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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, February 8th, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Currently we have rain, and we should continue to see more through Monday, then the forecast is for clear, warming weather through the 17th, and yes the lake has come up nearly a foot since Thursday.
      We may just see 4 feet Rumsey by the time this system moves out. Currently the lake is at 3.75 Rumsey.

      Prior, to this system things were really beginning to happen around the lake, and I would suspect once this is system is gone, and the forecast stable weather moves back in, things will really begin to improve once again.

      Big fish, and I mean “big fish” was the word this past week. I know of six fish over 10 lbs last week, with a 12 and a 13 topping that list. Haven’t heard much? Nope, but that does not mean it isn’t going on. Trust me, while I cannot get into too many specifics, the bite was really beginning to take off around the lake.

      Unfortunately, with my busy schedule I depend heavily upon friends and contacts for their reports, and these reports here would be impossible to do without them, so thank you again fellas for trusting I WILL NOT violate your trust.

      That said, I can tell you that Mid-Lake North began to finally kick out numbers on a consistent basis this past week, as did the Rattlesnake arm. Glide Baits, Swim baits, , Jerk baits, LV500s, minnows, and A-rigs topped the list of reported producers. I managed to get out for a mid-morning excursion on Tuesday managing 13 myself, but apparently, had I listened to that little voice and gone a bit farther north, I may have really gotten on them.

      So, with the forecast of 70 degree weather by the end of the week through the 17th, and with the rising water, I think things will really begin to get interesting as a result. Soon, real soon. Yes, these fish were already “beginning to look” as they say prior to this system, and I think we’ll see more of the same.

      Personally, I’d get that glide bait and swim bait rod out and get after them. I think this spring is shaping up to be “one of those”, especially with the water temps being what they are.

      Not sure how, or what to do? Well, then you may want to consider contacting one of the guides around the lake that specialize in big baits. Trust me, it will accelerate the learning curve dramatically, and you may just have that day of a lifetime, not to mention, it will save you money down the road in that you will see firsthand the proper equipment, thus saving you from purchasing any wrong equipment, be it rods, reels, or baits.

      Interested? Here’s a couple of guys I’d have no problem contacting!

      Alphabetically:

      Matt Allen: 707-514-9704
      Paul Bailey 818-584-5257
      John Pearl 707-536-3984

Saturday, February 7th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: This past Saturday I went fishing with my buddy Albert. There was a chill in the air most of the day and the surface water temperature was 54 degrees and didn't change all day it was C0LD. After working the rocks outside of Monticello Ski School with no luck I headed into the ski school and saw one of my friends he told me he threw everything he could think of and couldn't even get a nibble. Decided I wouldn't waste time there and headed to the ranch house side to see if anything was going on there. Could not find any signs of fish activity but was still able to land a 3 pound 10 ounce smallmouth bass in the grass in about 10 feet of water. Good job Albert!!!!! I figured if we were lucky here we should try the vineyards so that was the next stop. I fished two rods brass and glass and I also threw a top water. We started at twenty feet deep and drifted to four feet and no signs of anything going on. Figured as long as we were here I would try my favorite spot with all the stumps in the water too no avail. Freezing cold and getting frustrated I headed back towards home fishing along the west side and using red and black crank bait Albert hooked a 2 pound smallmouth bass (see photos). Albert was happy I was happy for Albert so we decided to head in so we could defrost. Did I mention it was COLD!!!!!
      'til next time.........................................................................good fishing!!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com
      or call me at 650-583-3333
      City: San Francisco

      Tips: tough day

Thursday, February 5th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54-57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I guess someone needs to do a report! It was a beautiful day one the lake yesterday - AFTER the fog lifted!! Sun didn't come out 'til about 11 am. I did a "teach the lake" trip with a client who is really getting into bass fishing! We ran all over the mid and south end, I showed him all types of on and off shore structure. The structure looked good on the Lowrance, but the fish and bait didn't show much. We hit some east shore areas and he finally caught a 2 pound largemouth on a long skinny worm he was using. He brought his own baits. I thought there would be a little more activity on the east shore in the late afternoon, but it didn't happen. We got back to the narrows on our way in - and stopped for a few last casts on a rock ledge. I picked up my brown/orange jig with a Yamamoto #180 grub and made about 4 or 5 casts. How many stories have you heard about the "last cast?" Well - here is another. I made one final cast, working my jig uphill over some scattered rock. It got CRUNCHED!! Great fish - a 4 1/4 lb spotted bass. I've always said - quality is better then quanity! What a beautiful fish - my biggest spot at Berryessa by 2 ounces. Now my client knows where she lives!!

      Tips: I just found out last week that Yamamoto no longer makes my favorite #180 super grub. What to do! Heidi, from Yamamoto, said "Get Over It!!" - we have a million other colors! Anything any of us says about the lake conditions probably won't mean very much if the predicted amount of rain does fall this weekend. Let's hope and pray! If the storms do hold together, I think the lake should rise at least to last years level - and maybe more!

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Damn, i went fishing again today at Lake Oroville, from 7 am to 10:30 am. Nice day on the lake with an improving bite. Water temp up to 52 degrees, about a degree a week right now. Once we get into the 60 plus range, bite will be wide open. Better count, got 13 spotted bass with finally one at the 15" range. All other fish 13-14 inch. Water still coming up, even though no rain for quite a while. Getting rain tomorrow to Monday, with estimated 4-10 inch depending where one lives. This should give the lake a little boost of water.
      City: Magalia

Wednesday, February 4th, 2015

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53 afternoon

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Alternating calm and breezy weather but great for January! Hadn't fished for a few months so spent a lot of time trolling to charge the battery and see the fish activity. Saw no suspended fish the whole length of the lake up or back. I often see this in the afternoon summer now after seeing schools stacked up in the morning. Tried mostly jig and craw up or down rocky bluffs or 45 degree rocky areas with no luck and not graphing fish and I've got a Humminbird Matrix 67 unit with combo narrow and wide beam. I see much less bait balls in recent years. Anyone else seeing this trend?
      City: dublin

      Tips: Heard they are around 50' but I couldn't find them. Let us know if you are finding them, although the upcoming rains will change current lake conditions.

Monday, February 2nd, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49.8 - 52.7

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Weather: Early fog, blue skies with light high clouds
      Lake Level: Falling tide early, long drawn out incomming\Best Depths: Most fish are comming off the various rock levees that have 7-14 out off the bank. The three fish we got this week that were over 5 pounds, all came off a tulle clump that had 6-7 foot of water at the bass and hit that flipped in jig on the fall. The spin
      Fishing still remains tough for most on the Delta with scattered fish in 1-3 pound range and that occasional big one. The bass here are starting to move, we're getting a lot more missed bites on jigs each day than fish in the boat, as well as picking off
      Guide Information: WWW.CoochsFishing.COM\Name & Number: 925-732-3293

      Tips: The bite is tough, keep yer head up, change areas and Thank God at least yer out fishing today!

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Super Bowl Sunday!

      Yep, super Sunday was as predicted. The bite has improved to the point where some nice fish are finally beginning to show themselves.

      The reaction bite has been the best producer, but glide-baits and minnows are now accounting for their own livewell fillers. Numerous big fish reports have come in with
      5-7 lbers becoming more frequent and two fish breaking the DD mark over the weekend.

      Mild air temps and warming, clearing water (again) has turned the bite on for most and those not finding a solid bite need to move around until they do find the bite, it is definitely there. This week with the forecast weather change I suspect the swimbait bite will kick in and begin to become a factor as well.

      Secrets? Nope, all of usual areas are producing fish to some degree with perhaps the muddier creek mouths being the only exception. The North end, Mid-lake, Rattlesnake and Lubo are all fishing fair to good, as is Shag, and it’s assorted reef areas.

      Megabass Vison 110’s, 6 to 8 inch glide-baits, LV 500s, Little Creeper Trashfish, and Osprey 6/7inch top hooks would be my choice of weapons to go at the above areas.
      Now’s the time for the big bites…so go get em’!

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Good morning, happy Groundhog's Day and I hope everyone had a great weekend filled with food, family and football! grin emoticon Fortunately we had a great Super Bowl that stayed close, very close, to the last seconds of the game. Congratulations to the Patriots on their win (as a die hard Steeler fan...that was extremely hard to say wink emoticon ).

      Punxsutawney Phil (THE groundhog), has seen his shadow! Of course this indicates that we will have 6 more weeks of winter!!! She certainly isn't wasting her time starting either...

      So far we have had about 0.30" of rain since midnight. This unstable pattern is supposed to stick around for a week and it does look like towards the end of the week we should be getting some heavy rain! I have checked several sites and they are almost all starting to line up. I have attached a snippet of one to give you an idea of estimated daily rain totals.

      The lake level hasn't budged too much recently, but if these storms actually hit the area, we should see a nice jump in the levels. I will keep you posted as the week and weather progress and be posting more than I have over the past couple of weeks.

      Fingers crossed and rain dances...everyone have a great day!

      Lake Level Report (02/02/2015 at 6 AM)
      Lake Elevation: 957.60' (109.40' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation 2014: 935.80' (131.20' below full pool)
      Storage: 2,005,141 af
      Outflow: 1,946 cfs
      Inflow: 3,475 cfs
      Precipitation (24 hr @ dam): 0.00"
      Precipitation (Season @ dam): 34.32"
      Precipitation (2013 Season @ dam): 3.12"

Sunday, February 1st, 2015

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Short trip today fishing the end of the west fork. Tossed worms from 7 am to 10 am and managed to catch just 6 spots. Odd thing all were clones to one another, right at 14 1/2" and taken in one 40 foot section of the lake. All fish taken 30foot down, deeper then may last trip.
      City: Magalia

Saturday, January 31st, 2015

  • Mendocino County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: After getting a late start, didn't get on the water until noon, still caught 3 largemouth today, 2 lbs, 3 lbs, and 5.4 lbs. Caught all 3 on a Carolina rig. Clear skies and very warm for the end of January. Must be global warming. Fish on!
      City: Willits

      Tips: Get on the water before noon

Friday, January 30th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished around sugar barge in my tube for 7 bass, nothing big but not bad for January. Lost one that might've been big. Senko and dropshot. Found many bites on the ends of the docks behind the pilings. Dropped down vertically and shake the dropshot in place. Let the senko sit for a bit after it touches down. The end of incoming was better for me and when I got bit I blanketed the area for a couple more sometimes. Tried jig and crank with no takers.

      Tips: Scent up the plastics in the murky water. Most of my bites came where there was less current.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Clear Lake this week 1/29/2015

      First of all, please accept my apologies for the late post. Normally I try and post by Wednesday so anyone who might be interested in coming up to the lake can have some current info with which to plan. Unfortunately, I’ve been a bit over my head these past couple of weeks.

      The good side is it’s been busy at ReelEx on top of trying to find time to break in the new Ranger 520c. Thank you again Ryan and CandC Marine, this is by far the best Ranger I’ve owned to date, and yes, it actually exceeds expectations. Finally getting back out in my own boat is a relief for sure.

      Today, after receiving several reports of a much improved bite over early last week, I was finally able to shake free to see for myself, and I was certainly not disappointed. While I did not find the 26-30lb bags reported, Jerk baits, LV500’s, and ¾ ounce jigs put 11 keepers, and 2 shorts in the boat, in-between making some break-in runs. Maybe 19-20lbs for the best five?

      I found water temps running from 50-53 and the fish are beginning to act like late February fish, and while most were 3 lbers, two good ones did make a mistake and ate the Vision 110 in light hitch today.

      Focusing on flats/breaks adjacent to deeper water proved to be the key today. Moving the bait with a prolonged pause and a hop to the jig proved to be the trigger for most of the bites, especially this afternoon.

      As for live bait, the minnow guys are out and reports have that bite as extremely good mid lake south, with some anglers going through as many as 4 dozen a day with good results. I know CLBT has gone through nearly 1500 minnows since last Wednesday, so I’d call ahead for minnows should you choose to head up this weekend.

      No rain in the coming forecast is certainly not good, but we might as well take advantage of it while we can. Plus the fish are in really good shape to boot!

Wednesday, January 28th, 2015

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched today at Lime saddle about 7am and fished till 10:15 am. Nice day on the water, fished the west fork, never made it to the north fork. Fish seem to be a tad shallower today, most fish caught near the 25 foot mark. Only managed to catch 13 spots, with no large ones, largest 14" smallest 12" . Fished slow, drop shot worms mostly.
      City: Magalia

Tuesday, January 27th, 2015

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52-55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Weather: Mostly clear skies
      Lake Level: currently at 870 ft.\Best Depths: Most fish are in 35-65' of water. They will move shallow and deep depending on the weather.
      Fishing has been good. The lake is full of spotted bass. Most are 1 to 3-pounds, but you have a chance at a World Record Fish on any cast. Drop-shot, shakey heads and jigs work best. Fish natural colors.
      Big Bass: Most fish are in 35-65' of water. They will move shallow and deep depending on the weather.01/19/2015 - Largemouth - 14.75lbs
      John Chiarpotti (owner of California Reservoir Lures)
      Events: GLORY HOLE SPORTS BIG BASS BASH FEBRUARY 21, 2015
      sign up for our weekly newsletter http://gloryholesports.com/newsletter/
      Guide Information: (209)736-4333\Name & Number: Glory Hole Sports\Pricing Specials/Open Dates: FREE stop and get a coffee on your way to the lake

      Tips: Glory Hole Point boat launch is open with a two lane concrete ramp and a dock. 4wd is no longer needed to launch.

Monday, January 26th, 2015

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: A bit chilly and hazy out on the lake this morning! It is slowly burning off and we should be hitting the low 70's today.

      The sun has been nice, but we are ready for some rain again! The forecast is still holding steady that we will have a system come though on the 3rd and quite possibly bringing a decent amount of rain...keeping those fingers crossed wink emoticon

      I hope everyone enjoys their Monday and great beginning to the week!

      Lake Level Report (01/26/2015 at 7 AM)
      Lake Elevation: 956.22' (110.78' below full pool)
      Lake Elevation 2014: 936.24' (133.76' below full pool)
      Storage: 1,981,429 af
      Outflow: 1,984 cfs
      Inflow: 5,184 cfs
      Precipitation (24 hr @ dam): 0.00"
      Precipitation (Season @ dam): 34.32"
      Precipitation (2013 Season @ dam): 2.83"

Sunday, January 25th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 49.9-51.7

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Weather: High Fog, cold n breezy
      Lake Level: Early rising tide, out go all day\Best Depths: 6-12 feet
      This past week Delta bass have loosened up and the bite is getting much better, four fish over 10 pounds have been reported including the two in last Saturdays AC Team event, which also had several 8 pounders weighed. This Saturday another big sack and fi
      Big Bass: 6-12 feet01/17/2015
      6 fish over 10 pounds since last Saturday the 27th.
      Guide Information: WWW.CoochsFishing.COM\Name & Number: Andy "Cooch" Cuccia 925-732-3293

      Tips: Contrary to the early week report above, Sunday we got hit with a chilly cold snap that drove water temps in most of the areas we've been fishing, down 2-3 degrees to 47-49.7. Sunday 25, we experienced a much tougher bite than we had all week due to the temp drops. Be prepared to grind it out and fish slower and more methodical.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: ? forgot to che

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Bite was a tad better today while fishing in the west fork area or lime saddle area. Got on the water early today, and fished from 7am to 10:30am and managed to catch 13 spotted bass, with two that went 14 1/2". No good size ones today. Warmest day I have had in months today, nice not freezing when fishing. News said the lake is down 135 feet right now. Long way to go for full pool, don't think we'll get even close. Work baits slow and be ready for that super light bite.
      City: Magalia

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 58-60

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing is starting to pickup as the sediment settles lake-wide. Water is still murky with visibility only 1-1.5 feet (clearer at ends of the main arms). We fished Saturday and Sunday, concentrating in the main lake body on primary and secondary points. Using brown and orange 3/4 oz jigs, the wife and I were able to boat 1-1.5lb spots in about 20' water. Tried soft plastic (lizards, worms, grubs) in various colors with zero results. Tried crank baits and spinner baits up against the bank out to about 15 feet and again, nothing. Flipped out minnows off the back while slowly working the banks and hit only a couple small spots. Even tried trolling for an hour with various flashers and down riggers out in main channel and once again, came up empty.
      So, as the water clears up, the bite will get better. Jigs and Crawdad imitations seemed to work best for us this weekend.
      City: Cottonwood

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

Saturday, January 24th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48-50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The bite has continued to be tough for the past couple of weeks with occasional bursts when the water warms and/or we get stable weather for a day or so. it can go from slow and finesse to wide open and reaction, rips and blades, very quickly. lots of smaller fish when windows open up and some bigguns, as Cooch noted, thrown in the mix.
      City: stockton

      Tips: I have had better luck fishing the time of day vs tides the past few weeks. the tide will position them but they are chewing mid-late afternoon no matter the tide. best depth - 8-11ft

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 47-52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I keep hearing ( i cant catch fish even on minnows)So i went out yesterday to try.Fished minnows first time since last spring.Tried deep down by rattle snake for nothing . Fished a couple more area deep for nothing . Put a bobber on and fished in 8 ft of water and caught 6 fish in less than a hour and had at least 6 more take downs that we missed.Fish were all fat .

      Tips: Move around till you find them.