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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, February 8th, 2004

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 51

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I guided one o my avorite clients Sat - a good isherman and un guy - or an update on structure at Berryessa. It was another beautiul day as was my trip earlier with Pat with two exceptions - air temp was about 15-20 degrees cooler (that means very cold!) and a ew hundred more bass boats, har!! Again we started in the narrows trying to catch some reaction ish but the cold morning stopped that - at least or us. I did catch a nice spot on a white/chartreuse Terminator spinnerbait about 10 am in 10 eet o water. My client was on the stick right away with quality bass and he caught all the good ones except or my 16" smallie at 2 pounds. I ound it interesting that he was using a brown/purple jig with the #180 Yamamoto grub and I was using my traditional brown/orange jig with the #180. He was either the better isherman or the bass liked (as they do oten) a shade o purple. Probably a combination o both!! We wound up with 12 bass with the ive biggest at 11 lbs 4 oz. His three best were largemouth at 2-9 and 2-4 and a spot at 2-7. We missed a lot o ish - I should say I did. He nailed most o his. We worked hard and the ishing seemed to pick up in the aternoon a bit, though it didn't seem to warm up much.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Just as at Clear Lake, I was showing him how to target underwater rocky areas. The last two trips have produced bass near rocky areas with a drop-o. We caught most o our bass rom 15 to 35 eet. We ished the narrows, east shore, and the Big Island area.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished main channel out o Ladd's rom 7 a to 3 p. Partner used a craw pattern Speed Trap to crank up an 8.5 lber. near a pipe then a black jig w/twin tail grub to boat another 2.5 black. Two more ell to a Texas rigged 6" june bug lizard and then I inally managed to crank up a 2.5 lber w/a craw pattern crank. Best ive went 18 lbs.
      City: Delhi

      Tips: Tough bite but keep on cranking and lipping mainly rip rap.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 49-52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the North end or the irst time this year and did pretty well. Launched around 7:00 with lots o og and cold weather. However with only one ish 2lber rom a dock near lakeport, the og started to lit and the sun warmed the water. The increased temperature must have turned on the ish. Hit the points around the state park and tried the luck with the trusty swimbait. Got 4 total with the biggest about 8lbs. My dad caught a nice 6lber on a ripbait and a ew 3lbers on a spinnerbait in the tules. Overall not a bad day, nice to be back on the lake.
      City: Alamo

      Tips: Focus on either the outside tule line or the openings between the outside and inside. Fished the swimbait slow and around wood to get some good bites.

    • By

      Water Temp: 48

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: well, got up at the south end at 12 noon, headed over to a popular stretch o docks and ished speed traps the whole day, my dad and i caught 9 ok sized bass, biggest was 2.5 pounds, kinda pissed me o that i didnt get any o clear lakes known whoppers, oh well, another time.

      Tips: speed traps and crankbaits all the way, shad and red crawish, seen other ish on dropshotting, good luck, catch and release only

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

      Report: Three o us in a blue ranger. Got on the lake around 2 p.m. Talk to a ew guys said the ishing was no good, they only caught 1, and they said don't ish the south ork. So we headed up north. Was a little worried because all the pressure on the lake the day beore rom the Newby tourney.. But we managed to catch ive between us on a drop shot, ish were shallow 15'-20' biggest was just over 2# can't give any specs on location. See you on the water.
      City: Citrus Heights

      Tips: 15-20 on a hump that was close to deep water. good luck

    • By

      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: To previous report: Are u blind? there are signs everywhere that say back lakes. I suggest that u park in the parking lot with all o the other cars that is usually where everyone parks. U can put your tube in where it says lake access. I you can get there have un.
      City: livermore

Saturday, February 7th, 2004

  • Mason County
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      Water Temp: 51-53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: went out on saturday to anderson. very windy. ish seemed to be in a late winter mode. you had to put the bait right in ront o them. caught 11 ish 8 on dropshot and 3 on c-rigged. Worms used were the yamamoto cuttail in daiquiri and roboworm sclupin x series, and a small ribbon tail worm. every thing we caught was small biggest going 2lbs.5 biggest weight 5lbs.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: slow slow slow slow and more slow

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 52-55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the irst 100% wine region tournament on saturday. Focused on points all day and got 11 keepers at about 1.5 - 2 lbs each. Most o the bigger bites came rom a watermelon hula grub jig. Fished that and a mixture o plastics dropshotting to ill the seven ish limit. most o the ish in about 10-15t o water. However towards the end o the day we did get a ew aggressive largemouth inside a cove on a spinnerbait. Finished I think 11th with 11.97lbs total. Winner had 20. something. However happy with the result or only the ourth time on the lake.
      City: Alamo

      Tips: Slow in the morning worked or us. Focus on the edges o the points. As the water continues to warm the ish are only going to get more aggressive. The reaction bite should turn on i it hasn't already.

    • By

      Water Temp: 47 to 54

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out to ish or un as I have not been to Berryessa or over a year.On the water at 9:00 am at Markeley Cove,once I got out o the cove I was amazed at all the bass boats.Every point or obvious spot had a boat on it.Oh well, ound some spots that were'nt so obvious and did airly well.Ended up with 9 total bass, 8 on jigs with Yamamoto D.T. grubs and one on a split shot reaper 4 ''. Had three that squeaked over two lbs and the rest were 1 to 1.5 lbs. These were the most skinny ish Ive seen in a while,they all resembled a lounder more than a bass.one o the largemouths was 19.5" long and weighed 2lbs 4 oz.Im used to Folsom spots that have all looked like ootballs lately.
      City: Granite Bay

      Tips: Jigs in brown with purple tails

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

      Report: My buddy Zup and I decided to try a trout and bass combo at good old lake Chabot. I posted some pictures o some quality size bass to 10 1/2 pounds that I caught during these past 3 or 4 months. Recently got a scanner working. Today I didn't catch the lake record, but we did manage to catch a ew nice size trout to 4.2 pounds (all ish were photoed and released). I jig and pigged and bounced a lizard o the bottom at a ew trusted spots with no luck. Going back this aternoon to ish some deep drop os in the bass cove area.
      City: San Leandro

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 49 - 53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Today we went out with my ishing buddy, Kevin and his ishing riend, Russ. Morning was really cold but the day turned nice. Kevin and Russ know Sonoma well and put me on ish. I caught a couple o keepers early in the day thanks to my "guide" Kevin. I keep telling him that when he's the guide, he doesn't have to catch any ish, but he is not convinced and wants to catch a lot o ish too! Guess that's why we need our ishing buddies to keep some rivalry and competition in the mix. I caught some ish with a Yamamoto Hula Grub and others with my "secret" lure (sorry guys, its too new to share). Fish are holding between 10' and 20' o points with a sharp drop o. Check out the points and you can catch them i you ish very slo-o-o-wly!Good ishing!Ciau
      City: Antioch

      Tips: Natural colors work - smoke, browns, etc. but ish it slo-o-o-o-o-o-wly

Friday, February 6th, 2004

    • By

      Water Temp: cold

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: had a great day i you consider 11 trout all under a pound being cought in under an hour.it kinda helps when they plant that morning.all were cought in a 1-2 eet o water on a gold 1/4 ounce kastmaster.
      City: antioch

      Tips: please be spring,please be spring.nope not yet.

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 49-50 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Beaver, Hog, and Sycamore sloughs or stripers since bass bite is slow. Got on the water at 9:00A and ished the outgoing tide. The 3 o us had our limits by 11:30A. Fished 3 more hours trying to catch a black bass. Mo black bass, but ended up catching and releasing 6 more keeper stripers. Biggest striper was 12.5 lbs. The rest o them were around 4-6 lbs. No shakers.
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Rat L Traps - 1/2 and 3/4 ounce. Caught most o the ish in the middle o the sloughs.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 47.4

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished north and south orks today. I will keep it short and say THANK GOD I DIN'T PAY FOR A TOURNAMENT TODAY!! Nothing has changed, cold clear and Folsom lake still REALLY SUCKS!!Back to the Delta or me. I know Folsom has it's times that are good but it is not happening right now, not or me anyway. GOOD LUCK!!
      City: Folsom

      Tips: Find a new lake :)

Thursday, February 5th, 2004

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 54

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had a couple o hours today so put in at Cappell Cove around 11. Had to spend some time solving gear troubles so only ished about 90 minutes, all in the main body outside Cappell. Claimed 2 nice spotties, both around 2lb, both on rubber crawdads in pumpkinseed/pepper. Also tried rip baits and a jig with no luck. Fish were real lethargic: the bite was nothing but weight, and they didn't make any runs even on 6lb test. Fish were around the 15' line. Tight lines!!

    • By

      Water Temp: 47-52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Pat Dilling and I inally got to make our trip to Berryessa yesterday - a trip I donated to last years Western Bass rally. We both were concerned with the post ront conditions ater two dark, stormy days. Let me tell you that the post-ront conditions rom a human point o view were some o the best I have ever seen in the winter - a great day to be alive!! Air temp reached near 60 in the aternoon, wonderul white puy clouds against the background o the green hills and blue water. What a day. Never saw a boat or the irst hour! The north wind tried to come up - sputtered - and died. The lake was dead lat calm most o the day. So - did the bass love the weather as much as we did - not! Pat and I took the challange and beat the odds somewhat. We landed 4 largemouth, 2 smallies and 8 spots, with our ive best spots going 10 1/2 pounds or better. The largest was about 17 inches going about 2 lbs 6 oz. Pat started o right away with our only reaction ish - a beautiul 2 1/4 spot on a rip bait. Ater that we threw dierent color jigs in the narrows with my avorite again being the best color - brown/orange with #180 Yamamoto grub. It seemed every new spot I showed Pat, we would catch one bass on it. I'm sure glad Pat didn't say: "Boy - these areas are loaded with bass"! Pat threw Hula grubs too and caught several. We had about 6 tail biters and missed several others. The jig bites were very subtle on this post ront day, but we got some o 'em! Pat is a great ishing partner and we had a great time, lots o laughs, and inally, a little sunburn!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We ound some shallow ish in the narrows, but the deeper we went, the better quality ish we caught. 15 to 35 eet produced most o our best ish. We targeted points and some o my avorite structures - underwater lats. We did ind some ish o the lats near the Ranch House that had probably moved up in the aternoon sun. We tried spinnerbaits some but no luck. They seemed to want a very slow moving jig.

    • By

      Water Temp: 48 to 54

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Came down rom Tahoe to visit and get the tube into Loma. The water is and has been down or a month or so.This time my buddy Paul and I got snued.We put in around 9am and let at 3:30 .Dropshotting mostly 4-6in Roboworms in various colors,cranking craw pattern suspending and deep divers,blades,senkos and whatever else.Turned out to be an educational trip seeing where underwater cover is and where some good holes and dropos are.Feast or amine, I luvs tha LOMA.

      Tips: I tubing while it`s this cold,try ootwarmers or don`t eel your eet.

  • Trinity County
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      Water Temp: 42-44

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out or a while and ound things as to be expected. Not many bites with the water this cold but a ew nice smallies have moved shallow. The weather report or the next week is promising with lots o sunhine, which means more ish will move up every day. Guess I'll plan to meet them there. I'll post again as soon as it gets hot. Should be in a week or so.
      City: Weaverville

      Tips: Slow way down when the water is this cold. Past experience indicates that the longer days and slightly warmer temps should start a rip bite. When it starts, hang on.

Wednesday, February 4th, 2004

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 51.5

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We got to the lake at around 10:30 and went into Carson Arm and started dropshotting Roboworms in 15-25', the 3rd cast I elt a couple taps and set the hook on a 3lb Trout. About an hour later I elt another tap and up came another small Trout. DAAAAANG...is there any Bass in this lake! I started throwing a sinking Castaic swimbait and ater 20 minutes I got absolutely slammed in Mtn Springs but no hook up...my swimbait was mangled ater that. We dragged some jigs around or a while and had no luck. Went back to drop shot rigs and my partner and I ended up with 3 bass each up to 3 lbs. The bite seemed to pick up ater 3:30. A very slow day but still un to be out there. Watch out or the Trout isherman there! We had 3 boats trolling come right in between the points we were ishing and us. Absolutely no common sense or no respect...one o the two! Oh well, what are you going to do???
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: Fish slow and be patient...bring a big swimbait to throw at the Trout isherman when the cut you o!

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Well, went up to the lake to do some bass ishing and never really got around to it. I only spent an hour or so chasing the bass rom shore. I ended my day with a 2 lb. bass, 6 trout in the 5 pound class, and countless smaller trout. I'm sure the bass are there but the trout were just too much un!
      City: Vacaville