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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, April 17th, 2005

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56-58

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Thursday through Saturday last week camped at Hirz Bay so spent most of time in McCloud, caught lots of fish on plastics, Senko's catching the biggest fish had one 5lbs and lots of 2lbs.
      Fished the willows with Senko's and caught some split-shoting the points. color didn't matter as much as presentation
      City: Cameron Park

      Tips: Fish the willows slow watch your line if you don't get a fish in the first 3 or 4 casts move to another willow.

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 52 TO 55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: TOP 5 FISHERMAN- ALL FISHED THE UPPER END OF THE LAKE. WINNER LEE RIP A 6 POUND L.M.B. AND DROP SHOTTED A 7.56 POUND L.M.B.-BIG BASS OF THE TOURNAMENT. TOTAL 13.58 LBS.
      2ND PLACE PHIL USED A SWIM BAIT TO CATCH HIS TWO L.M.B. ONE 3.5 POUNDS AND ONE 6.19 POUNDS 2ND BIG BASS OF THE TOURNAMENT. TOTAL 9.67 LBS.
      3RD PLACE STEVE CAUGHT A-L.M.B. ON A DARTERHEAD AND A-S.M.B. ON A GREEN TUBE. TOTAL 7.28 LBS.
      4TH PLACE KEN RIPPED HIS TWO KEEPER.TOTAL 7.14 LBS
      5TH PLACE SCOTT WAS KEN'S BACK SEATER ALSO RIPPED HIS TWO KEEPERS. TOTAL 6.72 LBS.
      ALL THE GUYS CAUGHT OTHER BASS ALONG WITH OUR OTHER 33 ANGLERS, THE WEATHER WAS SUNNY AND WINDY.
      City: SHASTA LAKE

    • By

      Water Temp: 52-54

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Been on the lake for the last few days and things have finally turned around. Fished with a client Thurs who just wanted to learn the lake better. Fishing was slow in the AM but picked up as the day went on. Ended up with a 4.25 smallie and a 4.5 LM for top dogs, and hopefully a better understanding of Trinity. The last 2 days I took a fellow who is writing an article for a new Magazine called Lake Life. We struggled for a while but accomplished what he needed for scenery shots and when that was taken care of we managed to pick up enough smallies over 4 lbs. to give the readers an idea of what a great smallie lake this can be. I kept telling him that this was also a great LM lake and Sat PM we got back to the dock just in time for the Burney Club weigh-in where he was able to get a pic of an 8.56 LM. I heard that today the Redding club tourney was won by 2 fish @ well over 13 lbs, topped by a 7.36 LM. I think you could say that the fire has been lit. With predicted weather conditions of fair and warm weather for the next few days I suspect we'll experience some of the best fishing since Feb. I certainly intend to find out.
      City: Weaverville

      Tips: Bring whatever and fish wherever. If Trinity is truly turned on it doesn't matter what you throw. If it isn't turned on, it doesn't matter what you throw. Get my drift?

Saturday, April 16th, 2005

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

      Report: Fished fairfield suisun bass reapers open tourney this weekend. went out on friday and found fish on points and flats. sat. mostly mainlake points around downed trees look for beds in trees.weighed 7fish caught 12 8 plb. total bag with2 lb big fish. good weekend overall.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: use small 1/4 oz darter head with 6 inch worm shake away and feel for pressure then set the hook.

    • By

      Water Temp: 58-60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Today I took Ken Bull, regional sales manager of Save Phace, makers of the great Fish Hedz, or as I call it, my Blue Bonnet!! What an addition to my boating accessories!! Along with us was his lovely 14 year old daughter Jennifer. The idea was to get Jen into some nice bass and hope dad could keep up. Actually, neither Ken nor I could. After the first hour or so, the score was Ken - 1 small bass, guide - 1 dink, Jennifer - 4 nice bass including 2 smallies at 2 and a little over 2 lbs. Wow!! Dad and I would cast to the bank and retrieve our baits, while Jen would cast to the 15-20 foot level and slowly drag her split-shot rig until she set the hook. She was 4 for 4 - fought these bass like a pro! I had her using a 4 inch Camanche Jack twilight worm (purple/blue). Dad and I did make a move later in our 5 hour trip with me drop-shotting a 2 lb largemouth and Ken getting a spot almost that big. We ended with 16 in the boat and our 5 best were just under 10 lbs. Great weather (for a change), great company, lots of laughs, good father - daughter bonding, and some beautiful bass. Some folks have to live like this, and we did today! And watch out for Jennifer - you better hope she doesn't turn pro. She has the touch!!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Since the trip was going to be shorter, we started about 8 am, trying to stay in the shadows of Markley Cove as long as we could. It worked - for Jennifer at least!! Then we hit the narrows and looked for some early season mudlines. They did help a bit. We found fish on points more, but some walls with indentations did hold some fish. We went into the back of a large cove and did see some bass looking to nest. No beds yet!

  • Santa Barbara County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63+

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Water is cleaned up to reveal a surprise...Not as many beds as you'd expect. I fished W.O.N. Team on Saturday and it started right but went south. I was on to a flip bite in the Red pollen like stuff that coats the backs of little pockets. The ones that have water that ran into them a while back that are full of wood and branches but are really thick with the red stuff. I was useing a 1 ounce black flipping jig with a big 5/0 hook and a Black sickle tail 4 or 5 inch Power worm. I had used a Black/blue 4 inch power craw the week before for the same results.That tail moves alot of water and I got two fish in the first 30 minutes that were about 6+ pounds for the both of them. That was it! There were smaller fish to be had but I didn't need three more pounds I needed a least 9 to make a showing. It didn't happen. I caught shorts on dropshot and blades. My 2 fish outweighed a five fish limit so I would say the fish are in the spots that I'm fishing but you need to hit them all to get the numbers and I only had one more bite with ten minutes left on the clock but that fish dropped the bait fast. I am using an 8 foot rod and 65 power pro and I still missed that fish.The swimbait bite did not appear and this may mean the pre spawn girls are off the trout and onto the all you can eat craw diet for their egg developement. I didn't catch any of the skinny guys that were starving in the shallow water as in months past. Cachuma will Soon go off big time.
      City: Santa Barbara

      Tips: It is my belief that the better fish are in the jungle and you ned to change color after the first two hours to a more brown color with the clearer water. The big jig or a 3/4 oz. sinker if you plan on using plastics is needed to get into the spots. I have only dumped one fish on the big rig and that one fell off the hook at the boat last week. A 1/2 oz. white blade worked in the big coves and the river area Could be on or off. If you get wind you can slow roll it anytime of the day.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Last Saturday was the best with 15 lbs for 5 fish by 9:30 a.m. Got the monster 8 lber plus for more good ones. 16th was great also but the fish were a bit smaller. Still weighed a 6.5 a 2 and some ones. Don't know if it's luck or I'm just getting better at it but the last 2 weeks in the south have been my best ever. Got pictures and witnesses!!! It' might have been beter than 8...gotta check my scale!!! I also caught the same fish 2 times...how do I know? He broke me off the first time and the 2nd time my hook and line were still in his gut. Minor sugery and the fishy was on his way.
      City: San Leandro

      Tips: Caught the 8 on a Zoom green pumpkin lizzard with a 3/16 brass and glass Texas rig. The 6.5 with the same 6" lizzard and a small split shot using a 3/0 hook.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started out @ 10 am, fished till 1:30. The normal weekend 5 boats per acre, anyway, heres the five, 6.8 5.4 4.8 3.2 = 20.2. lota 1 and 2 lbs.
      City: bethel island

      Tips: strike kings plastics slowww open water, but be ready at the docks. Fish the wall @ dusk the bass push the bait up the wall hope this helps good luck

    • By

      Water Temp: 59-63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Had two clients out today, Randal & Bill, fishing was great, awesome weather but the catching was a lot slower than expected. Caught about 15 fish from the Break to Disco to Herman & Helens. Biggest fish of the day, a 7lb 7oz hen full of eggs came on a black blue Ziper in about 8 foot of wter. Next one was a 4 pounder client caught on a 9L Senko. Rest of em were all about 2 pounds and we caught em on Beavers, jigs, 9 Senkos and lizards.
      City: Oakley

      Tips: Even with the warming, we did not see too many fish up shallow, nor did we se any makings of beds in predictable areas. Later in the day, we did find one area that had a number of visable fish. Also saw a number of big bass cruising the weeds and troughs out in the middle of Big Break and Franks, we're close and they are just waiting ta bust up to the bank!

    • By

      Water Temp: ?? no guage

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I ran the custom Valco bass boat to the back of 14 mile sluogh to avoid the week end crowd.. Got 8 fish for ten bites. Kicker fish was 5 lber flippen senkos. At low tide late in the afternoon had fun catching bass on a zoom super fluke to 2.5 lbs. total wt. for best five was 12 lbs.
      City: Ladd's, Stockton

      Tips: Looked for calmer water and fished slow. Tules was the pattern for me. also out side edge weed line a low tide.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Ladd's about 7a.m. this morning and didn't go too far. I made it a point not to run all over the place today. Just pick some good looking banks and fish slow. Not much happening early on, just a few small fish in the 1.5 lb. range. Things started to change about 11a.m. when the catching really improved. Stayed out until 1p.m. when we got tired of putting up with all the wave makers and headed in. The final talley for my brother and I was 26 fish, 12 of those were 3-5.1 lbs. A pretty good day for us.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Brushogs,lizzards,shallow,slow.

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58-59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out for a couple hours early in the morning, (6-8am). Morning was overcast with rolling fog around 7:30. Cold morning made for a tough bite. Caught 4 cookie cutter bass of 10"-11", lost one about same size. Threw topwater, rip baits, jigs for no hits, switched to white spinnerbait caught one and threw smoky joe rat'l trap to catch 3. My brother arrived later to splitshot and throw tubes to catch two small dinks.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Wait for more stable weather for the fish to come up.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55-58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I fished the north end with a client on Thurs. We thought that would be better with the scheduled wind. That part worked out fine, but the fishing didn't. The sun was out, but it was COLD. Everybody looked to be wearing winter clothing. We only boated three bass on Senkos and jigs, though my client lost a nice one ona Senko. Friday, I took two fellows out on the south end and, in spite of big rollers and wind, we did boat 14 bass, but only up to 2 lbs 11 oz. Our limit was 10 or so pounds. We were split-shotting 4 to 8 inch worms and did get into a great tule bank bite in the rough water. We tried ripping and swimbaits, but no action there. Green Pumpkin seemed to be the best color again. It was nice to feel a little warmth in the air for a change!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We found bass in the tule banks that had a rock base. We found some bass on off-shore rock drop-offs, but not many. This week should be better as more consistant warm weather will prevail!

    • By

      Water Temp: 53-57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I prefished on friday for a Basin Bass Tourament on saturday. I launched at 3:pm out of the free launch at the Oaks. Very windy around Rattle Snake Island. We stayed along Hwy 20 side using lizards in 4 " June Bug. Some nice fish in 2-3 lb range.
      Our tourament was out of Redbud @ 6:15am with light winds, so I started in Jaco Cove with my partner Dennie using spinners and swim baits, no luck. So we switched over to a worm in brown cotors, picking up two keepers and 10 non so keepers. Moving north ,not finding any keepers. Went over to the hwy 20 side picking up more non keepers. A tourament out of lakeport winner on Friday had 42 lbs to win on swim baits. Our winning weight was 10.62 for Jim and Quency using a june bug lizard.
      City: rocklin

      Tips: fish slow around rocks with tules

    • By

      Water Temp: 53-57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I prefished on friday for a Basin Bass Tourament on saturday. I launched at 3:pm out of the free launch at the Oaks. Very windy around Rattle Snake Island. We stayed along Hwy 20 side using lizards in 4 " June Bug. Some nice fish in 2-3 lb range.
      Our tourament was out of Redbud @ 6:15am with light winds, so I started in Jaco Cove with my partner Dennie using spinners and swim baits, no luck. So we switched over to a worm in brown cotors, picking up two keepers and 10 non so keepers. Moving north ,not finding any keepers. Went over to the hwy 20 side picking up more non keepers. A tourament out of lakeport winner on Friday had 42 lbs to win on swim baits. Our winning weight was 10.62 for Jim and Quency using a june bug lizard.
      City: rocklin

      Tips: fish slow around rocks with tules

    • By

      Water Temp: 58-60

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Got on the water about 7am- beautiful day. The water started warming up pretty quickly, caught a couple in the morning off the west banks using texas rigged lizards and a senko. Took a break and went to the south end for a couple hours, came back to the banks and the bush I pulled the fish out of earlier was fully exposed, when I had left it two hours earlier i could only see maybe 1 branch sticking out. It was amazing how fast they were draining it. STOP DRAINING THE DAMN LAKE!!!
      City: Los Gatos

      Tips: Swimbaits?? Very soon...

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58-62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: went out sat and the spot i wanted to fish was taken, so i fished another spot waiting for the boat to leave...i was shakn my 5" senko loose from a submerged tree my line started to move and i set the hook. at first it felt like a decent fish in a tree as i had a hard time movn her outa that tree..i really got worried as i noticed she was pulling the boat towards the tree..with the help of the trolling motor and a lot of luck i was able to pull the fish free from the tree..then i got a really good look at this sow as jumped...she was huge..anyway after a couple of surges straight down, she finally tired and we netted her, and took some pictures...she was 10.5# and beautiful..held her in the water while passing water thru her and 30 seconds she kicked, swirled, got me wet and was gone..
      that was our first bite of the day and the rest of the day was tough: 2 trout, 1 squawfish, 6 bass..oh yeh, never got another bite on that senko....good fishn
      City: orinda

      Tips: if you want to fish for big fish, fish slow.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: My buddy and i fished plastics for half a day . Pulled in 10 largemouth . It was quiet windy . The dam was our best bet .Most of what we caught was there . Very soft bite . Del Valle rocks
      City: redwood city

      Tips: Bring your sunscreen

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I have to agree with you Rick. Well put!

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: First tournament, first time on lake,around 11 am while site fishing caught my biggest bass ever 13.8 on a Yamamoto creature
      City: Bakersfield

      Tips: Look for fish on beds