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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Tuesday, September 7th, 2004

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 77.6

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: last night trip of the year, 102 in town, 83 at Packers at 745 PM, the lake is 90 ft down and folks are starting to see some things they have never sen before, started throwing a spook on the way out and caught one on it and had two blowups if you could call them that, all small fish, went to the darter head and the MGM #23 for 5 more by the time I got out side and the bite quit at 2030, nothing till 2130 when it got going again for 5 more and no size to speak of, 2 rigs in the lot when I got there and none going out at 2230, air temp at 76 on the way out, I am glad the summer is over, my reports wil be much fewer now as I have some local tournaments coming up. e-mail for info if you care to.
      City: Redding

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

      Report: ANY NEW REPORTS OUT THERE FOR TRINITY LAKE??? INCLUDING WATER LEVELS.
      City: Coast

Monday, September 6th, 2004

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 80

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: dfhyhjgk
      City: Oakdale

      Tips: tyj

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Temp: 60-70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I went out at 7 and immediatly caught a 3 pounder on a yellow buzzbait. Later in the day about 9 i caught a 5 pound largemouth right off of jackrabbit flats. All my fish were off buzzbaits.
      City: Santa maria ca

      Tips: use a buzzbait in 3-10 feet of water. after about 10 top water is slow try a drop shot with a four inch senko

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great year so far striper fishing. Sunday the 5th my friend Frank and I started out towards Pittsburg in Honker Bay and four fish into it, I stick a nice 8lb striper, then a few minutes later the hooks pulled out of a 10+ pounder. So I was pretty pissed. Caught a few more dinks while fishing way up towards Mothball fleet. I made a quick cast to some tules that came off the main bank about 15 ft,(nothin) I made a second cast 10 ft to the right of that and BAM!!!! My half ounce rattle trap came to a dead stop. I saw a huge swirl and I knew I had a hog. After a 10 minute fight on 15lb test I subdued a 29lb striper. High light my weekend. But it continued into Monday. The next morning my father who is not going to be out done. We go out and start up towards, our first stop yields nothin. 20 minutes later we're in our second spot and its going well. With some really nice fish in the boat to 12lbs. Im workin the trollin motor while my father is talkin smack. I make a cast and my rattle trap goes flyin snap. So I sit down to tie up. ANd the next cast my father makes yields him a 31 lber. Oh my unbelievable, I was beside myself but I was happy my father got him one. So later that day my friend Frank wants to go out and to make an already long story short, he sticks a 25 on a zara, and we've got matching pictures of some delta hogs.
      City: Oakley

      Tips: Never stop casting and good fishin

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Chesbro on labor day, very hot day 100deg, fishing was slow, caught a few dinks on rattle trap and t-rig robo worm. Nothing on drop shot, was marking fish on finder but they weren't hungry.

      Saw this one guy with a 24 lbs catfish on a stinger that he caught at 2:30am on an anchovie, possibly a lake record. He was chatting with a park ranger about it.
      City: Morgan Hill

      Tips: Fishing should improve as we head into the Fall season. More reports to follow.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: Never looked

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got a chance to venture up here for a night guide trip on Sunday. Fished with Jim and his dad Don. When we started out it was very hot and balmy due to the fire to the south and lots of boater traffic in the south arms. Needless to say out early evening bite was slow and we managed two topwater fish, both on the Cicada frog. Then I got stung by a Yellow jacket that climbed down in my shirt, thank goodness he popped me on the opposite side of my heart, man that stung, burned, swelled up and itched all night long, might have been a blessing, better than any redbull and kept me up all night. We were'nt gonna have any moon till after mid night, so we began fishing deeper ledges with brown 1/2 oz jigs with a black Yamamoto single tail grub trailer. We started to then catch some nice three pounders, but it still seemed very slow, so I moved us over to Konocti resort to fish around the lighted area. Turns out it was lit well for the Alabama show, we spanked fish in here from the courtsey dock all through the front of the patio, putting on a special show for the crowd out on the rail. No giants, but a lot of fish in the 2.-3.5 range, fat porkers they were. As the moon came out we vacated to some other areas and the bite just kept picking up. Dropped dad off at 1:00am and Jim and I ran to some areas in Konocti & Jago and began catching a little better quality up to 4.5 pounds now. We never put the jig down until we pulled up and left at 9:00am. Great trip, we caught so many fish it was just too furious to try and keep count.
      City: Oakley

      Tips: The jig bite here is still off the hook. And although we didn't fish a lot of areas, a clear pattern was established that provided constant bites at every place we stopped. Shallow, rocky banks with a slight sloping bottom or a flat bottom at 6-7 feet. Any type of structural change or ambush cover, held the better fish over 4 pounds. All the fish came from 0-6 feet. During the night, we put a ratle on and fished the jig fast and erratic with the black grub, during the day light, we removed the rattle and changed to a the 164 grub. The day fish clocked it on the fall every time. On this trip, we never got bit below 10 feet, simply because our jigs never got that far!

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 69-73 deg

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Jim Ryan and I launched out of Granite Bay @ 6am, the first in the water. The lake is at the same level as 5 days ago. About 10 ft. in front of the ramp. We headed into the north fork south side using top water, no luck. Cranking at points and steep walls, no luck, light breeze. Using split shot and a "white ears weapon" 6" worm getting the next four spots and smallies 1-2 lbs off long rocky points in 10 - 25 ft. The morning skiers are slow coming out. At 9:30 we moved out to the wind sock, drop shot a oxblood 6" robo worm and picking up another spot. Our five bass wt was 8.5 lbs. Home to see the New Fisherman's warehouse in Rocklin on Granite drive. They will be open in a few weeks.
      City: rocklin

      Tips: after the sun hits the water, fish deep in 20-35 ft slow.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: launched the boat around 7 with my buddy for some moing fishing. Caught the first one around 3 pounds on a white spinner and the bite was on. after the fist fish caught about three more 1-1.5 lbs each. went to the oposite side of the lake and started throwing spinners. at about 10 the big mama hit the spinner. When it jumped i knew it was the biggest bass I'v ever seen or caught. I cant believe we actually landed a fish that big. my guess was about 10-11 pounds and i could hardly hold it up with one hand. we forgot the camra but i at least have one witness. after we released it we caught about 8 more bass that were not that big. also a dink on the senko
      City: Petaluma

      Tips: tie a few spinners on for morning fishing and keep tossin them out with a slow retreive. You will do fine if you keep throwing your comfortable baits constantaly. Stick to two pattrns at the most

Sunday, September 5th, 2004

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went up to Sonoma friday morning at about 0800. Was worried about getting a late start, but found fish right away off of points and thick grass beds in about 10' of water. Ended up with about 20 fish total, 18 came on a deep running crankbait in shad color, and 2 on a dropshot. Was a pretty good day until i came back to the parking lot and found the drivers window on my pickup smashed in. Had 40+ cds stolen plus my wallet and cell phone which were in the glove box. Was out in my float tube at Yorty when it happened, and i was the only car in the parking lot when i got there. The sheriff said that this has been happening a lot lately at yorty and the main launch ramp. DO NOT leave anything valuable in your vehicle, because it may walk away on you. Nothing was visible, but they busted out the window anyway. They also ran up over $800 on my credit cards before i had a chance to cancel them.
      City: R.P.

      Tips: The crankbait bite is hot right now. I couldnt get any to go on topwater, but they are chasing shad all over the place. All fish caught were fat and healthy and looked like they had been gorging themselves on shad. Be careful what you leave in your truck, some piece of $#&@ might decide to take it.

Saturday, September 4th, 2004

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: started off fishing old river near Tracy, flippin beavers, only got one fish, around a pound or so. continued south and started tossing a 3/16 strike king spinnerbait, wow, what a change,boated 10 keepers in the next hour and a half, outgoing tide, tight to clumps of grass.
      got out sunday afternoon, couple on the blades but the bite was alot slower, more pleasure traffic and heat,so headed up by the Tracy blvd bridge, throwing a crystal shad speedtrap. tight to the bank in the shade, got 4 there, with a 6 1/2pounder thrown in! what a fish, second biggest ever for me, and it took the entire bait in it's mouth, bout 2inches in, was fun to unbotton that one.
      all in all a good weekend.
      City: Tracy

      Tips: saw lots of boils and small bait flying out of the water, they're chasin smaller fish, thats why the 3/16 blade.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished 14 mile slough and found a good wall. Worked it hard for a while and probably squeezed out at least 30 fish before 11am. I had good success drop shotting a 4" lizard and robo worms but seemed to target a lot of smaller fish but 3 of my 3 keepers came on the drop. My partner worked the outside of the second weed line with speed traps with some success. I fished the same area last week and didn't do much until I picked up the drop shot rig and immediately started picking up fish. You really gotta shake it sometimes. I had several fish that didn't give me the "tap, tap" but picked up and went the other way so watch the line. At the very end the fish really started to pick up on my partners split shot rig.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Don't be afraid to try something new if you're not gettin bit. If you're drop shottin, use firm sweeping hook sets, I learned this one the hard way to the tune of at least 3 or 4 break offs. Colors that worked for us were almost anything with purple or purple flake.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 72 Night

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great Labor Day weekend at Lake Place Resort and I took the S.O. therefore I had to put a leash on my Ranger; at least some of the time. Fished day on Saturday from 8:30 till 2:00 pm for 17 fish the largest 5.11. The best 5 that morning was 12.7 lbs and everything came on a 1/2 oz. football jig in orange and blue. Fished the ledge, highway 20 side at Glenhaven on the breaks at 12-17 feet. Saturday night was the best night fish for me this year. The bite did not start until after the moon came up, around 11:30 and lasted till I quit at 5:30. Biggest fish landed 10.03lbs but I lost one at the boat that dwarfed that one. The fish actually opened up a 5 ought Gami off shank round bend hook. First time that has ever happened to me. The ole girl first tried the prop and then the trolling motor at which point I stopped the drag with my thumb while moving to the back of the boat. Oh well, talk about exciting. Best five that night went 27.9 lbs on the cull enm rite. No fishing on Sunday and started the night fish at 7:00 pm and quit at 1:30 am . Too tired to wait em out. Only 10 fish Sunday night and totally different than Saturday. The largest fish was a suicidal 4 lber that jumped a foot out of the water to smash a spook before dark. It was SLOWWW after dark on Sunday night, lots of tail bitters and dinks. Slept in a left Monday around 11:00
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: The day bite is as good as the night still. Talked to a tourn. friend, Harry and his wife picked up a 11.2 on Sunday Morning, fishing a Brush hog. I still will take the grave yard shift this time of year, cool and peacefull. The open hooked 1/2 oz football hulla grub type arrangement is working well for me. I used an orange skirt and a small Yamamoto blue craw as a trailer. For my night bite 8 inch yamamoto grub in black blue flake or black red flake, florida rig and in the future a bigger hook. The muscadine brush hog is cheaper and worked just as well if ya use plenty of smelly jelly. Cranks picked up some good fish too.
      Given my steller performance on the Delta Last tourn. 3.5 lbs, I needed this trip. By the way The carp rolled like mad on Saturday night and not one rolled around me on Sunday. Maybe Lunker Larry is onto something with his carp theory. Also, the 10 lber spit up a bluegill the size of my hand into my live well where she recovered for her photo oppurtunity. Maybe the next full moon will find me dragging a swim bait.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: fished island pond for the first time and it was my second time out in a float tube and i did great! caught five bass(my first limit) one was only a half pond but the other four ranged from 1.5- 3 pounds
      City: livermore

      Tips: use roboworm leech in purple/green rigged on a small octopus hook with a split-shot up about a foot. let it sink to the bottom, then reel in slowly and if you dont have a fish by then, reel in faster until it gets to you

Friday, September 3rd, 2004

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 76+

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished this lake for the 2nd time in two weeks. Bite was consistant as the week before, about 20-30 fish between my partner and I. But the wind was a bit much to bear. When allowed to fish, bite as pretty good. Caught them on rocks w/ texas rigged worms in green weenie and oxblood colors.
      City: San Francisco

      Tips: Stay out of the wind and fish slowly in rocky areas and under docks. Texas Rigged plastics worked well.

Thursday, September 2nd, 2004

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 73-74 degrees

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Boy, was it blowing yesterday (winds 30+ mph). The 3 of us was hesitate about going out, but decided to do it since we were there. Launched out of paradise point at 6:00A and fished where the wind took us (disappointment, 14 mile slough, and 5 mile slough). Off the water by 1:00P. For the conditions, was amazed that we caught 13 keepers (largest - 1.5 lbs).
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Stayed close to the levees to get some protection from the wind. Used white/char or white spinnerbaits and shad Rat L Traps. Had to ride the trolling motor most of the day.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: seems I forgot to give the water level in the last report, got a few inquiries concerning that. The level stands at 88 ft down and releases have slowed considerably. Didn't go out this AM as the north wind kicked in at 25 knots with gusts to 30. ramp conditions as follows: Centimudi-2 lanes, Jones Valley- on secondary ramp(asphalt) lane and a half, Bailey Cove out of the water, Hirz bay in-2 lanes but very muddy. Antlers is out, Sugarloaf is in with 2 lanes. Packers- 2 lanes, All open ramps have floats in place.
      City: Redding

Wednesday, September 1st, 2004

    • By

      Water Temp: 72*

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: fish deep around drop offs
      City: s.j

      Tips: throw white spinners

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

      Report: Larry stafford-i read your post and i know how to tell if its a carp or a bass trust me!It was not a carp it was a huge LM bass.Ihave some nice pics but cant figure out how to post em here.And yes i caught the monster on catfish stinkbait i thought it was wierd too.Ive caught crappie on trout power bait too.I gave one of my pictures to one the bait shops near m and m campsite.
      City: red bluff

      Tips: Its TRue no joke!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • By

      Water Temp: 75-80

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: just got back today. Here it is. Find a rock pile, toss out a float so you don't drift off and start tossin' a 1/2 oz white spinnerbait. Important to slow roll and bump the rocks. Fish on top in the am, around the edges after sun up. 50+ fish in two days, biggest 5lbs, but lots of solid fish 2-3lb. Black/blue zippers texas rigged produced well, better fish on the blade. Clear Lake is on, but not the toads we might expect. PS, try out the new Konocti Vista Resort. You get your own berth, with power, with your room. The place is awesome. Right next to the County Park.
      City: Walnut Creek

      Tips: Them rock piles are the ticket.