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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, May 2nd, 2004

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Day on the river with Dave McKenzie's Bay Area Backwaters Guide Service. Lots of fish which included smallies, spots, and largies. Senkos in current were the key with an occasional topwater and crank fish thrown in. Learned a lot once again all we needed was a striper to get the grand slam. I bet it happens next time. If you want to catch fish and learn, go with Dave, he puts you on em.
      City: SF

      Tips: Sign up for a day with Bay Area Backwaters Guide Service. It probably would'nt hurt to have a senko tied on as well.

    • By

      Water Temp: 65+

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Two person guide trip with a couple of regular guests Steve Strain and Paul Caserez both of SF We decided to go up north and hit the smallies. Good choice, they were there and eating. They cought a mixed bag of smallmouth,spots and a few largemouth..Both good fisherman and they cought about 30 fish..Mostly smallies on Senkos but also cought fish on crankbaits, and topwater. Slack water held some bed fish and there are already some post spwan fish in fast current snatching up baits in current breaks & eddies. Always a great time with these two.
      City: San Jose

    • By

      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Well sounds like almost everyone is stating the obvious, the Senko was hot for us today as well. Fished the main channel near Ladds and had a nice 4# fish on a white and shad colored spinner and had a 5# fish on a motor oil Senko. This is the first time I've really fished the Senko more than just a couple of flips and I have to say I'm a believer. Threw a little top water with no takers on frogs or buzzers. Most fish came on dark colored plastics. The last 2 days our big fish didn't hit until after 10:00.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Dark colors, get bit and work that area good and slow. Good luck

    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished for about 3hrs. last night from about 12:00am till artound 3:00am. The first two hrs. tide was at it's lowest and just starting to come in. Caught one small fish on a modified Senko. Moved down river for the last hour caught one 71/2lbr', missed several others all on 7in. Black/Blue Senkos.
      City: Holt

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67-69

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Chesbro for a couple of hours in the morning. Lake is full. Caught 6 small bass on Texas Rigged 4" Robo Worms. We saw hundreds of small bass cruising the shore line. Biggest one in the boat was about 1.5 lbs. Most were 10"-12".
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Finesse baits in this lake seem to work best. Topwater should be ok if you can get there early or late in the day.

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

      Report: Fished from May 2nd to 6th and caught alot of bass.I fished all over the lake on different days just looking for a big one.I had a a few fish in the 5lbs range and one about 6lbs.Caught alot of 2 pound fish in the tules on brush hawgs,spinnerbaits.Caught bass on docks dropshotting,and ripping.The bigger fish were eating up a frog in the isolated weed patches around the lake.Over all it was a great week and I look foward to returning soon.
      City: Winston

      Tips: Look for clear water.Everyday was different with the wind changing directions daily.

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: unknown...

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: i banked it today for 7 fish total with the five biggest going 9lbs. most were sots but i did manage 3 largeys. all the fish were caught in the tress using a medium runner bleeding bait crank, and a 1/2oz white spinner. i got out there around 5 and left at dark so not to bad for a bank fisher if you ask me.....

      tight lines!....and always practice catch and release.
      City: sacramento

      Tips: the reaction bite is getting good. thats all i fished as im trying to fine tune my skills crankin.anything in a shad pattern worked good for my buddy also, but i caught double his amount,lol....oops! i wasnt sopposed to say that,lol........

    • By

      Water Temp: Really hot fish

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Since everyone seems to be jumping on the bandwagon, let me elaborate on my last post. I have an eye witness ( from a very longtime and well respected Los Gatos family I might add ) to the incident where one of lgrc members put a piece of wood over the ventpipe on the dam because it was to loud for there precious little ears. Notice how it is now covered so you can't get at it? How many years, how much money,how have we gone without a stable water level? And what about the poor fish that die every time they get sucked into one of those 480 volt 40 horsepower pumps?
      City: LG

      Tips: Sink the F*&%$@# LGRC. LATE.

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

      Report: There are very few lakes around here that have a shape and/or depth to allow for putting in a net, each lake almost has to have a custom net to do that too. Add to that the time,money and bodies it takes to dive and attach it and you're really talking about a commetment. Don't think you'll be seeing many of those events happening anymore. Maybe if you went to a trout farm. Though fish were caught at both laakes, to me a successful event is one where people learn enough skills to be able to come back another day, when it isn't so busy (as it was that day)and rig, tie hooks etc. on their own. I think this learn to fish clinic did that.

      For bass, hit the many tulles there are here and fish shallow with swimbaits, as the fish are either spawning or soon to.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I ran across this discussion when it first started, and I'm surprised it is still raging strong.
      I haven't fished San Pablo for about 10 years, so I can't comment on how fishing is now. I can say that back in the late 80's to early 90's, bass fishing was pretty good at times. By good I mean limits or near limits (and yes I have had 20 fish days for the boat). Split-shot original weenies and witch's T were the consistant producers. We had a couple of regular customers who only fished Worm King original weenie's, and bought them by the hundred just for SP. I had good bites fishing Shad Raps with Fire Jon in the back of the Preserve in his old little aluminum. I've had fish to 7.5 on Zara Spooks from the ramp side of the Preserve, and the largest I had come over the gunnels of my boat (13 Whaler) was a 14.75, weighed at the HQ, then released where we caught her.
      Scow canyon also produced pretty consistant results, as did the point and shoreline across the Wall. Most trees had fish.
      I had very few skunks.
      I am no super star fisherman guru, nor do I claim I can produce these results today. I just want to share some of my experiences with this lake. Please take it for what it's worth.

      Thanks and tight lines,
      Brian K.
      FISHNFF

      PS. A year or so after the lake opened, we had 100+ days on crappie (all small) across from the ramp. For years after than, only caught a few! go figure.
      Also had limit days fishing cats in those big dips across the ramp. Chicken livers with a sliding weight.
      City: Daly City

      Tips: Keep an open mind and hate the Game, not the Player!

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 60+

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got to Trinity Center just in time to see a good # of boats running up from the So. end. Must have been a club tourney going on. They occupied the community holes right off so I tried some stuff I hadn't tried in a while. Sometimes the fishing gods just smile at you. Caught 2 LM on a senko first 2 casts, both over 3. Fished along the bank another 100 yds.or so with no takers. Turned around and went back over the same area with a model A and caught 5 more between 2.5 and 4.5. Some guys were still on what used to be my favorite honey hole, so I figure maybe some of those fish would like that crankbait coming from a different direction so I started down that same bank again. Shortly the crankbait stops again. This time it's a 6-13 LM. Eight fish in the boat, best five around 20 lbs and its almost 7 o'clock and I'm thinking this is the way Trinity is supposed to be this time of year. I spent the rest of the day hitting spots I hadn't visited in a while. The fishing slowed somewhat but certainly stayed better than it has been in a while.
      City: Weaverville

      Tips: Crankbaits were hot early but today I caught fish on gitzits, Pro Gold and Mean Green Pro Worms,senkos, spinnerbaits, and one nice SM on a Long A. When Trinity is hot everything works, when it's not, slow way down. When fishing really got tough around noon a Pro Gold worm fished weightless on a 1/0 hook around willows kept the action going.

Saturday, May 1st, 2004

  • Santa Clara County
    • By

      Water Temp: 60-65

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Dropshotting roboworms. 10 fish. to 4 pounds shoulda had 12-14 fish but was missin hook sets. my buddy on the front of the boat got 4 and he never been bass fishn before.
      City: Cupertino

      Tips: dropshot rockpoints with weeds on them. cant tell you the secret worm though

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 66 - 67

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished all day Saturday from 6:30am - 4:00pm. First time back on the Delta in 7 years. Thanks everyone here for your tips. This is the trip where I discovered the wonders of the Senko lure - remember, it's been 7 years for me! Fishing was slow most of the day, but we managed 4 keepers with a total weight of about 14-15lbs - largest went 7. Hot color for us was any Senko with glitter in it... most consistent was watermelon with red flake. We fished around 14 mile, Disappointment, & Whites Slough... fished near the deepwater channel during low tide. Couldn't get bit on a spinnerbait but managed a feisty 8 incher on a buzzbait! Great fun. Can't wait to try this frog bite everyone keeps talking about.
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: use those Senko's, let them sink, and fish tight to the weeds... tight lines everyone!

    • By

      Water Temp: 68-70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Whites and Disappointment today with poor results. Caught a few small fish on Senkos and saw two better fish on beds in the back on shallow, weedy flats...left them alone. Saw a lot of fry but couldn't find any males guarding them. There's a lot of fishing pressure in Whites.

      Yesterday, ran to the middle delta (Middle River) caught a 5+ on a frog but it took 3 hours to get the one fish. Caught a couple other small fish on Senkos...overall bite was slow for me. But, I'm fishing a lot of new water that I haven't fished before trying to find some concentrations of fish.
      City: Fair Oaks

      Tips: My few better fish have come on reaction baits in the last 3 days although I'm spending a lot of time between those bites.

    • By

      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched downtown Stockton on the water by 6:30 and had some fun on top water with schoolie stripers. Boated about a dozen in an hour or so. Moved on to black bass and we had a limit for about 17#. I lost one at the boat at least 12#, turned it just enough to see her wrap me on a limb and she broke me off. About half an hour later my partner landed a nice 7# fish. Fished darker colors and caught fish on a variety of plastics and a couple on blades.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Dark colors and even though there's a reaction bite...you can still fish slow, that was the key on the 7#'er. Fish were tight on cover.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63 - 69

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the lake the past 10 days and it was pretty darn good. The first 3 days featured hot weather with no wind and the bed fish were easy pickins. Every day after that, the wind blew pretty hard and a small front came through which moved alot of fish off. We just adjusted though and found them again. Every year, my buddies and I come up for a week and this is probably the 2nd best trip we've had up here. The bast was 4 years ago. HOLY CHRIST! A few observations from this year: 1)The water is clear in random spots. You really have to figure out the spot within the spot. 2)I've never seen so many 8 - 12 inch Bass roaming the shallows as I have this past trip. It's apparent that the last couple spawns have been awesome. 3) There were millions, scratch that, BILLIONS, of shad all over the place. I think one reason the bite was slower than it should have been was because of this factor. All in all, we had a fantastic time and can't wait til next year. Best fish was almost nine with countless 5 - 7 pounders mixed in. No monsters.
      City: Placentia, CA

      Tips: Swimbaits were slow, jerkbait bite was there but it was hard to catch quality, dropshot bite was stupid but mostly for rats, sight bite was solid, senko bite was slow as well. Good Luck!

    • By

      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: i went fishing up at the far west cove by the laggon the other weekend and saw huge bass. Right now they all seem to be spawning. there were 5 pounders 3 ft off shore. there is a lot right now. i managed to catch a 3pound buck but that was it. lots of huge carp too in there. great bass fishin right now
      City: oakley

      Tips: when theere just sitting there use a sinco right in there nest. they'll get irrated eventually and eat it. You can get some really big ones like that.

  • Mariposa County
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      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 7a to 2:30p. Started in mid lake coves w/jerk bait while wife tossed a spinnerbait.She got a couple of bumps on the spinner and I got zip on the jerk bait. We both switched to split shot four inch worms & I boated the 1st keeper on a 4" green craw worm. Wife then boated a 16" spot w/a watermelon w/red flake Brush Hog. Moved up into the river arm after boating only dinks after the two keepers. Finished off our limit w/me split shotting Yamamoto cut tail watermelon w/red flake worms and the wife throwing watermelon w/red flake brush hogs.
      City: Delhi

      Tips: Bigger fish for us came from 15' to 25' and slowly dragging the split shot. Most fish came from back end of grassy coves.

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 64-66

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I took a husband (his birthday gift certificate) and wife team Saturday who were new to bass fishing and had never worm fished. We tried a little topwater and rippin' for awhile with no results. So we started the split-shotting lesson 101 and soon the spotted bass started making their way to the boat in a hurry. The problem was, it was his birthday and she was catching 'em! How nervy!! He eventually got the hang of it and did well himself. We stayed in the south fork the whole trip and wound up with 31 spotted bass - only one dink - the rest all over 12 inches. Biggest was only 2.1 lbs and was caught in 30 feet of water on the last cast! We did have 6 over the slot. Yes folks, I looked at my X-19 meter that said 22 feet and I could see the bottom!! It may be time to switch to lighter line and look for shadows provided by bushes and rocks. They had a ball landing those hard fighting spots on the great Loomis 782 rods!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We probably could had had some topwater action had I gone to shadow areas in the middle fork. But I knew the worm bite would be excellent in some of my favorite areas in the south fork - and it was! Quality bass were mostly in the 15 to 25 foot range, with a few deeper. Lots of bass are suspended. We used Berkley 4 inch Power worms and Camanche Jack early dawn 6 inch worms. We drop-shotted at few on Yamamoto Kut-Tail worms. Senkos did not work well for me as I tried them in open water like I did in my previous trip. We were looking for creek channels, cuts, flats with drop-offs, and any other structure that provided a good holding area for quality bass.

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got on the lake in thick fog and found fish immediately. First cast produced a 2 lb smallie while waiting for my partner to return from the parking lot walk. Good start to a beautiful day.
      Our mission today was to find a few crappie for the Lake Sonoma hatchery visitor center. After catching a lot of bass we finally found some willing fish. Then we started actually fishing for bass. Found fish in less than 10 feet of water on wood. The bass ranged from 2 lbs up to 7 lbs. Best 5 went 24 lbs. Lost a few larger fish to the wood. The better bite came after 10am when the sun warmed things up.Didn't catch any big fish in the backs of any coves, almost all came from open areas with wood. Lots of smllies and largemouth in the 3 pound range. It couldn't have been a nicer day. Anyone that fished Sonoma today would have taken 3 limits for sure. It was just too easy. Finding crappie was the hard part. Here is a look at a few fish.
      http://www.sonic.net/sheehy/FishingFolder/LakeSonoma/LakeSonomaPage_1.html
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Find a spot with wood and fish it slow. The bass wouldn't kill it, but would just suck it in. Fished senkos and jigheads. 5" and 6" Senkos in # 208 and # 213. The 213 with a 1/4 oz darterhead.
      Don't forget sunscreen. Great kini day too.