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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Saturday, January 24th, 2004

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      Water Temp: 40s

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Tough Day! Out in the drizzle rom 7:00 till 2:00 or a grand total o 3 dinks. All caught drop-shotting in 30-40 t. Found a ew bait balls but nothing that led to any quality ish. A quick early morning reaction bite per other boaters but we didn't ind it. We launched with a local bass club who, in the darkness, asked us, a couple o strangers, to hold the prize money. HAR!! Good group o guys but a little too trusting!
      City: Fair Oaks

      Tips: Cranks early or reaction bites then go to plastics.

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      Water Temp: cold

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing was shitty here today. No bites at all. Fished mostly plastic in the coves, ishing o the bank (which is my problem). Hoping to be on my boat by March and turning in a positive ishing report.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Can't wait till March!

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: went out ishing this aternoon at about 2pm till 430.cought a small limit o trout on worms. i had 8 total bites.not bad or just a ew hours
      City: antioch

      Tips: worms, mightcrawlers,wigglers what ever you want to call them get you a worm blower and have some un.that is utill the bass start biting

  • Sonoma County
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      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Water is crearing to a nice stained green. Drop shotted a brown jig most o the say. Fish aren't real active yet, but managed 4, w/ the largest 4 lbs.
      City: Santa Rosa

Friday, January 23rd, 2004

  • Santa Clara County
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      Water Temp: 54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished calero on riday...very nice day under og till 12....some some busting bait @ the dock. Fished drop shot one ish...brown jigs the other on the rock wall. Red mouth indicates...the starting o eeding on craws...spring here we come. Marked tons o bait with ish ollowing LOTS and marked very big ish on the inder stacked up arches, couldnt trigger the bite . Ended up with two one small and one 3.5lbs. Great day!
      City: san jose

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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: been going out to loma the last ew days and the trout ishing has been really good.ish the east side with powerbait or try loating a night crawler.but i think everyone knows that.it was unny today i was one o the irst guys out there and i thought i was going to tear them up.it would o happened i i had some night crawlers.any one ishing with worms had ish.me no worms no ish.but the day b 4 anyone ishing power bait got bit and they would'nt touch the worms.
      City: antioch

      Tips: or all the trout guys watch out or the rock piles on the east side when the lake ills up.my buddy tom and i are getting ready or the bass in the spring,summer and all.you might want to check them out now b 4 the lake ills up and you cant see them.unless bill knocked them all over.those silly trout guys.

Thursday, January 22nd, 2004

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Cuaght 3 bass along channel points. used 3" reapers while lipping. 4" Don Iovino worms mojo shotting. a 2,3, and 4 lbers. down to 12 t.
      City: stockton

      Tips: down size and very slow.

  • Alameda County
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      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: First boat on the lake Thur 1/22.Very chilly.We managed to catch a ew bass all smallies nothing huge all about 2lbs but at and liveley.My buddy dave used his ly rod all day had many hook up on various streamers.I was throwing split and drop shots.lake seem to be still low,looks like it could come up about 15 to 20 eet.
      City: REDWOOD CITY

      Tips: ish rocky points with lat near by.remember cold = sloooow

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 47 to 48.4

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: In at Bailey Cove at 9am, bright sunny day. Ran up the main lake towards the Pit ishing main lake points and cuts. Caught 10 total the largest going 1.9lbs. I only managed 3 while you know who,(the blonde in the back) caught 7. All the ish came on jigs in 40 to 50'. Presentation was SLOOOOW. The bite was very, very sot. Out at 2:00PM.
      City: Cottonwood

      Tips: Most o the bites came straight over the boat. I guess you would call it dropshotting 1/2 & 3/8 oz. jigs.

Wednesday, January 21st, 2004

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      Water Temp: Cold

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: On Wednesday I made a last minute decision to go over to Del Valle. On the water by 9:00 and o by 12:30. The water level has been drawn down, so the East end is very shallow, 2'-4'. I did manage to pick up a pair o 3 lb ish split shot a ry and missed 2 more. They were in about 10' and on wood. I also tried a spinnerbait, black&blue jig and a senko with no luck. It was a beautiul day and it cured that itch or a bite. A group o us have let one o the Bass clubs in the area and now 10 o us are meeting in the area to ish monthly "pick up" tournaments. We have a tournament schedule that I can send you, points are being earned and tracked, but there are no dues at this point and our meetings are social. I you are interested in ishing with us, give me a call at 925-639-7724 David Mayne
      City: Walnut Creek

      Tips: Fish only the high percentage areas, points, wood, humps, channel... Find a ishy looking spot and hold on it, work it slow. Then go to the next spot and eliminate the dead water in between.

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We got to the lake at about noon and ater dodging all the Trout isherman we made it to our irst point and I started throwing a hula grub, 2 casts into it I hooked into something real nice and I knew it was to good to be true. Up came a 3.8 lb. Trout! Move to the next point and started throwing a Rodstrainer jig and picked up a couple dinks. Started puttin along the bank while the guy who came with me soaked powerbait behind the boat...(thats the last time I ever let powerbait into my boat!) I was throwing a Lucky crat pointer in the Trout color and hooked into another toad or so I thought...up came another damn Trout. This one went 4.7 pounds and was 25" long, unbelivably skinny ish but put up a good ight. My buddy got 3 Trout just draggin power bait behind us and his biggest was a male that went 4.2. Well, I picked up a 4 more bass dropshottin in 45+ t o water and the bite turned o as the sun went down which surprized me. Not much o a bass report but they're out there i you wanna try hard enough and in the meantime hook into Trout while bass ishin!
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: Slow Slow Slow Slow. These ish aren't very active at all and with the lake coming up as ast as it is, seems like they moved down to deeper water.

  • Bayfield County
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      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Arrived at the Marina about 9:15 a.m. with 36 degrees air temp. Lake surace was lat with only a slight breeze now and then all day. My irst cast with a new G.Loomis "drop shot" rod that I bought at Mad River Outitters in Arcata, netted a 2 lb. LMB on a 4" Green Weene. I thought this was going to be a great day at Ruth. The lake to mysel, turned out that I didn't get another bite until 3 p.m. when a trout attacked that same worm. First trip o the year started with some excitement and turned out to be a nice day on the lake.
      City: Fortuna

Tuesday, January 20th, 2004

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: cold

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Finally got out ater a ew months away rom the Delta. Launched rom Lazy M and ished Italian most o the morning. Caught 6 keepers to 3 lbs drop shotting and shaking 6 inch worms in junebug and green pumpkin. Went out to Victoria and cranked deep weed lines along with the above technique and caught 8 more keepers to 5+ pounds. o by 1 pm. All in all a very good day. Most o the ish came in depths o 6-15' o water on deep weedlines adjacent to rocks.
      City: Fremont

      Tips: Work your baits slow slow slow!! Even slow down cranking. Rat-L-traps and red speed traps did the trick.

  • Ventura County
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      Water Temp: 57 degrees

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: First time back to this great lake in our years - what a shock! The lake is down 35-40 eet rom when my son, John, and I last ished it. We were looking UP at places where we had caught ish beore on then-key pieces o structure.Graphed many areas around the now-exposed Arrowhead Island, in Deep Cat, and in Station Canyon which were devoid o ish or baitish. Found a ew spots in all those locations with loose concentrations o suspended ish and baitish. Tried mainly trout-inished swimbaits (7, 8, 9 and 10" versions o Castaic Trout, Optimum and Mission Fish laced with Pro-Cure bait sauce) but also 10" Power Worms, jigs with craw trailers, 6" Senko, T-rigged big tube baits, shad-colored crankbaits, and larger drop-shot presentations but couldn't entice a bite, even with extremely slow retrieves and dead-sticking, rom the shoreline out to 120 eet deep. The suspended ish either weren't interested in eating or rejected everything we threw at them (including dead-sticked Castaic Trout and Huddleston Deluxbows on the surace, wacky-rigged plastic worms and a Silver Buddy). There were bands o suspended ish at 15-20 eet, 45-50 eet, and 95-110 eet over a bottom at 120 eet. We ished all three bands but concentrated on the 15-20 oot band on the assumption it would be the most active eeders. NOT!Weather was beautiul with a slight overcast and absolutely NO wind. Lake was like glass most o the day. Toured the lat between Deep Cat and Station Canyon and saw no evidence o spawning activity - no beds ound. Flushed and spooked a school o 15-20 mid-sized (4-5 lb.) bass which were apparently trying to take advantage o the warming shallows.
      City: Monterey, CA

      Tips: Only presentation we didn't try which may have worked is drop-shotting a 4" worm (that was good enough or the lake record 14 lb'er at Diamond Valley, so even the larger bass will go or the small worm). We also didn't try trolling which may have worked eventually on the suspended ish.Suggestion: stick with ound ish until they start eeding.

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      Water Temp: cold

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Decided to blow the dust o my rods and hit the back lakes. Managed to get 9 ish in a 2 hour period. Used a drop shot in 25-30 eet o water. I you have a loat tube buy a ishin buddy depth inder. Used it or the irst time and ound drop os and humps and plenty o ish. Good luck
      City: Livermore

      Tips: I you are ishing slow, well ish slower. Locate the bait and you'll ind the ish

Sunday, January 18th, 2004

  • Mason County
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      Water Temp: COLD

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went toobin with some riends, drag the bottom with dark worms (PBJ, Junebug) or you will get nothing. Fish are as cold as I was. Very White bellies on em, ish REAL slow.
      City: Santa CruZ

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: mid 40's

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Folsom Bass Team event today with around 18 boats. Partner and I managed 21 keepers with our best 5 going 15.99 pounds, good enough or the win. Second place ran about 12 1/2 pounds. Big ish was around 4 1/2 with second big ish about 3.80. My partner and I didn't have a kicker ish, just a bunch o clone 3 pounders...one o which was a beautiul spotted bass.We caught our ish in 5 dierent locations around China Gulch and on the dropos outside North Shore. We caught a lot o keepers but our best ish came on 3 baits:1) 2 dierent spoons; one in black/chartreuse, the other an Aji colored DUH spoon,2) dropshot using blue ghost worms,3) jigs in brown with purple Yamamoto grub trailer, and a black DUH jig with a Yamamoto 180 trailer.Most jig and spoon ish came between 32-45 eet. Spoon ish came 45-62 eet.PS...also spooned a big catish!
      City: Fair Oaks

      Tips: Almost ALL our ish were bloated and required izzing. I you can't pop a ish, then please learn how! Try keeping a ew small deep caught ish in your livewell during your preishing and practice needling on these ish. I you kill a small one while learning, that's okay...take it home and eat it. There are plenty o small ish in these lakes, but we need to protect those bigger tournament ish. By practicing this way, you will be able to saely izz bigger ish that stay in your livewell all tournament day. Please protect our resource!!One more thing, when ishing super deep, its inevitable that you will lose a ew ish even ater popping them. So, please only ish very deep i you absolutely have to.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 49-52

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Focused on the northern end. Were only out or three hours. Threw jerk baits at Rocky point with no success. Went to Rodman and slow rolled white spinner baits - bumping on the bottom almost like a jig. Hooked into something that I couldn't move o the bottom. It spit out my spinner a moment later. Almost had a heart attack. Got several mush hits on white Senko's. Water got up to 52 up in the slough. Had several short hits on the slow rolling spinner. Only action was on white baits. Talked with a guy who had nothing on live minnows. Real slow day.
      City: Middletown

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 49

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: ished the Cottonwood bass club tournament today..got 5 ish or 7.58..2 drop shotting a 4" margarita mutilator robo worm..1 drop shotting a 4" arrons magic robo worm..and 2 on a 5" cinnamon W/purple and black lake hula grub on a 3/4 oz ootball head..got all ish beore 1:30,,ater that bite shut down..I you dont see ish on the graph move on...ish cuts rom 40-50 eet deep, best cuts have shade in them..took 12.49 to win..That was Bill McGlauhlin..thanks to my boater Chris Laskowski..
      City: redding

      Tips: drop shot and jig..heard o some spooning to be had but i didnt do it...just an over all tough day with the high skies.....

Saturday, January 17th, 2004

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 44 - 46

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the Redwood Empire club (team) tournament Saturday 1/17. Blast-o was a little ater 7:00AM, we had our irst keeper in the boat by 7:30. Stayed in the south end, had our limit by 10:30, then culled to a 11.3 lb sack until the bite shut down (or us) around 11:30. Only managed one more ish until time to go in at 3:30, it wasn't big enough to cull. Big sack or the tournament was 19.14 lbs, big ish was 8.26 lbs caught on a crankbait.
      City: Novato

      Tips: Caught most o our ish dropshotting Roboworms (Aaron's Magic) in 10 - 12 eet o water around docks. Others were catching them on jigs and sot plastics (brush-hogs, power worms, etc)