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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, March 19th, 2004

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

      Report: Fished from 7 to 10 AM. Took 5 on shallow running crankbait (shad) and 4 on watermelon brushogs. Nothing on spinnerbaits. Crankbait fish came from rock banks early morning and the brushog fished came from laydowns. All fish were small bucks about 3/4 to 1 1/2 pounds, all fish would have weighed. Good luck to all at the future pro tourney tomorrow.
      City: Suisun City

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      Water Temp: 59-62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished 7-12 today at the rockslide at the entrance to the narrows. First two casts, two bites but no fish. Boated 2 dinks on plastic and one on a rattletrap. Got ready to go and the big motor would not crank over. Dan O'Sullivan, owner of Lim-it Lures, stopped to help. When the jumpstart did not work he towed me all the way to Cappell. Thanks again, Dan. A great lure and a really nice fisherman. I wish your company much success in the future.
      City: Woodland

      Tips: Check the meter on your batteries before you launch. Save yourself the aggravation.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 61-68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out wed morn down south, fliped senkos and brush hogs in spawning areas. First fish went 5.0 followed by two more over three. Boated about 14 but the rest were all 2's and under. Fri went back down south, bite was slower but the quaility was up. Best five went about 22.5lbs with big fish pushing 6lbs. We were deadsticking our baits in very shallow water and the bites were subtle.
      City: TRACY

  • Alameda County
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      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Rented a boat and caught about 6 bass. The biggest was about 2.5Lbs. we fished around indian cove by the tulles and got sooooooooooooo many hits. all fish were taken in about 10ft of water or less.

      by the end of the day, we headed toward the island... WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
      we saw bass that were easily 13Lbs!!!!!!!! no joke!!! i saw at least 3 that were that size and a bunch more that were in the 5-8lb range.
      we tried everything to hook these bad boys but had no luck. my friend used a jig and kept casting it in front of one... he pissed it off a few times because it hit, but my friend never hooked it. that one was easily 7Lbs.
      City: Hayward

      Tips: fish VERY slow. make sure you try several colors and if you can see the fish, the fish can probably see you... so get further away and keep trying.

      also, you definitely need to rent a boat or take your own to catch the bass.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Everybody I talked to said they got one or two fish today. Went to Alder point and meet some cool people who helped me out due to the fact that I am really new to fishing. Thanks Coolcatt!

      Anyways, no luck for me despite staying for 5 hours but everybody I spoke to said they caught 1-3 fishes. Anybody want to fishing tomorrow and teach a newbie? I'll pay for the boat, you teach me the basic! Thinking of going doing Chabot again or Del Valle either tomorrow or Sunday.
      City: San Francisco

      Tips: Talk to people, everybody is really nice.

    • By

      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: What a difference two days make. fished from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Skunk day only two bites and didnt hook them. talked to two bass boats and they had only two small fish each. Slow day for every one I guess?
      City: Santa Clara

      Tips: can some one else post whats working? I shure dont know today.

    • By

      Water Temp: 67-71 depending

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Bass fishing with my friend JJV of Madera.
      Probably 40-45 fish total. A lot of 12 inch males and some healthy 17-18 inch fish. Most were close to shore with some around rock piles. Berkley 7" power worms, Berkley 10" power worms, Keeper 6" "camo" worms, pig&jig and others. They were definitely on the bite.
      But the bonus of the day.....
      Around 8AM I was playing around with a Berkley worm on "drop shot" in the north cove and a fish hit that bait like a freight train. I was using 12lb. Trilene with a spinning rod. I fought that fish for at least 5 minutes and I was sure I had the new world record for large mouth bass. The drag on the reel screamed. My arm ached. I could see my name in the newspaper... I finally wore it down and brought it close to the boat and I could see that it was a huge fish. Yes, a giant CARP. 32" long and about 18-20lbs. Oh well, it was fun. And it was a beautiful day and I spent time with my friend JJV.
      City: Los Osos

      Tips: Wear your sunsreen! SPF45!

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

      Report: Some of the years best fishing is taking place right now and all you guys can talk about is some guy keeping a fish to eat! Get over it! I catch and release the vast majority of fish that come into my boat, yet I do keep some for the table. Remember the experts at fish and game have place a five fish limit on bass. If an angler wants to keep a fish that's fine. When you get down to it thats what the sports all about. The key is keeping the fish that you will eat right away and letting the rest go. Game hogs are the real problem not a guy keeping a couple fish for dinner. As sportsmen we need to be united not divided. Keep it real! See you on the water on saturday.....and by the way I've been taking bass to six pounds split shotting morning dawn magic worms in 15 feet of water near standing trees...and yes I did keep one smallmouth for the table last week....great day and a great dinner...good luck all.
      City: auburn

      Tips: none

  • Calaveras County
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      Water Temp: 67 - 71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched about 8a fished till about 2p caught more than 30 fish mostly smalleys most fish were 14 to 16 inches a few over 3lbs best bait of the day was a Keeper 082 in the Fat Mini style. water is very clear and you can see the fish on the beds have fun. Was told by the guy in the office that takes your money for launching of a new lake record was caught last week a Large mouth over 15lbs...
      City: Modesto

      Tips: Keep casting you can see the fish and they will bite just keep throwing it at them.

Thursday, March 18th, 2004

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: only had about a 3 hour window today. just stayed around the meat wall and the sail boat club. threw rattle traps and plastics. 4 bass biggest one weighed 3.3lbs. had fun but had to get off the water early. lot of cruzing bass in the shallows in the very back of ladds. very spooky as well. cya on the water soon.
      City: stockton

      Tips: having fun with spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, and zippers.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 56 to 69

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: fished from 11:00 to 6:00 found fish on submerged rocks with crankbaits and pink worms. moved into some warmer water around eddie murphys 65+ had to put on a top water plug three casts later 1.5 spot yes top water in march i love it. altogether caught 4 on cranks 1 on worm and three on top water. biggest about 3 lbs.
      City: meadow vista

      Tips: top water and crankbaits you can always catch them on worms.

  • Bayfield County
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      Water Temp: 45 to 50

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: South end of the lake is fairly clear (3-4 ft). North 2/3 is muddy.Water temp was 45 at 9:00am but warmed up to 50 on large flat at south end of the lake in the pm.Tryed spinner baits,soft plastic,spoons and crank baits. grand total was one trout.. no bass seen on the flat.Still to early for good bass at the lake.weather was warm and the wind came up after noon..
      City: Eureka

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

      Report: Hey Wes, ya better watch out. Cause if your head gets any bigger it might explode. Dude, you are a trip.
      City: Local

      Tips: Hire Wes as a guide.

Wednesday, March 17th, 2004

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 68-66-64 (4 pm

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Good weather, lousy fishing. Fished from 4:30 pm - 11:30 pm. My friend and I each got one fish, biggest was 3+ pounds. We got very few bites - tried jigs, worms/lizards, soft jerkbaits, crankbaits, hard jerkbaits, topwater, swimbaits, and spinnerbaits. The crankbait bite was surprisingly dead. The spinnerbait produced the largest fish around 10 pm with the fish coming out of over 10 feet of water keeping spinnerbait in touch with the bottom.
      City: Folsom

      Tips: I think we were there (at night) on a bad moon phase. Until the 1st quarter - full moon, fish during the day, then try night fishing.

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 58-65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Took two gentlemen out from Stockton Fire Deptment on a all day Guide trip.

      Started at 7AM and headed to the Northend of the lake (no wind, not good)picked up one smallmouth on a ripbait and missed about 4-5 bites on plastic.

      Left there and headed back south and proceed to but fish in the boat with ripbaits and Jig's, brown with a Twin tail 180 GYB Grub. The fish were on main points with some fish halfway back into the cove's.

      Finished the day at 5PM with 20-25 fish caught. Bigger fish between the smallmouth and the spots were the smallmouth.

      Rich Thiel's GS
      City: Livermore

      Tips: Fish 0 to 25ft with either a ripbait or a jig. Enjoy your day on the water.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught some really nice fish to 4 pounds 30 feet deep on the break, off of main points. The bigger large mouth are down deep still.
      City: sac

    • By

      Water Temp: 54-59

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Returned to the lake yesterday with a young client that has been struggling with the Berryessa bass. I think he caught only 1 last Sat. Well, our trip changed all that in spite of having to deal with two days of north wind. It slowed the bite some, cooled of the east shore by a few degrees, and murked up the water again. We had a great pattern yesterday - I took him to some good areas and he caught all the fish!! Works for this guide!! His first was a 2 3/4 lb smallie near Big Island. He also had 2-4 and 2-2 smallies and a 2-1 largemouth to go with the big one. He is now 12 times better than last Sat - catching 12. I caught a grand total of 3 - including our only short. Right after he caught the big smallie, my Strike Pro crankbait was hammered by a big fish - felt like a smallie or spot. I fought it for a few seconds before it spit the bait. That was a bad start for me. I just couldn't get them in the boat yesterday. He used a Norman deep little N for his fish - it was a hot crankbait! I caught 2 largemouth on the big rainbow trout Strike Pro ripbait. We found the early bite to be good until the north wind came up. After 11 am the bite was sporatic. We did have a lot of hits near the boat - we even had a double crankbait hookup in Rancho Montecello. I had expected with the wind pattern to catch numbers rather than size, but it was the opposite. Even with losing my big fish, we wound up with a limit near 11 pounds. My new confident client caught all the big 'uns!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: The wind definately changed the bite some. The fish seemed less aggressive. We did some Carolina dragging and that only produced one keeper spot. The fish are still staging, but don't seem to have moved any further towards the shallows yet. Most of our fish were caught on points and flats near deep water.

  • Santa Barbara County
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      Water Temp: ~60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Caught two smallies to 2.5 lbs trolling jack rabbit flats along flats to channel break with rapalla shad pattern.

      Trout fishing very good in cachuma cove trolling crawlers. Fish to 2.25 lbs.
      City: la crescenta

      Tips: for bass trolling a plug alows coverage of lots of water.

      Trout are still very active in this lake.

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

      Report: took my kayak out on white slough. caught 6 all on senkos. largest pushin' 10lbs and second about 6lbs both on 8lb test. largest pulled the kayak little bit

      Tips: fish starting to nest in pockets of tules

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 55-62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Clear Lake this past weekend, looking for those talked about swim bait fish. Got off to a ruff start hit the local tackle store in Lakeport, WOW do they have swim baits. They hooked me up with a few different types and put me on some water, I stuck a 7 and a 5 plus a few smaller. It was great, just keep throwing it.
      City: San Francisco

      Tips: First hit Tackle It in Lakeport they have every swim bait out there, hitch, and carp, colors and mission fish in the tules.