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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Wednesday, January 1st, 2003

  • Merced County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The new year inds the bite continuing but with signs o slowing down in size and numbers. Lots o pressure the irst day o the new year must o had some impact on the ish as the bite slowed. A 2 ish limit in the 10 -12 lb class was still somewhat easy to come by or those on ish with some lucking isherman catching several limits.We had a easy limit 10-12lbs driting minnows, some ish were caught trolling.HAPPY NEW YEAR! rom john@justish-n 209-5298364
      City: modesto

      Tips: Keep a good bait on and drit slow! 25-40t

Tuesday, December 31st, 2002

  • Ventura County
    • By

      Water Temp: clod

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: hit the water about 8:00 (light rain) scaned the lake with ish inder. 30min scan 10min ish ratio. could only see ish suspended in deep water in about 30 to 60 t over 100+ water. went to back side o island and started trowing a jig picked up two smaller ish about 2-3lbs range, partner was drop-shotin noting. went to a couple big ish hangouts and dead sticked a castaic trout on top and bottom bounced a home made trout got nailed bottom bouncing but came o right away (dont think she tried to eat it just kill it).not much action. trailer the boat at 1pm.. any body want to try out my home maid trout send an email, need some input on it.

      Tips: go deep but take the risk o killing the ish. i didnt even mess with them

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Chabot or a ew hours to try and end the year with bang. Stated o ishing the dam with a jig and crawdad combo and elt a slight tap, but set the hook to nothing. Came around to alder pt. and ished some submerged structure I know o. First cast my jig got stuck in the brush, but inally came loose and I got bit right then. Set the hook and the ish exploded out o the water, then tried to burry back in the brush. Ater a quick ight I took some pics, weighed, and measured her at 7.4 lbs. and 22"/18". Im not sure i my scale is o, but I thought it was bigger that 7.4. Do those measurements sound like that o 7.4 lb. bass?
      City: San Leandro

      Tips: Fish slow and add scent and noise to your bait to attract ish in the muddy water.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Tuesday with a good riend and had a terriic day. We got on the lake about 7:30am out o Packers Bay(the loat is back in place). We started on the south bank across rom the ramp. Both o us got bit on the irst cast. We ended up catching 47 ish on the day. The Berkely digital scale was getting a workout. Many o the ish(15 or so)were either 1.9# to 2.0#. I caught 3 smallmouth on the day, a 1.9# and a 2# were the biggest. The big ish o the day was a 3.5# spot caught o a point that had small rocks and a red bank, in 15 eet o water. Most o the ish came in 15 to 40 t o water. We both agreed that it was the best day we ever had on Lake Shasta or size and quantity. The ish were so thick and healthy. All but 3 ish were taken on Hula grubs or jig and pigs. Browns and greens worked the best. Awesome day! Have un and good ishing.
      City: Redding, Ca

      Tips: Hula grubs and jig and pigs. I they bite and you miss them, drop the bait right back down and they will usually hit it again!

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Not many boats out today.Fished a long time to get a 14" and a 16" largemouth. Got them just around 14:00 ater the sun warmed things a bit.All I can say is ish slower than you have ever ished beore. Big dark 9" Killer Worms did the trick.Good luck and have a great New Year.
      City: Santa Rosa

Monday, December 30th, 2002

  • Santa Clara County
    • By

      Water Temp: NA

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished it or a couple o hours on Sunday and basically got skunked. I tried spinnerbaits, swimbaits, and hula grubs. Still, no bites. Yes, the water level is up!!! Better luck next time.
      City: SAN JOSE

      Tips: Dress warm and ish the lake thoroughly.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: YES!! The lake is illing up nicely! Hope this rain keeps up. Calero is as ull as it's been in two to three years! That goes or the other Bay Area lakes as well. Come on SPRING!!
      City: San Jose

    • By

      Water Temp: still cold!

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Well, I got out there about 8:30 today and was out o the water by 12:45...loat tubin' again. Once again...I was dressed as warm as I could and my eet were numb ater about 2-3 hours o bein' in the water. LOL. But then, once they go numb...ya can't eel anything, so you're ine. Har Har! Guess I'm a bonaied nutcase eh? Anyways...went straight to that little point I caught all my ish on last time and went straight to the drop-shot. I musta ished that drop-shot all over that point rom 4-12t or about an hour and all I got was a single tap which I missed. Then I started throwin' a t-rigged worm all over the point or another 15 minutes without anything, so decided to move on. Where'd they all go? They were pretty stacked on that point last time. Maybe they're still there, and i just suck. I dunno. LoL. Anywho...started movin' along lippin' the tules with a jig-n-pig or about 10 minutes when I came across a point that I almost totally orgot ever existed. I ound it last year and totally orgot about it. Anywho, I threw my jig-n-pig all over this point, but nothin'. Then I busted out the drop-shot again, but this time with a 5" Aaron's Magic colored Robo Worm and not that 6" purple ghost deal I'm always throwin'. Started workin' this point again with the drop-shot. I missed two hits up on top o the point in about 5-6t o water, then I inally stuck one way o o the point in about 12-13t o water. A whoppin' 12 incher. WooHoo!! Busted out the spoon once I reached 15t and started jiggin' or about 15 minutes beore I got out o the water. Ended the day with the one 12". Pretty slow out there!! There was just a little bit o wind or the irst hour or two, then it started raining and I ished in the rain or most o the day. Once the rain showed up though, the wind stopped, so that was nice.
      City: Antioch

      Tips: Next time I go out, I think I'm going to try jigging a small 1/8oz Kastmaster. The last couple o times I've been out, I've seen quite a ew 1-2" long shad swimmin' around and some injured ones on the surace. I remember getting on a good bite in the winter a ew years ago jiggin' that tiny spoon, so maybe it'll work again...

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: Unknown

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Stopped at Bailey cove on Dec 21 and Dec 27 on my way to Salem OR or Christmas. Water well below launch ramp. First day, tied on a 3/8 oz silver Kastmaster with a green stripe. 5th cast, landed a 18", 3 lb bow. 4 casts later, landed another 18", 2.5 lber. Got two more strikes in the next 1/2 hour. Fish were illed with 1/4 inch shad. Fished 1 hour on Dec 27 in pouring rain, one strike (water was much muddier). No bass either day. Suggest ishing the coves when water clears, as bows were rising all over chasing shad. Tight lines - Mac
      City: Emeryville

      Tips: Any shad imitations

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50degrees

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: The ish have deinitely moved to Lake Okechobee. Too bad they didn't tell us when they were leaving, because we could have given them a big send o. Har. Anyway I'm sittin here lickin my wounds(new country song?)just like everybody else is doing these days. The Sloooownoma is tough right now and is gonna take awhile to get back to normal. In the meantime, I'm just gonna go to work on my new country song "I'm Sittin Here Lickin My Wounds" to be sung by Randy Travis in the near uture.
      City: Petaluma

      Tips: JIGS JIGS JIGS JIGS JIGS JIGS JIGS JIGSPORK PORK PORK PORK PORK PORK PORK PORK

Sunday, December 29th, 2002

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 46 degrees

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished conluence o Potato and Connection Sloughs most o the day. We had a break in the weather between storm ronts, only partial overcast and little wind - a very pleasant day on the Delta or the end o December. Water had less than a oot o visibility and was only 46 degrees (measured). Tried everything rom shallow edge in rocks, tules, weed beds on lats, to deep slot at 48 eet, using one-ton and 3/8 oz. jigs (jigged and Craw-Waved), slow-rolled spinnerbaits, 10" plastic worms, T-rigged tube-baits, crankbaits (lipless and billed; shad-, chartreuse-, and craw-colored), swimbaits, spoons, tail-spinners, and, yes, 5" and 6" Senkos. My son had a hard strike on a black/brown jig at 12' in a weedbed early in the day, and that was it or the day. We could not ind another ish to strike in that cold, muddy water. Thanks to the nice weather, we still had another pleasant, albeit blanked, day on the Delta.
      City: Monterey, CA

      Tips: Try it all: slowing down, in the current, out o the current, in the current seams, "keep the pace" -- cold, muddy water is deinitely a challenge!

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 50.9

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: It happened again, nothing in the boat. zip nada zero. lake up to 57 t rom the top, main areas still a little green, the west shore big coves are chocolate milk, the lake has risen 40 t since 12-5. vey little debris in the open areas its all in the coves on the north and west sides o the arms and stacked up deep. ished some incoming water in cuts and ruts and had 2 taps on jigs. got in the water at 1130 waiting or it to warm up a bit, got out at 3pm when it started to rain and only saw 2 other bassboats out there. Today was day #8 since 12-31-98 when I didn't get any ish in the boat, sure makes you appreciate those early spring 60 ish days.
      City: redding

      Tips: Beats the heck out o me, wouldn't know what to throw ater today.

    • By

      Water Temp: N/A

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Went ishing at Stevens Creek on Sunday.Started ishing around 12PM. The water was very muddy and extremely high. The visibility was about 2-4 inches.Threw blades and jigs in the cove opposite the boat launch with no results.Fished the dam with no sigle bite. Then drove up the creek.To my surprise, got a bite by 4-5 pound good looking bass in a veryshallow area. The ish jumped and spitted the bait back to me. :-(Well, that's the only action o a today.
      City: Stanord

Saturday, December 28th, 2002

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I got on the water at 1:00pm on Saturday. Fished the south bank across rom Packers Bay. Wind was blowing about 30mph and raining very hard. Caught 7 ish by 4:00pm. The ish were very thick and healthy. None were smaller than 1.04# and nothing larger than 1.10#. 6 were caught on a brown hula grub, and 1 was caught on a #39 worm. The ish that bite were very agressive. Slow bite. 25 to 35 eet deep on steep banks. Have un and good ishing!
      City: Redding,CA

Friday, December 27th, 2002

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: N/A

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We have TREES, The cover project has had a great turnout rom the lot owners.we have 1200 trees at quarry and 300+ at Chabot. All we need now is the publics help on January 11th. Please come out and help even i it is only or an hour or a minute. Please dont miss out on the chance to say you were a part o the project. I will be something you can tell your kids about when they catch their irst ish.
      City: Castro Valley

      Tips: Hey 420 or lie come up to me at chabot on the 11th and show your ace. I need help catching ish at chabot.

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Went to the lake on Monday and noticed only 2 other boat trailers in the lot and nobody on the bank ishing. The lake is almost ull and looks like coee. This is the worst I've ever seen it. I heard it rose 22t in 7 days so we ewnt back into town and had breakast instead o ishing, I think it was a good idea.
      City: San Lorenzo

  • Mariposa County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I had an itch to get on the water and a ree day on Friday, so I called a riend at the last minute to see i he wanted to join me on a road trip to McClure since we would be ishing a club tournament with the American Bass Anglers (www.ambassanglers.com)later this month. I had not been to the lake beore, but he told me that the lake was down about 100' and based on pulling resh grass on dartheads, the lake is on the rise. We didn't get to the water until about noon. We hit the backs o coves and near the damn with limited success, picking up a ew ish on dartheaded butler worms in 15'. We caught quality ish, but the bite was slow. The people we talked to also had a tough bite. While the bite was slow, I liked the lake a lot and look orward to getting back on it or the Tournament. I you are interested in a quality club that oers a rich ishing experience and a great group o guys, go to our web site at www.ambassanglers.com.
      City: Walnut creek

      Tips: Patience and natural colors

  • Westchester County
    • By

      Water Temp: N/A

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: We have TREES, The cover project has had a great turnout rom the lot owners.we have 1200 trees at quarry and 300+ at Chabot. All we need now is the publics help on January 11th. Please come out and help even i it is only or an hour or a minute. Please dont miss out on the chance to say you were a part o the project. I will be something you can tell your kids about when they catch their irst ish.
      City: Castro Valley

  • Merced County
    • By

      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Sorry To those I canceled on or Today, weather was great, It didn't Rain and It didn't blow as our trustee weatherman said it would!However the bit was only air as was the catch-n. We did manage to land 3very nice ish 2 Strippers 12-14+lbs and the unnist looking black bass I've ever seen in my50years + ishing. The thing was shaped like a crappie, looked like a largemouth, the color o a largemouth, but was colared somewhat like a stripper, I didn't have my camara, I should have saved it, It was strange! Any body ever seen one?Anyway Lake looked good. it was up maybe 4-5eet rom my last visit. Had several bites,ish were hitting short and not slamming it. Small ish were hitting spoons but not a hot bite! Lots o ish showing on lasher but did what to bite, we ound the best bite on points 25-30 eet deep, No trolling ish today but didn't try much, heard o some caught on swim baits, Not much today maybe next time! Nice day!John@justish-n 209 5298364
      City: modesto

      Tips: Early bite, Fish slow. good luck

    • By

      Water Temp: 48-50

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Cold baby, Cold ! Swampy and I went out and tried to battle um', but it was really tough out there. Got on the water at about 7:30ish and ished the back lake, with some muddy 1t visibility water. We lipped and pitched into EVERYTHING with no takers. We had a ew bites, but nothin' to produce a ish. The water was varying in temperature. We ound 51, then 49, then 50, then 49 again. It was up n down all day pretty much. I threw blades, pitched senko's, brush hogs, jigs, and tried crankin' with nothin'. Still alot o weeds in there.
      City: Milpitas

      Tips: Seeing how this was my irst time out here, i don't know what get's um in here, but i assume lippin' n pitchin' is the best way during this cold snap. Good Luck !!!