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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Wednesday, May 27th, 2015

  • 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

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!

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I cast along the shoreline at dike8 (oh excuse me, "folsom point") while I let my dog hang out, swim, and mark everything he can piss on.... managed a stray smallie around 13" and a spot about a lb throwin' a 5" morning dawn stik-o from bass pro. I connected about 2 weeks ago practicing a swim jig at brown's ravine but a security guy told me I couldn't cast from the launch dock. it was a weekday and aboluly NO ONE AROUND and I told him I would be happy to get off the dock if someone wanted to launch. he referred to some u.s. boater regulation about not fishing 50 ft from the dock. then started saying "if I let you, then I have to let everyone else" at which point I just told him he didn't have to explain and I would just get off the dock. however I did point out to him that there were no signs stating "no fishin from the dock" but there was a sign saying "no parking on the boat ramp" ... go figure. I later asked a state park officer and he said the security guys get a little "over-zealous". oh well, they're doing their job. I just wonder how u.s. boater regulation applies to a shore fisherman. anyways, I'm a folsom resident and I'm not gonna let this guy stop me from fishing my resident lake. i'll just stay off the launch ramp like I always do IF THERE'S A BOAT LAUNCHING. maybe they should post a sign. delta is my preferred fishing area anyway...give folsom lake to the rude wake boarders and skiers.

      Tips: stay off the launch dock even if it's not posted. like I said, I get off when I see someone coming to launch or trailer....it's pretty simple common sense. btw...bobby burgess, did you ever take your son out last april? was waiting for results.

Saturday, May 23rd, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched Paradise and headed to 14 mile slough...worked the tules and weedlines first with lipless cranks and after about 200yds of nothing, switched to senkos. about another 300 yds of nothing, moved further down closer to the main river but still on 14mile. started picking up 1 and 2 lbers on the senkos (black neon and junebug). decided to head up main river to little connection slough... picked up a bunch of barely keepers on lipless cranks. worked the center tule strips with senkos and picked up a few more 1 to 2 lbers. nothing over 2 lbs but still a fun day. the opening set almost had me pretty discouraged til we moved further down.

      Tips: not qualified to give tips. but what worked for us was working both inside and outside weedlines. some of the 2 lbers hit between rockwall and inside weed edge. the ones that hit the lipless cranks seemed to hit as the lure passed over the weedline so I switched to a cordell suspending spot and would stop and go over the weedline. that's when I got hit.

Wednesday, May 20th, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: Clear Lake this week 5/20/2015 Memorial Day Forecast

      Wow, almost June! Can you say topwater? How about big jig? Chatterbait? Trashfish? Glidebait? Well, it’s time, and the bite is on.

      Early morning, yes, there are still some bedfish to be had, but boy, passing up an early morning topwater bite just doesn’t seem right, so DON’T do it! Grab your buzzbait or frog and go after em’, they’re there to be had. Oh, and don’t forget the whopper plopper!

      Mid-morning, as the morning progresses I’d pick up my Trashfish or Chatterbait, and I’d start searching for some sub-surface chasers. Again, they are there and these fish are usually found in schools, so find one, and find a bunch is usually the rule.

      Afternoon time, I’d pull out the jig rods and start searching the usual deeper waters, and rock piles, again, find one and you’ll usually find a bunch.

      Evening time, I’d go back to chasing either the top water or sub-surface chasers of earlier in the day.

      Forecast for the weekend is 7-80 degrees and sunny so it should be fairly comfortable as long as the wind doesn’t rare it’s ugly head.

      Water levels are better than last year as is the dreaded algae, and the bite. So make the most of it guys and gals, get up to the lake and get a fix to last the summer.

Tuesday, May 19th, 2015

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Lime Saddle 6 am, stopped fishing 10:30 am. Fished N. Fork area heading towards main lake, from west fork. Decent day, 21 spots, 1 large mouth, nothing over 14 1/2" Most all my fish 20-35 ft range. Most places I fished gave up 2-4 per area before I moved to another location, points, steep rocky banks, clean looking water seemed to always have fish, like the cleaner, the better. Texas and drop shot worms this trip. Basic trip, nothing different. Water dropping as always!!

Friday, May 15th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Cooler temps killed the crank bite for me. Still getting fish to 6.5 lbs. on senko's and big worms. Broke off a giant at the uni knot but what can you do? Upsize the leader.

      Tips: Big bites are still available just keep working. 15 lb. leader is needed for the monsters. Bethel Island is where I've been for 3 1/2 months.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at lime Saddle about 6 am, picked up a couple basic fish at the marina, then headed to north fork, turned south, towards the main lake, fished west side mostly. Amazing glass like water early, rare to find glassy days and no sun. Without the sun coming up, bite was off a tad. Seemed like a slow day, with better bite when ever the sun poked out. I managed just 17 spots today, but did get 4 large mouth, not large, 2 in a row, about 13"-14" surprised me. No large fish today, all basic from 12-14 1/2" Surprised to see the lake a degree cooler then my last trip. Fished mostly Texas rig roboworms today, 2 tome brown colors. Next trip this coming Tuesday. Water dropping, guessing near 15 feet down now. The island at N.fork, west fork intersection well visible now.

      Tips: Most fish taken in 25-30 feet of water today.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: Lake levels around the Northstate
      Shasta: 80.48' from full pool
      Trinity: 105.91' from full pool
      Oroville: 151.52' from full pool

      Fishing on Shasta has been great for numbers of bass. Bait's of choice have been 5" yamamoto Senko's in Natural Shad and Baby Bass.
      6" Mothers Finest worms on 3/16 oz dart heads colors have been #23, #35, #37, #38 & #39 as well as Mothers Finest 4" swimbaits in Ghost Trout, Shasta Trout and Sexy Shad.
      Keitech Fat Swing Impact paddletails in Dark Sculpin, Tennessee Shad, Electric Shad and Bluegill Flash.
      The topwater bite is getting going as well on Super spooks, Mag Pop-R's and Whopper Plopper's.
      The Trout Fishing on the lower Sac has been very good also for back trolling #50 hot shot's, #2 Bluefox & #2 Bud's spinners and F-4 & F-5 Flatfish From the 44 Bridge all the way down to Cottonwood

    • By

      Report: Lake levels around the Northstate
      Shasta: 80.48' from full pool
      Trinity: 105.91' from full pool
      Oroville: 151.52' from full pool

      Fishing on Shasta has been great for numbers of bass. Bait's of choice have been 5" yamamoto Senko's in Natural Shad and Baby Bass.
      6" Mothers Finest worms on 3/16 oz dart heads colors have been #23, #35, #37, #38 & #39 as well as Mothers Finest 4" swimbaits in Ghost Trout, Shasta Trout and Sexy Shad.
      Keitech Fat Swing Impact paddletails in Dark Sculpin, Tennessee Shad, Electric Shad and Bluegill Flash.
      The topwater bite is getting going as well on Super spooks, Mag Pop-R's and Whopper Plopper's.
      The Trout Fishing on the lower Sac has been very good also for back trolling #50 hot shot's, #2 Bluefox & #2 Bud's spinners and F-4 & F-5 Flatfish From the 44 Bridge all the way down to Cottonwood

Thursday, May 14th, 2015

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64-67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My buddy Mike and I did a quick afternoon trip to Bullards Bar yesterday - fishing for about 4 hours. It was a beautiful afternoon but breezy and cool. Our first stop was the only good bite we got. I was fishing a small plastic bait on a darthead. Suddenly I couldn't feel the bottom and started reeling in slack line. Finally caught up with the bait and it was heading for deep water. The power of those spots is really amazing!! About 4 minutes later Mike nets my biggest spotted bass so far - 7 lbs 13 oz. Not a whale but at least a shark! I have caught some 7 lb spots and had a client with one. Now I am close to 8 lbs!! So we thot a good trip was ahead. Not at all!!! The dinks weren't even biting much and no more good hits. I caught my biggest dink also - about 11 1/2 inches! We left at dusk - air temp down to 47 degrees.

      Tips: No help here - tough bite! Water looks good and debris is gone. We didn't cover much water because of the brief trip.

Tuesday, May 12th, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Report: Clear Lake this week 5/12/2015

      As some of you know I ran away last week to go chase some a State smallmouth, and when I did, Clear Lake blew up again, and another big wave of fish moved up yet again.

      The lake level un-fortunately is beginning to drop and sits at 3.86 Rumsey today, and I suspect we will see two or so by the 4th of July, as water is beginning to flow.

      Still, the bite is really beginning to pick up on standard type baits as well. Jigs, cranks, chatterbaits, and swimbaits are all beginning to add fish to the livewell for anglers who can ignore the temptation to move to the bank and chase bedfish.

      Personally, I’m headed out with the jigs rods this week to look for those big girls that went first back in early March.

      The weather is mild, so I suspect the lake to be quitter than normal for a Memorial Day weekend, and the fishing should benefit as well.

Monday, May 11th, 2015

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 69

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Lime Saddle about 6 am, stopped fishing at 10:30 am. Fished mostly the North fork from west fork towards the main lake. One of those days one likes. First cast, 13" spot, second cast, another 13", then got slow, so moved and the bite was on. Fished about 3 different locations and managed just 19 fish today. One at 16", one 15" with the rest basic size 13-14" with a couple 12" mixed in. Most fish either tight to the shore, or 20-25 feet, better fish were about 25 foot mark. Tossed mostly senko's Texas style, also some basic browns roboworms. When the wind picked up about 9:30-9:45 the bite got great. Large rocky areas, or boulders tended to hold fish for me. Got 8 fish out of one location. Catch a fish, stay in the area a while and give it a chance, many time more just waiting. Lake appears to have dropped 10-12 feet now, over the last 3-4 weeks. I don't feel like the bite is quite wide open yet.

      Tips: Today's best color watermelon and cream laminate senko's.

Saturday, May 9th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66-70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from Frans to Mildred. Saw a lot of empty beds. Managed to catch one really good fish and a lot of smaller ones. Video here:
      https://youtu.be/QPJTvBGKXCI

      Tips: Caught a lot of smaller ones on lipless crank and jerkbait. Better ones came on Senko and drop shot.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Camped out for the weekend and fished two full days in both the Pit and Squaw arms. Brought only 42 fish into the boat with majority of them being spotted bass, biggest just over 2lbs. Three rainbows were hooked and 4 nice crappie. All were between 15 and 20 feet of water until Sunday when they for some reason moved to deeper water. Sunday we had to fish 30-35 feet down to get bites. Maybe because Sunday was a calmer and warmer day with no wind? Also the colors changes from day to day. Saturday dark colors seemed to work better and Sunday, lighter colors. Also Saturday mid-day, crank baits worked well off points and Sunday, not one hit on a crank bait. Few top water grabs early mornings too.

      Tips: Texas rigged lizards in coves, wacky worms rock ledges and trees, crank baits off points. Vary the colors until you find what they want. Flashers & little Cleo for rainbows

Thursday, May 7th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 69-73

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I guided 2 great fellas from the east coast on Tuesday, and 3 great senior citizens from the west coast (bay area) on Wednesday. The bite was slow but steady both days. Thot I was at Clear Lake sometimes - we caught several dink largemouth - kinda rare for Berry - but a GOOD sign!! My clients caught 1 3/4 to 3 lb bass of all 3 species (some nice spots!), including a 3 1/2 to 4 lb spot lost at the boat!!! First trip found us in the main body - second in the narrows. On Wed, all three seniors landed the first 3 bass within in 20 minutes - small, large, and spotted bass - each around 2 1/2 lbs. Wow - I was a happy camper - and so were they!! We caught mostly largemouth and spots - only 2 smallies. I fished them around rocky areas - mostly off-shore - about 10 to 20 feet deep. Weather was very nice both days, with a light breeze.

      Tips: We did all sorts of Berryessa techniques using Robo worms, Flappin' hogs, beavers, and Senkos. No treble hooks. One senior brought his own tackle which included the "kitchen sink!" He was throwing everything plastic - and some of it worked!! Nearly every bass both days was between 2 and 3 1/4 lbs. No 1 1/2 pounders - weird! We used Texas rigging, drop shot, and split-shot rigging. Both days 5 fish limits were about 12 1/2 to 13 lbs - pretty good May bite!