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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Saturday, May 24th, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched 615am at B&W and decided to try something different than we usually start (Moke) so we turned right and headed to SJR / Frank's Tract. Wind was whippin' pretty good on the open river so once we got to a rock wall (sorry, I'm not good with all the names of the rivermarks) just northeast of Frank's, we just drifted with the wind throwing lipless cranks in red craw. picked up many shaker stripers and a few almost keeper bass. decided to make our way to Little Connection/H&H for a bio break. Then went through Tower and back to our fav - Moke tules/rockwalls. There we hit more shakers and one nice 24" striper and some 1-2lber bass... mainly on lipless cranks but a few on wacky senkos in watermelon/red flk. Wind calmed down so we moved to Sycamore. There the bite was good for senkos while my buddy continued hookin up with small cranks...I mean small... like small rapalas used for trout. he also caught about 5 using a small curly tailed roboworm in shad pattern (he likes downsizing and using light tackle) Decided to work the crankin' again and we were getting bit as we ran them over weed beds...you could see 2-3 come out of the weedbed to chase the crank and one would take it. none were very big, maybe 1-2lbs max. stayed the rest of the day there til around 2pm and called it a day. high numbers of hits but nothing real big.... but just big fun.
      City: folsom

      Tips: ran our cranks diagonal and throwing straight to the tule edges, usually getting hit within 2-3 cranks or else as it strafed the tops of the weeds. some hits right at the boat, both striper and blacks. threw my wacky senko right at the tules and as I dragged over weeds, would either hit or just load up. not sure if we're even close to the right pattern for this time but seemed to work for us...mainly because we like crankin' and when that don't work, we throw senkos or downsizing to small curl tail roboworms.
      Worked for us this time around.

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66-70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I think I was reminded of what post-spawn is about - at least on Wed. I took 2 fellows out - showing them how to fish the lake and - unfortunately - how slow the bite can be. What a difference in 4 days - big weed growth and ugly looking water - big algae bloom. Not sure if that shut the bite down - but something did! Two smaller bass only, 1 1/2 and 2 1/4 pounders, caught on Yamamoto Flappin' hogs. They wanted to start at 7:30 am, earlier might have been better.

      Tips: Things will be up and down for the next week or two. Post spawn bite should get going about the first or second week of June. Should be a weedy summer.

Friday, May 23rd, 2014

  • Alameda County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: On the water by 7. Tough bite as always. Caught one LMB on Sammy (bluegill pattern). Caught my first smallmouth ever on a bluegill patterned jerkbait. Through everything else in the boat at em but no luck (chatter bait, rattle bait, shallow cranks, even drop shot). Video here:
      http://youtu.be/lFrGQozVqBE
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: I've always headed north from the ramp but caught the smallie on the west shore *south* of the ramp. Lot of tules and laydowns. Will explore further next time.

Thursday, May 22nd, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I launched out of B&W at about 5:30 and headed to Little Mandeville Island. I picked up 1 but that went a little over 3#, but it seems that the action there has died out. I moved further south and keyed on sparse tules in about 5-10 feet of water with open water behind them and picked up another that was a little under 4#. The action was slow until the tide turned at 2:00 and started heading back out. Once the current started moving out the bite turned on quick and the frog was lights out. I caught 4 fish in 6 hours on the incoming tide and I caught 4 fish in 2 hours on the outgoing tide. The frog bite was in open water near weed mats and tules, but no action on top of the mats. All-in-all it was a great day with 11 fish and many more opportunities missed. My best 5 went about 14 lbs.
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: The fish seemed to be shut down (or at least I couldn't locate them) during the incoming tide. I keyed on sparse tules that were near deeper water during that time with some good quality bites on a weightless texas-rigged senko, but there were just not many of them. The frog bite seemed to be from male fry guarders and they were very aggressive on the outgoing tide.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: forgot to look

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Lime saddle and went strait to north fork to fish. Slower day, ended up with 18 spots, 2 16", 2 15", 1 14 1/2" with the rest 10-14". Fish not where they used to be, so moved on to other locations. Fish are a tad deeper, 15-25 feet for most. Roboworms in dark colors worked well today, brown shades my favorite. Not a single bite after 10am, fished till 10:30 and then gave up and called it a day. Besides it was getting HOT on the water.
      City: Magalia

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Caught several nice largemouths in the Delta east of the SJ River. The largest was 4 lbs. Tried a variety of baits but the only ones working consistently for me were senkos and spinnerbaits. I didn't launch until about 8:30 and the action was very good until about noon, which was high tide. The wind started getting a little stonger then and the action really cooled down after that.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: The senkos needed to be watermelon with red flakes. I tried several other colors without much success.

Tuesday, May 20th, 2014

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished a half day today, launched at Lime saddle, off the lake about noon. Bite has slowed down a tad, all fish caught today have spawned and are thin now, no fat bellies. the males all have tails frayed a tad and side of face scrapped from bed making. Managed 26 fish today, 3 right at 15" all the rest 14 1/2 to 12". More smaller fish caught today then last trip. Also got a 9 pound catfish, that had me thinking I had a giant spot hog, only to be a catfish. Darn thing took about 15 minutes to land. Most colors worked today, I still like the brown shades, anything with brown works for me. Morning dawn worked well after 10 am.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Got me a little 14 ft Klamath, will be going out more from now on. Still, anyone with a boat looking for a fish partner, let me know, lets go catch some spots. Email me at Jewelweaver@earthlink.net Guess, if you want to fish with me, let me know, got a spare seat for you.

Saturday, May 17th, 2014

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: We hit the water on Saturday for our second trip to Berryessa. We started in Ski Club cove and my nephew hooked up pretty quick with a small spot. About 6:30 I caught the big fish of the day, a 4 lber, on a black and red buzzbait. My dad caught a dink on a spook and that was the end of the topwater bite for us. We picked up a few more dinks back in the narrows on shakey heads and then moved out to the vineyards around 11:00. The bite was slow, but we caught 4 fish between 2 1/2 and 3 lbs on green pumpkin senkos with split shot weights about 2 1/2 feet above the hook (lazy man's carolina rig!).All in all it was a fun day and my best 5 (which is all the fish I caught that day) went about 12 1/2 lbs.
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: Not sure I can give many tips as we really didn't get into them too well and I'm still learning the lake. I think you can catch fish on whatever you have confidence it at this lake so just go out there and chuck and wind and have fun!

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Sorry - I meant to say that some of the rockpiles WERN'T very deep!

    • By

      Water Temp: 66-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I took a father/son team to the lake Friday - and found the fishing to be good if size didn't matter! The son started the trip off (about 7:30 am) with a nice 3 1/2 lb spotted bass - but it was downhill from there. After the morning breeze stopped, the lake went absolutely flat, with bright sun. They still caught a few keepers, but just tons of dinks - which means the spawn is probably over. Had a tough time getting the boat out at the dam with the Friday crowd coming in the afternoon.

      Tips: We covered most of the lake as they wanted to learn how and where to fish in the summer. Small Berkely Havoc baits worked well along with the small brush hogs and 5" Senkos. I made a few casts with a swimbait and did get a good bass to hit it 3 times - but no hookup. Probably about 50 feet! Most bass were hitting in about 20 to 40 feet of water. Beware! There are numerous rockpiles that are now very deep - maybe 6 to 8 feet. I'm not sure they are all marked.

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at 6 out of River's End and it was already windy. Fished east facing walls throughout the day to stay out of the wind. Picked up a 3 3/4 pounder on top water within the first hour. Couple more like that but no more after 9AM. Caught em here and there on drop shot for the rest of the day. Through frogs, cranks, jerkbaits and punched but no takers.
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: Drop shot is always my go-to technique when things get tough. I like some flash when the water is stained so typically something with chartreuse.

Friday, May 16th, 2014

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70 TO 74

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out late afternoon on Friday with Bob. He wanted to try out the rod and reel that he had picked up at a garage sale. He used a lipless crankbait with a feather tail for his first cast and he got smacked hard and thought he was stuck. I told him to keep reeling and he was having a hard time so I helped reel it in. It turned out to be a nice size pike (see photo). His next catch was a nice bass and he was happy with his new rod and reel. Saturday I went out on my own and it was a little windy so I headed out to the back of the Monticello Ski School where I hoped I would be sheltered from the wind. I spent most of the day there and caught a total of 28 fish of which only 8 were keeper size. I really enjoyed myself even though I didn't catch any real size bass. I'm looking forward to Memorial Day Weekend. 'til next week.................................................................................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: PRO CURE SCENTS,BRASS AND GLASS ,AND MY HOBIE POLORIZE SUNGLASSES MADE IT EASIER TO CATCH FISH

  • Santa Clara County
    • By

      Water Temp: 65-70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: went out at 8:00 am through swimbait with flasher hook in to a 3.13 in Cherie cove went a lithe farther tossed a carlonia lizard boom a 5.3 pig
      remainder of the day with lizard end up with 8 more fish 2 to 3 pound range
      City: Saratoga

      Tips: toss swim baits or small plactic baits up close to shorework back slow

      tight lines

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: Didn't look!!

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Lime Saddle at 6 am, fished till 10:30 am. Went to north fork and managed just 29 fish, 3 right at 15", the rest ranging from 14 1/2" to 4", yep, got me a 4" small mouth that thought he was a 20" fish. The bait was bigger then the fish!! Water dropping now, down about 5 feet from our high a few weeks ago. Get ready, water will be a record low this year. I found an area full of small small mouth, most 10-13", ended up catch 6 or so in one location. They all thought they were big :>) Most fish from 5 to 30 feet deep.
      City: Magalia

Wednesday, May 14th, 2014

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 66-71

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Just a quick report - Mike and I did the lake from 5 pm to a little after midnight. The lake was flat calm - what a concept!!! We worked the east and west shore of the Clearlake arm and found the fishing excellent for medium size bass. Mike got the catfish award this time - about 15 lbs. He also got the big bass award at 6.91 lbs, just before we quit. It was the night of the 4 1/2's - about 7 or 8 bass in that approx. 4 1/2 lb range. Not bad. Two of mine were just under 5 lbs, but Mike's big one was the only over 5 lbs. Action was spotty but consistant the whole trip. Fish were from 3-4 feet down to 20 already. Tule banks with rock were good last night. We did manage a nice post-spawn limit of 26 lbs with around 25 nice bass and a few dinks.

      Tips: My, how the lake can change in 4 days - besides the flat water. Weed growth has been amazing with the warm days and some area with nasty looking floating stuff. That will change when the wind returns this weekend. The jig bite continues to be good for us, as well as the Senko bite before dark. A variety of Berkley Havoc baits were good too - black/blue. Mike and I were amazed at some of the savage hits we had after dark. Wow!! We were setting in self-defense! Not sure why that was unless the warm spell and post spawn hunger pangs fired 'em up.

Tuesday, May 13th, 2014

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 64

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished a half day today by my self, off the lake at noon. Launched at lime Saddle and boy was it windy the first couple hours. Fished points on the way to the North fork, picking up 6-7 fish, no large one. Fished the east side of north fork trying to get a buffer from the wind. Not as many suspended fish today for some reason, and fish tended to be smaller, not sure why. Managed a total of 37 spots on robo worms, fished in 5 to 30 feet of water. Only 2 15", 3 14 1/2", with the rest 12-14". Curly tail worked great today, think the tail action gets fish attention. Dark colors early, lighter as the sun got higher. Today a mix of Texas rigs and Carolina worked well. Saw a couple deer crossing the west fork, amazing how well they swim.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Try working the east side of north fork, where the west fork meets, going south towards the damn, lots of fish in that area. Coves and points holding lots of fish. Find unusual structure and you will find fish.

Saturday, May 10th, 2014

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62-66

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I just looked at the wind speeds at Clear Lake for today (Sat). What a year for wind - maybe the worst I can remember at Clear Lake. I had a very good angler/client Thursday afternoon/night, and we were supposed to repeat on Friday. We started Friday about2:30 pm and lasted 'til about 7 pm. The lake was just like an ocean - went in for safety's sake! One 5 pounder and a dink - no post-front bite at all!. Thursday, in clouds and light rain, the bass (and catfish) were on the bite. My client and I were catching 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pl bass, then they got bigger. After he landed one near 5 lbs, I got the "crunch" bite - and it was a good one. She went 9 lbs even - my first 9 of the year and 2nd 9 in the boat! After releasing the fish, he sticks another big one, but comes off in a few seconds. This was all around 7:30 pm. After dark the bite was fair but fishing was difficult as the wind was swirling. A bit north of Frazier Point, I got this huge hit in about 2 feet of water. I was very excited for about 30 seconds, and then - "Oh No!!" The 15 minute battle was on - and I won - I guess one can say that. Finally in the net, a near 24 lb channel catfish. At least this one didn't break my line - Berkley 12 lb fluorocarbon. She hit a jig! We quit about 1 am with a 28 lb limit of bass and a 24 lb one fish limit of catfish, LOL!!!

      Tips: There isn't really much to say as this venture to Clear Lake was not typical! I am very happy to personally see several 8's and two 9's in my boat. Quality has been excellent in the south end this year, as CLum just mentioned in his previous post. I am just so disturbed about all the tournament fish going not only to the casino, but now all the way to Nice. With the very low water levels that are ahead of us, and the possible low oxygen levels this summer, I hope their survival rate is ok. Some of you younger anglers better hope it is! The future is yours!!

Thursday, May 8th, 2014

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Looking back on the trip, about half the fish we caught were spawned out & half were still carrying eggs so it appears that there's a gap with pre spawn & post spawn. It was nice to see such a strong reaction bite, when they hit, they usually crushed the tackle! The fish all seemed healthy with good color & deep red gills. They fought like the dickens & I hope the bite keeps on going! If you can get to Clear Lake, do it! So far it's been one heck of a season! (Best one I've seen so far!)

    • By

      Water Temp: 61.2-63.0

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Pretty much the same as last night, we started earlier at 7:00pm got to fish Wheeler Point & picked up a nice 7.9 on a jig. After 30 minutes, the wind really picked up so we headed back to Frazier Point & Konocti. We caught a few more jig & managed one Carolina rig fish on a 10" red shad power worm. The rest came on reaction with the big 6th Sense & blades. Our best five went 7.9, 5.13, 5.9, 5.2, 4.10 for a best limit of 28.11. Not bad when you consider the wind really limited the spots we could fish!

      Tips: They were deeper tonight, in the 15-25ft range, all relating to rock structure. Made it out to dollar island but got blanked out there. Colors were Brown's again with some red thrown in. This trip was about wind. We used bigger & heavier baits just to get to the bottom structure & also not having our casts blown back in our face. We wore our vests 100% of the time& took no unnecessary chances. We fished rather slow presentations & the strikes were hard. This lake is one of my favorites, the bites still good so have fun & stay safe! Also, they were stacked so if you get bit, throw back to the spot, you might get hit again!

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Dana and I gave it a try today for a half day in the north fork. We managed 55 fish today. A mix of spots, smallie, and one 5-6 pound catfish. We only got a couple keepers, 15" plus fish, with the bulk 13-14 1/2", along with 4-5 fish less then 12". Windy, great for spot fishing. We also picked upa few spots suspended at 10-15 feet in 100 foot of water. Don't overlook the suspended fish, they can be caught. Bite is wide open right now.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: If you find suspended fish along the banks, then fish the bottom in that area, you'll get spots if you do. As always, if you own a boat and want a fish partner, let me know, lets go catch spots. Email me at Jewelweaver@earthlink.net