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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, April 24th, 2005

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      Water Temp: 59-63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great day on the pond. Caught 23 fish up to 5 lbs. Most of the fish were caught on deep diving rip baits off of shallow points. The fish were suspended in ten feet of water just off the edge of just about any flat. There is bait everywhere. Some parts of the lake are stained and others are clear. I caught all of my fish in the stained. I think them letting water out is making the fish suspend. I saw a lot of bare spots in the rocky areas. I hope them dropping water right now did not ruin the spawn. There was a lot of beds and no fish on them.
      City: san jose

      Tips: Throw a suspending rip bait out and rip it down to it's maximum depth and then let it sit for a bit. evry fish that I caught hit it while it was stopped. The fish would just grab it and swim off like it was a worm. ( no detectable strike other than line movement.)

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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Good day at the Coyote. A three pound bass for me on a 5" Hula Grub, and a 2 pounder for my main man Jay "Chaka Kahn" Hann on jig/sweet beaver trailer. Not too much action, but good for a couple of 4:20 float tubers.
      City: Belmont, CA

      Tips: Bass shallow, relating to submerged trees, etc., on east shore. Try it out, Jerky.

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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished for a couple of hours just before sunset. Managed one dink on a salt and pepper grub. Anyone know about the striper fishing in this lake?
      City: San Jose

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 58-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished dry creek and saw hundreds of fish back where the creek comes in. got a hit on the fluke but nothing else till we got further away from the creek. saw a lot of bedding males and some red tails. in cherry fish were looking and towards the sunset the females came to the beds. we got a lot of small males and a 4,4.2 and 4.7 almost at dark, ended up with 31 fish and a couple of big panfish a blk crappie goin 1.3.
      City: Pacifica,CA

      Tips: dropshot works, use it with cut tails and roboworms. dont let the bedding fish see you unless it is a single male on a bed

Saturday, April 23rd, 2005

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 61-63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: With the rain here again and it cooled down the trout bit was good. We went in the back of coves looking for the bass on beds, not finding any. We went draging a green pumkin 4 " lizard in 10-15 ft getting 8 1-1.5 lb bass. no swim baits, no jigs just draging slow. Fished around down trees with senkos finding small smallies. Stay with browns/greens for now.
      City: rocklin

  • Mason County
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      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tough day. Caught 10 bass - largest 2lbs. Caught them on 4 baits. 1 senko, 3 spinner bait, 4 rip bait, 2 carolina rig. Only pattern if you could call it that would be grass lines on the main lake in 15 ft of water. Could not get anything up shallow and nothing in the coves. It rained on and off all day.
      City: Foster City

      Tips: Keep throwing different baits at them and keep moving. My best luck came along the main lake shoreline.

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      Water Temp: 58-64

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Got on the water at about 1 pm, did well on the south end. All between 1-3 lbs on a junebug senko. The bite was best when it was raining, when the rain stopped so did the bite.
      City: Los Gatos

      Tips: Fish tight cover- lots of fallen oaks that hold schools of bass....mostly small though.

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

      Report: Fished in the north part of the lake towards Putah creek. Fishing was slow first thing in the morning but picked up later and was pretty steady until we left. Hooked about 10 bass, inluding a few that I lost. Some were pretty small but a few nice ones came through including a big one that got away. Some fish were in around 15 feet of water off the bottom, but most bites came not too far from the bank. Bites were more aggressive than they were the last time I was out in March. I only had one molasses bite. The rest were pretty obvious. Jigs and drop-shotting were most effective. Most of the action was in and around coves, but rocky banks produced a few too. A couple crappies came out of the brush on my tube jig as a bonus for the grill. To top the day off I did a little trolling in the main lake which produced a small trout for the grill. A 1/8 ounce kastmaster did the trick for the trout. It was a great day on the lake!

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

      Report: A somewhat good day, about 8 fish to the boat, biggest 3 1/2lbs. Using drop shot plastics and nightcrawlers. Tough bite, tried several different areas.

      Tips: Slow presantation is the key here.

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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Woo Hoo!! Sean and I went out on Friday evening, started around 4, left at 7, between the 2 of us we caught about 30 bass in ONE cove!!! Fishin slow and draggin on the bottom, we were pickin em off every other cast!
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Usin a pearl green paddletail, clear and purple glitter, chartreuse/blue, they were hittin pretty much everything we threw at them. Fish slow and deep. Catch and Release!!!

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

      Report: Caught two LM bass by the tullies in Honker Bay from 10 to 11am. Both were about 1 lb. Not huge but at least they are biting. I caught them using a 4" purple senko hooked wacky style.
      City: San Leandro

      Tips: Tullies in Honker Bay. Purple senko.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 56-60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Larry, the Future Pro Tour had their event there Saturday, 200 teams. My son and I fished Rattlesnake area (with several others) and stunk it up. We cought a fair amount of fish but all small. I had a particularly bad day, lost a couple on a lucky craft early, no reason I could tell and then another on a Senko about 4# and we never really recovered. Worst performance I remember in my limited experience. Two keepers, is all we managed. 22.7 won the event and 11.88 was big fish (bed fish). Did not get a chance to prefish but Vince mentioned the seminar Friday was helpful to several anglers.
      City: Pacifica

      Tips: Develop a pattern for a cold front BEFORE you start fishing.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 58-60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I guided a client to his first bass fishing trip ever Wed and fished with my fishin' bud Rick Tietz on Friday. We had a nice trip Wed, landing 15 bass, 13 of them spots. My client picked up split-shotting pretty quickly, though his hook-sets were "far and wide" early on. Luckly he got the hang of it since he needed to land his 2 1/4 lb spot and his 2 lb smallie. He caught 6 or 7 and now knows what he's been missing! We fished from Granite Bay to Beals Point and on the near side of the peninsula. We started about 10:30 am and quit at 6:30 pm. Though we missed the early bite (if there was one), we did well in the early afternoon. A big cloud settled over the entire lake in the later afternoon and seemed to shut down the bite. If we had been able to fish 'til dark, I think the bite would have been good. We did find a big school of bass in some willows, landed about 7, and then saw the whole school swim under the boat, which was in about 4 feet of water - maybe 30 fish. Some of the spots were up to 4 lbs. What a sight!!! A good trip overall. Friday, Rick and I started about 10 am from Granite Bay and fished several of the same areas and around dike 8. Fishing was spotty, some here, none there. We returned to the school of bass I had found Wed and they were still there. We each caught quality spots with Rick getting a 3 1/4 pounder. I had one near 3 crunch a Yamamoto Kreature bait. We were split-shotting, shaking 6 inch worms, drop-shotting Basstrix minnows near willows, ripped a few, and had a couple of hits on spinnerbaits when the flat calm lake became an ocean in 20 minutes at 40 MPH winds came out of nowhere. One of the most amazing weather events I have seen in my 40 years on the water. Two hours later, the lake went calm again. Amazing!! We wound up with 20 bass, only one largemouth. I tried topwater after the lake calmed before we left and had one big spot roll right over the top of the Chug Bug. I hope she works on her aim for next time!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We found bass both trips near rock and dropoffs. Most of the fish were in isolated or near-isolated willows. The key is looking for deep water nearby - as in creek channels. That is a spring key of solving the Folsom puzzle. The fairly shallow island tops didn't seem to have many bass on them. It was sad to see all the goose eggs that had been recently laid, under 4 feet of water, with the parents swiming over them, wondering what happened. The lake is coming up rapidly now.

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: bass classics club tournament. 2 day event card system with golden rule board. Started up south fork. Caught 8 over the slot? Best 5 12 lbs. Came in 5th place saturday. Big ones came on 4 inch morning dawn on 1/8 dart head poured by mad dog tackle.Two over 17 inches. Rain and clouds all day fish were in 40 feet. Smaller ones 15.Brass amd glass wood all day for smaller spots.
      Sunday returned to same area caught a 17 1/2 inch spot right off. Added a 15 and 16 and rest 14's. Had 10.40 lbs sunday moved up one spot for 4th overall? Guy who won J. R. Taylor senko's and wacky rigged worms in backs of coves. I think he had 24 lbs for 2 days. Bite early was great for 3 over 17 inches before 8 o'clock.
      City: orangevale

      Tips: Let your dart head hit the bottom. Fish slow. chanage colors of worms frequently if bite slows down. Don't know why but spots change whaat they like all day? My partner had 16 lbs and all different colors. 4 inch up to 7 inch worms.

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

      Report: fish crazy is right. I live there and have watched the tournaments kill the lake. go to Oak flat during the weekends in May and see how many dead fish are weighed in during the "tournaments". wasteful

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 57-60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Friday-Sunday with the Redwood Empire Bass Club under clouds and scattered showers throughout the weekend. The bite turned out to be tougher than expected. Tried blades, crankbaits, rip baits, but not much luck. The best reaction bite we had was early Sunday morning when we caught 5 keepers before 8:00 on shad colored cranks. After that the bite died off. Saturday, my partner caught a 2.48 spot on a crankbait near some willows. The best action we found was in isolated willow trees tossing senkos. Not just around the trees, but you had to get the senko in the small pockets between the branches. The closer in, the better the bite. Just drop it straight down and watch your line. We averaged about 8 lbs a day for 5 fish.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: The senko bite really kicked in after 10:00 when the sun peaked out and the water warmed a couple degrees. Be sure to use at least 15 lb test when working in the willows to pull out those spots.

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      Water Temp: 58.6

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Jones Valley at 0515 used moonlight on this great morning to find the houseboat from Silverthorn in Fort Creek Coves, picked up my client at 0530. Started with blades on long point in Fort Creek, not even a bump,fished several humps and points with no success before giving in to fishing the willows, had client throwing a Zoom weightless trick worm while I threw a jig My client caught three small fish and I changed to the same worm and promptly caught two more moved across the lake to Bear Cove where we caught several more including 2.5 spot, my client caught one fish on a dropshot and the rest of our 35 fish came on the zoom trick worm. No luck with dartheads or jigs. Dropped off my client at 1230 enjoyed fishing with you Greg, you are a good fisherman.
      City: Redding

      Tips: Not all the willows hold fish but most of them do even if you can't see them

Friday, April 22nd, 2005

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: LAUNCHED OUT OF RIO VISTA FISHED AT CACHE, PROSPECT AND IN FRONT OF VEIRRA'S ALL FISH CAME ON CHROME RATTLE TRAPS NEAR DROP-OFFS ON ROCKS

      Tips: CRANK AS FAST AS YOU CAN AND HOLD ON

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      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Left the house at 4:00 p.m weather was warm shorts weather. Launched out of Whiskey at 5:00 p.m and the wind was howling blowing the opposite direction. Decided to head out to Mildred while all the other boats were coming in. Reached Mildred and the swells wer at least 2.5 feet. Man what a sight that was. Fished the back side flipping tight to cover and in the weed holes catching several fish to 3lbs. After braving the storm for two and a half hours the weather pattern changes again becoming calm as glass in Mildred. Started fishing blades with fish up to 6lbs. Headed back into whiskey and started throwing topwater behind the weed pockets catching small bucks. Best five went 18lbs.
      City: Tracy

      Tips: Wear your P.F.D you never know what the Delta will do with all the changing weather patterns we have be experiencing. Stay safe and success to all.

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      Water Temp: Low 60's

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We launched out of Ladds and decided to fish some new territory in the morning. Started the morning in Whiskey Slough and caught a 4lber on my 2nd cast. Then, fished Mildred and Discovery Bay. Decided to fish some familiar territory in the PM so we headed to Frank's Tract. Got there about 2:30P and did some fishing before the wind started to howl. Decided that we need to head back to Ladd's ASAP. By the time, we got back to Ladd's, we were soaking wet.

      Fishing wasn't bad. Ended the day with 13 keeper size bass (best 5: 16 lbs)
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Fish were tight to cover. Caught them on spinnerbaits and rat l traps.