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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Saturday, February 26th, 2005

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: decent bite down south,8 fish in the boat, best 5 went 13lbs., senkos and dropshot, fish were related to tules, bait had to have purple in it.
      City: brentwood

      Tips: tules near deep water and current

    • By

      Water Temp: 55-57

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Lanunched out of Orwood Saturday morning. Water looked pretty good. 1-2ft visibility. lots of debris in water. Water temps were in the low 50's. Started throwing spinner batis, for no bites. As the skies opened up hit some cuts and points out from Disco. Got a good hit on a senko, that was it for a while. My buddy got a nice striper, on a rattle trap. We moved quite a bit as other boats. Everyone was moving trying to find fish. Moved up to Mildred Island for a couple of bites-Nada. Water temp up there was 57' warmest we could find, and a bit clearer-still lots of debris.The was very little water movement today, very weak tide.We fished after a full moon. The fish could have been foraging all night-who knows-just a thought.Ended the day with one nice striper, all in a great day. Spring can't get here any faster-! Tight Lines,
      Sean
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Fish slow, spring is around the corner, bites we did get were pretty close to shore 3-4ft water.

    • By

      Water Temp: unknown

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: friend reported 7 fish from the bank on the north shore using 4" plastics. just thought id share. most were cause dropshotting, but the other were using a small split shot 18"s above the hook working it slow.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: slow for now, wait till the water worms then the fish that feel like snags start hitting.gotta love them fiesty spots!!

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

      Report: I haven't been fishing in a while and hoped to catch something, but nothing was biting. I thought it was me until I returned at the end of the day to discover there was only one recorded catch of the day, a six lb. bass. One fish on the whole lake! Regarding the weather, this was only the second day of sunshine after heavy rains for a week or so. I noticed there were carp everywhere along the banks. I've experienced times like these where carp move in to clean up the house. I don't know what could have been done to change the situation. I hope it's not like that the next time I go there. Such a beautiful place!
      City: Los Angeles

      Tips: Avoid Fishing On Carp Day!

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 51-53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished friday evening for the last two hours,breezy so we threw rip baits,cranks and swim baits in front of state park campground,got one 4lbs.Went out sat.mourning,very windy,white capping so we fished the wind protected tule points by the campgound,first fish on a blue fleck six inch yum rib worm 5lbs,next fish 4lbs same worm.my girlfriend karyn caught the next four fish on a wooly hawgtail,red shad by YUM ,ALL 3 AND 4 LBS.so i switched to the HAWGTAIL AND GOT 5 MORE,WE BOTH ENDED UP WITH SEVEN FISH A PIECE ALL NICE QAULITY FISH.
      City: ORANGEVALE

      Tips: FISH OUTSIDE THE TULES AND JUST INSIDE THE TULES,CREATURE BAITS AND WORMS,LOTS OF FUN CAN HARDLY WAIT TO GO BACK IN MARCH.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I went out using drop shot again. This time i caught two small ones on the island. I landed a 7.2 lb bass on the east shore though.
      City: Oakley

      Tips: Drop Shot

    • By

      Water Temp: 58@south end

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: coyote is still very full was able to get far in to the south end water was warmer and clearer got 4 good fish the bigest was 8.3 all on spinner baits covered lots of water only 4 other boats on the water
      City: santa cruz

      Tips: their letting water out of coyote at the rate of about 5' a week untill back to normal acording to the naping ranger

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Beautiful day on the water but the bite is still tough. Did manage a 5lber on a shallow diving crankbait given to me by guide Doug Clarke. He custom paints lures to match the bait fish.
      City: Salinas

      Tips: Don't hesitate looking up Doug on your next outing, he knows the lake and what the fish want.

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 54-56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: You ask for it, here it is. The Redwood Empire Bass Club held their February tournament on Saturday. Overall it was a slow bite for everyone, but every teams managed to weigh-in. Top 2 teams weighed over 16 lbs for 5 fish, 3rd had 14.65 and my partner and I took 4th with 13.99 lbs. Big fish was 8.22 caught on a suspending crankbait. Our big fish ran 4.3 lbs and was the 3rd largest. Because of the pre-frontal conditions most of the fish were caught on plastics worked very slow. We were drop shotting at 25'-40' on points. Grubs and jigs also produced if worked deep and slow. A few fish were caught on rip baits.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: As the weather improves this week expect the rip baits to start producing. Also try blades around the trees. If no reaction bite, work grubs,jigs or baby brush hogs on rocky areas or drop shot down to 40'. Best colers are are your greens and browns. Cherry Creek is a little warmer than Warm Springs right now.

    • By

      Water Temp: 49-53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out with my brother and the two boys. The boys had a great time even though we only caught 4 fish, that's what it is all about. Turns out a local Sonoma club was having a Tourney ~ 20 boats (with really poor launching skills from what we saw). Tried cherry first, that's how we found there was a tourney, you know a boat on every point and no problem at all with pulling right in front of you. Got a nice 3.4 in the first 30 minutes and my 7 year old could barely reel him in. Looked like the start of a great day. 30 minutes later a 1.5 and another picture of my son. That was it for us later my brother and his boy got a 1.5 and a 1.9. All fish came on plastics. Heard talk of an 8 pounder from the club and weights like 15 lbs. for the leaders. Maybe they'll post and let us know more about what was working and what was not.
      City: Pacifica

      Tips: Too bad more people don't post their results. I know there were 40+ boats out there Sat and my guess is that several will read this board for their own benefit but will not take the time to let others know how they did, good or bad, what worked and what did not. If you have a tourney coming up I agree completely, but if not why not share, we are all releasing the fish anyway and that is the purpose if this venue. Too bad so many just read and don't write. Good luck.....

    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Saturday - February 26. Fished with my buddy Jeff. Just like the past four months, Sonoma was predictable and fishing was excellent. The bass were tight on the banks. They have been tight on the banks for a long time this winter. Launched at 8 and was out by noon. We landed 8 smallmouths and 2 largemouths. The Ghost and six inch sinkos were still the hot lures. Had one fish I could not hold - must have been a really big largemouth. Took my bait in less than three feet of water. Forget jigging (drop-shoting). Some of the smallmouths are already group spawning. Many others have been spawning off and on over the winter due to unusually mild weather and warmer than normal water. This is especially true in our family vineyard ponds. Vineyards are pushing two or maybe three weeks ahead of last year. If you have not noticed, the acacias are already in full bloom - many weeks earlier than normal. A guaranteed indicator that the smallmouths are spawning. I love fishing this time of year - the lake level is perfect, water clarity is ideal and the hills are green.
      City: Healdsburg

      Tips: Fish slow. I burned less than one pint of gasoline for two hours on the lake. Work the brush along the shoreline for the big largemouth and the rocky points and shoreline for the smallmouths.

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 42-46

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: FINALLY...FINALLY...FINALLY!!!!! I went fishing today for the first time since early Dec. After shoveling snow for the last month and a half it was sure a treat. Trinity is always a beautiful lake, but with the snow right to the waters' edge, it gives beauty a whole new meaning. Got there just as the fog was starting to clear, and spent several minutes with a camera in my hand instead of a fish pole. WOW The fishing was a little slow and I really had to do some searching. The bass on Trinity this time of year are really tightly schooled and easy to miss. I finally found a good school and dropped a DUH Team spoon on em and watched a fish come up and meet it. First fish of the year, a solid 5 lb smallie. Well worth waiting for! I was afraid it might be a jinx but the next cast was a nice black so maybe not.
      City: Trinity Center

      Tips: It's hard to do on such a beautiful lake as Trinity, but you have to keep your eyes glued to the meter. The fish I caught today were in a school about the size of a pick-up in 32 feet of water on the corner of a rockpile that topped out at 24' and bottomed at 50'. If I'd have gone by 30' on either side I'd have missed them completely.

Friday, February 25th, 2005

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 47-52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Friday from 9-3:30. Not great, 7 fish top 5 for 7.5lbs largest only 1.9 lbs. Stayed in the south, sun never really made it out. Decent wind, conditions fine, just didn't find a pattern. Caught fish from 5 - 25 feet. 2 on a jerk bait, one on a texas rig, one on a Senko and the others on Drop shot. My guess is they were deeper than I was successsfully fishing. Nothing on a rattletrap or deepdiver or slow spinnerbait or Carolina rig. 25+ boats at Capel ramp. Good luck to the Future Pros, Vince does a great job!
      City: Pacifica

      Tips: Talk to someone who figured it out better than I did.

    • By

      Water Temp: 52-54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Water clarity was between stained and clear depending on location. I was out "guiding" I guess that is what you can call it. It was my 12-year old nephew's first trip. I also had my Dad in the boat (a trout troller). I did spend far too much time re-tying and educationg ... but we had 11 in the boat. The boy caught his first two bass ... two spots. A 1.2 and a 1.8. We had a coupld of nice smallies both around 2 lbs. No size to any fish. Like Larry, we caught them off of points and walls 15 to 25 feet down on plastics and jigs. Not a bad trip at all.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: The slower the better. Best bite was off of steep walls 25 feet down.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Whiskey. Fished senkos, flukes and lipless cranks with 1 fish to 2lbs. Tide was out and water was dead calm with no movement whatsoever. Everyone I talked to was having a tough day.
      Went up around Mildred area and found some clear water with current switched over to a white spinner bait with white blades. Solid hookups lots of 4lbers and 3 lbers best five went 18lbs
      City: Tracy

      Tips: Stay focused and find a pattern that works. If yesterdays pattern fails switch up you will be suprised. Tight Lines and follow that tide if you want fish.

  • Riverside County
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      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Whiskey. Fished flukes, senkos and lipless cranks caught only 1-2lber tide was out,water was dead calm no movement whatsoever. Went out to Mildred area to find clearer water with current. Busted them solid on white spinner bait with solid white blades. Lots of 4lbs and 3 lbs. Best 5 went 18lbs. Fish
      City: Tracy

      Tips: Stay focused. Follow the tide and find a pattern. If your pattern from yesterday don't work change up you will be suprised. Tight Lines

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 47-50

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Me and my brother fished all day on the 24th and caught about 17 fish with the biggest one being a 4.0 pound sm. We only caught one lm all day. Everything bit the dropshot and dragging tubes the best. Oxblood seemed to be the best color dropshot worm and salt and pepper seemed to be the best tube color to drag. The bite was a bit slow. The bite seemed to be around 40-55 feet. We acctually found a pretty good bite right at dark with a norman lure crankbait and a rapala jerkbait. On the morning of the 25th the first half-hour produced 10 sm. We picked up 5 more sm before noon and then hung it up. Nothing over 3.3 lbs. Spotted 8-10 lm on tops of shallow rock piles. Maybe they are finally moving in!
      City: Eureka

Thursday, February 24th, 2005

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50.8

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Redwood Empire Bass Club first tournament of the year was held last Saturday on the 22nd with 15 boats participating.The top team was Mark Urrizola and Steve Adams(angler of year 04')with 11.62lbs.followed by Chet Graska and Carson Riley with 11.01lbs.and myself and Brian Garland with 10.50lbs. including a 4lb.largemouth for biggest fish.All fifteen teams weighed fish with most of them catching limits.Plastics,rip baits and crankbaits all caught fish.Our next meeting is Febuary 9th at 7p.m. at the Rohnert Park Community Center on the corner of Rohnert Park Expressway and Snyder Lane. The next team tournament is Febuary 26th at Lake Sonoma.The club is welcoming new members both boaters and non boaters.Log onto www.rebc.net for more info or call me at 707-332-7597.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Be patient and work your baits slow in 15 to 40ft.Football head grubs, darter head worms and drop shot worms in dark earth tone colors with chartreuse tips all did well.Work reaction baits off primary and secondary points and vary your retrieve.The smallmouths are very active. Good Luck.

  • Ventura County
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      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I was the camera boat for Triton boats.After the shoot the writer for Western Outdoor News wanted to do a little Big Bait fishing. So to cut it short I caught a 6-pounder on a Huddleston Swimbait and a 4-pounder on a Optimum swimbaits. Then I had to go to work, I did want to call out oh well maybe next time.
      City: Camarillo

      Tips: Fish the Big Swim baits slow like crawl them.Also throw them in the sunken brush and hold on.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 50-51

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I did a real "teach the lake" trip yesterday with two great guys - eager to learn about structure. We spend the first half of the trip learning structure areas and fishing a little. We started at 10 am hoping for a good afternoon bite. It didn't warm up as predicted and an afternoon wind came up which later brought in some fog. Weird! We did get into a good rip bite - they had never fished Staycee 90's before! Caught lots of bass but none over 2 pounds. The chartreuse shad was again the best color. We returned to a rockpile that I said might produce a good fish before dark and the Weapon jig came through again with a 4 lb 11 oz bass. I think these guys will not be afraid to venture off-shore to find quality bass now! Wonderful day except for the wind.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: The bait is still moving a lot. Some areas that had bait a few days ago were void of bait yesterday - maybe because of the amazing weather Monday. I was able to drop-shot a few on shad color 4 inch Senkos. They hit those hard! The jig was brown/orange. As amazing as it is to me, I broke off another big bass - this time on a crankbait (purple haze) near Henderson Point. I think I need to change my crankbait line more often - it was 12 lb test! My drag was probably a little too tight. Who knows?!!