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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, August 22nd, 2004

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I needed redemption after last weekends trip to Pedro!!

      Overcast skies and Cool morning I thought topwater would be the tickect, not for me. Went ot rippin nada, ran to wall in the South Fork by the pump house and started dart heading (What Else for Hippie) I thought for a minute I was at Oroville!!!!! Found a school of 12 - 14 inchers that were on the bite. Fish after fish for about a 1/2 hour then STOPPED. Anyway had fun, be careful on the main body as humps and islands are just under or just starting to show thier heads. It was pretty windy ans nasty as well on the main body. It is weird to see the lake this low in August, look down at the water temp and see 75 degrees it felt like winter I expected to see 48 with the conditions
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: There is topwater I am sure for those in the know I have not had a good topwater season this year. Pro Worms in Pro-Gold or Mean Craw for me.

Saturday, August 21st, 2004

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: warm

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out from 6:30-10:00 with my son and my brother. My 6-year old outfished us both that day. The fish are getting harder to find and catch. My son caught 3 all on grubs, all different colors. While my brother and I managed to catch one each. Nothing of size except the one that got away from my son. Had a great time anyway. Saw lots of fisherman out on the lake, in boats and shore. Nobaody really catching anything.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Take a kid fishing!

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 78-80

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Another boring report from Clear Lake! I took three people again yesterday (if I guide one again, it will be lonely!) and fishing was about the same as Tues except the bass ran a little larger. Strange since the water was flat the whole trip. Wind usually produces bigger bass. The numbers were down a bit, catching only 37 - I can't believe I said that!! We also caught 6 or 7 under 12". I always try to zero in on larger bass for my clients and for the second trip in a row we had a limit of over twenty pounds (20-3). I like the consistancy but can't seem to get a trophy bite lately. One of the fellows from Texas (near Lake Fork) had to come to Clear Lake to catch his biggest bass ever at 5-9. He used the red shad Dead Ringer most of the time for an 18 lb plus limit himself - he was a happy young man. One of the fellows was drop-shotting an 8" Dead Ringer and caught mostly 3 to 4 lb fish. We Carolina- rigged large worms, trying to attract larger bass. When it slowed down around noon, we got out the Yamamoto Kreature baits and had an instant hot bite. Wow! Again, we Carolina-rigged these. Want a hot color - try any color!! We used #208, 221, 222, 301, and 330 - they all worked. The crank bite really slowed down for my boat except early in the morning. Jigs are still working very well too. We fished north and south of the narrows again, and this time in Horseshoe Bay. Lots of bass there!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: A suggestion for fishing Yamamoto Kreature baits. If you have a 1 to 3 pound bass on, I would worry about getting you Kreature back in the boat more than the bass. They don't last too long - maybe 2 to 4 fish. If you have an 8 pound bass on - forget the Kreature!!!!

    • By

      Water Temp: 78-84 depending

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Visibilty is nill! 6" at the best...several times we scraped rocks on the bottom of the hull while using the trolling motor-good thing we werent haulin tail thru there! Lake is REEEEEALLY low-I have fished here since it opened and have NEVER seen it this low....30 boats on the lake and there was practicually no place left to fish! Annnnyway just be careful not to damage your boat if you go. We did manage a fish or 2-several dinks in the 5"-13" size but I was rewarded with a very nice fat 3.5lber! We caught everything on either a Spro crankbait or blades. Tight Lines,BE CAREFUL UP HERE!!!
      City: Chowchilla

      Tips: WAtch for underwater obstacles! Go slow on this lake right now!!!

Friday, August 20th, 2004

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: How's the fishing near the dam? everytime I get there in early mornings I see fish jump everywhere......yet, I can't never get a bite on top water! what's up with that? what'm I doing wrong? C'mon san bruno help me out......(:
      City: San Bruno

      Tips: keep your eyes on the road or you may hit a dear!

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 73-74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Paradise Point at 6:00A this morning with my 2 cousins. Caught 3 limits of black bass and 1 5lb striper.

      First black bass caught was 4 lbs. Last black bass caught was 7+ lbs (took time to weigh her and then released her). Most of the bass caught were 1.5-2 lbs. Caught a ton of dinks. Off the water by 1:30P. Best 5 around 18 lbs.
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Fish caught inside open areas of weed beds or along outside edge. Most of the bass (including the big one) were caught on a 1/2 oz shad colored Rat L Trap (color code RT836). Used 1/2 oz char/white or 3/8 oz white spinnerbaits and got a lot of action too.

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out for the morning with my brother in law from L.A. ,started in the North fork ,as usual the wind was blowing again ,never fails.First few cast caught one a little over 12 inches off a rock pile with a crank bait .moved back down the north fork and was casting at when looked like a boulder and hit a nice fish maybe 4 lbs. ?the fish jumped once and it was free ,caught a few more just over 12 inches and lost one that i didn't even see .all were on lucky craft crank baits ,in 2- 12ft of water all bites came early a few cranks of the reel .waitning for a few more days of cool weather and maybe they will think fall is here ,good luck and tight lines
      City: roseville

      Tips: the only tip I have is lucky craft baits they rock

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I am happy to report that the owners of B and S worms have purchased the MGMLURES company this afternoon and will now be known as MGMLURES. They intend to build a website soon. Until then they can be contacted at (530)347-1779 and by email at brycensusan@juno.com
      congratulations to MR. & Mrs. Fuller.
      City: Redding

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took the afternoon off work and headed to the lake around 1:30. I fished around mid-lake tossing a jig and a crankbait around some trees. Started out slow until I came upon a bare bank holding a lot of fish while cranking. Switched to a drop shot and caught several small bass, not much over a pound, but fun on 6 lb test. After several dinks, I headed down to the "S" turns and fished the rock banks and trees. Landed a few more on a jig and drop shot. As the sun started to set, I tried some top water, but no action, although I did have a couple blow ups on a frog over some weed. Off the lake by 8:00. Overall a great afternoon without too much boat traffic.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: If you are looking for numbers, drop shot around the trees. Use your graph along the banks and when you start marking fish drop shot 4"-6" worms. Best colors were watermelon & pumpkin.

  • Calaveras County
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      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught a bunch of bass (mostly smallies) using a chartreuse spinner, trolling live minnows (bigger minnow, bigger bass), nightcrawlers, crawfish, senko's, etc... You name it, they'll bite.

      Biggest fish was a smallie about 1.25 lbs. 3 of us on a boat caught about 20+ fish mostly in 30+ ft. of water in the evening before the sun came down.
      City: Hayward

      Tips: Work them slow.

Thursday, August 19th, 2004

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The bite was good today on Franks,Sure hope we can maintain the quality for Saturday,white was the color of our frogs.Good Luck to all Saturday & Sunday.
      City: Brentwood

      Tips: Worked them fast,seemed more Blow ups came from areas where there was tules.

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 77-78

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the rockpile and south fork from 4pm to sundown. Caught 8 fish, 6 keepers on Rat-L-Traps in shad colors. Tried blades and worms with no luck. All fish caught in south fork. Last cast in darkness produced 7 pound bass! My personal record.
      City: Fair Oaks

      Tips: Worms and blades not doin it for me lately. Rat-L-Trap in bleeding-shad/gold back pattern around rock piles, rocky shores and submerged humps worked for me. Who knows for how long, though.

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

      Report: I want to give a huge thank you to John Gray! I just returned from a weeks stay at trinity lake with my family. This was by far my best trinity lake experience yet. It started out with Mr. Gray and those fighting small mouths, i still cant believe how hard they fight. John was a great guide! I learned alot about the lake and fishing in general. The fishing remained good the rest of the week John, My biggest fish was a 4.5lb large mouth, right before dark on the point where that guide was you made reference to. My 3yr old caught her first smallmouth 2.5lbs. Again thank you John and cant wait to return to trinity lake.
      City: Fortuna

Wednesday, August 18th, 2004

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

      Report: A startling meeting on Monday 8-16-04 with the EPA, Dept of Agriculture, and East bay parks authorities has revealed the studies of Mercury in the lakes of the Bay area. Del Valle, Coyote, Chabot, Pablo, Etc. The mercury is becoming a big problem and at the meeting they recomended not eating any non planted fish out of the lake. WOW If the public eats too much of the fish health hazards will increase. I am not saying this because I am a big bass man I am stating what was said at the meeting. You anglers that take fish home need to read the handouts posted at the Marinas of all the Bay area lakes. This is not a joke
      City: Castro Valley

      Tips: Catch and release all fish & wash your hands at the cleaning stations

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 80

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I took a boyfriend-girlfriend and his dad to Clear Lake yesterday for some good fishing (I hoped)! We were greeted with some early morning wind which surprised me and made guiding three a little more difficult. We actually started off a little slow in numbers and caught some smaller bass than I had seen for awhile. That was the only thing new - other that that the same baits worked - cranks, jigs, and split-shotting 8" Dead Ringer worms. I thought that might produce a bigger bass than drop-shotting. It did! We found red shad to be the best color. We fished several areas north and south of the narrows and did well for bass up to 3 1/4 lbs. I had given up on catching anything real decent until dad set on a fish at 1 pm with his red shad worm and it didn't come to the boat very quick. That was because she weighed 5 lb 11 oz - maybe his biggest bass ever. Thing were looking up and at 1:20 I set on my Weapon jig - Mad Man craw combo for a 4-2, right where I caught the 4 1/2 last week. Since the girlfriend caught the biggest at a previous Amador trip, the boyfriend had revenge on his mind. I was starting to put things away at the end of the trip while he still threw a crankbait (Norman deep little N). He hooked one that just headed out to sea. That is so exciting because one just doesn't know how big a crank fish is for awhile. She turned out to be 4 1/4 - not a monster but sure give us a good limit in the last hour - 20 1/4 lbs. Who needs to get up early, har?! We ended up with 50 to 55 bass - lost count!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: I broke my own rule yesterday when guiding three people and let the two younger ones crank at the same time. They are very good casters and are very careful. While the crank bite is still good, I think it has slowed down as far as the size of the bass is concerned. Because of the water color, most of the bass are quite shallow. This also may be because there is more oxygen in shallow water. Had a new event in my boat - the young man had snagged up one of the crankbaits, so I gave him a brand new Norman crank. In the first few casts he hooks a big bass that breaks the lip where it meets the body. The bass didn't get hooked good so the lure floated up. There was the floating lure about 10 feet behind the floating lip attached to the line. That was a strange sight! Would love to have sighted the fish - we sure heard it!!

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: A startling meeting on Monday 8-16-04 with the EPA, Dept of Agriculture, and East bay parks authorities has revealed the studies of Mercury in the lakes of the Bay area. Del Valle, Coyote, Chabot, Pablo, Etc. The mercury is becoming a big problem and at the meeting they recomended not eating any non planted fish out of the lake. WOW If the public eats too much of the fish health hazards will increase. I am not saying this because I am a big bass man I am stating what was said at the meeting. You anglers that take fish home need to read the handouts posted at the Marinas of all the Bay area lakes. This is not a joke
      City: Castro Valley

      Tips: Catch and release all fish caught

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 80-81 deg

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: jim and justin and i fished the south fork from 4pm to dark using worms, blades, top water to find alot of dinks from 4" to 1 1/2 lbs on rocky points and steep banks. its nice to have all that 5 mph zone area to fish in with no lake lice. a hot day on the water with no large fish.
      City: rocklin

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Haven't fished this body of water for over a year, but do know that big crappies and big bass roam this place. Will definitely hit it up by years-end and post a good report.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Got good fish on spinner-baits in shallow water relating to weeds and good fish on plastics by the dam.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: A startling meeting on Monday 8-16-04 with the EPA, Dept of Agriculture, and East bay parks authorities has revealed the studies of Mercury in the lakes of the Bay area. Del Valle, Coyote, Chabot, Pablo, Etc. The mercury is becoming a big problem and at the meeting they recomended not eating any non planted fish out of the lake. WOW If the public eats too much of the fish health hazards will increase. I am not saying this because I am a big bass man I am stating what was said at the meeting. You anglers that take fish home need to read the handouts posted at the Marinas of all the Bay area lakes. This is not a joke
      City: Castro Valley

      Tips: Catch and release all fish caught. We may loose this lake forever due to the highest Mercury levels of all the surrounding lakes

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 79.4

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: In at Packers at 0445, air temp 75, soft wind out of the north, started throwing right from the ramp but didn't get anything until i got out to packers point, tried everything and went back to my usual 1/2oz football head and B and S melon pepper twintail and finally managed one dink on the point right at the bank. Took off to have a look at the fire damage and turned into Jones valley to find total devastation. The only thing that didn't burn was the parking lot. The ramp was vacant however the Shasta Rec guy who stays on top of moving the ramps up and down arrived while I was there and he told me that the road into the ramp is now open. Lots of smoldering stumps still putting up some smoke but air quality was actually quite good. Ran up the pit to Arbuckle and Clickapudi,Blue and Dark canyons are wastelands with some stumps and spot fires still burning, above arbuckle things are ok. Not much boat traffic at all, only three houseboats tied up below arbuckle to Clickapudi. Silverthorn has most of their fleet tied up at the pier, Jones Valley's are still over in the McCloud and a lot of Bridge Bay boats are sitting un-rented. Looks like many people cancelled. Water color was surprisingly clear no doubt due to the lack of boats moving around. The Jones Valley ramp is down to a lane and a half and will be unusable within the week when it will be moved to the secondary ramp. It would not be wise to use Jones Valley with a strong northwind blowing as ther isn't much room to manuever around when you pull off the trailer, it is running out of water in a hurry.
      City: Redding

      Tips: fishing has been the pits, dinks only usually and not many of them.