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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Saturday, April 10th, 2004

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      Water Temp: 66

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 6:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., my buddy and I had boated 6 and lost a few. The fishing was really tough. There was a BASS club holding a tournament, and they were all roughly catching the same amount if not any. It was not as active as it was normally. Saw a few fish on beds.
      City: Lemoore

      Tips: Try everything and anything... We drop shot most fish that were caught. One fish was caught on a spinner bait.

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

      Report: Went out on Easter Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. Did not go fishing with my usual partner, but went fishing with Gordon from the Folsom Bass team. Got on the water first thing before all the knuckle heads. Lake dropped about 4 to 5 feet. Expected fish to be of the bank in deeper water or susupened. Went up the North fork started rippin' and and throw blades. G man picked up three and I was still waiting to get bit..... Fished rock walls for days and only got three. Time to take G man to my spot. Cruised over to some rock piles where I was catching good spots to 2 pounds for the last two weeks. Started throwing plastics near the rock piles we caught a few here and there. Then we came to shallow water (lake dropped a few feet) then found a nice 2 1/2 pound smallie on a bed. Worked the fish for a few minutes and finally caught it. got the fish off the hooke and saw a 2 plus pound spot on a bed, then so on and so on bed fish everywhere. On the bottom of a tree was a nice largie that I finally caught after almost giving up. It went for 3# 14oz. not a bad fish. Wind started to pick up and ruined the sight fishing. Off the water by 11:30, before the knuckle heads got on the water. Good day best five went for around 14#
      City: Citrus Heights

      Tips: Through Basstrix Perch Minnows (looks like a blue gill) on the bed fish and just shake them. The bass take them right away. To bad Fishermen's Warehouse never has them is stock..... hmm hot bait maybe order more??

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      Water Temp: 57-60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 7 a.m. until the madness started (pleasure craft mania has already hit Folsom) 10:30 a.m.

      Two decent spots on a rip bait and another got off up South. One nice spot on a senko in the dead wood trees outside Hobie Cove. Then at 10:00 I landed a beautiful 3.9 smallie on a darthead (what else for hippie) on Mormom Island. This fish was only 14.5 inches long but fat like a football and the colors were AWESOME!! A tanic brown with green in the gills what a fight great fish!! Then I noticed all the traffic and the ramp at Brown's getting nasty. I am outta here kinda reminded me of Summer.

      No toads on beds like I here Russ and the gang are catching, but Spring is my weakness gimme 30 ft and cold any day!!! Fun time anyway
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: When the willows flood in a few weeks dropshot and senkos, right now I say reaction and find the beds!!

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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Took a break from other waters and decided to explore this pond for the first time. Dusted the bell boat off and was on my way. Lots of little fish on tule edges. Larger fish were buried as far back as you could get (which aint so far when youre in a b boat). Fished 4 hours, largest 3 went 4.5, 3.5, and 2. Actually had a really enjoyable morning.
      City: Carmichael

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: Unknown

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished dawn to dusk and caught fish all day long. Moved from one small "cove" to the next to drop anchor and avoid wind and tournament. (My "bass boat" is a 24" cabin cruiser) Caught at least one fish in each stop and 5 or 6 in some. Fished from bank down to 20-25 feet and caught fish at all depths.

      Caught fish throwing to obvious structure: boulders, trees, submerged ridges, etc. Caught few on bottom. Caught 3 in back of cove with debris on top of water in a spot onyl 12' wide and about 4' to the shore.

      Dropshotted 4" Yamamoto cut tail in green pumpkin w/ black flake, Robo in Aaron's magic, and 6" Robo in Oxblood. Also threw Senko, 5" watermelon w/black flake Texas, weedless, weightless. All on 6# P-Line w/ 3/16 weight for the small dropshots, 1/4 for the 6" Used #1 Gammy EWG hooks on 4' baits and 1/0 or 2/0 on the bigger baits.
      City: Chico

      Tips: If you're finesse fishing, watch your line! Even in the wind, I SAW some hits when there was big belly in the line. Other times it was great to feel the "thunk" on a Senko!

    • By

      Water Temp: 65 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great fishing out there this past weekend. Fished the back island pond with 5' pumpkin senko from 6:45 to 11:45 am. Me and two other "Sport Fisherman" where tubing the left side and the back tullies. We all started off catching 1 dink in the morning, then the fun began. One of the other anglers I was with, we will call him "Bob", hit a 2 pounder on a #224 senko in area of the back tullies. Minutes later angler number two, we will call him "Tim", then banged a nice 2 pounder on a 5'senko (not sure the number)in the same spot. So, I took my turn flipped a #051 5' senko into a shaded area next to a bed of tullies and BANG hooked into a 3 pounder. This beauty had some fight in her, spun my tube around and took my 6.5 ugly stick to the water......GREAT FISH! Fantastic time to be an angler in the Bay Area!
      City: Dublin

      Tips: No need to keep your bass. If you want the taste of a nice bass, go down to your local Nob Hill or Albertsons they have a great deal right now -4 filets at $4.99.

      FISH AND RELEASE!

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 58-68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Took the Kids out for a great day on the lake. Late start but fished till dark. Me and Mikey(6) and Tom(14) in our Boat, Jim and Sean(10) and Ricky(7)in his and John and Jimmy (13) in his. Headed to Cherry and hit some other spots as well. Most of the fish on Plastics, Drop Shot as well as T-rig and weightless Senko/Helix. Jim had some luck with his Jig. No real takers on blades, cranks, jerks, etc. Not sure of all the details but it was a great day. Here's the numbers I recall, Mikey 9 fish! up to 2.1lb. Tom 3 fish including a 2.4 on a topwater Frog (yeah!) Jimmy 4 fish, John 15 fish (personal Best)up to 2.5lbs or so, Sean 5, Ricky 3 and Jim the big fish man with several nice ones and a couple 4+lbs! Not many dinks in the crowd. Tried to pester a few bed fish with limited success. Beautiful day with predictable Sonoma winds and a great day to teach the kids! As always all fish released (after a couple photos).
      City: Pacifica

      Tips: Fish were moving up, mostly the males nono of the fat girls were spotted except one area. With the cold on the way they may get confused.

Friday, April 9th, 2004

  • Plumas County
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      Water Temp: 51

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Cameron. We are just stingy up here and want to
      keep Almanor to ourselves, however more and more are finding out about the smallmouth. Right now it
      is very good, with fish moving up. You can get them on plastics and tubes, alongwith cranks and
      topwater will work, but slower, right now.
      Any good looking shoreline/rocks or structure is
      the place to start. Have fun on your next trip. Bill K
      City: Eagle Lake

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: went out and sight fished all day. I spotted a ton of fry all over the lake. Spawn could be almost done because I did not see any mamas on beds and I checked the entire lake. Water was a little muddy. There was still some males hanging around the fry. Fish were spooky and darted off anytime a bait landed within 5 ft of them. I fished pretty hard and only managed 2 in the 3 lb range. Got both dragging weedless senkos but missed a couple splitting large power gulps. a lot of bassers out there today so the pressure was on.
      City: el dorado hills

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 60-67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I spent another beautiful day at Berryessa with a very special client. He was a person who sustained a very serious injury when he was young and as a result can't walk or move around in the boat very well. He has really not let his problems slow him down in the fishing world and I was privledged to get to know him and spend a fun day helping him catch lots of bass! The only disappointing thing about the day was the lack of topwater action in the early morning. He caught one on a crankbait on the first cast and I thought we were in business. Anyway, the spawn is on and we got onto some great largemouth, and about 8 smallmouth up to 2 lbs 3 oz. We only caught 2 spots - one at 2 pounds. We did some sight fishing for largemouth with white jigs and teased a few into biting. He spotted a good bass on a nest in about 8 feet of water. We could barely see it but he wanted me to show him how to get it to bite. Third try she nailed the jig and was the biggest of the day - a 3 1/4 lb largemouth. We also caught two spawned-out largies at 2 3/4 lbs each. The rest of the time we split-shotted baby brush hogs, lizards, and Berkley Pulse worms. I don't know how many bites we had, but we landed 27 with a limit finally over 13 pounds. It really was fun to see bass in shallow water everywhere. My client really enjoyed throwing his watermelon brush hog in front of a crusing bass and she turned around and ate it! She must have jumped over a foot out of the water. That was one of the large spawned-out females. I was surprised not to see any bass over 4 pounds. Maybe they are spawning deeper. We caught most of our fish from 5 to 15 feet. We expected to see a few big ones but didn't. And does that lake ever have carp - and GOLDFISH!!! I had heard about them but had never seen any. Two were paired up - I wonder if they spawn? Man, are they bright in the clear water - you can see them 20 yards away!!!!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: The lake has really changed this past week. The water has really cleared up and has dropped a few feet. Pleasure boaters are out now for the Easter weekend, mudlines are forming, and summer won't be far off. Cover, shadows, and deep water access will become more important as post-spawn takes center-stage. We fished the main body all day.

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

      Report: Spent Good Friday on the waters of Calero in my float tube. Fished the flats left of the lanch ramp and caught a 5 fish limit. No takers on blades all Senko (rootbeer color) fishes in about 10 ft of water no shallower or deeper. Largest fish went on my Berkeley digital scale at a hefty 4.6lbs all the rest were Calero sized bass at 2lbs and less. Total weighed for 5 fish was 10lbs 11oz. Lots of guys on bass boats that morning. Didn't get a report from anyone. Left at noon, bite was picking up.
      City: Mountain View

      Tips: Fished rootbeer Senko in 10' of water. Lift and drop and work back to boat. All bites were very suttle, and on the drop. Watch for line movement.

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: how has the water ski traffic been out there? i've got a small boat, and the traffic kills me. also bass tips from you veterans is always appreciated. thanks to all the cool fisherman who are always friendly out there!
      City: los gatos

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      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Went striaght to the left end of the damn if you're facing it from the launch. Caught a 1 pounder on a orange jig and pig on the damn. Worked the shoreline in the backs of the two main coves on the left side. Caught a few 1.5 pounders on a green Gary Yamamoto lizard with 5/16 oz. wieghts, just enough to get it to the bottom. The fish were pretty shallow, i caught all of them in about 3-5 feet. The bites were really soft these fish would just mouth the lizards.
      City: Pleasant Hill

      Tips: Drag creatures through the spawning beds.

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

      Report: Good Bass bite by the marina near the tulleys. Used senkos. Bass bite is pretty consistent through the day.
      City: San Jose

  • Riverside County
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      Water Temp: high 50's

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: 3 of us fished a variety of places today -- all the way from Beaver Slough area to Frank's Tract area. Keepers - 3 stripers and 11 bass (biggest - 2 lbs). Caught a lot of undersized fish. Fished weed lines or over the weeds.
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Never know what you get when you toss Rat L Traps -- caught 2 stripers and 5 bass. Rest of bass and 1 striper on wh/char spinnerbait.

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Got the word right from the Horses mouth{san jose water works} this lake will never be full again maybe half if we are lucky, They are worried about the pipe that has been fixed and fixed again!!! they figure ground movement, so dont want to add extra pressure with a full lake, might wash away Los gatos
      City: san jose

  • Palo Pinto County
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      Water Temp: dunno

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We went fishing in our float tubes for about 2 hours using Texas rigged baby brush hogs. Caught only 1 bass cuz had to take my friends gf home.... Very nice lake... I thought we would have had better luck.
      City: Morgan Hill

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      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Tubed the pack far pond by the bridge on Friday evening. banged 3 fish, all on senkos, biggest being 17 inches. Great timeon the water, tyhe bite is picking up, shoudld be a great summer in the tube.
      Attention all anglers...please release the bass, i see to many bass anglers keeping them,
      City: Dublin

      Tips: tight lines, senoks and keep em moving, jig em around..
      Tyes, Im an avid angler and very proud of it...

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 59-63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: the lake is 21ft down and dropping slowly as they dump to lower the delta salinity, the fish are moving up in most areas of the lake and a number are already on beds, water clarity has vastly improved over the last week with visibility down to 15 ft in some areas, still some debris present but not for long with the north wind blowing and lake levels receding, 30-50 fish per day is not umcommon now with most being dinks with a few 2-3lb fish thrown in and a fair amount of 5lb+ fish showing up regularly topped by an 8.1 lb hog caught last week. Just about anything thrown in the lake will produce, The wife and I had 24 in 2 hours yesterday over in the McCloud. Just find some warmer water and have at it. Some of the coves have fish all the way in the back, others don't so don't spend a lot of time in any one location unless you are getting bit. My fish lately are coming on watermelon green 4 inch worm made by my friend Bryce(by the way, i ran out, Bryce, need some more) and the MGM 127 4inch and 157 4 inch and, of course, my own concoction by way of 1/2 and 3/4 oz jigs tied up by yours truly. The better fish yesterday (2.86) came on a 3/4 oz, the wife got hers on an old broken back rebel. If your looking for some fast fishing for spots then now is the time at Shasta Lake, it will only get better for a month or so.
      City: Redding

Thursday, April 8th, 2004

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Temp: 67

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished for six hours and I only caught 8 smallies on drop shot Yamamoto cut tail plum. All fish came in 8 to 10 feet of water. The lake is busy right now with the spring breakers. I haven't seen that many boats on the lake since last summer. Looks like most people are bed fishing at the west end of the lake. I did talk to a guy caught an 8 pounder off bed in Johnson. What a fish! Good luck and be careful with all the activity on the lake right now.
      City: Arroyo Grande, Ca

      Tips: Drop shot with your hook 12 to 14 inches above your weight. No reaction bite yet. There was a reaction bite last week but it is gone now. Probably because of all the pressure.