove, probably because the lake has dropped a bit. Average depth of our bass was 20 feet - a few as shallow as 10. As the afternoon wore on, more fish were caught on the points. My biggest smallie - near 3 pounds - was already spawned out. The big largie was not.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62.4

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: A coworker and I ditched work early to meet another coworker, Mike, who is on vacation, fishing with his brother who is here from So Cal. Got in the water at Bailey Cove at about 10:00 am. Just a light breeze blowing from the south. Mike and his brother went to the main body and fished between the Squaw and the McCloud on the north side of the arm. My partner, Erin and I went up the McCloud. Stopped first at a cove east of Hirz Bay and threw a rip bait and a spinnerbait with no takers. We fished first over submerged willows on a point at the entrance to the cove. Switched to a #1 M/F worm and landed a few shot ones. Moved to the back of the cove, into the willows, and threw Senkos for a few more short ones. Left that spot to fish the west side of the arm, north of Hirz Bay, and landed several fish on the next three coves with willows in the back of the cove. The first three coves I hooked one fish that was 3 lbs. + in each cove, in the willows. Also hooked a bunch of short fish, but nothing in between. We saw several good fish cruising around willows. Went back to Bailey Cove to meet another couple of other coworkers, Greg and Scott, that came out after work. We had a litle over 10 lbs on only three fish. Mike and his brother had 10.63 lbs on their best 5 which they caught on senkos, but not in willows. The wind picked up to between 5 and 10 mph. Headed back out to fish until 7 pm. We went back up the McCloud, Mike and his brother went back to the main body and Greg and Scott went to the Squaw. We stuck with fishing the willows and our best 5 weighed in at 10.38 lbs, with Erin bringing in a 3.44 spot for the best fish of the day. Mike and his brother only were able to land only three keepers for a little over 5 lbs. Greg and Scott had some decent fish, but not of much size. All in all, a good day of fishing.
      City: Palo Cedro, Ca

      Tips: Use senkos on the willows. Bright colors seemed to work best along with watermelon/pearl. Get in tight to the willows. If you're not getting hung up once in a while you're not fishing close enough.

Thursday, April 28th, 2005

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58 depending on

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: this lake is either on or off...trying to find them. is tuff... water is up..they are scattered.. Last time I was there. two dink's.. threw everything at them... where the hell do they hide? went back all the way. past the bar had to listen to motorcycle's ... that doesn't bother me.. If I had a tip I would give it to ya
      City: san jose

      Tips: Hey if any of ya have some tip's on the lake let me know.... cuz it sucks never going back.. how's anderson

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Checked out the lake for about 5 hours today and saw some big females crusing and some males on beds. I fished worms and jigs for 13 bass, mostly spots. Several over 2 lbs with the biggest at 2 3/4 lbs. Bass are pretty tight to cover.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: It was fun to throw a Chartreuse Senko near crusing bass and watch them come and eat it! I thought a 10 lb female was going to take it, but she turned away at the last second. Darn!!!!

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Aaron and I hit the water today around 1430, we started in the back cove with a couple smaller fish on jigs. We moved around to a couple spots near the island and not much action there two fish one Aaron cought around 2 lbs and I stuck one finesse fishing that went 9lbs 4oz. After a good healthy battle and a couple jumps I managed to land her. Beautiful fish full of eggs.
      City: Pittsburg

      Tips: There are no tips or tricks to fishing this lake. Just spend your time on the water and figure it out. Like stated before purples and craw patterns tend to produce here.

    • By

      Water Temp: 60-65 (water Lo

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tough day, managed 2 bass, biggest maybe 2 lbs, both caught near launch ramp-dropshotting flirt worms in the road kill, and spring break patterns. Water is still extremely low. No bites on north side. I met 2 great guys- Tom from Pittsburg, and Aaron both are excellent bassers, both have posted here before. Both of these guys practice catch and release. If these guys decided to keep their bass, the meat fisherman would not have any fish to keep. Also like D. Gillian noted in his post- not all bobber fisherman are meat fisherman. I more direct this towards the knuckleheads that keep anything they catch no matter what. As previously mentioned those KNUCKLEHEADS probably don't read these posts. If guys like D. Gillian, Tom, Aaron, Alex Meine, myself, my nephew, etc decided to keep all are fish, we could clean out this lake good. CATCH AND RELEASE.
      City: Hayward

      Tips: finesse worms, drop shot rigs, hope the water level raises.