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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Thursday, September 2nd, 2004

  • 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.

    • By

      Water Temp: Not Tested

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: To all those guys whom took my posting seriously and e-mailed me and post their suggestion there's only one thing I can say you guys "ROCKS" Thank you very very very much I will be forever in debt with all you kindness I'll let you know how I did on my trip
      City: San Francisco

      Tips: Coming soon

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 75-76

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: STARTED ABOUT 6:30AM WENT INTO THE NORTH FORK ,TRIED TOP WATER WITH A SAMMY NO TAKERS IN WHAT LOOKED LIKE A PRIME SPOT ROCK PILES 8-10 FEET OF WATER TOOK OUT THE CRANK BAIT FIRST CAST CUAGHT A LARGEMOUTH ALMOST 4LBS. ONLY GOOD FISH ON THE SAME STYLE CRANKBAIT JUST A DIFFERENT COLOR ,CAUGHT TWO OTHER FISH IN THE 1 LBS RANGE SAME COLOR .NOT BAD FOR TWO HOURS .
      City: ROSEVILLE

      Tips: AS I HAVE SAID BEFORE ONLY TIP IS THOSE LUCKY
      CRAFT BAITS ,WON'T USE ANY OTHER HARD BAIT TIGHT LINES KEEP THEM WET WHILE YOU CAN .

  • Ventura County
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      Water Temp: 76

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I've been fishing the lake consistently 2-3 times during the week. Each time I usually catch 15-25 bass which are fairly small. I've been catching the bigger ones on the west side of the lake in 10 feet of water or less. 3/8 oz. spinnerbait, 4inch Yozuri minnow, and shad rap have been working very well. It's been really hot and the bigger ones aren't really biting, however I did manage to catch a 7 1/2 lb bass on the west side of the lake over a rocky point.
      City: Ventura

      Tips: Fish early in the morning or the last couple of hours before the sun goes down. During the hours of 5-7 PM they really start hitting. If you want to fish during the day when it's hot, you could always break out the plastic worms. --
      --Catch and Release (So they get bigger!)

    • By

      Water Temp: 70+

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Did a quick afternoon fishing session. Got out around 515. Second cast with dropshot picked up one just under 3 pounds. Later on while flippin some bushes, missed a good fish, maybe around 5. Then i started cranking the deeper weeds to get nothing. Crank some more coming back to the launch are, and picked up one around 11", and that was it.
      City: santa rosa

      Tips: Fish your confidence baits and the fish will come

Tuesday, August 31st, 2004

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: don't know

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Well I guess there is no boat rentals here then boy I was looking forward to go this long weekend and rent a boat for a whole day but none have responded my posting I guess all this nice report is just gonna be part of my fantasy catching some of those anyway thank's guys keep posting at least I'll be updated on action
      City: san francisco

      Tips: Sorry can't help I haven't been there actually

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

      Report: Started out early. Topwater was slow until my Girlfriend had a close to 3lb blow up on a chug bug. I had a few nice blow ups but no connections on a buzzbait. All right up tight to the bank. Fished the southend with chrome rattletraps and nailed them as usual. Nothing big. I love this lake. Still can't catch one over five.
      City: Boraga

      Tips: Fish early. Rattletraps along weedline in certain spots. Good Luck!

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

      Report: Took the kids to Lafayette. Caught lots of bluegill. Tried to catch bass, but I got skunked. I tried everything, but nothing. They looked at the rapalas, but didn't bite.

      Any suggestions. I am new to bass fishing.

    • By

      Water Temp: 78-81

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took a friend out for his birthday. What a day, boils everywhere. Made a few very long runs and still made the boil. Caught 4 total, and dropped 5. All 4 between 3-6lbs. Most action in the main and south end of the lake. A few boils in deer flat area.
      City: Concord

      Tips: The shad are about 2-3" right now. Downsize your bait to match the hatch. Don't daydream, keep them eyes a peeled!

    • By

      Water Temp: 77*

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 6Pm to about 11:30 Few Boils- No Fish-I think Boat traffic pushes them back down from the weekend- will try later in the week to see if there is a change-
      City: Stockton

Monday, August 30th, 2004

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 78-76

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Roland, no the Tracker wasn't me - I'm the white Triton. Plus your report was for the 29th and mine was for Monday Aug. 30th and started that evening ending up on Aug. 31st at 8 am. My advice is to use the Senko for the most part and once an hour check the jig/worm bite to see if they are again working because they aren't right now - at least in the lake areas I fished. I was only having success on one particular Senko color and I was Texas hooking them (not wacky) and fishing them weightless. Cast it out, let it sink, twitch it once or twice every 5 - 10 seconds. After the first "thunk", wait about 5 seconds and then set the hook IF you can feel some weight on the line. Watch out for deep hooking the fish. I think the delay is only needed for the little fish, but that's mostly what's biting! I used 5" Senkos with 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG hooks. Only one color worked at night and a different color worked during the early daylight period. Before dawn, try reaction baits.
      City: Folsom

      Tips: Cover a lot of ground. The great early morning bite I experienced was in an arm I had not fished during the previous night (12 hours) so it could have been that this area may have been great at night as well with better quality fish. Those points near the spillway have been good in the past in early to mid fall, but this lake is changing and the areas and methods that used to be good ain't so hot now. Most of my "milk runs" no longer produce like they used to. If you're fishing from the bank, you can cover a lot of water on foot now because the lake is low and the bank is walkable.

    • By

      Water Temp: 78-76

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 6 pm till 8 am. Day after full moon. Senkos and crankbaits were the ticket during the remaining afternoon daylight. Then the bite died for 3 hours. Then the Senko bite turned back on and stayed on all night and continued into morning. Morning crankbait bite was pretty good. Saw a 10+ jump near the boat about 7 am. Probably caught about 20 all told. Maybe 7 of these were morning crankbait bite fish. All Senko fish were sub-2 pounds including many dinks, the crankbait fish went as high as 3.5 with many 2's. Btw, two days ago the Amador moonlight tournament was held and first place was about 21 pounds with big fish just under 4 pounds. Pretty sure the 21 pounds was for 10 fish.
      City: Folsom

      Tips: Fish rocky/shale banks. All fish were shallow though tried deep. Fish first light - night fishing nothing to write home about right now. Main body and the arms both produced fish.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 77.9

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: went up north for a change, in at Sugarloaf Low Water ramp at 1845, air temp 95, wind out of the south at 10, dropped the trolling motor and went staight across to the rock walls ad headed upstream throwing some topwater and rip baits. Got 2 blowups and one in the boat on a rip bait, continued north till about 2015 with no more hits, turned around and came back down the same wall as I saw a lot of fish stacked up, put a MGM #23 twintail on a darter head and fished up against the wall and tight to it throwing in front of the boat and picked up 11 dinks real quick, at 2040 got bit good and the fish ran off out into the main channel and headed down and I am figuring a large catfish as it stayed down and was pumping the rod. Went around the boat once dodging the big motor and troll motor and finally get it up and in the net. a nice fat 4.02 largemouth tossing 1 inch shad with every head shake. Got him back in the water and continue down stream catching 2 more and another good one at 1.96(spot). The bite shut down around 2115 so i motored back to the ramp and got out at 75 degrees. The ticket tonight was using the darter head and allowing the bait to fall slowly while standing in some 70ft of water 10 ft out from the rock walls and trying to hit the wall where it went in the water. If i missed it by a foot or two then no hits. Fish not shy tonight, they hit those twintails with reckles abandon.
      City: Redding

Sunday, August 29th, 2004

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

      Report: Rick, was that you fishing in the Tracker? I was out there bank fishing the points above the spillway. I tossed jigs and brush hogs all night for nothing. I got a few hits on the brush hog but no takers; every hookset was a strike out. I did horribly out there. I should have explored a different pattern.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Read Rick's report.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 74-79

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished on Sunday with 2003 Pro-Teen winner Wesly Ford from Lincoln. Wes just turned 19 and mom bought him a guide trip for his birthday. Targeting big fish and flippen were Wes' desires for the day. So off we went to throw spooks, committing the first 2.5 hours to an area where I've been triggering some monster fish into showing themselves. After 30 minutes of no takers, noticing the void of shad and again remembering we had a full moon the night before, I knew this tactic prolly wasn't gonna work, but we committed ta do this, otherwise the conditions were perfect, start of the outgo, no wind, no skiers, and virtually no other fisherman. By 8:30 we had two keepers and one plop on the Cicada, time ta start flippen ahead of schedule. We tied on a Kreature, SweetBeaver and the brown jig-n-grub. As we moved to our first spot on a rock levee bank, Wes asked what I was gonna toss, I said the Jig son, the bite today is gonna be tough, I gotta stick with my confidence bait. Next hour we caught 8 fish at 2 pounds. We then bounced around and hit a number of key areas with current on them, about 11:30, while Wes is re-tying, I pop a fish at 5.5 pounds. We then changed up and went to Disco to dropshot some big baits in deeper water at 16-24 feet. We caught a number of fish on a 6" Mojo Reefer in smoke. When we found the shad, we found the bass. The better bass were in about 13 foot of water just outside the last weed line, the smaller fish were out underneath and chasing the shad in 18-24. 2:00pm we took off to go throw frogs the last 3 hours of the day. Quarter to 5:00 I finally git a 6.5 pounder to scarf my Cicada. 500 textbook casts later, we finally found that one good froggie fish.
      City: Oakley, Ca

      Tips: Today, we only had a 20 fish day, but by sticking to the big fish baits and keying in specific areas, we caught better fish, all keepers with the best 5 going about 19 pounds. Look for the shad balls, not the long, meandering schools. If ya see the balls, the shad are being defensive to something feeding on them. If the bass themselves aren't feeding on the shad, them big girls will be scarfing the small bass, gills, breem and other forage that are! Full moon still having a negative influence on the River fish. Grin and bear it, otherwise head ta ClearLake or pick a lake ta fish at night!

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 72+

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 6am to noon with a good freind. Started with top water around Rattlesnake Island and had no bites on buzzbaits or spooks. Moved offshore to rock piles and immediately started catching fish on Yamamoto Kreature baits. Caught them on every color in the boat...3 different watermelon based colors, 2 different green pumpkin colors and 2 different black colors. Left the rock piles to work breaks around Anderson Island and Pirates Cove. My partner used a small Brushhog and Zoom 4" Lizard on a C-rig. We both caught a lot of fish with the fastest bite coming on the small lizard and the better fish all came on the new Yamamoto bait. We never caught a kicker fish and our best 5 totaled 16 pounds 2 ounces on a Normark scale...just a bunch of solid 3+ clones. Also, there was a full moon right up until dawn so we really expected a slow bite and were happy with our results.
      City: Fair Oaks

      Tips: Worked the Kreature bait on a 1/2 oz Yamamoto weedless jighead (Yamamoto 66 series). Had to keep the jighead moving fast to prevent it from getting stuck in the rocks. It felt much like working a crankbait as it kept banging rocks.

  • Mariposa County
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      Water Temp: 75-78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fish the main lake rock walls. Fish were 30'-50'. Bigger fish came off drop-shot and spoons. I boated 8 with 2-3 lb. fish coming on the spoon. they were hungry, had the spoon in their throat. My son and a friend fishing from another boat said the caught 15 or so. they were on the water at 0500 hr. and were picking up top water fish, super spooks and torpedo tailspinners as late as 0800 hr. a few cranking and drop-shotting as well. I used my electronics to find a school then dropped down on top of them. i'd pull one nice fish out the then nothing. I only caugh one sweeker the rest were quality fish. left the lake at 1030 hr. after 5 hours of fishing, getting too crowded.
      City: Turlock

      Tips: Rock walls main lake. 6" brown worms with red flake. hoppkins spoon (silver).