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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Wednesday, March 24th, 2004

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: A friend and I went to the launch at the end of the day about 3pm-6pm. We were fishing from the bank tossing swimbaits(SR7's from Outdoor Pro). My buddy hooks his first swimbait bass at 5.1 pounds. Very nice fat female, that was the only fish for 3 hours of fishing.

      Tips: Let the lure sink and begin a slow steady retrieve with a twitch or two thrown in.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 58-61'

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Wow, what a differance a couple weeks make. Water temp's are up, the fish are spawnin in every phase. They're every where! The jig bite has been pretty awsome, if there is a ripple on the water,(otherwise they just peck at it). Been gettin em on 4" Zoom lizards also, on a splitshot rig, dragging from 5'-20'. It won't do any good to give up spots as I said before, they're everywhere. Put 31 in the boat Monday, with three over two pounds, and missed a bunch more.
      City: Redding

      Tips: I love Mr. B's 3/4 oz jigs (secret color,Har!)with a Ymamoto 5" grub trailer, in Green pumpkin. Also anything green, in the lizard family.Go get em boys!!!!!!

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 60+

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished for about 6 hours, put 25 in the boat, 5 biggest was just shy of 16 lbs. Pretty easy to catch fish, flipped a jig all day on every piece of wood i could find. Got broke off 5 times because of the wood but thats were they are. Funny thing happend, I was trying to kick a senko off the deck of the boat and i kicked 3 of my rods in the water, about 10 feet deep, spent some time in the cold water but retrieved all rods. That sucked!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      City: santa rosa

      Tips: Fish are on wood but there are alot of small males.

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2004

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 62 to 69

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished 6:15 until 2:15. Hit Wragg Canyon first and pulled 5 out in the first hour, all good keepers, 1.5 to 2.5 range. Fished skiers canyon for 7 more, 1.0 to 2.8. Headed up north to Putah Creek for the last hour of fishing and pulled 2 more, a dink and a solid 3.10 largie. Had a nice fish come unbuttoned at the boat, 4.5 to 5lbs+ just did'nt get a good stick in her, she jumped and flashed her fat white belly at me and spit my spinnerbait out. 14 fish total, 13.60 limit.
      City: Davis

      Tips: Spinnerbait, drop shot and swim bait.

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 62.0-65.0

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing is solid with numbers of fish shallow both post spawn and new fish moving in. No big fish on this day but many in the 2-3lb range. Some fish on beds but sight fishing is tough with the water clarity and recent wind this week but I did see some.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: stay shallow.. look for fat new fish moving up on secondary points and breaks. All our fish were cought 2-12ft on jigs and also the Senko when the wind would permit.

  • Yuba County
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      Water Temp: 60ish

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: my second trip this year here and actually gone to troll for trout, but after reading the reports and the sucess i havent had for the big plants still leaves me scratching my head and wondering what the heck we are doing wrong. when up there two sundays ago but didnt get around to bass fish that day. i think there was a tournament that day anyway since the lake was flooded with speeding boats all day, but this time was much less crowded on the water. however, early morning weather blanketed ongoing fog and trolling trout tactics once again didnt work, and the wind picked up as i headed for the east side to get some bass fishing in and wait out the wind. stepped up on the bank behind a row of trees with water from 1 to 12 feet, first cast with Senko was picked up by a small spottie hugging one of the trees. i thought this looked promising, especially after wasting all morning cruising for trout(trolling really is borning but yet we still do it). about 25 minutes time and working the rest of the trees, caught and released 6 more bass, all spots except for one largemouth. the biggest was actually a 2.5 spotted bass that eluding me on two strikes,the following 3rd one got me hung up on a 4 foot submerged tree branch that i ended up reeling in to the bank, but the little girl just kept hitting(i did change color of Senko i was throwing) and on the 4th pick up i finally hooked and landed her. good fighting bass too. i could see the missed strike damage she had taken on from the previous misses, but glad she was aggressive. that half an hour made the trip to Collins worth my while i guess, and i think i will forget the trout fishing next trip up here and just bass fish. i guess i am still avenging the 10lb+ rainbow i lost two years ago due to a fouled up drag way back in the inlet pass the bridge. i was actually bass fishing tossing the same color senkos i use pretty much everywhere i go while my brother was trout fishing with the funny power bait(but heck, the stuff does work!) and when the trout busted the surface i was in shock to see how big it was while my bro turned his head and shouted "what the heck was that?" my drag on my spool was screwed up somehow and would not adjust,just stuck, and as the huge trout darted straight for me, made a guick right and headed to some huge rocks, i regretfully pulled my pole hard left to get her to change direction, but as my line tightened and pole bent.....snap! bye bye with 8lb test. i threw my pole down in anger and the rest of the day was shot. but that fish is the only reason why i still continue to trout fish here. otherwise, i would stick to bass fishing. i dont know how many times i have had crappy trout trips here, and ended up driving up to Lake Francis up the hill just to get my satisfaction of feeling a fish on the end of the line. i wish that little lake had some kind of bass replenishing program and make it catch and release, i would even pay to fish there just cruising around with a trolling motor. me and my buddies have caught numerous largemouths fishing from the banks of the small coves and also out in the water near the islands and the far side. one of my buddies actually pulled out one short of 6lbs, and considering the lake was drained and restocked like 3 years ago, a bass over 5 was astonishing. Id like to see a nice drop of florida strains like collins has been getting and make it a catch and release bass lake, but unfortunatly that will never happen, because the lake is too small to attract any real bass fisherman, and cant have big boats or gas motors anyway. but it is a fun place to stop by. i even see alot of tournament guys who drive up there after a buttkicking at the larger lakes in the vicintiy. Dont forget to check out my buddy, Fish Chris' bass sight at www.trophybassonly.com if the dont already know about it. great site and good people to interact with. peace. craig.
      City: yuba city

      Tips: the heck with the collins trophy trout, this lake could become a great trophy bass lake, if is wasnt so overwhelmed with spotted bass that still out number the fast growing florida and northern strained largemouth my many times over.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: unknown

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got out on the water at 4:30pm with buddy, Aaron, and we caught two 2+ spots on lizard and tube. Saw fish blowing up on surface, not concentrated but throughout the cove so I picked up the superspook and got a 3+ spot next to a willow. Found some dead wagasakis on the surface and upon examination (squeezed the little dudette) and eggs came squirting out. Guess that is what they were eating. Moved to Rock Garden area and picked up another 6 fish on the spook including a 3 lb. smallmouth. The wind picked up late but didn't seem to affect the topwater. Aaron threw a blade but no dice. I know it would work if we had more time.
      City: Citrus Heights

      Tips: Fish are everywhere they should be.
      Go fishing because you can.

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: 63-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Late start with bearing trouble on the trailer. Caught nice fish on repala and senko. Fished in 1-6 foot of water. Saw lots of carp shallow with a few bass.
      City: Oroville

      Tips: Be patient, find where the fish are staging and moving up, that's the zone to be in!

    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: First time on the lake in 6 months. Fished from shore, landed 4 bass to 2lbs. Lots of huge bass crusing the shallows, had a couple whiffs with trout swimbait on 3-4 pounders. Fish were on senkos and senko jigs. Only saw a few beds, and they are difficult to fish from shore.
      City: San Diego

      Tips: Get a boat, and fish very very slow

Monday, March 22nd, 2004

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

      Report: Fished Bass Cove for 2 hours and alder point for one hour. Saw one 10+ female but she was extremely spooky, dissapeared as soon as I started fishing for her. Came across a 4-5lb bass on a stringer. The guy said it was his first time bass fishing and he caught it on some type of minnow imitation crankbait. I pleaded to the guy that she was probably full of eggs and that keeping fish her size is what makes chabot so tough to catch bass. Anyways about 10 minutes later he threw it back and she swam off with a lot of energy(eventhough she was on the stringer for a while). I was relieved, I can't stand seeing bass kept, especially that size. I didn't catch anything except 2 really small bass.
      City: San Leandro

      Tips: Fishing is still slow. The females aren't active. You really have to work for bites.

    • By

      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Jay, I know how you feel. Went out Monday the 22nd, not real good. Very windy, missed a few bumps, but no fish. Only two other boats out there, and two headed out as we headed in about 1pm. No bass. No that I read the previous post, I feel a little better, knowing I fished right after a tournament. Yeah, that's it, they took all the good fish from me! Not really, I just sucked. Switched to trolling for trout just to catch some fish, nothing there either. Water is still very stained, flotsam heavy at the windward side of the lake.
      City: san jose

      Tips: Still probably works with all the usuals, just have to be patient I guess, allow for some slow action at times.

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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Me and a friend caught 10 bass on Brush hogs. All were 8" to 13". I lost a big fish when we first arrived, came unbuttoned after a short fight
      City: Burlingame

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

      Report: About John Grays asking us not to get to close while fishing. I come up there 1 week a year, I wish I could fish it every day like him. There are a lot of fish in the lake John. If you are fishing the named spots, baseball field, tailing
      you have to share, you do not own the lake. I have
      also never taken a fish home from Trinity. Catch & release, enough for every one.
      City: Sacto.

Sunday, March 21st, 2004

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 62-65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught 16 fish total. 14 keepers to 2.5lbs, with two dinks thrown in. Mostly smallmouths, mostly males, making beds. 3-8ft depth, all came on dart heads, with 4in plastics.
      City: Vallejo

      Tips: Go fishing, it's fun!

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished along the dam from 11:30am - 4pm and eventually started catching some on a Texas-rigged brown pumpkin lizard. The largest was 2.5 lbs and I ended up with 3. I also found a rattlesnake along the shoreline, so be very careful, if you're out there. Luckily, I heard the rattle. It was only 1.5 ft from where I was standing.
      City: Saratoga

      Tips: Didn't have any luck with the green or red colored plastics. Brown worked for me.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished both days this weekend, Saturday and Sunday were a complete flip flop for me. Fished with Pat in the 100% event, our start spot produced 4+ hours of nothing but one 13" dink. Although we did see a few 2 pounders on beds in the back of the slough. It wasn't until the tide dropped and we moved out towards the San Jaquine River that we began to find a couple areas with some fish. We only caugh three, 4+ on a zipper, a 4+ on a jig-n-pig and a 9.33 on a 9L Senko. 19# for four fish. Today was just the opposite. First stop on today's guide trip with Rich McHugh, we're tossing the Senko and Zipper, after 40 minues of nothing I pig up the jig and flip it in there and whack a 7 pounder. I catch 4 more fish down this bank, a 4,5,6 and the 10lb 8oz buck. we caught 20 other fish all day, only one of them was a keeper that Rich caught on the 9L Senko, but it went 7lb 2oz! Fishing this weekend was great, but catching is a lot tougher than it should be!
      City: Oakley

      Tips: The fish are moving up, but only in select areas and no two days in a row are the same right now. There are some fish on beds right now, but the vast majority of these are 2-3 pounders from what I have seen. There are some key big fish areas where the giants are moving in, ya just gotta go fish a dozen spots over two days ta find a couple were ya can git yer bites. The River is FAR from being wide open.

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

      Report: Been having a little luck, a bass or two. Small, about pound or pound and a half. Best for me has been plastics, sparkly silver pink grub and black and purple worm. I use shad spray. Don't know if it's helping. Also, I use a crawdad crankbait and have had a few fish follow it in. Think I talked to Coolcatt and Bassanator the other day on the lake. Hope you are having more luck than me. When can we expect the lake to heat up? It seems the warmer the day, the better the luck I've had. Hope it gets hot in a hurry.
      City: Danville

      Tips: Reel super slow.

    • By

      Water Temp: 62-64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Pajaro Valley Bass Clubs March Tournament, 21 anglers, many quality fish weighed in. My 8.47 was looking real good for BF until the last angler weighed in his winning limit of 21.70 with a 12.43 kicker(pic on our website)caught 1 hour before weigh-in. A 7.86 was also weighed in. Most of the quality fish were caught flippin plastics or jigs or jerk baits. Several 4's and 5's were caught but only 2 limits.
      City: Watsonville

      Tips: Fish were caught just about everywhere in shallow water on just about everything except swimbaits.

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished coves and cuts in Middle Bay. Ripping and spinner bait produced only one then switched to split shot worms. Boated about 30 w/the biggest going 3.5 lbs.
      City: Delhi

      Tips: Fish were on secondary points 15' to 20' or back end of coves 5' to 10'. Best color for us was green weenie and in the afternoon a green weenie w/chartruese tail or baby bass.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 58-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: What was the tourney on Sunday? Like the previous report, I had guys cut me off from a cove I was heading into. They had to speed up fast to do it too, in a 5 mph area. That lake seems to get pounded with these guys. What ever happened to an enjoyable day on the lake? Got 5 fish in 15' of water on plastics...one about 3#. Very subtle bites...just pressure. All released. DFG guy at Dyke 8 ramp said not many fish caught. This lake is at least 5 degrees colder than others around here due to the snowmelt coming into it. Lots of folks out enjoying the weather in their boats. Busy boat ramp on the way in in the early afternoon, with lots of folks still arriving.
      City: Sac

      Tips: Feel the pressure and set the hook.