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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, April 5th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: On the water at 7, only 3 other trailers in the parking lot. Water temps got knocked back a little and made for subtle bites. A few times I thought I got snagged but it was actually a bite! Caught 'em in 1-5' of water on drop shot and senkos. Still haven't seen any fish on beds. Video here: http://youtu.be/ylbQjU-qUZ8
      City: San Mateo

Saturday, April 4th, 2015

    • By

      Water Temp: 60s

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Made 2 trips this past week, one at the Arroyo and one at Island. Biggest went about 3.5 lbs, averaging 3-4 fish per trip all on senkos. Practice your lure skipping and toss your senkos deep into the brush. Talked to a guy who wacked 7 on a drop shot rig, as well as a guy who got a 4lber from the shore. Water is fairly clear. Could see some bass cruising around but could not locate any beds
      City: San Leandro

      Tips: Fishing and weather have been good! Lots of people are fishing Island Pond, while the Arroyo has been fairly empty. Hopefully the fishing pressure won't shut the bite down.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Currently on the lake it is sunny, 71 degrees and the lake is calm as can be. It is looking like we will get some rain in the near future. In fact, we have a cautionary weather statement for the later part of this coming Easter weekend. Fortunately this has potential to at least soften the blow with the low snow pack and more precipitation for the totals. If all goes well, we will see another increase in lake levels.

      Until the later part of next week, Happy Easter and bring on that rain!

      Lake Level Report (04/03/2015 at 10 AM)
      Lake Elevation: 993.60' (73.40' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation 2014: 971.67' (95.33' below full pool)
      Storage: 2,691,606 af
      Outflow:3,141 cfs
      Inflow: 3,533 cfs
      Precipitation (24 hr @ dam): 0.00"
      Precipitation (Season @ dam): 46.03"
      Precipitation (2014 Season @ dam): 29.83"

Friday, April 3rd, 2015

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 65-68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tuff fishing. Heavy wind yesterday must have shut them down. Couple Spots and couple large mouth, no size. Shallow on 4" swim bait on Dirty Jig swim bait head 1/4 oz. Did stick 8 lb 11 oz channel cat in three feet on flat. Ran 20 miles today, fished dam to river past bridge. Should pick up next week. No drop shot fish.
      City: Fairfield

      Tips: Fish hard, fish fast.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62-63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at the dam. Very windy early. We headed towards Middle/South Fork. Started drop shot fishing robo's at the left point just past the green bridge. Caught several spots (6 or 7)(biggest 2 lbs) along this rocky bank and all the way to the back of the cove to the standing timber. After that we headed up the South Fork fishing the East side for some smaller spots (nothing over 1 lb). Then crossed over to the west side where it looks really steep and there are bigger rocks. Only 1 or 2 small spots caught here. Fished back into that first cove on the right catching several fish and fish got smaller the farther back we went. Came back out and headed farther up the south fork fishing the right or (South side) not much past the floating restrooms. Caught 4 or 5 but nothing bigger than 1.5 lbs. Headed back to the Middle Fork and fished South facing side (North side)heading up the fork for 3 to 5 more. Lastly headed back to the first cove just past the green bridge and fished the East side point back to the timber for 2 or 3 more. Not sure on the math for each place but I do know that we caught 30 total but nothing bigger than 2 lbs.
      City: Citrus Heights

      Tips: All fish but 1 caught drop shotting Robo's or Gulp Hollow Creux (small bright orange worm looking thing). Color didn't really seem to matter as fish were caught on Salt & Pepper, Oxblood, Morning Dawn, Gulp Hollow Creux, and a few other colors.

Thursday, April 2nd, 2015

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at 7am and off the lake at 9:30 am. Damn was it windy, so much so, i gave up fishing. Wind had to be 30-35mph as a guess, the most wind I ever saw on the lake. My little boat was impossible to hold in position at all. Move to a cove near Lime saddle, figured I could maybe catch something, and to my surprise, got a nice fat 4 pound LM. The only fish of the day. Wish all were like this. She took a brown worm, hit fairly hard too.
      City: Magalia

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I have been busy the past couple of weeks, so I apologize for the lack of updates...just happens that it is starting to get busy on the lake and have to pay attention to the guests! Spring break has started to bring the crowds who want to enjoy some sun and water wink emoticon

      It is beautiful right now, sunny and breezy day out here on the lake, hovering right around 70 degrees. It looks as if we might have some rain in the later part of the weekend, which could help stabilize, if not raise the lake. We have rising surely, but slowly.

      Speaking of lake levels, I thought I would share this graph (picture) that shows the shoreline mileage at given levels below full pool...the amount of shoreline we have, even at low levels, is amazing!

      One thing that we will be paying attention to is when the lake starts to plateau and starts heading back down for the summer. Towards the end of April of last year is when it started down....we just have to wait and see what happens between spring showers and water demands in CA. I will certainly keep you posted!

      Until then, enjoy your Wednesday and try not to fall victim to any April Fool's pranks wink emoticon

      Lake Level Report (04/01/2015 at 10 AM)
      Lake Elevation: 993.51' (73.49' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation 2014: 969.92' (97.08' below full pool)
      Storage: 2,689,714 af
      Outflow: 2,729 cfs
      Inflow: 4,204 cfs
      Precipitation (24 hr @ dam): 0.00"
      Precipitation (Season @ dam): 46.03"
      Precipitation (2014 Season @ dam): 29.10"

Wednesday, April 1st, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: fished some southern sloughs during the out tide. Started throwing the blades took 30 minutes to get one bite too lose a 3+ before switching to cranks. Landed a couple-3, 2+ And had a 4+ come air Bourne at the boat as the crank came to the surface. Thought I'd call a few up top but to no avail. Began getting taps on Almost every cast with plastics. A few pushing 3 one 5+ the rest 1-2. Ended the day with about fifty (which is the most I've caught on one tide swing this year) to the boat with a 24" striper Never really got the reaction bite going and the bites on the plastics were subtle taps. I think I should have bashed jigs and cranks into cover for the big bites.
      City: San Ramon

      Tips: Been getting some bigger fish up shallow and aggressive top water bites lately. I think the winds may have slowed down the bite I've been on. Maybe a better outcome next visit

    • By

      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched from paradise point ran down to whiskey slough area where we spent the day fishing the tules. Caught 5 with the largest being 3.1 pounds. It was a bit windy starting out but calmed down around 3:00 pm.
      City: Antelope

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: ? Don't know ye

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I will be going out Friday with my son for his annual Folsom trip. I will report back on how our trip turns out.

Tuesday, March 31st, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Clear Lake this Week 3/31/2015

      Wind, wind, and more wind…..almost feel like I’m living on the Delta. However, when it does laydown and the water clears just a bit, the bite has been pretty good. That’s if your bed fishing skills are up to snuff. Really? Yep, pretty much. While a lipless crank, and a swim bait can still entice a big bite, the
      bed fish deal has pretty much taken over.

      Last week saw very erratic reports across the board prior to the CTT event, and there was more than a few guys scratching their heads. Not all, but most that I spoke with. There was a bit of a swim bait bite, and some lipless fish being caught, but for the most part guys were predicting a bed bite, if the water cleared just a little.

      I snuck out Wednesday and it was ok visibility wise in some areas and not so in others. Well, that pretty much continued throughout the week, and it changed in specific areas from day to day as well. One day clear, next day not. Pretty frustrating I’m sure. Still,
      When one looks at the results from CTT it is pretty plain to see that this year’s quality of fish is much better than last year’s, at least to this point.

      CTT anglers weighed multiple 10 pounders Saturday, and one Sunday as well so I think I’m pretty safe in making that claim. I know there wasn’t an event last year that even came close to that, and I was reminded yesterday that last year we had gone most of the way through the Spring before anyone even saw multiple 9 pounders weighed in. Interesting.

      This week, with the high winds in the forecast I suspect the bite will go back to being the haves and have not’s once again, but this Full Moon should bring the next wave up so I certainly wouldn’t put that lipless or jerk bait down quite yet.

      This weekend the night bite should really begin to pick up if one is so in-tuned. I guy could do a lot worse than going out with a box full of jigs and fishing the transition areas around rock. This next wave of big girls should be up and eating, and weather permitting, it can be extremely rewarding. Either way, Spring has sprung so get out after em’! Summer is just around the corner

Sunday, March 29th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62/66

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Smallmouth are on the beds and we had a ball caught them all day long from 2 /4 lbs

Saturday, March 28th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64-65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started late around 815am launching out of Paradise; decided to hit 14mile slough and picked up several 1lb to 3lbers on lipless cranks in sexy shad and red craw. we were runnin' the cranks direcly along the weed line tops and I lost what looked like at least a 3 to 4lber...i won't say 5 cuz don't wanna sound like I can tell right away...but it peeled out line like my drag was loose and when we saw it spit my crank out, it was big! worked same areas over with monster shad senkos pickin' up just as many.
      Ran down to St Francis yacht club and picked up a few 12" to 1.5 lbers on lipless cranks in red craw or red w/yellow belly. moved up disappointment to work our way back to paradise, by now it's about 230pm throwin' senkos at the cuts and tule edges; set the hook on a really light tap and oh boy, more line peelin' and then a jump at the boat ... watched my senko go flyin' straight up and another mirror image of what I lost earlier in 14 mile slough. I used every cuss word possible but I knew it was my own fault and just bad luck. But we ended the day with about 35 total between my brother and me. Not all big and a bunch not quite keepers. But best 5 would have gone maybe 12 - 13 lbs unless I woulda landed the lost 2. Oh well, good day on the water. At least for us we call that a good day.
      City: folsom

      Tips: Still don't believe I'm qualified to give tips...but here's what worked for us:
      We could see fish on the graph inside the weedlines, water was only 3-5ft. So we would throw to the tules and work the bait as much parallel and right on top of the weedline. The fish would come up and slam the cranks.
      For senkos/stick plastics, we'd throw to rock wall tule points or cuts, edges and openings. At St Francis, we worked the entrance from disappointment side directly down the center and caught probably 6-7 just hangin around the outside mouth.

    • By

      Water Temp: 62-67

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Little Franks and Franks all morning throwing a jig. Only managed one 2lber. Ran south to get out of the wind which was becoming unmanageable in a tin boat. Almost hit a sea lion (see video below). Found cleaner, calmer waters and better fish.

      Video here: http://youtu.be/FFth5hdo1WI
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: Move around until you find fish. I probably should have run south sooner rather than later.

    • By

      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Windy n tough today for me n the wife. Launched at Tiki around 8:30. Ran south thinking the east west canals would be protected from the steady n wind. NOT. Caught fish here and there on senko and drop shot but no good ones. Low tide and wind is a huge challenge for us foothill folks. No tips but keep moving till ya get bit. Don't know enough to camp anywhere

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64- 67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had to go back and glad I did. They didn't want the brushhog this time so remember I said in the last report that the senko was a good bait of choice. Caught a 10.5 and my partner lost one even bigger. They were in 1ft. to 8ft. of water next to structure on and off shore... flats mainly.Drop shot caught fish also.
      City: Fremont

      Tips: Now's the time... Full Moon next week. Go get em'and catch and release for the next guy.

Friday, March 27th, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Hi CLum! Yes, I was there that night. I did a report - some big fish also. My buddy Mike just missed the 10 lb mark! I am cautious about approaching other boats at night, but will look for you now!

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59-62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The wife and I launched out of Jones Valley for two days of camping/fishing up the Pit arm. The water was about 75 feet down and slightly stained. It was a very calm day and while pitching our tent, I noticed many lizards running around the rocky areas. This was obviously a hint, so I first hooked up a Texas rigged 7 inch rubber lizard and tossed it out. It wasn’t in the water 10 seconds when a 13” spot hit it hard. This was the beginning of a fantastic day. The little lady and I spent all morning throwing rubber lizards in various colors and found that a yellow/green color worked best. Saturday turned windy with white caps all over the lake. This squashed the fantastic bite down to an OK bite. Most fish were found in 5-20 feet of water. They were all red-eyed males (probably setting up spawning nests) as we didn’t catch a single female, and they all ranged 1-1.5lbs. Still enjoyed getting a bite almost every cast and boating 30+ fish! We tried other baits but lizards seemed to be the ticket this weekend. Even hit one crappie and one trout this trip while trolling the shallows with crank-baits. Can’t wait for the females to hit the nests!!!
      City: Cottonwood

      Tips: Take a kid fishing, they will remember it forever!

Thursday, March 26th, 2015

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at lime saddle about 7am, fished till 10:30. Water another degree warmer this trip. Steep rock banks working best, boulders help. I managed just 11 fish this trip, with half the fish spots, the other half small mouth. Beginning to see lots of suspended fish chasing bait and managed to get a couple, both SM. Fish slow, soft bites. Natural colored worms work best for me. Most fish getting fat with eggs, nice and plump. Biggest today 14 3/4, most 12-14". Funny, ask most fisherman hows the bite and they all say 50 fish days, I say bull crap, just talk. Watched a couple boats and I'm telling you, they are not catching 50 fish per trip, at least not in the N. fork or west fork. Improving bite though.
      City: Magalia

Wednesday, March 25th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57-61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I did another "teach the lake" trip yesterday (Tues), covering a lot of on-shore and off-shore structure. The weather in the morning was windy, cool, with a little rain. I'm sure this moved some bass off the bank - most of the ones we caught were 20 to 30 feet deep. He caught the biggest at 2 3/4 lbs - a smallie-spot hybrid, using a Robo worm. As the sun was coming out and the lake calming down, he had to leave early for business reasons. Ah - life before cell phones!!

      Tips: I can't be much help because the warm days coming up will change the bite - it will get better! Bass should move shallow again - starting to make their bedrooms!!