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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, March 14th, 2004

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing was slow for me on Saturday with a few takes on a Deep diving "Fire Tiger" crankbait, working slow.
      Other fishermen said that they also had poor luck to no luck, but did well on Friday the day before, they couldn't understand how it could turn on to off overnight.
      City: Redding

      Tips: Water temp is still cool.
      Only one dock at Whiskey Creek is operational.
      Believe it or not, the Tube Pullers are already out! Someone get a clue! It may be 82 outside, but the water temp is still 48!!! Hypothermia!!!
      Did I feel sorry when those kids fell off the Tubes???

Saturday, March 13th, 2004

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 62-67

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Weather was beautiful. Sunny and in the 80's. Fished all over the lake. Should of been prime time bassin but all I got was one "bite" on my Husky Jerk, a follower to the boat on a modified brown/char. senko, and one 3 pounder on a witches-t in Donay Bay.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Not sure where they're at. Used Senkos, char. spinnerbait, brown/orange jig w/trailer, husky jerk, and a shad swim bait. Fished at night w/big ass black worms but no takers at night. Bring cash, Amador is up to $28 for two people to fish from a boat, day use only. Camping is an additional $20 a night.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Well, one hell of a slow day at Amador. For a lake constantly stocked with trout i couldnt believe how dead the lake was. I prefer bass fishing over trout anyday, but was taking some inexperienced guys from my church for a day of shore fishing for trout. Nobody caught anything, except for very few shore fisherman. Ended up catching one and finally got tired of trying for trout half way through the day and noticed a bunch of small bass sitting on the shoreline, so i gave up and whipped out the Spider Jig. Walked the shoreline around the small cove by the diner, caught 6 small bass, only a few keepers, but all my friends ended up catching one each themselves. Big waste of money fishing today and it was the busiest ive ever seen this lake. If you have a boat, i suggest go further up the lake and check out some of the bass holes. The bass are coming really shallow i caught all of mine in 3 foot of water or less. I was actually sight fishing for most of the fish i caught. I was thinking about taking a guided bass fishing trip on the lake, does anyone know a really good guide, if you do please let me know, and let me know what success you had with them.
      City: Rancho Cordova

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: fished the north end and just hammered them.crank baits and jigs were the hot ticket.lot good fish too.mixed bag of smallies and large mouth.two day total was 35-40 fish.biggest bag was sunday right around 16lbs.this lake is on fire right now.go while the weather lasts.
      City: redwood city

      Tips: jigs aroung brush and fallen trees. crank baits and jerks on rocky points.

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

      Report: fished from 8 til noon and got 7, biggest going around 3 lbs. got most fish on a rip bait and two on a carolina rigged green grub. by noon the lake was packed with float tubers and skiers.
      City: los altos

      Tips: water is way up

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 59-64

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: fished Tracybass Toc. what a good time PLEASE FISH THIS CLUB THIS THE BEST I HAVE EVER FISHED.Thanks Terry. Fished south (river)sat. 5 fish wet 9+ live well quit at 12:30 early to weigh in. sunday 4fish for 6+ good for 13th place but for us it was 1st place. flipped brushhogs and beavers.grn pumpkin/red & californa color. close to wood and protected cover.
      City: Modesto

    • By

      Water Temp: 54-69

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Modesto Castmasters club tournie out of Ladd's.
      12 boats, all with two on board. Fairly tough bite reported by all. Boat limit 5 fish, first place weighed in five for over 15 lb.s. Three big ladies taken from 6 to over 8. Almost zero reaction bites reported. Our team had seven in the boat and weighed in three keepers - all taken on the bottom using worms and hogs in 2 to 12'. Main channels still cold, protected and backwater areas 61 - 69 degrees. No spawners seen. R
      City: Mother Lode

      Tips: Black w. red flake in low light, green hogs thereafter. SLOW!!

    • By

      Water Temp: 58-61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Angler's Choice West. Caught a good number of fish but all were small. Fished the South Delta for the most part and found fish with a new red LC crank bait, tubes, and jigs. Partner and I weighed in a small 11lb limit on the day. The better bites came as the day/water warmed up and the tide changed from High/Low. Fish we did catch were in 6ft and less. Our deep water spots held only small fish for us.
      City: Discovery Bay

      Tips: Jig & Tube bite started for us after Noon and was consistent until we weighed in at 3:00 PM. Still finding fish wanting a slow retrieve/presentation. Rock and grass combination was key to all our bites. I'm certain the big girls are there as winner had 24+ lbs for 5. MORE TIME ON THE WATER. Stay safe. TG.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 60-64

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished part of Thursday and Friday in south end but no fish. On Saturday, fished the north end and caught several small bass to 15 inches drop shotting and ripping a shad colored lure. Thanks to Ross at Tackle It Sport Shop in Lakeport.
      City: Novato

      Tips: Have patience and fish slow.

  • Tuolumne County
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      Water Temp: 56-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fish Anglers Choice with my great partner Joe Bruce.Caght about 30 fish all at mid day on splitshot four inch worms in the upper lake..Weighed 20.46 for third.Man it was hot outside..
      City: Sonora

      Tips: Be patient if alot of fish are in the area.They will bite at sometime..

    • By

      Water Temp: 63 to 67

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started around 6:00 am found fish up shallow in the weeds and rocks. After about 45 minutes of fishing I had one small fish then caught a 4 pound largemouth, then two casts later caught a three pounder. My partner was struggling to get a fish in the boat. We covered a lot of shoreline and found an area loaded with fish where we hooked up with a double, and caught a couple more fish. Went across the lake later in the morning and my partner was able to hook up with a fish. After not seeing alot of activity near the front of the lake we went back to where we had started. I was throwing a jig in about 5 to 15 feet and hooked up with a good fish. So we stayed in the area for a while and caught some more fish ended up leaving around 2:00pm. There was alot of fishing pressure, but everyone can catch some fish. My best five fish would have went around 17 pounds with two 4 pounders and three 3 pounders. Good day on the water and lots of fun, I caught 10 fish total and my partner caught 4 fish.
      City: Coalinga

      Tips: Look for bass moving around in the morning, the big ones seem to be crusing in the middle of the day. Cast a variety of baits around for them and make a lot of casts that is the key, cover as much water as you can. Good luck and God Bles.

  • Mariposa County
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      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started morning with top waters, caught 6 and missed a few more in the narrows, highlight of the morning was my 7 year old son hooking up with a 3 lbs. top water fish that hit on the way back into the water. "That was cool dad!" Fished Cottonwood area until mid afternoon. Saw a lot of big fish suspended around cover. Used mostly carolina rigged worms. Best 5 for boat was 20 lbs. a lot of quality fish.

      Tips: Fish later into afternoon. Bite only got better. To bad we had to go.

  • Butte County
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      Water Temp: unknown

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the WON bass tourney from april 13-14 and turns out quite well. Gary Dobyns wins again! Anyway...they were in shallows hitting on darthead, texas rig worms, jerkbait and jigs. They're in early prespawn stage. At least I did quite well being on top 40.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Fish slow and try dead sticking the lures.

  • Riverside County
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      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: DID A LITTLE ON SHORE FISHING THIS MORNING WEATHER WAS PERFECT AND FISHING WAS GREAT CAUGHT 4 FISH RANGING 2-4LBS OFF THE TOWER POINT.
      City: MORENO VALLEY

      Tips: USING A VERY SIMPLE SPLIT SHOT RIG WITH 4INCH TEQUILA SUNRISE ROBO WORM.

    • By

      Water Temp: 58-62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: weather was great, no wind. water was in great shape. no other bass fisherman around. not even a bite in 5 hours. 3rd time this year, only lost one fish.
      City: El Cerrito

      Tips: get a guide or fish another lake.

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 52 - 54

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Same old thing

      Tips: Fish slow. If you burn more than 2 quarts of fuel you have moved to far from the ramp. Green six inch worms are the hot item. Jigging, what some very new rookies call

    • By

      Water Temp: N/A

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: First time float-tubing. A lot of fun plus a lot of challenging. (I had some difficulties setting a hook. The tube tended to go forward to the fish on the hook-setting. This reduced tension in the line and I ended up loosing some fish. And most of the time fish swam toward the deep water (which was me) and I couldn

      Tips: Look for heavy cover or floating trash.

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 47-49

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The bite has dropped off dramatically the last few days on the lake. The major flood control releases that have made the river unfishable for the past few weeks have finally effected the lake as well. The lake has gone down a couple of feet in the last few days and the fish have gone with it. 3-4 days ago Fish were biting good in the 15-20 foot range,now the fish seem to be holding at 30' and are not much interested in biting. We've gone from 25 fish/day to 5 fish per day. As soon as the lake stabilizes or starts going up I expect that the fishing will be right back on hot again. Until then go deep and slow.
      Fish with three guys from the Morgan Hill area the last couple of days, and to say that they made the best of the situation would be a gross understatement. Thanks guys for a great time.
      City: Weaverville

      Tips: Fish Gitzits on Trinity. On Thurs past I witnessed or participated in the following catches on a Gitzit. 1 6lb 4oz LM, several 3lb+ smallies,1 5lb 8oz Rainbow, and a bullhead cat approaching 4 lb. Wonder why I like throwing Gitzits?

Friday, March 12th, 2004

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55-59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I guided a good angler Thursday and went with my good friend Charlie Meyer from the Fish Sniffer today - in his new Triton TR-22. I think it is called a "ship"! Though the fishing isn't great yet, we caught 19 on Thurs - fishing the narrows and Wragg Canyon. Today, Charlie and I explored the north end and the east and west main body. We landed 23 for a limit of nice smallies near 10 pounds. Today was the first day (for me) of a good reaction bite, all on crankbaits. Charlie caugh good smallies on his favorite crankbait and rattletrap. I used my new Strike Pro citrus shad small crankbait and caught a lot of bass on it, including a 2-1 smallie and a good size largemouth. Several hit right at the boat. What a terrific lure - even Charlie was impressed! The worm bite that had been so good for me and clients died today as did the jig bite. Charlie did catch several on his favorite Yamamoto grub and one or two on a Carolina-rigged lizard. The bass yesterday were a bit smaller - I think because of the previous days north wind. Also, the bite has changed some. Instead of the afternoons turning on, the fishing slowed as the water warmed. Weird!! That happened both days. My Tuesday trip was just the opposite. The bites are mostly still pressure bites - even on the crankbits. Since the water still has a lot of color, I would suggest a bright crankbait or ripbait. We tried spinnerbaits today - one of Charlie's favorite techniques, but no takers!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Still not many bass in the back of coves. Both days we fished some off-shore structure with breaks and humps. We found a lot of smallies around rock. There has not been a mass migration to the shallows yet, so the spawn is still yet to happen. This great warm spell came just a bit early for the bass. Sure is great for the anglers though!!!!

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 58-65

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished out of Ladd's with my buddy. The fish were not in the usual spots for Mid-March and 60+ water temps. Water was Delta brown, but very fishable. Had a tough time in the morning, catching only one 2 lb. bass. We had better luck in the afternoon. My friend caught a 7.3 lber on a lizard, then I followed with a 6.4 lber on a buzzbait. We also caught a couple 2-3.5 lbers. on a worms.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Fish areas with green weeds, shade and current.