Submit
Report

Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Monday, January 25th, 2016

Sunday, January 24th, 2016

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: na

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Walked / hiked the shoreline at Brown's Ravine tossing a junebug 5" senko. Picked up a 13" smallie and a 14" spot. Was actually surprised to catch something much less two. The smallie was on the outside open lake side of one of the points I walked to. The spot must have just been cruising the shoreline and the senko probably landed on top of its head. Made me stay there an extra half hour but nothing else. Just had fun throwing a lure into Folsom lake again since we couldn't get out to the delta.

      Tips: Not qualified to give tips. But what I did.... fished slow. I was throwing out, letting it hit bottom, then walk a few steps and just drag the bottom, then stop for 2 mins., then walk again. Once I could see it was parallel to the shoreline, I'd reel up and cast at 45degrees ahead of the direction I was walking. Then do the same thing. got some good exercise too.

Saturday, January 23rd, 2016

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: From Cooch's Fishing
      The big fish bite was crazy on the River today, we got five toads, the first one being the only one that's worthy of posting. After nearly two hours of not getting bit with a black blue jig, I picked up the brown jig with the olive pork, very first pitch and was immediately rewarded with my first teener of 2016! That's the second 10+ ta fall for a jig in a week here for me! The bite was a slow grind, but really got good about 12:30-1:00p when we had that 45 minute gully washer of a down pour. I had Ray take a pic of the scale, 13lb 2oz, I'll take it!

Wednesday, January 20th, 2016

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: We have had lots of rain. Water level has come up almost 3 ft. 4 more ft. and we will be full. Storms have been warmer than usual and lake temp has been in the 48 degree range. Water is stained to muddy around creek mouths but mid lake remains pretty clear.
      Fishing has been tough for most but ABA last Sunday produced some good bags and it took over 26 pounds to win. Jan and Feb. are still one of the best times for a really big fish and there was 2 over 8 pounds in the ABA. Also heard of a 11.5 caught last weekend. Still lots of Crappie being caught deep.
      There are fish being caught on just about all techniques .Swimbaits ,spoons, ripbaits and dropshots seem to be the best.
      Hopefully the rains will continue and we will have a full lake to fish this year.
      Not to many people minnow fishing yet but that bite is there if you just want to have fun.
      Dave
      Clearlake Outdoors
      707-262-5852

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The day sure didn't start right. Went to the spillway to launch and the low water ramp was closed, so went to the main ramp, closed, with water right to the edge of the concrete. Another week it should be open. Went to the gravel bidwell ramp, closed, so went to the concrete ramp, and lauched. Talk about getting ramp-ed around!! So, yes, Bidwell is open for now, no sign of parking lot work!! Left the ramp at 7am, fished till 10:15 am. More wood in the water, so be careful. Slow bite as expected, just 6 spots, nothing of any size, but one in the picture was extra fat. Water was not too dirty looking in the middle fork. Lake has come up 39.63 feet since hitting low water mark back on 12/9/15, and a couple days ago, came up 8 feet!! that's one heck of a lot of water in just 24 hours. Pictures min fishing forum.

      Tips: Tried the 3.5" Yum baby christie critter, half the fish on this, kind of like the look, almost a craw like look. Others on roboworms.

Tuesday, January 19th, 2016

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: From Shasta Lake

      Holy soaked skies Batman!!! This rain has been tremendous the past 24 hours!!!

      The first 2 photos are taken two days apart, you can see that the water level is starting to shoot up rather quickly now. As a matter of fact, it has risen 3.36' in the past 24 hours (9 am to 9 am).

      The rain levels have been spectacular as well:
      01/16 - 1.97"
      01/17 - 3.65"
      01/18 - 1.47"
      01/19 (midnight to 10 am) - 2.13"...and climbing

      Let's put this into perspective of how much water this is...

      Last Friday, we had a storage of 1,569,318 af. Since then we have gained 169,561 more acre feet of water. That is the equivalent of 55,251,694,642 gallons of water...SINCE FRIDAY!!!

      Keep that rain coming!!!

      Lake Level Report (01/19/2016 at 08:00)
      Lake Elevation: 941.39' (125.61' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation (2015): 954.40' (112.60' below full pool)
      Storage: 1,738,879 af
      Storage (2015): 1,950,468 af
      Outflow: 1,070 cfs
      Inflow: 30,388 cfs
      Precipitation (24 hr @ dam): 2.48" (Estimate)
      Precipitation (Season @ dam): 28.21" (Estimate)
      Precipitation (2015 Season @ dam): 33.36"

Sunday, January 17th, 2016

Saturday, January 9th, 2016

Friday, January 8th, 2016

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Burr, darn cool this morning, glad I dress for cool mornings. Left the ramp at about 6:45, tossing worms about 7:10 am, stopped fishing about 10 am. Must be a tournament Sat, more bass boats on the water then I normally see. Slow bite as expected with the cold rising water. I only managed 4 fish today, nothing special in size. Largest spot 13 3/4" with the others right at 13", with one being a smallie. All fish taken right about 35 feet. I fished the middle fork and larger wood now showing, so be careful. Spillway ramp not nearly as long now, actually good except for the parking area, which is wet and muddy. Lake is now 19.94 feet up from low water mark, so were gaining at a good clip. Might be too rainy next week to fish, hope not!! but in a way hope so, to get the lake up. Picture in fishing forum.

Thursday, January 7th, 2016

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: From Lake Shasta
      Good afternoon Shasta Lake!

      RAIN! RAIN! RAIN!

      Although we have a break today, we have had some fantastic amounts of rain over the past several days! It seems that this is the start of El Nino! Here are the totals on the McCloud section:

      1/4 - 0.86"
      1/5 - 3.34"
      1/6 - 2.03"
      1/7 - 0.05"
      Monthly Total - 6.28" at this location.

      The ground is saturated and the runoff is plentiful, rising the lake faster than in the previous month. Fortunately there is more rain in the forecast. Long term forecast suggest that there will only be a couple more sunny days this month with the large majority consisting of rainy days. February seems to be the same. This is excellent news for Shasta! In comparison, 2015 only saw two more substantial rainfall totals after today's date. One in the first week of February and then again in April. All of which is good news for the replenishment of Shasta Lake levels. Currently we are sitting 32% capacity and steadily rising!

      Keep the rain dances up! grin emoticon

      Lake Level Report (01/07/2015 at 13:00)
      Lake Elevation: 923.62' (143.38' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation (2014): 952.07' (114.93' below full pool)
      Storage: 1,474,918 af
      Storage (2014): 1,849,144 af
      Outflow: 2,058 cfs
      Inflow: 10,133 cfs
      Precipitation (24 hr @ dam): 1.42" (Estimate)
      Precipitation (Season @ dam): 20.07" (Estimate)
      Precipitation (2014 Season @ dam): 32.83"

Tuesday, January 5th, 2016

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52-53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: So, who would be dumb enough to guide on a Monday after a 3 day weekend? Well - me, I guess. They sounded like great guys on the phone, so we went - out of Markley. This was my first time to guide on my private lake - yes, Lake Berryessa. No kiddin" - we were the ONLY rig in the parking area!! We saw one other boat - all day! I think that was a first for me in several decades!!! The bite was slow of course, but with the 8 rods they brought, something should have worked, and it did! They had about 8 to 10 hits and landed 4, the biggest a 2 1/4 lb smallie. I caught a largemouth about 2 lbs. The lake was dead flat calm in the morning until a big wind came up as the next front moved in. That killed the bite, but we stuck it out 'til 5 pm.

      Tips: Tips are tough since they threw all types of baits all day. Their biggest smallie was caught on a Senko - I think!! Very hard to find any bait on the meter, but found a few bass sitting on the bottom. I did hook a good bass trying a Blade Runner spoon, but lost it. The willing bass we did find were in about 30-50 feet of water on steep bluffs. The lake has not come up any - as of yesterday. Maybe the rain this week will help - lets hope!!

Sunday, January 3rd, 2016

    • By

      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Well, the recent rains have helped this poor, low lake. Last report I heard was it was at 7% capacity. I can tell the recent rains have risen the lake about 3 feet. Several of the abundant islands are now under water (drive carefully!!). Fished for about 5 hrs. with the wife. Fished plastic worms and managed only one bite and one fish...but it was a toad, just over 6 pounds. Nice day on the lake.

      Tips: Fish Slooowww.

Saturday, January 2nd, 2016

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: by ElGuapo ยป Sun Jan 03, 2016 10:38 am

      Launched out of Russo's at 9 thinking it would be warm enough. Froze all day anyway.

      Dropped a P-Line spoon through several schools of fish and couldn't even snag one.

      Finally caught a short striper on A-rig around 1:30PM followed up with a nice 4# bass on a jerkbait an hour and a half later.

      Not a ton of action but just happy to be out on the water and catching anything in the freezing (relatively) cold. :D

      Happy New Year!

      Watch vid: http://www.westernbass.com/forum/post555467.html#p555467

Wednesday, December 30th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Bite is surprisingly wide open on reaction baits, blades, cranks, ripbaits, jigs and of coarse dropshot all producing. if you are tough to brave the cold mornings you can be rewarded with some stud bass right now.
      best depth has been 8-11ft. no problem getting 20 or more bites a day and mid- high teens for 5 fish

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Woke up today with 1/2" snow on the ground, thinking, am I sure about going fishing, yep, going to toss worms anyway. Launched about 6:30 am at the spill way, got to fishing spots in the middle fork and had my first fish a tad after 7am. nothing special fish, but heck any fish this time of year is good. Fished the morning out and only had 4 small spots barley 13" Stopped at a rock pile that went under from the water rise and picked up my fifth fish, a decent 16". All fish taken about the 35-40 foot mark. Slow bite as expected, work baits slow, as the water was right at the 50 degree range. Off the lake at 10:30 am. Minor wood floating, so be careful. Fish picture in fishing forum.

Monday, December 28th, 2015

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I've been out the past three weekends with very little success. The water is on the rise with a slight stain to stained in some areas. I've tried from 1ft to 80ft using just about everything from rip baits and a rigs to a dart head, jigs and everything in between. I know someone out there has figured out how to get the big girls but i'm definitely not one of them. All i can catch is rats. I'm pretty sure the lake is on a turnover or the inconsistent weather has given the big girls lockjaw. Yesterday the ramp was iced over so be careful launching the boat. 4x4 was necessary after a few boats launched and the ramp froze. Fish have been scattered in all depths but the 15 to 30ft zone seems to be where the majority of bait is holding. Tried main lake points, secondary points, bluffs, cuts, you name it. Lots of suspended fish as well.

      Tips: 4x4 if its below freezing and watch out for debris floating in the lake. yesterday was the first day in 3 weeks the lake had a lot of wood floating around. Be safe and have fun.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched from orwood at sunrise. Jogged down to lido bay. Started off tossing jerkbaits at the slips saw 1 dink follower. Then started to drop shot the pylons zip. About 11 picked apart each dock dead sticking a jig with short hops stuck a 3.2 and a 4.1 back to back casts. I couldnt believe it. No real patter took off. 2 fish 2 bites that was it.

      Tips: Wear gloves and fish slow real slow. Slow as you can it sucks.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: Don't know

      Report: Just want to thank Larry for his reports ,
      Larry is way more hard core than most of us half his age. Thank You Lunker Larry.

Thursday, December 24th, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Well, someone has to do a Christmas report! Buddy Mike and I went to Clear Lake Tuesday afternoon. We looked at the lake while the whitecaps roared! Jimmy, at CL Bait and Tackle said: Well, it was calm 'til you got here!! So Mike and I looked at the lake again and then he said: "You have a 521 Ranger, let's go for it!" So we did. Actually, the ride wasn't as bad as it looked. We fished a few spots on the west side of the lake and found a calm spot off Frazier Point. We fish for about an hour there - Mike was throwing a swimbait out in deep water and actually hooked one and soon I netted his 5.88 lb bass. The trip was worth it! He had another hit - I think I had a hit - and that was it! We decided to call it a night - at dusk - 5:30 PM!! Brrrrrr!! Winter arrived during our boat ride back to the dock!!

      Tips: Mike's bass was very deep, maybe about 35 feet deep. We saw deep fish on my new Gen 3 meter, not sure what they were. Saw very little bait. Hope those bass enjoy their new cold water for Christmas!!

Friday, December 18th, 2015

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: From Shasta Lake
      Good evening Shasta Lake Fans!

      Enjoying this this wet weather...rain and SNOW!

      The lake is rising! grin emoticon We reached around 155' below full pool for our low this year. The recent rains stabilized and even saw some elevation raise. With this series of storms coming through, we should see the lake jump in elevation quickly!

      Even though we have had a few storms come through, they have not delivered a large amount of precipitation. This looks as if it is going to change with an anticipated 2-5" of rain expected this weekend. Since midnight last night, the McCloud has already received 2 inches as of 2 pm...very promising numbers!

      Although the comparisons below paint a dim picture, we did have extremely heavy storms in December last year which skews the snapshot that we have for this winter.

      Regardless, it is raining, snowing and the lake is rising! We are keeping our fingers crossed that this is just the beginning of wet and wonderful winter! grin emoticon

      Merry Christmas!

      Lake Level Report (12/18/2015 at 2:00 pm)
      Lake Elevation: 915.32' (151.68' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation (2014): 927.57' (139.43' below full pool)
      Storage: 1,361,442 af
      Storage (2014): 1,531,010 af
      Outflow: 4,139 cfs
      Inflow: 4,024 cfs
      Precipitation (24 hr @ dam): 0.02" (Estimate)
      Precipitation (Season @ dam): 11.10" (Estimate)
      Precipitation (2014 Season @ dam): 28.26"