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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, March 1st, 2015

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had a great time with Jim and John fishing this lake for the first time for me. John was a great host / guide. Saturday it rained from launch to maybe 2:00. Managed more fish in the am than later . off the water at 4:00. Sunday was the opposite, sunny skies all day. several boats out there Sunday. Nothing till after 10 that day. Off the water at 1:00. Leader board update Jim 10 bass 2 trout, Dave 9 bass one trout and John 8 bass. Size range under 1# to 2#, probably 1.3# avg. Very fun pre-spring trip. Need more snow to fill that beautiful lake up!

      Tips: Ran into Vince Harris at the ramp, head of Future Pro Tour, Sat a.m. He said he is starting Trout tourneys to go with Bass tourneys. No idea what size won Saturday. Similar format with TOC winners getting a boat! He puts on great tournaments in my humble opinion. Excellent learning experience if you are new into tournaments.

Saturday, February 28th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56-57

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Great bite pretty much all day due to some good tides. caught over 25 fish. our best 5 ended up somewhere between 25.5-26.5lb with a 10.0lb and a 6.5lb. reaction baits in about 5-7foot early and fished slower but shallow in the afternoon.
      City: stockton

      Tips: Check your transition and staging areas often, our second run on a major pre-spawn area yielded the biggun after only a 3lbr earlier. time of day (late afternoon) has been the factor even more than tide, but the sat tide didn't hurt.

    • By

      Water Temp: 56-60

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Russo's at 8. Fished around Franks and Little Franks. Caught 6 but only 5 would have kept, nothing over pound and a half. But all the fish were in 1-2' of water. I'm guessing the females were holding a little deeper.

      In this video it get bit just as I'm trying to get a bite of my sandwich!

      http://youtu.be/IgiSMnYUqeU
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: If you want the bucks throw at the bank. I gotta learn to position the boat a little farther out and fish the lure all the way back to the boat. I'm sure I was fishing right over the females.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53-56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Had some rain and wind with the front that came in on Friday and early Saturday. Spots want to get on beds, but were put back off with the cold weather. Lots of males right up on the bank 12"-14" fish. Move around a lot, until you find them, when you do there will be quite a few fish.

      use reaction baits to find the fish, then slow down with plastics to catch them. Still having problems finding bigger fish. Our best 5 would of only been 9lbs.

      Water level is down 145 feet. Main ramp at bidwell is open.

      Good luck
      City: Chico

      Tips: Rip baits, shakey worms, jigs, tubes, Arigs

      all the standard colors are working. 2 more week and bite should be wide open.

Friday, February 27th, 2015

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 55-56

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched Paradise Point around 8am...headed to Mildred...wind was whippin' pretty good, lots of white caps/SF Bay. Managed a couple dinks on senko and rattle traps. Tried to find some less windy areas but they were mainly shallows (2-4ft on the fishfinder).... decided to move up to 14 mile slough...managed a few dinks on black & junebug senkos... then stuck 2 lbers in a row. That was it.... wind pickin' up, decided to pack it in at 230pm. Talked to another basser and he said they got 1 decent keeper. Tough day.
      City: folsom

      Tips: Not qualified to give tips but senkos were the default go-to bait just to feel a hookup. Hopefully Sunday will be better.

Thursday, February 26th, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 48/56

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 7 to 5 yesterday slow bite we caught 7 or 8 fish nothing til the water got to 55 fish were 2lb to 4/12 lbs on drop shots and small swimbaits around tules

      Tips: We're not tourny guys anymore
      So just stick with the basic stuff til the bite opens up more

    • By

      Water Temp: 58-61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I'm back - took a break from Clear Lake for 2 months. My buddy Mike and I returned late afternoon yesterday, starting out about 5:30. We caught several dinks right away and I got a small keeper. No bite at dusk - surprising. After dark I got a big bite on a double wide Beaver - but missed her. We stayed until midnight even though the bite was very slow. It was worth the time however as Mike got the big bite on a shallow rockpile, using a Brush Hog. She went 8.02 lbs! Fun to a bass like that again! Earlier, I finally landed one a hair over 5 lbs. I switched to a black/chartreuse jig just before midnight and was rewarded with our 4th big fish bite. She went 5 lbs 6 oz. So, counting my earlier monster 1 pounder, we wound up with 4 bass for close to 20 lbs. The hits were few but strong. Most bites were around 10 feet, on rock.

      Tips: Most of our bites were on off-shore rock - not just rockpiles. We really had to cover a lot of water to find our bites. We just stayed south of the narrows.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 51

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished today for a few hours from 7am to 10am. Same slow bite as it has been for me the last three weeks. Be careful, lots of wood these days. All I managed was 5 fish, basic 13-14" spots, with one little largemouth at 14". All my fish on tubes in about 25 of water. Sure wish the water would warm up a tad. Bite has been shitty for me since the water came up so much a few weeks ago. Still rising.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Lately tubes working best for me.

Wednesday, February 25th, 2015

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Shasta: 78.23 from full pool
      The bass bite at Shasta is still going strong from the shoreline out to 30' deep. Baits of choice have been tube's, Jig's, 6" worms on 3/16 & 1/4 oz. dartheads, Crankbaits and small swimbaits.

Tuesday, February 24th, 2015

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Report: Northern California reservoir levels as of 5:00 pm today
      Shasta: 78.23 from full pool
      Trinity: 100.08 from full pool
      Oroville: 145.69 from full pool

      The bass bite at Shasta is still going strong from the shoreline out to 30' deep. Baits of choice have been tube's, Jig's, 6" worms on 3/16 & 1/4 oz. dartheads, Crankbaits and small swimbaits.

Saturday, February 21st, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 54 to 61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: This past weekend (Friday and Saturday were excellent Sunday was very windy). Friday I took Jim and his son James out for the day. I went to the back of Monticello ski school the water was like glass but there was no sign of fish activity but it gave me a good chance to teach them how to cast and retrieve different baits which paid off big time later in the day. From there we headed towards the Ranch house and fished using a Carolina rig set up with a Zoom red and black brush hog and a texas rig using brass and glass with a Senco watermelon red worm. The first bass was caught by James a nice 2 1/2 pounder. Jim had a bite on the brush hog started to bring it in and thought it was gone and stopped reeling wrong move as he continued to reel in to check his bait the bass jumped out of the water and spit the bait out. Jim learned that once you commit to reeling in you don't stop or give any slack to the line or its good bye fishy. Unfortunately James hooked a 8 to 10 pound bass (BIG!!!!) played the fish for about twenty minutes got it to the boat and his Dad instead of netting the fish wanted to take a picture of his son with the fish still on the line and you guessed it as James lifted the fish out of the water it was so long see ya and the bass was gone!!! Next lesson learned is to net the bass first and take the pictures in the boat. James got another bite and proceeded to bring in a nice 5+ pound bass this time Jim netted the bass first and then took pictures (see photos). The next day I went out with my buddy Albert and we had a great day on the water. Sunday I took Greeley and his son Elijah out well I wanted to take them out but as we headed out to the main lake it looked like the ocean in a wind storm the swells were at least four feet high and there were huge white caps did not look very inviting so I turned the boat around and headed towards Cappell Cove hoping for calmer water. I found one little section that was pretty calm and there were at least ten float tubers fishing in there so I headed a little further into the back of the cove but no luck the wind was terrible. I had promised Elijah that he would have a picture with a fish next to my sign today and I never break a promise but we had to head in the weather was just bad and all the tubers said they had no luck yet. I decided to call it a day and headed in. When we got to my house I told Elijah (who is eight years old) I was sorry we weren't able to fish because of the bad weather but I didn't want to disappoint him about the picture so I gave him a bass from the cooler from the day before and he got his picture with a fish by the sign (see photo).
      'til next time............................................................................................................................good fishing!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or if you would like to book a guided trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
      City: San Francisco

      Tips: spinner blades white and chartruse was the winner

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57-60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Just read the other guys post about Saturdays fishing. I have not been to clear lake in a very long time, and had to get my sticker as well at the tackle shop. Launched at Lucerne and fished around the north, lots of boats from nice to rodman, saw 1 fish caught and it was small. Talked to 3 to 4 guys all were having a hard time.
      We had 7 fish caught on 4 different baits, ripping, swim baits, A rig, and flipping plastics.

      We were at the mouth of rodman at around that time, and there were 10+ boats stacked in there, bait and grebe's were thick, at least 5 boats throwing A rigs, and not catching much. Lots of boats up rodman as well. I guess we just hit the wrong day. I will say all the fish we did catch were 4+ lbs, and that was nice.
      City: Chico

    • By

      Water Temp: 56 - 60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Late start not a good idea from what I heard. Had to get me 2015 sticker and give CL a try. Heard 4# avg fishing the north - rodman, the park and the north west flats. Started at the park at 10:00 tried swim baits, rattle trap and jerk bait for about 45 minutes. Many boats more than 1/2 throwing the arig but no fish noted. Then headed to the north west - same deal many boats 3/4 throwing the a rig. Tried that, swim bait, trap, jerk bait for over an hour - most of the spots I know had boats so I was further out but still in 4-8 feet no fish no boats in the area with a fish either. Hit a couple areas on the way over to Rodman mostly just the a-rig and a little swimbaits. Same result but less boats! Fianlly, a point east of Redman I did see a fish landed, looked like a 3# dad and his son. Hopped over to Rodman - not hard to find just follow the parade. Feb 21 and there were 15+ boats in there around 11:30. Stayed on the perimeter - don't like to crowd and figured fish would be moving in and out anyway. Fished there 2 1/2 hours swim bait and a-rig no fish and none hooked by the others. One nice guy, Dean said he caught 2 but it was much earlier and "you should have been here yesterday". Not exaggerating a new boat entered the area every 10 minutes or so and some of those guys just big motored it up right past all the guys patiently waiting outside with no regard for the others. On the other hand it was a beautiful day. Picked up one dink at rattlesnake on a staysee 90 before heading out to keep the skunk smell off the Triton. Spoke to 6 or 7 people who said it was tough - one said nothing after 9:00 but one guy reported several fish a-rig, swim bait and jig said he had a great day - good for him gives me hope

      Tips: I don't fish clearlake much so I'm not the right tip guy so I'll relay the tip from nice guy at Limit out. Any reaction bait up north. All the standard places from the State park up to Rodman. There are definitely fish up there you could tell from the number of boats and yesterdays stories out there. One guy claimed 25 fish yesterday on nothing but a drop shot - which I never pulled out of the box Sat.

    • By

      Water Temp: 58.3

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Wife and I hit the water around 11 AM and fished until 4 PM. Caught 10 bass, all good sized,(1.5 to 2.5 lbs.), no dinks!
      Great weather and great day fishing!

      Tips: Fish the drop-offs.

Friday, February 20th, 2015

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Dinks at 30-50 ft on plastics

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 56-57

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched 10:30am B&W.... water was stained to muddy brown...started at top of the Moke... nada.
      Moved to favorite tules...nada...everything looked like it had been sprayed to kill the hyacinth, which was pretty much non existent except the few remaining floaters that were already dead brown. All the usual tules seemed to be either killed off or hardly even there. Moved to alternate areas on Tater Slough.... managed a couple of keepers on blk/red flk senko and a black spinner bait, but no pattern at all. Saw only a few other boats trying but never saw anyone hook up and I really think it was just a junk fish day. Ended the day at 330pm with 3 on the hook.
      City: folsom

      Tips: not even!!! someone tell us what's happening in these waters. all the reports of the bite is on, 20-25lb limits, where the h&(( is that? south delta? sure ain't up the moke or even the sj.

Thursday, February 19th, 2015

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 57-61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I did another "teach the lake" trip today - and joined all the other bass boats. I thought it was Saturday! My client is an excellent stick and knows what he is doing! Another fog-bound morning with a slow bite. We did have several "soft bites" but couldn't hook them. The fog lifted on schedule - around noon - and the surface temp warmed a bit. After showing him lots of off-shore structure and other areas, we worked the east side where he caught his 2nd largemouth - a nice 3 3/4 pounder. He caught a third largemouth and I finally landed a 2 1/2 lb largemouth. The four largemouth went around 10 lbs. Robo worms did the trick. I lost a bigger bass in the morning throwing a Norman DD22.

      Tips: The only tip I could give is "what not to use." Never got a jig bite - which surprised me. Most of our hits were around the 8 to 12 foot range. I saw several bait balls - some at 70 feet!

Wednesday, February 18th, 2015

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: my dad and I will be making a trip down there in a week does anyone have a report from this week. Water Temp? Visability? current patterns
      City: Reno

Monday, February 16th, 2015

  • Calaveras County
    • By

      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started around noon took a kid fishing worked a cove had boat pressure all around but still manage to catch fish behind them. Fish are there with the warmer days crushing for food. Used crankbait, jerkbait and senko.

Sunday, February 15th, 2015

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Clear Lake Blows Up is more like it!

      Let’s get the formalities out of the way first. Lake level is 4.43 Rumsey and holding, so we still need more rain. Finding surface temps in the 60 degree range is not as hard as one would think for the second week of February.

      For me, well, I predicted it, but I still can’t believe the way this lake fished this week.
      Fast forward to the end of March and that is pretty much where the bite is right now.
      Jerk baits, LV 500’s and swim baits were all contributing as was a Texas rig fished right on the bank. Yes, there are numbers of fish already roaming the shallows.

      Friday I had the morning to myself before leaving for Bass Pro in Manteca. Launching at 7 am I was able to fish until 1pm and had no problem finding willing fish. I managed 14 fish, and friends all reported 20+ fish Friday as well, fishing until 4pm. It never fails; have to leave just as it’s getting good!

      That said, at least the lake was busy again as ABA had their event scheduled for Sunday. So with plenty of pre-fishing going on, and with most local anglers predicting it could take 40 lbs. to win, we knew this could be good!

      That wasn’t far off! Sufficed to say 33+lbs was good for just third and it took a 10+ for big fish! Now, I could be mistaken, but I’m not sure I saw any double digit fish weighed in at any event last year, so that was certainly good to see as well. Watch for the complete ABA Results and look for yourselves, it’s pretty impressive.

      What’s to come? Well, with the warm temperatures forecast for this week, I’d say more of the same for sure. Oh, and yeah, the night bite is beginning to turn on as well, just be careful out there as there is some scattered debris floating throughout the lake.