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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, May 7th, 2004

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

      Report: can some one tell me how to fish for bass in merced? I know there is bass in there, but have never tried. It's impossible to get a boat in there with the luanch, and I assume you can't rent anything there no more. What do you guys throw out there?
      City: sf

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: went out the past 2 days with my best friend skip. Caught 200+ bass! Got bored with all the small ones but did get a few in the 3 lb range, largest one went 9lbs. Finally used every last worm we had in the boat and called it, didn't matter, we were getting bored. Tried odd ball lures for fun we even used 8" snakes and they bit that too. Alot of fish but alot of slot fish.
      City: Galt

Thursday, May 6th, 2004

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: low-mid 60's

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got a later start then I would have liked but bank fished Folsom from Rattlesnake Bar launch ramp north about 3/4 mile. After no luck on a white double willow blad spinnerbait my partner and I decided to change patterns (he was also tossing a spinnerbait), or fish Avery Pond. A short walk back to the launch ramp and we headed for Avery. First time fishing both the North side of Folsom and Avery. Caught nearly a dozen bass between my partner and I fishing 5" dark green blake flake Senkos. All the fish were about a pound. Put a little grub on an ultralight rod and caught two bluegill both goin a pound or so. Left by noon. Was a great trip, if you don't mind a short hike Avery is a great little pond. If you fish her please practice C&R as a fishery like that can be easily depleted. Good luck and tight lines.

      Tips: Finally realized all the hype about the senkos. Great action, casts like a bullet and catches fish. Once it gets ripped to shreds trying fishing it wacky. Seemed like the fish liked seeing a different presentation.

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: http://www.mnn.net/drain.htm......check it...its about the draining

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I thought that powerboats and pwc's were not allowed on Lexington. Am I right or did the rules change or something. Thanks
      Greg
      City: SJ

Wednesday, May 5th, 2004

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 66-69

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: If my trip last Friday started out with a bang, this one yesterday started out with a whimper! I told my client to get to Markley Cove early and we were ready with cranks, ripbaits, and topwater. So, where were the bass and shad that were there on Friday? Gone, of course. What a difference a weekend makes! My client did hook a nice smallie on topwater, but missed it. We started split-shotting junebug and green craw worms and the bite slowly turned on. The first 3 were largemouth up to almost 2 pounds. We fished the narrows for awhile, most of the time on the east shoreline of the main body, and some around Big Island. We were targeting flats with small rock and a ledge nearby The ledge produced better fish if it had a shadow. We also found good quality fish already off-shore in about 25 feet of water. Our score card was something like: 10 LM, 14 SM, and 6 SB for a total of 30 bass. Our best five were better than I had expected at 10 lbs 2 oz. I tested the drop-shot bite and it was still good. I caught an 18 inch spawned-out smallie that weighed only 2-5 on a #031 Yamamoto Kut-Tail worm, drop-shotted in about 25 feet of water. I did catch a 4 inch bass which I told my client I caught on purpose so he wouldn't feel bad about his 5 inch bass, har! No, they wern't part of the 30!! After my client left, I took a nap and them sampled the evening bite and found it to be fine. I caught 12 - 3 on crankbaits, the rest on worms. I wanted to make a "full day" of it, so I tried night fishing, but it got too windy with the incoming cold front and the bite was slow. I did get a sample of what is to come at night when a 2 lb smallie crushed a 7 inch Power Worm. Was that fun after a day of finesse bites. Bring on night fishing - I'm ready!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: In addition to lots of thrills for my client, this trip provided a new experience for me. I saw two big fish on a boulder in about 15 feet of water, assumed they were spawning and dropped a white jig to them. One of them bolted for the jig at full speed and inhaled it. I just sight-fished my first catfish - about 6 pounds!!!! I tried jigs since some smallies were spitting up craws. No luck. The bass were in great shape and full of fight - a great day!! We saw smallies crusing everywhere - that was neat!

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: ~65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Arrived around 6:30, fished from shore by the right side of the parking area for 45 min..nothing. Moved over to the left side and fished margarita senkos in the weeds near shore. Had one hit right away but missed it, then 10 min pulled in a nice 5 pounder which hit my senko as soon as it hit the water. Guy wading in the weeds near the picnic tables caught several nice ones including a 9 pounder on senkos. Guy next to me caught what looked like a 2 pounder on a spinnerbait and then proceeded to stick it in a plastic bag and let the thing die slow..jeez if you are gonna not practice catch and release at least do it mercifully! Must be the mercury at work on the brain...lol
      City: San Jose

      Tips: any shade of green senko seems to work. White spinnerbaits

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

      Report: do you still need a permit to fish this lake? where do you get one? isn't the store at the lake closed?
      City: san francisco

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      Water Temp: 68 degrees

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the early morning from 6:30 until 10:30 a.m.(half-day boat rental for the slick pond prowler craft Todd rents there). Went right to south end of lake to explore new water. Found a lot of brown tules along the shore, dead stick-ups, brown weeds, and brown moss. Too much brown! ...and no fish. Moved back to main lake basin and explored main lake points where we found healthy green Elodea weeds off shore. While fishing a 7" Green Pumpkin (with black flake) Senko VERY slowly along the bottom through one of these green weed beds, I hooked and landed a beautiful 15 lb. 2 oz. female with a fat belly. Looked like she hadn't spawned yet. What a fight! She made several powerful runs, and a couple of classic jumps. Sure made waiting for the One Big Bite worth it! My son, John, motored over and got several nice pictures, including a nice sequence of releasing her and seeing her swim away. Her picture is on the Photo Page.
      City: Monterey, CA

      Tips: Find the green weeds! They're off shore, outside the shoreline weed beds, in the 12 - 18 feet depth range. The green weeds are on the bottom, and not very thick...seemed to be only a couple of feet tall at most. Big Senko fished VERY slowly...not deadsticked, but just inched along between pauses. Tried several colors, but the green pumpkin worked best. Line was 16 lb. Sugoi fluorocarbon.

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Decided to fish from my tube today. Fished the ramp and main lake for a few hours. Splitshot, darterheads,and senkos did most of the work. Caught 25 bass from 1 to 5 lbs. It was pretty much a 50/50 mix between largemouth and smallies.
      Took some on topwater just after I got in. Bite died after the wind changed direction. Only saw 8 trailers in the parking lot. Nice and quiet up until noon. Broke off 6 big bass to wood.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Bring heavier line to fish wood. same old colors of senkos. 1/8 oz darterheads and Killer Worms in Gray Ghost and Amber.

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished yesterday with a good friend,Bud Bailey, and as usual this time of year what was working Sunday didn't work at all early on. Fished flats and willows and caught only a few small fish on weightless worms. Started throwing cranks and spinnerbaits and the bite and the size improved. Bud showed me some of his favorite spots down lake and they did indeed hold fish. This was only the second time Bud and I have fished Trinity together and it was amazing to see how many dependable spots we had in common. He's been fishing the lake in excess of 30 years and I for 14 and yet we'd have the same tales to tell about the same spots. He did introduce me to a couple of new points and we caught fish almost every where we stopped.
      Around 11 the wind came up and we headed back to the same flats that were so slow early and did a lot better. I know that fishing in the wind is a pain but as Bud said " On Trinity the wind is your friend."
      Ended up with several smallies in the three lb. class taken mainly on main lake points with the Pro Gold red flake worm on a ball jig. After the wind kicked up, cranks and jerkbaits produced better fish with Bud picking up a 4+ LM just before we decided to call it a day.
      City: Weaverville

      Tips: If any of you see Bud, please explain to him that when you are a guest in another guys' boat and using his tackle, you are not supposed to clean his clock.

Tuesday, May 4th, 2004

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Whiskey Sl. Saturday morning from around 8:00am till about 11:00am. Caught a few dinks on 5in Blk/Blue Senkos and one fatty (9.5lbr) on a 7in. Blk/Blue Senko. Buddy Jake Shaw nailed a fat 7lbr' about 10mins. before I got my fatty on a modified Senko.
      City: Holt

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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I WENT THIS SATURDAY ON THE FAR COVE DOWN BY THE LAGOON AGAIN AND GOT SOME MORE BASS. I CAUGHT 3 OF SOME TOP WATER POPPERS. MY BIGGEST WAS A 4 POUNDER. THE TOP WATER SEEMED TO BE THE ONLY THING WORKING FOR ME. I SAW LOTS OF BASS THOUGH AND THEY WERE JUMPING A LOT.
      City: OAKLEY

      Tips: USE TOPWATER

    • By

      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 3:30PM 'til sunset. Managed to C&Red 2 LM, biggest being ~3.5# and the other ~1.5#. Both caught slow rolling white spinners from the bank.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Fish & fish some more. persistence pays off

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

      Report: In response to BPC's report. Hey, are you the guy who hand pours those CCT Lures worms? When are those going to be available? I used some of the samples you gave me and the fish love them.

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 66-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Friend and I caught 50+ drop shotting early before the wind, then later bouncing 1/4 oz jigs with grubs on the bottom in 5-15'of water. Just about any color worked. We caught them on at least 9 or 10 different colors. watermelon, warmouth, pumpkin seed, green pumpkin, aarons magic, morning dawn, new ayu,...

      6 or 7 over the slot, most 12" or so, same as usual. I want to know how that guy caught that 13lb bass in this lake at this past weekends tourney! WOW! I'm sure I'd poop myself after catching these bazillion 12" fish then to hook onto something like that!

      The wind was pretty annoying in the afternoon. Had similar day last Tuesday without the wind and it was nice.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: Rocky shores were best. Better on the midsized chunky rocks than the big bouldery type, but they were ok too. 100+ fish in our last 2 outtings. I guess things are heating up. If you know where those 13lb'ers are hanging outlet me know!

    • By

      Water Temp: 68-72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had a anther great day today caught 40 more. I would have caught more but with the wind I was on my trolling motors all day and drained the battery. 80+ fish in two days I can't complain. Yesterday I caught all my fish on worms today I could only use worms til about 10:30 then the wind came up and I went to a crank bait with the same colors as the worms that worked good brown and green.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Today I caught my fish on a crank bait. I fished rocky shore lines with A deep running crank bait some fish where deep around 15-20 feet and some where right on the top.

  • Bayfield County
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      Water Temp: 60-65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the Benefit tourney for the Van Duzen Youth sports. Lot of good size bass lots of small bass. I caught the biggest bass ever on this lake nearly 4 lbs. Hooked it on a tube bait green crawfish color, 3 inch senko green pumpkin, and drop shot with a morning glory worm.
      City: McKinleyville

      Tips: Fish have moved to deeper water mine were all caught next to trees and in weedbeds. FISH REAL SLOW AND THEN SLOWER..............

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Jones Valley on the 4th and the upper Sac. on the 5th, in the afternoon both days. Best fish went 3+ with most caught on Senkos.Got off the lake on the 4th around 3 p.m. Stopped at the Jones Valley store and on the front door are pictures of some blacks over 9 lbs. caught on minnows within the last week and a half. These pictures were taken at the store. My question is were these fish returned to the lake or tablefare? Has anyone noticed the decreasing amount of largemouth sightings the last couple of years on this lake? These fish are extremely vulnerable come springtime and if this keeps up there won't be any left.
      City: Redding

      Tips: Did manage to see one male largemouth guarding a school of fry and one spent female.

    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished with a client from Reno who is fishing the Future Pros Tournament on the 15th, he was a very good fisherman. In at 0530 at Bridge Bay, calm with a full moon. Started up the Sac, arm and the wind picked up to about 20 mph, first stop Potty Point, client ripped two spots about 2.5# on a 78 pointer in ghost minnow and I ripped one about the same size on a Stayee 90 in Auroa Black. Fished Half Way Cove, nothing on any thing we throwed. Went into O'Brien, nothing there, up the Sac to the Gooseneck throwing a good 6" worm weightless landed appox. 30 fish to 2.5#. Showed my client where he could expect to find quality fish. Best five was appox. 12lbS
      City: Redding

      Tips: Take advantage of this full moon and get out there to fish.