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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Sunday, September 15th, 2002

  • Sonoma County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68-71

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went with my son Tom (in out boat) to celebrate Jimmy's 12th birthday with his dad John (snag)and uncle Jim (Sonoma ledgend - in the other boat).Got on the water at 8:00 and the og was real thick went towards the dam and tried there or an hour until driving was sae. Headed north and stopped at a point w/good structure on the east side. 9:10 Tom has the irst ish (very important) his irst smallie! Then Uncle Jim hooks a small LMB. Then it is John's turn another small LMB. Funny they both neglected to let the birthday reel in their prize ish. Then I stuck a 3.8lb LMB and Jimmy got one o his own - It was a beautiul LMB that was released beore photographed or weighed but must have been at least 5lbs. Went north to Happy Cove, Uncle Jim hit a couple small LMB's and Jimmy hit Pogey (blue gill). We moved all the way north and ound the water too shallow so we ished the rock wall on the west side. Jim and Jimmy hit on a double, a 2 lb and a small one! Shortly ater that John hit his third LMB and we were heading south. Stopped at a cove on the east side to avoid the never ending wind and Tom got back in the game with a 1.7lb smallie - great ighters! Then I hid another LMB, big belly on this one. Jim and Jimmy hit another. We ended the day with 17 ish and I believe 87 snags and break-os or the snag amily. Jimmy won the stick ishing portion o the day had a great birthday.

      Tips: Fish were caught on spinner baits, crank baits, plastics. spinners best on the small ones.

Saturday, September 14th, 2002

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched rom B & G at 6:30 to beat the skiers. Lots o shad jumping so headed up the Potato slough and threw a suspending shap rap at the rip rap. A 4.5 lb largie was the taker under an irragation pipe. It slowed down so headed south to the main body and into a channel isolated rom the traic. Flipped a 3" power grub at the tules. That seemed to be the ticket.
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: White colors seemed to work the best.

  • Amador County
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      Water Temp: 78

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished a club tournament with the Bass Buster O Santa Clara County. What a beautiul day on the water. We had 9 boats go out and only one boat managed to bring in a limit, which weighed over 10 lbs. He caught ish dropshotting small rocky areas. I inished in second place weighing in 3 ish or about 5.5 lbs. I dropshotted islands or my ish. 3rd place weighed in just under 4.5 lbs or 2 ish. Seems that most ish caught were in the 20 - 45 oot depth and caught on the dropshot rig. Big ish o the tournament was a 2.66 lb Spotted Bass. Lots o skiers on the water today and the lake is very low.
      City: Tracy

      Tips: Try dropshotting 6' worms. Seemes the smaller ish wanted smaller baits. Roboworm puts out some awesome worms! Also try ishing directly into the trees. Seems the ish were very tight to the trees!

  • Alameda County
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      Water Temp: Not Sure

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went ishing today with my riends. I didn't get a single bite o a big bass... or at least one pound, I really need some help, I can catch small ones let and right... with special lures because I dislike having no bites... but I caught and released all the small ones... about 20 o them. Some one give me some tips on how to get a sure bass at least one pound, what kind o lure? how do you use it? and where? That would help alot, I'm new to bass ishing and broke rom boat rentals... how about shore tips? that would help too
      City: San Francisco

Friday, September 13th, 2002

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Club tournament out o Stockton produced several limits o average to small isn on Senkos, red crankbaits, and white spinnerbaits. A ew better ish came in on a rog. Big ish was 6+ on a motor oil senko on old pilings. Fishing in the weeds close to the bank seemed to be the most common pattern used. Tide topped out 2 hours ater blasto and bottomed out an hour beore weigh in.
      City: Belmont

    • By

      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out o Orwood at about 8am. Started throwing buzzbaits around woodwards but no takers a ew blowups. Moved to mildreds and caught a small limit. Biggest went 4.5 lbs. Caught ish on jigs and spinnerbaits. Lots o shad in the water
      City: Fremont

      Tips: Tried senko ishing but I don't have the patience or knowledge yet. Can anyone oer me tips?

  • Mariposa County
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      Water Temp: 70's

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The water has turned and it is nice and cool and clear and the ish have turned on. My buddie ished the lake the night o the 11th. and morning o the 12th. and caught 65 ish total. The boat ramp is way down but now is the time or some great ishing.
      City: Merced

      Tips: Most ish caught on black ASSALT jig with black/red lake YAMAMOTO double tail grub trailer. Big black worms and 4 and 6 inch summer moss variety worms also producing. STEVE'S BAIT SHACK is calling it quits at the end o this month. Now is your chance to stock up on the best lures and equipment at smokin' prices. For more ino. stop by STEVE'S BAIT SHACK at 137 W. Main st. in Merced or give us a call at (209)722-0800.

    • By

      Water Temp: 73-77

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Friday the 13th with my riends Ron and Dennis. Caught about 15-20 stripers rom 13-14" to 30.5". The big weighed 9 lbs. Ron got that one. I had one that was 7-8 lbs. Fish were all on top and caught with poppers and Bass Assassin baby shad on 3/16 oz. jig heads. Also landed about the same amount o largemouth and a ew smallies.
      City: Concord, CA

      Tips: All the shad the ish were eating were about three inches so match the hatch.

    • By

      Water Temp: 73-77

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Friday the 13th rom about 8:00 am to dark. Caught roughly 15-20 stripers on top with Bass Assasin baby shad on 3/16th oz. jig heads and poppers. Fish were boiling but not real intense. Mostly scattered. Ron caught one that was 30.5" inches long. Weighed just over nine. I had one that was about 6-7 lbs. and lost one about that big. Most were only about 12-14 inches though. The key was to use the trolling motor. Fish stayed around better. Also caught about 12 or so black bass on top waters. Biggest was about 2 lbs. Was a really un day.
      City: Concord, CA

      Tips: Use the trolling motor to approach the ish, match the shad size as close as you can.

    • By

      Water Temp: 73-77

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished with my riends Ron and Dennis and caught 15-20 stripers rom 14" to 30.5". All on top water poppers and Bass Assassin baby shad sot plastics on jig heads. Only two were bigger than 14", the 30.5 was 9 lbs. and I had another that was about 7 lbs. Lost a couple o big ish. Also landed about as many largemouth and smallmouth, all on top water.
      City: Concord, CA

      Tips: The shad being chased are about 2.5-3 inches. Match the hatch.

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

      Report: Where are all the ishing reports???
      City: Redding

Thursday, September 12th, 2002

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Took a client out today or a "teach the lake" trip and while we started out with a bang, it really was slow ater 8 AM until about 1 PM when we got into several nice spots. We started out in the main body with topwater on steep walls. I was throwing a modiied Chug Bug, and my client was throwing a big spook that he brought. They didn't seem to want his spook but they did like my bug. I missed a small one (about 7 AM) and them missed a big one. A minute later a 2 1/2 lb spot ate my Chug Bug. Next was a 2 lb largemouth, ollowed by another spot over the slot. What a start!!! Though he didn't get a topwater ish, I think he knows "where they live" or his upcoming tournament! For the next several hours we worked several areas in the main body and the north ork with not too much success. I did show him a new "trick" but I am not at liberty to mention it on this report. I hope it works or him! We saw plenty o bait and ish but could not get them to go. What we did catch were airly decent. Ater 1 PM we were split-shotting and did get several - mostly over 13 inches. Morning Dawn seeemed to be the best color. We wound up with 10 keeper bass (over 13 inches) and 2 dinks. Probably had about 8 1/2 pounds or the 5 best. I guess you would have to say that it was a good "slow" day!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: I was surprised that drop-shotting and spooning was so slow or us. There was NO jig bite at all. They seem to be eeding on shad. There really arn't many ish on the shoreline which is not surprising since they are dumping the lake. Look or the steepest banks you can ind. Forget shallow points.

Wednesday, September 11th, 2002

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out o Laurentzen's at about 2 pm. Going to spend a quiet aternoon with my son Peter, away rom the TV set and the commercialization o the 9/11 terrorist attacks. We were rewarded with great weather: not too hot, a little breezy; and a pretty good bite. Tide was about 1.7' on the low side when we began. We were working down a big weed edge. Within 10 minutes we started out with a double hook up. An 8.5 lb striper (with DFG Tag) nailed my rattletrap as I pulled it ree o a weed, and Peter got a 3+ Largemouth on a rog. From then on Peter caught about 6 or 7 more rog ish up to about 5 lbs. I missed a bunch on the rog, but got some two pounders on Senkos. Peter inished up with a 6+ LM on a crank. A very satisying evening that we'll remember orever. Its great to have the opportunity. Living in America is such a privilege. A big Thankyou to all Law Enorcement, Fire Fighters and the Armed Forces who work overtime to protect us, and allow us the reedom and the pursuit o happiness we all enjoy in the USA.
      City: Bay Point

      Tips: Stripers are moving in. Go out and have un.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Ater a three week or so absence rom Clear Lake 'cause o some minor surgury, I got to ish it again Tuesday aternoon-night with a really nice ather-son team who had two goals - learn how to rog ish and do some quality night ishing. They had arrived Monday and ished the north end - had a lot o blowups, but no ish. As we started about 4:30 PM, I saw the problem. They were ishing them ar too ast. I gave the college-age son my personal lucky green Snag Proo rog, but he only got two blowups. Early in the trip I was demonstrating my technique o ishing rogs to them and the prop bass - the one that is supposed to bite on "Q" did exactly that. A big slurp and we had a 5-2 in the boat. A our pounder jumped totally out o the water but missed my "new" green rog. Dad was ishing a white rog and missed one and what happened next simply broke my heart. We were ishing near Buckingham - he was ishing the rog very well by now and had a huge bass take the rog (I saw it) and shake it around but he didn't set the hook. He said he didn't eel it and that probably was the case. He learned some painul lessons because he missed another bass around ive pounds. Shortly beore dark we heard a big explosing and one simply swallowed his white rog and that one made it in the boat - a little under our pounds. I think his conidence soared! While the bite wasn't great, my "new" green rog became my "new lucky" rog as a 7 1/2 pounder just sucked it under - no blowup at all. Since I had just caught my all-time "dink" rog ish (1 1/2 lbs) I wasn't sure how big this one was 'til I started grunting! What a hot ish - absolutely terriic battle!! Ater a brie break at dark, we began night ishing near Goose Neck and we started with a double hook-up and got 'em both. What the young man didn't accomplish with a rog, he made up or it with a junebug Dead Ringer worm. He caught 4 bass that weighed a little over 16 pounds. His biggest was just under 5 lbs. I believe he was 4 or 4. Since we were coming o a serious weekend cold ront, the night ishing wasn't real great, but we did catch 7 or 8 on Dead Ringers, 10" black Power worms, and one on a Weapon jig. No big ish that night, but about a 4 1/4 pound average. The trip ended about the way I let Clear Lake three weeks ago - same number o bass - 13, and almost the same weight or the ive biggest - 24 1/4 lbs. The weather was marvelous and so was the company - we were all glad to share a beautiul evening at Clear Lake.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: This was the irst time I can remember 12 and 13 inch bass attacking rogs. It was un to watch. I really didn't notice anything unusual except some the the weed mats in the south end didn't seem as thick. Most o our night ish were caught about 5 to 10 eet o water and were pretty aggressive. They seemed to want the worm moving a little aster than I like, but we went ahead and made them happy - so they would bite!!

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

      Report: going to oroville next week but i notice not many reports are being sent in. can anybody help me.
      City: elk grove

  • Westchester County
    • By

      Water Temp: ?? 65 degrees m

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: ished horseshoe rom 10am to 12pm around the pump near the ramp. tried panther martin, kastmasters, owner cultiva rip n minnow. nothing. saw some 6" baby bass chase them up. this is a good sign. the weather was beautiul. blue skies. very little wind. shorts and t-shirt weather. i'll have to try rainbow lake next time. i'm 0 or 16. 16 trips to quarry and no ish. not even trout.
      City: Fremont

      Tips: not sure... maybe i have to use a boat and a depth inder. or maybe try later in the evening.

    • By

      Water Temp: 70's

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: caught 8 shakers 1 keeper all on hot n tot shad colored,hanging o points in the aternoon,riend o mind caught the keeper her biggest large mouth about 1 1/2 lbs.lost alot o ish on the way to the boat.still a good time.
      City: Oakland

      Tips: start all patterns

Monday, September 9th, 2002

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

      Report: Jerry broke down and elt sorry or me so he decided to take me ishing...haha. We put in at 6:15 am cruised over to clikaputi. caught a couple dinks. Took o to Pit arm caught a hal dozen small spots, ish o the day was all Jerry who stuck a 2 pounder in the boat. Jerry was a great guide, a guy could learn a lot rom him. I really appreciate the ishing trip Jerry, i had a lot o un.
      City: Redding

Sunday, September 8th, 2002

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 67-71

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started at irst light and headed to Franks, ished outside tule with current near drop os using spinnerbait chartreuse/white, only small ish dinks then went to Mildred and ished black/blue Senko's again only dinks. Went to Tunner cut ished white tourney rog lots o blow ups but only hooked 2 2lb bass.Fished the white rog at some other places that had produced a 6.2lb and a 4.3lb but don't know the name o these places to give on my report they are close to the San Joaquin river one is Ward Island unsure o the other. Headed north and ished the rip rap on the San Joaquin with watermelon/red Senko that was the ticket hit 10 bass in no time at all and had an enjoyable day. Caught 19 bass and did manage to catch 6 stripers to 6lbs.
      City: Fairield

      Tips: White rog, Black/Blue Watermelon/Red Senkos Chatreuse/White nickle double willow lea blades. Just keep trying everything in your arsenal.

    • By

      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Started out at irst light. Work a rog, senko and crank bait. First stop did not produce ish at all. Moved on, stop #2, ished rog, senko and crank bait. Finally a keeper on a speed trap. Moved to spot #3, cranked good under water ledge with current, no ish, moved on. On the way to spot #4 I saw a bank I had only ished once this year turned and started with a rog no takers. Went to a senko ished about 20 yards with only one bite, BUT it was a 6lber. The day ended with the best 5
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Fish were scattered, throw what you like and keep trying.