Submit
Report

Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Tuesday, June 9th, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 80

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Clear Lake this week 6/9/2015


      As I write this piece we have rain and lightning in Hidden Valley, and higher winds have dominated this afternoon. Wednesday morning’s California Open launch will be interesting to say the least.

      Forecast for tomorrow is high winds, lightening, and rain in the AM hours, with a high temp of just 82 degrees, not what the sight fishing guys wanted to see for sure. Forecast for Thursday and Friday are much better wind wise with higher temps returning by Friday afternoon. Hopefully this is good news for the fish caught, and we do not see another 100+ fish mortality rate like last year’s tournament produced.

      Water temps remain high, 73-82 degrees depending on the area, and yes, the dreaded algae is here mid-lake south. Still, the winds and lower temps should help this as well.

      Patterns? Junk fishing seems to be the word, and is definitely what we experienced this past week as well. Squarebills, punching, soft plastic topwaters, drop-shotting, trashfish, Chatterbaits, Carolina rig etc etc, and you never know what may bite!….. This pattern will likely continue through the end of the month, with the bottom contact bite improving as we go. I HOPE!

      Results, 10-15 keepers a day is not unusual, and an average bag is around 15lbs, still much better than most lakes would produce during post-spawn. I suspect we’ll see 6-10
      Bigger bags each day in the Open, then it will be the 12-15lb average bags that dominate.

      Good luck everyone!

Monday, June 8th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68 to 78

      Report: Fishing with Sid‏
      The past week was a fisherman's dream the weather was great and the bass plentiful. I had a few trips set up for the week the first was Carl and his brother-in-law Dave. We caught bass up to four pounds and one three pound trout. The next day I took out David and Brandon who is fifteen years old had a good day caught limits of bass to 4+ pounds and a trout. That evening I got a call from David that the y had such a great time could I take them out again the following day which I did. It was a great fishing day again with huge bait balls all over the lake we were catching bass like crazy. I took out John the following day and headed straight to the area where the bait balls had been the day before. We were back to the launch ramp by two o'clock after catching over twenty bass the largest 6+ pounds. It was non stop with all the bass being caught in the top ten feet of water and we were fishing anywhere from 40 to 120 feet of water. We were able to cast just about anything and it worked. What I enjoyed the best was using a wacky worm set up smeared with "Procure Scent" any flavor seemed to work and casting it into the bait ball and watching the bass smack into it. My friend Dr. Randy came up for a day of fishing and I told him the fishing was great all week and I hoped it would continue. The night before the wind had picked up quite a bit and it scattered those wonderful bait balls so I had to look for them. I trolled the big rocks by Monticello Ski School using my favorite blue and silver crank bait and he stood at the bow casting a top water chugger and on his eleventh cast he got slammed but didn't react fast enough so no fish. We headed to the Ranch house next and saw some bait balls but nothing like the days before and with no size to speak of bass. Next I headed to the stumps and then the Vineyards with no luck either. I decided to try one more area past the bridge and past the boy scout camp where the trees are sticking out of the water and Randy loved the area. I set him up with brass and glass with a wide gap hook and a senco worm using crawdad garlic Procure scent texas rig and on his second cast into the trees he set the hook on a 3+ pound bass. He ended up catching some nice bass in this area and told me he loved this spot. Please enjoy the attached photos.
      'til next week....................................................................good fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or would like to book a guided fishing trip please email me at bestgiude@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

      Tips: Tips: the lake is 33 feet down lots of bumps and stumps that you never knew are popping up

Sunday, June 7th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68 thru 78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing with Sid
      The past week was a fisherman's dream the weather was great and the bass plentiful. I had a few trips set up for the week the first was Carl and his brother-in-law Dave. We caught bass up to four pounds and one three pound trout. The next day I took out David and Brandon who is fifteen years old had a good day caught limits of bass to 4+ pounds and a trout. That evening I got a call from David that the y had such a great time could I take them out again the following day which I did. It was a great fishing day again with huge bait balls all over the lake we were catching bass like crazy. I took out John the following day and headed straight to the area where the bait balls had been the day before. We were back to the launch ramp by two o'clock after catching over twenty bass the largest 6+ pounds. It was non stop with all the bass being caught in the top ten feet of water and we were fishing anywhere from 40 to 120 feet of water. We were able to cast just about anything and it worked. What I enjoyed the best was using a wacky worm set up smeared with "Procure Scent" any flavor seemed to work and casting it into the bait ball and watching the bass smack into it. My friend Dr. Randy came up for a day of fishing and I told him the fishing was great all week and I hoped it would continue. The night before the wind had picked up quite a bit and it scattered those wonderful bait balls so I had to look for them. I trolled the big rocks by Monticello Ski School using my favorite blue and silver crank bait and he stood at the bow casting a top water chugger and on his eleventh cast he got slammed but didn't react fast enough so no fish. We headed to the Ranch house next and saw some bait balls but nothing like the days before and with no size to speak of bass. Next I headed to the stumps and then the Vineyards with no luck either. I decided to try one more area past the bridge and past the boy scout camp where the trees are sticking out of the water and Randy loved the area. I set him up with brass and glass with a wide gap hook and a senco worm using crawdad garlic Procure scent texas rig and on his second cast into the trees he set the hook on a 3+ pound bass. He ended up catching some nice bass in this area and told me he loved this spot. Please enjoy the attached photos.
      'til next week....................................................................good fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or would like to book a guided fishing trip please email me at bestgiude@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

      Tips: the lake is 33 feet down lots of bumps and stumps that you never knew are popping up

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got to the lake at first light and headed over to Warm Springs. Started with a spook and started catching bass right away. Top water bite lasted until the sun hit the water, then switched to a jig on my Dobyns DX795. Caught a couple small keepers. Had small limit by 7:00 then bounced around until noon and called it a day.

      Tips: Get out early for some great top water action.

Saturday, June 6th, 2015

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Friday night the wife and I slept on the boat out at Whiskeytown Lake. We fished from sun-up through about 2pm Saturday. We targeted Kokanee salmon using down riggers between 20-30 feet under the boat. Most Kokanee we brought into the net were under 12” however; we did manage to hook and keep two for dinner that went over 15”. Most take downs were on large silver dodgers and pink / orange spoons trailing 16-18” behind the dodger. We tried all color combinations and at different depths but the bright pink or orange is what they wanted this day.

      Between sun-up and 2pm, we caught:

      19 – Kokanee Salmon
      1 - 15 inch rainbow trout
      1 – 2.5 lb small mouth bass

      The bass was caught (accidentally) on a flasher and my father’s home-made lures (orange colored). I say accidentally because while we had our down-riggers set at 25 feet, I failed to notice that we trolled over a knoll or hump that was only 19 feet deep. All of the sudden our down rig balls were bouncing bottom and the lines came off the down rig clips. It was mass confusion trying to pull up the huge weights and my line became snagged on bottom. All of the sudden the wife's pole was slammed hard. I thought it too was stuck on bottom. While I broke off my rig and lost $10 worth of gear, she reeled in a nice 2.5 lb smallmouth.

      Tips: Flashers/dodgers and bright colored spoons. Running 20-30 feet down and about 150 feet back behind the boat. Troll slow 1.00 - 1.4MPH

Friday, June 5th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 75-77

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I had a delightful guide trip yesterday with a father, mother, and their barely 5 year old son - who LOVES to fish. We had a great day with beautiful weather and a quality bite! We fished the narrows and the southern main body. Their 5 biggest bass weighed nearly 17 lbs - including mom's 5 1/4 lb largemouth and the boy's first ever bass - yes, a 3 lb smallmouth! And better yet - on his "snoopy" type rod and reel - wow!!!! He hooked, fought, and landed that bass all by himself. I did nothing to assist him - just netted the prize!! Unbelieveable!! What a thrill for me - and his parents!! He was using a MMIII 6" Robo worm. That was the hot worm for them. Most of their bass were caught in 10 to 15 feet of water near island tops and ledges. Best bite was between 11 and 1:30 pm.

      Tips: There are probably some bass still spawning, but I was looking for post-spawn bass that might be more active for my clients to hook. We only fished Texas rigged Robo worms with 4 people in the boat.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 73-74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Did a short trip to the end of the north fork, left the ramp about 6 am, stopped fishing about 10 am. Weightless wacky senkos in the beginning, got 3-4 fish, but no good size fish. Went to Texas rig roboworms and fished the day out, ending up with 17 fish, largest a fraction under 15", ever so close. Also one 3 pound catfish on a roboworm, felt the weight and thought, got a good one, till it shook it's head. Very light breeze, but sure was hot at 10 am!! Got a few Paul Krew hand made baits in a 3" minnow, going to give them a try this coming Wed. They look ever so real, got about 6 different colors to try.

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: Good Morning Shasta Lake!

      The crowds are starting to pick up on the lake and the weather is certainly getting warmer! We had scattered showers Monday afternoon leading into Tuesday morning. It didn't drop much precipitation, but it did green up in the area a little! Over the next week it should be in the low to mid 90's with scattered thunder showers.

      Currently it is clear, 78 degrees with a slight breeze.

      Here is another event taking place on the lake. Lake Shasta Dinner Cruises will be hosting their 5th Annual Billy & Patrick Country Cruise! On June 20th enjoy a 2 hour cruise on Shasta Lake with a couple of Redding's favorite DJ's from Q97 Country. More details and link for purchasing tickets can be found by following the event.

      Unfortunately, many of the businesses are getting more calls of concerned guests that there is little or no water in the lake. I constantly see pictures on line from LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee and other news outlets of one of the many coves in Shasta Lake. These pictures happen to be looking up at the muddy lake and very little water in the picture, rather than towards the water and seeing a small section of the 265+ miles of shoreline that we currently have. I understand the media is trying to push the urgency for the drought conditions in CA. However, it can mislead the public on how much water we really have in Shasta Lake and has a devastating impact of perception for the recreation on the lake.

      Please spread the word that we have water, and plenty of it! wink emoticon

      Lake Level Report (05/27/2015 at 7 AM)
      Lake Elevation: 978.70' (88.30' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation (2014): 965.65' (101.35' below full pool)
      Storage: 2,390,724 af
      Storage (2014): 2,146,835 af
      Outflow: 6,220 cfs
      Inflow: 3,023 cfs
      Precipitation (24 hr @ dam): 0.00"
      Precipitation (Season @ dam): 49.43"
      Precipitation (2014 Season @ dam): 30.53

Tuesday, June 2nd, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: So what’s going on at Clear Lake?

      Well, for one, the bite has become as fickle as it’s been since late last year. Yes, there are still a few bed fish to be found, but water quality is quickly becoming an issue once again. Clarity is hit and miss from one day to the next, and yes there is the beginning of an algae bloom throughout the lake.

      Prepare to junk fish as they say, as that has been the most productive pattern aside from sight fishing. Everything from buzz baits to bottom walkers are putting fish in the net but finesse fishing plastics slow, slow, and slower has been the bite producing the best “numbers”. I suspect that will continue until this moon is going away, and then watch for the jig and chatter bait bites to kick in like any other June.

      RoboWorms, Senkos, Brush hogs, and Wooly Buggers, drop shotted, nail rigged, darter headed, wacky, or Texas rigged will all produce fish right now, but you will have to weed through the little guys in order to find a quality bite. That said, there’s also a flip/punch bite, and a top water bite here and there.

      Everyone was moaning last weekend about the junk bite, yet BBT and ABA had 25 and 31 lbs. taking top honors in their events, so it wasn’t all that bad! Just look at their results, BBT had the majority of their field weigh limits and I believe in took 19+ pounds to make the top 15 out of their 80+ boat field. I haven’t seen the full ABA results as yet but I suspect they’re very similar.

      This week the fishing pressure is already down, and the fish are getting somewhat of a break up north, but the wind has returned and is doing its dastardly deed making sight fishing nearly impossible to this point. Deeper docks and weed edges are what I would focus on until this moon is gone, and the catfish finish doing their deal as well, then I would head for a rockpile somewhere…….good luck!

Monday, June 1st, 2015

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched about 6 am headed in about 10 am, got tired of the wind today. Not a special trip, got 14 fish, with 1 16", 2 15", 2 14 1/2" the rest basic 13-14" variety. One of the 15" was a large mouth, surprised me. Tossed senkos wacky weightless rigs and Texas rigs with roboworms. Both caught fish about the same today, too windy for much senko fishing. Surprised to see the water up to 73 degrees, giant jump up in temps. Headed to end of north fork next trip. Bite seems off a tad today, no idea why.

Saturday, May 30th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Report: Fishing With Sid my freind rogers email to me


      Hi Folks: A great day on the Delta and a NEW Personal best Bass for me a Whooping 12.8 LBs, 26 inches.

      What a beast caught on a rubber frog at 5 pm, 4 really big jumps 3 ft in the air , under the boat and taking DRAG all the way. She had a problem fitting in my live well ,so I had to take her photo and release her ASAP. I was lucky my friend frank was home he took the photos. I also had a 7 LB bass and some 2s & 3s . Best 5 fish weighted 27 LBs.

      Whippy

      Roger di Fate

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71-75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Drop shot around grass point and flats and flippin' creature baits on steep bank cover. Got around 15 bites to 4 lbs.

      Tips: Lake is full...Go Have Fun!

Wednesday, May 27th, 2015

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68-69

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I went fishing today with Jeff, on his boat, launched about 6:15-6:30 am at the spill way. Jeff got the first fish, nice 16 1/2" chubby fish. Fished the area, no more, so moved across the main lake, and in no time had another 16", Around the bend another 15", then another 15", then a 16", a couple 14 1/2" one being a large mouth. It was so good to get into larger fish today. Our best 5 were about mid 9 pounds, or so. We ended up with only 13 fish when we called it a day at 11 am. Of all our fish only 2-3 were the basic 13" size, the rest over 14". Great fishing for the main lake.

      Tips: We fished wacky weightless 6" Senko's in the laminate colors. The larger worms were just too large for the smaller fish. Not a lot of fish, but better size when fishing this way. We fished STEEP banks with deep water.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: Good morning fans!

      Right now the lake is looking calm and we are about 70 degrees...perfect morning for throwing you line in the water grin emoticon

      Although the holiday weekend is over, we still have activities on the lake. Yesterday the Forest Service, Lake Shasta Caverns and Shasta Lake Hotshots helped to host a fishing Field trip with Bella Vista's 3rd grade class. The kids pulled in some pretty nice fish, 3 of which were around 14"!

      This coming weekend will be the Fun in the Sun Day at Jones Valley Resort ( Shasta Lake Houseboating) Spend the day visiting Shasta Lakes finest marinas, enjoy high performance demo rides and see the Jetovator and Seabreacher in action! Contact information is on the posted picture.

      With the weather warming up to the 90's this weekend, I couldn't imagine a better event to go to wink emoticon

      Lake Level Report (05/27/2015 at 7 AM)
      Lake Elevation: 981.56' (85.44' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation (2014): 969.58' (97.42' below full pool)
      Storage: 2,446,595 af
      Storage (2014): 2,218,365 af
      Outflow: 6,999 cfs
      Inflow: 3,146 cfs
      Precipitation (24 hr @ dam): 0.00"
      Precipitation (Season @ dam): 49.43"
      Precipitation (2014 Season @ dam): 30.53"

    • By

      Report: Good morning fans!

      Right now the lake is looking calm and we are about 70 degrees...perfect morning for throwing you line in the water grin emoticon

      Although the holiday weekend is over, we still have activities on the lake. Yesterday the Forest Service, Lake Shasta Caverns and Shasta Lake Hotshots helped to host a fishing Field trip with Bella Vista's 3rd grade class. The kids pulled in some pretty nice fish, 3 of which were around 14"!

      This coming weekend will be the Fun in the Sun Day at Jones Valley Resort ( Shasta Lake Houseboating) Spend the day visiting Shasta Lakes finest marinas, enjoy high performance demo rides and see the Jetovator and Seabreacher in action! Contact information is on the posted picture.

      With the weather warming up to the 90's this weekend, I couldn't imagine a better event to go to wink emoticon

      Lake Level Report (05/27/2015 at 7 AM)
      Lake Elevation: 981.56' (85.44' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation (2014): 969.58' (97.42' below full pool)
      Storage: 2,446,595 af

Tuesday, May 26th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67 to 72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: 0n Thursday evening I took Albert and his lovely wife Beverly out for an hour or so. I decided to fish the west side of the lake. We were trolling for trout and had just started and sure enough I got a hit and asked Beverly if you would like to reel the fish in. She did a good job and we had our trout on board. The next three hits were all bass and by the time she had reeled in the last fish she was pooped but had really enjoyed it (see photo). Friday I fished on my own and prepared all the rods for my customers for the following day. I limited out on bass (see photo). Saturday I had my hands full I took out a group for a bachelor party fishing trip. In the first half hour we caught three nice size bass up to 3.5 pounds. The main fisherman who are holding up fish are Deric is the first in blue then its Adrian, Dan, and Matt. We took a ride around the lake and I pointed out some key spots from the Narrows to the Ranch house to the Vineyards fishing along the way. We ended up past the bridge fishing along the trees in the water. At the end of the day when they dropped me off at the dock they said to me that they had a blast (see photos). Sunday I went out with Kevin and his choice of fish is trout but he also enjoys catching bass. He caught a limit of bass up to 4+ pounds then we went looking for signs of trout. Kevin was thrilled because he ended up with a limit of trout too. All in all it was a great Memorial Day weekend on the lake. 'til next week...................................................good fishing!!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or would like to book a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

      Tips: once again knowing the signs to look for usually bring success plus the right colors to use.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: Clear Lake this week…5/26/2015


      Boy, what a change over the past week. Overall I’d rate the fishing at fair to very good. The thunderstorms Friday and Saturday certainly did not help, but nonetheless, the bite wasn’t affected too much. Lake level is 3.77 Rumsey and the flows have been slowed dramatically, all of the way down to 45 cfps.

      Unfortunately the water quality did suffered some from the warmer temps and boat traffic, still it remains above average for this time of year as well.

      Apparently the boat/ water ski traffic did a pretty good job of dicing up the weed beds up north and the floating remnants made bladed top waters challenging to say the least. This weekend the whopper plopper and frog took the top water honors, and the punch bite began to really take hold.

      Mid-lake finds the ledge fishing beginning to pick up with jigs, and Carolina rigs accounting for the best results there.

      South end you’ll find the senko and drop shop bite producing fish in the 4-5lb range on the breaks, and deeper docks.

      Yes, there are still some bed fish to be had, but water clarity dictates when and where right now.

      This weekend BBT is out of Red Bud Park on Saturday, and ABA has their event out of the Casino on Sunday.

      Speaking of Red Bud Park; all of the new docks are finally in as is the new lighting. Five full launch lanes with a car topper lane to make six. With the final sealer being applied this week, and stripping to be completed by the weekend, along with the new landscaping which is also on its way, this in now IMHO the finest launch facility on the lake.

      What a difference, and yes, as promised CLPD is actually cracking down on the local element as well, so perhaps there is some hope after all. One would certainly hope so after spending close to a million dollars on these improvements. Fingers crossed.

Monday, May 25th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67 degree

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Big Break 1 hour before high tide and 4 hours after. Caught about 14 fish with his and hers 4 and 5 pounds respectively. Minimal wind. Fished using zoom trick worm rigged wacky in green pumpkin, and black/red-flake flapping hog.

      Tips: Take your wife and daughter fishing at least once-a-year for good luck. It will help them to understand the "addiction"

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Paradise and fished mainly near and around the launch. Threw a frog most of the day and only caught one small one. Switched to a senko on incoming tide and caught many small ones and three fish right at 3lbs each. Tough day due to pleasure boaters but they have the right just as us anglers. I learned my lesson though and will wait till the weekdays to fish during holiday weekends.

      Tips: When in doubt throw a senko, lol.

Sunday, May 24th, 2015

    • By

      Water Temp: 72-75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: While my last Black Butte Lake report (3 years ago, May 27th 2012) was very depressing, this year’s Memorial weekend trip was quite the opposite. Maybe due to the very low lake levels of last year, the squawfish (pike minnow) population has declined significantly and the bass has rebounded!
      We camped at the Buckhorn Camp facility between Friday and Monday and fished every morning from sun up to about 10am. Initial first morning shoreline/cove fishing attempts brought only 1-3 bass into the boat the first hour, so I decided to head west to the Stony Creek inlet and concentrate our efforts around the submerged trees/bushes. After finding what they (the fish) wanted, we hammered the bass over the next 2.5 days. We brought 59 bass into the boat (missing and losing that many or more) with one huge crappie surprisingly hammering a 7 inch rubber lizard. This crappie was 16 inches long and may have been a record for this lake (but we let her go unharmed). The largest bass was 2.55 lbs and most around the 13 range. We did boat a 2.33lb, 2.26lb and many 1.5 lbers. Even in windy conditions, we netted fish. About an hour was spent over by the dam along the rocks and still managed to boat 7 more largemouth during that time.
      The hot recipe turned out to be chartreuse colored 5 and 7 inch Zoom lizards rigged Texas style and slow crawling them across and through the bushes submerged in about 3 feet of water.
      Back in camp, the kids enjoyed catching yellow belly sunfish all day long using worms and a bobber. They probably caught 50-70, 4-5 inchers and many children caught their first fish ever this Holiday weekend. The lake was approx. 75% full, about 75 degrees allowing for daytime swimming, kayaking and other fun filled water sports. I would say that Black Butte is back and ready for the family trips again!

      Tips: Take a kid fishing; he or she will remember it forever!