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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Thursday, June 26th, 2003

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Tried the morning out o Bailey at 6:00am. Ran up to Nosoni and ished back down stream or 24 small ones. All came on jigs, bigger ish were caught in the 20 to 25 oot range. Alot o smaller ish rom the bank to 20 eet. Had to jump in the lake about noon to cool o. I think we'll stick to evening ishing rom now till the end o summer. The nights are antastic, especially with a moon, and no boat traic. Oh, yes, the Blonde in the back only caught 11. I think Gene's Blonde outished him, AGAIN!!!!
      City: Cottonwood

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 70's

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Tyler...Jay...and I got bored sitting around so went to Whiskeytown #2 last night...got in around 745 and ished till 1030..all o us had ish with the biggest going all around two lbs....I got my biggest on a YAMA watermellon grub as did Tyler, ished on 1/8 oz. dart heads..Tyler and I probably caught another 10 bass all on grubs. Fish were on the bottom, they didnt want that grub swimming we just let it sit down there and shook it, and elt pressure. Jason had a lot o blow ups on a black spook, and landed a very nice 2.5 Spot. all in all a very nice night on he water, no clouds, lots o stars....
      City: Redding

      Tips: Fish grubs...probably a dark color...also use some bang garlic scent....make sure to bring pliers and a lash light as two o our ish took the hooks deep, and taking treble hooks ater dark was no un....CATCH....PHOTO.....RELEASE

Wednesday, June 25th, 2003

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 72-73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched alone out o Paradise Point at 5:15 am. Fished only in Disappointment Sl. I caught 8 bass total. Two largest were 3.8 (white buzzbait), and 4.2 (Motoroil Senko). The others were picked up using dierent colored Senkos (weightless), and Yum tubes in watermelon, with 3/16 oz bullet weight and a red bead.The best bite or me was on a high outgoing tide, in 10-16 t o water.I tried rogging a bit (1 hour), but couldn't get a rise.Also tried jigging without any success.
      City: Manteca

      Tips: The ew ish I located were on windblown, rocky shorelines with good water depth.

    • By

      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I ished with Dan Fisher today. We launched out o Orwood at about 1:00p.m. We started throwing cranks and spinnerbaits. Dan got one on the spinner but it came undone. We went and ished around the houses in Dicovery Bay. We cranked with Rat-L-Traps and Speed Traps along the rocks and around shade. We ended up getting about 20 ish(7 keepers). We tried lippin and I tried a rog but we didn't get any. Dan also got a hit on a buzzbait but didn't hook up. We let at about 6:45 or so. A pretty good day.
      City: Antioch

      Tips: Rat-L-Traps and Speed Traps along rocks and around shade. We also got a ew hits on spinnerbaits in Chart. and white.

    • By

      Water Temp: 78

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Me and my ishing partner launched out o Big Break about 5:45 a.m. Started out throwing top water with no takers.We made a little run lipping the tules.My partner hooks a 4lber right away.I then get 3 bites in a row miss all 3.My partner proceeds to get a 3.5 in the boat.I am thinking it is going to one o those days me getting skunked by my back seater.We continue to lip and I inally stick one happens to be 9.1 biggest ish to date or me.Awsome day or us are best ive went 23lbs plus.
      City: lathrop

      Tips: Fish slow i top water does not work start lipping.

    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out o Ladd's at about 4:00am. Got a 4.5 pounder on the irst cast with a popper in a weedy sailboat harbor. Caught 9 dinks and4 keeepers on a rock wall using cranks and spinnerbaits.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: topwater in the morning, spinnerbaits and cranks along weedlines

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

      Report: not a report, just looking or a little help. i'm gonna take a ew days o and spend them on shasta lake. i will be staying in a motel. does anybody know o any motels in the lake area that have outside electricity so i can charge the boat????? any help would be appreciated. thank you
      City: crescent city

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 70's

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Tler killed me tonight....LOL...he got a 5.2 large..and a 4.2 spot..on yama grubs...the large came o some shoreline structure..and the spot out o a little deeper water..He said he let it sink..elt a tiny bit o pressure...so he set and the ight was on...I got one 1 lber...and two babies...Tyler is a very good angler......
      City: redding

      Tips: grubs..ished on or near he bottom..darker colors..ish em slow....good luck...CATCH...PHOTO....RELEASE

Tuesday, June 24th, 2003

    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hit the lake at about 12:15. Started out on the East side with my G-Splash. Ater 15 min. or so I got a blow up and got a bass. It went 2-11. Not bad or my second popper ish. I then went over to the dam and started to drop shot. My line got tangled as my rig was sinking and when I got it untangled, I got a little 14ozer. That was it or drop shotting. So then I went over to the West side and tried with the G-Splash. I got it stuck in a tree and snapped it o but then was able to reach it with my lippin rod. Yes! Couldn't lose that lure because my sister got it or me or my b-day and also because it has caught me some ish. So I went to the spot where the big emale Alex lost was and looked to see i she was still there. Nope. So I head over to my ail-me-not buzzbait spot in the little cove back there and tied on my ail-me-not buzzbait. I got one on my second cast while I wasn't even looking at the buzzer. It pulled pretty hard. I put it on the scale and it said 2-9. I think my scale is o caus that looked like a 3lber. caus it was really at and chunky. But it was also kind o short. So I get another blow up a ew minutes later but lose it. Then something weird happened. I was reeling in my buzzer and there was no blow up and then i got a little 12" bass. It just kind o sucked it in. Then I got another weird bite like that and missed it. Got 3 more but lost them too. Let at 7:00.
      City: Antioch

      Tips: Poppers, drop shots, buzzbaits.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 70s

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Jay, tyler and I got to #2 aroud 715 ished till 10..got 5 ish..Jay had 3 or like 4.5-5 lbs.. ..he used new technique that I will keep his little secret...I got my 1.12 on a 5 inch chartrues YAMA grub ished on a 1/8 oz dart head right on the big rock wall..ish hit it like 3 eet rom the bank..Tyler got his on a 1/8 oz dart head dressed with YAMA 4" twin tail plum color, his ish was 1.13....we all caught a ew more dink bass..i caught one on drop shotted 4 inh MGM OX BLOOD worm....
      City: redding

      Tips: swim grubs.and split sho..dot use too heavy o a weight as the weeds are really appaet down on the bottom...I ya go earl try arip bait also.have un adn "catch..photo..release"

Monday, June 23rd, 2003

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: low 70's

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: did a 2 boat, 3 man trip with COOCH today, ished rom the break to disco bay with 3 great guys...we managed about 20 ish up to 3 lbs on about everything we threw...drop shot, rattle traps, jigs, persuader spinnerbaits, and got 5 rog ish... not a banner day by anymeans, but the guys had a ball, plus i converted some newbies into rog anatics!
      City: walnut creek

      Tips: best bite on the tidal switches...

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the lake Sunday with a good crankbait bite, no senko ish our top water.I did get one ish on a drop shot in ront o the swim area o the rocks it was really small ish.The crankbait bite was great got on a big squad o ish and loaded them up biggest 4.3 lbs and I lost some more that size our close to it.Fish were eating shad and shad where every where got about 8 ish rom 6:00 am to 10:30 am
      City: Pittsburg

      Tips: Crankbaits in shad inish

Sunday, June 22nd, 2003

  • Plumas County
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      Water Temp: 72 - 77

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I just returned rom 10 days at Lake Almanor Resort (530 596-3337). This was a guiding/pleasure vacation or my wie and me. We have stayed at this resort on the water or three years now and love it! It is in the middle o some o the best smallmouth ishing on the lake. It is mostly the boulder - deep water type o structure common on the east side o the lake. I did not night ish this time - the day ishing was just too good. It is interesting to ish a lake 10 days in a row (about 3 1/2 hours in the morning and 2-3 hours in the evening is what I average unless guiding) and watch the mood o the ish change with weather ronts, heat, etc. For instance, the irst evening there was a killer topwater bite (Chug Bugs) and almost nothing ater that! In a nutshell, the irst 6 days were some o the best smallmouth ishing I have ever experienced and then it gradually slowed down in the size o the ish as more and more dinks made themselves known and the big ish moved oshore. This was a strange June - a late spawn but the warmest water I have ever seen in June - one aternoon 79 degree surace temp!! More than other years, these bass were still showing spawning sores and many had very lat bellies. But they were eating - and I mean eating!!! The three major events o my trip were - taking my wie or a boat ride in my Ranger 520 and looking over rockpiles since the lake was now almost ull. I decided to throw a Camanche Jack's morning dawn worm on a rockpile about 8 oot deep and stuck a 3 pound smallie. I have NEVER done that in the middle o the aternoon! The second thing was a lady client caught the irst FISH o her lie - a 2 lb 3 oz smallie. The irst hour she couldn't even cast! The last thrill was, as I did last year, trading trips with a great trout isherman. I was able to hook and land a 3 1/4 lb wild Rainbow on a lyrod. What a hoot!! I had another to the boat about the same size but lost it. I went to the Bailey Creek area once but ound it slower than last year. I ished stump lats on the west side and did ok. Neither o these areas were as good as the rock structure on the eastside I previouly mentioned. My main weapon against the smallmouth is a split-shot rig with a 4 to 6 inch worm. Some days I would have to cast it towards shore or best results but most days I would drag it behind the boat. I always try to drag over humps, stumps, points, and near docks. The amount o ish I caught over 2 1/4 pounds was simply amazing - and most o them were spawned out! The downside o the trip was that I couldn't ind any ish over three pounds though I lost a really big smallmouth at the boat - probably over 4 pounds - ugh!! That was ater a near 5 minute battle! Again I ound that early morning was best and then trying to stay in shadows as long as possible. Sometimes two or three quality smallies would be under a dock at 10 am - in the shadow. The evening bite was best just beore dark or quality bass. I imagine there might be a slow period until the smallmouth get into their summer routine. Work hard - you'll ind 'em!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: As I mentioned, worms were my weapon o choice - or at least that is what the bass told me!! I used the Camanche Jack morning dawn worm and the Berkley 4" pulse worm in junebug and green pumpkin. They all worked every day! I caught a ew on brown/orange Rodstrainer jigs but that bite wasn't as good as last year - maybe because o the very warm water. I caught several on #240 4" Senkos. I did some drop-shotting with no success. A ew anglers were throwing lukes with great success. There was a ly-isherman who knew what he was doing and he was just nailing them or several days!! I really believe the hardest hit one will ever get rom a bass is a smallmouth hitting a crankbait just at dark! I caught several on black Wiggle Warts and one night or the last cast I threw it as ar as I could - cranked it down a ew times - and got one o the best hits o my career! And it jumped nearly two eet out o the water - I could still see a bit! Somehow I got it in the boat and it weighed 2 lbs 9 oz. How can that size o ish stretch your arm?! That is a un bite to get on! It held up or a day or two and then died. When I ish a jig or a split-shot rig in Almanor rocks, I really swim them very slowly, trying to touch the bottom occassionally. I you let your bait stop - 9 out o 10 times you will get snagged. I you are snagged, don't jerk. I you give slack to your line, lit your rod and gently shake it, the sinker will oten slide right over the rock. This is because many o the Almanor rocks are rounded. As usual, I ound most o my quality bass at the 12 to 18 oot depth. During the irst 6 days, many were very shallow but that didn't last too long. I was using 6 pound test mostly, 8 or jigs, and 12 or early and late cranking.

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Camped at Amador or three days, Monday being the best or ishing or us. The Carson Arm produced the most numbers or us, all on white spinners and crome Kastmasters. My eight year old son caught his irst bass on a crome Kastmaster, 1.6 lbs on a rock wall out o the wind in the Carson Arm. I did catch ish all over the lake as has been recorded on others previous reports. Huge thanks to "Lunker Larry" or the great tips on the phone a couple nights prior, wish I could have given more notice so we could have had a day on the lake.
      City: South Lake Tahoe

    • By

      Water Temp: 60?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Bank-ished Sunday evening working the major points above the spillway. Caught 10-12 bass, biggest about 3lbs. Most were caught on 6-inch plastics in Tequilla Sunrise, and a couple on my trust Strike King Bitsy-Flip. Fish were biting rom the late evening all the way through the time I let which was about 11:30 or so. There were a ew boats on the water, i you guys saw a lantern shining bright on the north shore, that was me!
      City: Sacramento, CA

      Tips: Fish slow. Set the hook as soon as you eel the ish pick up the bait. These ish are hungry and wont hesitate to swallow your plastic worm whole.

  • Napa County
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      Water Temp: 75-77

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Nice day out on the water. We launched rom Pleasure Cove at about 9am. We hit the south side o the Big Island and threw out parrot deep diving cranks on the points with no luck. The water contained a lot o clay rom all o the watercrat stirring it up. We then moved on to a southern cove closer towards Markley, where the water looked better. We trolled up and down cover, and ran cranks parallel to the shore, and then went over the same area with Senkos. No luck. Ryan caught a dink tossing the parrot crank towards some docks. We then located some isolated cover in one o the coves near the Porteguese Cove area, and that was the spot. My very irst cast nailed a 2.3 lb spotted bass as soon as it hit the water. Then Ryan nailed a 5.1 lber immediately on the next cast. Then another 3.4 lber. Ater about an hour or so o un, we threw gold/white spinnerbaits along the weedlines and Ryan scooped up another 3 lber. End o the day numbers...rom 9am-4pm...6 bass, totaling 17.8 lbs. Can't complain.
      City: Dixon

      Tips: Gold spinnerbaits seem to be the local talk..and it did work. But good old Senko was the kicker...Great day on the water. Berryessa is becoming a premier bass lake. There's monsters in there just waiting to be caught. Tight lines.....Kayge & Schlitz

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: Not Sure

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing with the Kids and Wie o King's Island. Plenty o Blue Gill (hand Size) alot o un. With the amily I am boat boy. Baiting hooks, putting worms on, basically the lackey. But still enjoying the time spent with my amily. Towards the end o the day. I toss a white small Buzz Bait. Twice out and back. Third Cast!! Slam!! 8lb'er Mouth big enought to put my ist in. Two other hits no hook up. Going back tonight.
      City: Stocktoin

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hit the water at 7:00 AM and ished until Noon. Took a 'special needs buddy out' to show me how to catch some ish. Fished the middle and south Delta. Started with Buzzbait (Persuader/Black) and Carolina rigged brush hogs in the back seat. Third cast nailed a 7.2lb on the buzzbait and my 'special T' nailed a 13 incher on the brush hog...Threw the topwater or another hour without a blowup. Moved to deep rock wall with current and started dropshotting ish let and right. Most were small but managed to pick up a 3+ and our other legal ish in less than an hour. Tony continued to catch Carolina ish all morning and ended up landing (8) all by himsel...Finished the day dumping two solid ish and heading back to Orwood. All in all, we landed over 30 ish...(10) legal...Good day with a special riend.
      City: Discovery Bay

      Tips: Plastics in depth 6-12 eet will keep you in action all day. Topwater worth the irst two hours because the ish you do catch will weigh...Still no rog ish or me, but haven't commited to it yet. Greens/Reds/Black were the plastic colors o choice. Current/rock/weeds and deeper water made it happen. Watch out or the Cruisers!!! Stay sae. TG

    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My cousin, Chad, and I went out to the lake at about 5 in the evening yesterday. I went over to where Alex lost the big emale on the bed on Friday and tried to get her. I saw her as I walked up and she swam o. So I pitched in the Chart./Black Bass Stalker jig that Alex gave me on our last tourney when I won. I start hopping the jig and shaking it and all o a suddend it gets heavier so I set the hook hard. I ended up getting the male which went 2lb.3oz. My irst ish on a jig. Cool. So I try to get the emale or a ew more minutes but I can't see her because she swam away rom the bed. I wish emales were as aggresive as the males and wouldn't get all spooked rom a lure. Oh well. So me and Chad go down by the dam and I start throwing a Lucky Crat G-Splash 80 in Chart. Shad. Ater throwing it or about 5 min. I get a blow up and this time(unlike last time) get the ish. Oh ya, a 7incher. My irst topwater ish other than on buzzbaits. So ater ishing there or a while without anymore bites, we go over the the east bank by the dam and start drop shotting. Chad gets the irst one(his only one o the day) while its dropping to the bottom. It probably went 1lb. So I snag my rig and snap it o and set up a new rig. I throw it in about 3t. o water, and to my surprise, get a bite. It was a little 5in. bass that came unbottoned. At about 7:45p.m. I get one that eels like a pretty good ish, especially on 6lb. test. I get it to shore and weigh it. 1lb.2oz. my irst drop shot ish ever! Wohoo! Now I got more conidence in my jiggin, topwater, and drop shottin' skills. Ay about 8:00 we started throwing buzzbaits but don't get jack. We let at about 8:30.
      City: Antioch

      Tips: Jigs, poppers, and drop shots.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: went to loma today rom 1-4pm.went over to a spot where i have been catching some real nice catish,all going 4-5pounds about ten a day but never ishing rom a boat.well we started ishing and we had no bites or about 2 hours.so we moved to the dam and the buddy i was ishing with hasnt been ishing since he was about 10 years old.we were using chicken liver and he tossed his bait right next to the shore.his bait was in about a 2 eet o waterand i told him he should cast a little deeper.ok his bait wasnt in the water 10 second when he hooked into a 8.4 pound cat.it was the biggest cat ive seen cought.i dont know i the reason we didnt catch any cats was because o the lake being a couple eet lower.i dont know but thats my excuse,or maybe it was the wind.
      City: antioch

      Tips: there is going to be some serious catishing now through september.you ind where they are schooling upyou could ind a day ool o ishing last year i cought 150 cats in 1 weekend.chicken liver and mackerl seem to work the best or me.i cant seem to get on a good bass bite so i guess catishing will be just ine.