Submit
Report

Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Thursday, June 26th, 2014

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 76

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Today was windy day, blew a good one and really never let up. Fished with nightcrawlers again and ended up with 35 fish, last fish at the dock. Fish were harder to get today in the wind, bite off, or maybe me?? Two fish just a fraction short of 15", 2 14 1/2" with the rest 10-14". I did get another catfish, smaller, about 2-3 pounds. These cats hit hard when they decide to eat.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Anyone with a boat looking for a fish partner, let me know, lets go get some spots. Email me at Jewelweaver@earthlink.net Then again, no boat, lets take my small boat out.

Monday, June 23rd, 2014

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I just got back from a family reunion at Clear Lake and I did a lot of fishing over 8 days. We went up there on the 14th with the hopes of a hot frog bite, but we quickly learned that the frog bite was basically non-existent as we had 3 hits on frogs all week. We started fishing main lake points and weed flats on the southern shore between Lakeport and Kelseyville and found some nice fish on Blue/Black Senkos fished weightless. We caught 10 fish over the first 2 days and only 1 of them was under 3 lbs with the biggest going 5 1/4 lbs. Later in the week we found males and a few females still locked onto beds and spent a lot of time sight fishing. We caught a good number of fish using white senkos with the biggest one being 5 1/2 lbs.
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: Fishing was slow, but the quality was great. I did see a lot of people fishing outside weedlines and doing well for numbers, but we were catching bigger fish than all of the people we talked to. Focus on those main lake points and flats with senkos and pitch weighted crawdad baits at outside weed lines as this is what we heard was working there. The fish are still up in the shallows and apparently are still spawning so don't forget to check around docks for bedding fish as that can be a lot of fun! Good luck and tight lines!

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Did a live bait trip today, launched at lime Saddle and fished till 10 am in the north fork. Amazing what a small nightcrawler can do. Every single cast had a hit with most a hook up. Guys, there are so many fish around it's crazy. Landed over 50 fish, with 2 15" spots, 2 14" spots, the rest 14" to 8", average about 13" Also got 2 5 pound catfish. Toss a few light carolina rigs with live baits and you'll be amazed at how many fish are in the water.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Live bait catches 10 times as many fish. Try it once and be amazed.

Sunday, June 22nd, 2014

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 69-71

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The wife and I launched out of Oak Bottom at approx 8am. Water was clear and about 12 feet of visibility. Dropped downriggers to 20 and 25 ft just outside the no-wake zone and hit our first Kokanee within 5 minutes. Using a Shasta-Tackle single UV flasher with a little Cleo 18" trailing behind, we hooked 18 kokes but only boated 9 that day. Three times we had double hookups which made for exciting and competitive fun. Surprised we didn't hook any rainbows but with having nice shinny fish pull the lines off the downrigger snaps all day long, who cares? Biggest was only 14" but the bright orange meat was sure tasty!!
      City: Cottonwood

      Tips: Most fish hit between 60-40 feet of water and while bottom was transitioning upward (around submerged knolls. Also use a shad gell on your shinny targets for attractive smell.

      Take a kid fishing! They will never forget the experience!

Saturday, June 21st, 2014

  • Napa County
    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Hot berryessa Saturday night just to check out the night bite. Well given the lack of a moon and any other light source it proved quite challenging to move around from spot to spot but we made due. Fishing was definitely not what I had hoped but we did manage about 15 between the 2 of us. Jigs and drop shot worked for my buddy and jigs and top water for me. The main lake points seemed to hold more fish than any of the bays and I never made it far up the river so not sure how that bite was.

      Tips: Make sure you have a spotlight and plenty of batteries. If you can wait till there is more moon for light the lake is low and there are island tops everywhere and not all are marked

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72-73

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Sugar Barge at 7AM. Ran all over the place but only caught a couple keepers out of the marinas near the mouth of the Moke. Went back down to the break at Franks Tract and starting getting shaker sized stripers. Went through about a dozen of these when I upsized to an S-Waver and whacked a 10lber. Video here: http://youtu.be/bX3PZhUF0jM
      City: San Mateo

      Tips: Not sure what to do when the weather changes. Temps were down from the previous day and it was pretty windy too. Even drop shot was only marginally successful. Water clarity was an issue too. Only Franks had decent stained water. Muddy everywhere else.

Friday, June 20th, 2014

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 76

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We flat killed them from 5:30am until 1pm. Top Water bite with spooks & buzzbaits and crank baits in the morning and football jigs in the later part. Caught over 50 quality fish with biggest around 5lbs. the rest of the fish were all decent quality from 2-4lbs. Awesome and fun day at the lake.

      Tips: Fish were all over.

  • Shasta County
    • By

      Water Temp: 70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: In at Jones Valley at 7:30 am. out at 2:00 pm. Lake level 110' down. The wife and I managed 22 spots to 2.25 lbs. All came on plastics from 20 to 38 feet. Bigger fish seemed to be deeper. Best colors for us was #162 Natural Blue, and #170 Confetti. The Blonde in the back caught the biggest spot on a Carolina Rig. I was throwing darter heads.
      City: Cottonwood

Thursday, June 19th, 2014

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: ??

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the north fork this morning, tossing worms. Lost count of fish at 27, yet fished another 2 hours. Guessing 35-40 fish total. I'll count better next trip. Managed a couple nice ones, one 15" and 3 14 1/2" with the rest ranging from 10-14", most about 13". Most fish in 15-25 feet of water, didn't try fishing deeper. Bite darn near died after 10:30 am, so do your fishing early. My best guess, Lime Saddle will close in about 30 days due to dropping water. It's down to where it begins the turn so another 20 feet or so and it's out of concrete ramp.
      City: Magalia

Saturday, June 14th, 2014

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Well I haven't posted a report in a couple of years, figured I'd give it a shot. Fished amador today from 5:30-3:00with a couple of buddies, caught around 30 fish to 3.5 lbs. Tried some top water early for one 2 pounder. Decided to slow down, so started throwing a nail weighted senko and started ripping into them. A lot if the fish were really yellow with red mouths so i figured they have been feeding heavily on craw dads. Decided to switch it up so put on a 12 inch ribbon tail and started roping em, caught a few 3+ punders. Ended the day with some jig fish and some crank fish. Hadn't bee out there in a bit, Great Lake.

Friday, June 13th, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71-73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched B&W and started at top of the Moke. Pretty breezy and then wind picked up. First sets of tules and rockwall was slow, but managed a few barely keepers. Moved to next sets of tules and rock wall throwing 1/4 oz rat-l-traps in red craw and baby bass and managed a few more 1-lbers. Assumed maybe slow due to full moon prev night??? Wind subsided a bit so moved up to Sycamore and switched to watermelon/red flk senkos, throwing to tule or rockwall bases and working out to weedline. Managed a limit and a couple of 1-2lbers. Ran into a fan boat spraying the vegetation. Anyone know what they were spraying and why? Anyway, headed back toward the slough entrance since we didn't know what/where they had already sprayed. Caught a couple more barely keepers just outside of the slough so worked our way back to Moke. The keepers that hit my senko were aggressive, grabbing it and yanking hard on the fall. Never had that happen on a senko before.
      City: folsom

      Tips: When throwing the lipless 1/4 oz, threw to base of tules and across grass/weed tops...snapping hard our of the grass. Hits weren't necessarily just after the snap but maybe 7-8ft later. For senkos, nothing between the rockwall and weedline. Threw to top outer edge and snapped one time to make it look like it popped out of the weed top and settled on the outside edge. got bit hard on the fall and sometimes on the first pop off the bottom.

Thursday, June 12th, 2014

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out today with James and had a blast catching spots. Lost count, best guess 35-45 fish for us, stopped fishing at 11 am. Most small, with a couple in the 14 1/2" and one right about 15" range on a green 3" wacky senko. Most fish 10-14" or so, didn't actually measure them today, no ruler. Lots of fish less then 10", those tiny dinks that mess with you during the summer. Hooked a small fish, about 8" and on the way up a Big spot (3LB?)was chasing it, turned away when it saw the boat. Great day James, thanks.
      City: Magalia

Wednesday, June 11th, 2014

  • Lake County
    • By

      Water Temp: 78-86

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: This is a fun report to do, but VERY general - because of the important tournament starting today. I hope it will be a good tournament! Why I guide day trips during heat spells is beyond me - but - that's part of the job! Where is the famous Clear Lake wind when you need it!!!! Water was absolutely flat most of the time. Anyway, the bite was slow most of Mon and Tues - but there was some excitement! The great news came yesterday when my Monday client called (Tues) and told me he landed his personal best yesterday - 6 lbs 10 oz - about 4 pm. He caught her on the first rockpile I showed him on Monday. He also caught a 3 1/2 pounder with me - first fish at the first place we stopped! Yesterday I took another client - new to the lake - preparing him for his week at the lake. Bite was simply dead for us, but I thought the teaching was good - LOL! For some reason, I decided to throw a jig again - to see if I could prolong winter!! A nice bass thot so and we netted a 5+ pounder! Then my client lands the token catfish - 8 to 10 lbs, then finally his first CL bass - about 2 lbs. I continued to show him lots of good areas to fish in the coming days. At 1:30 pm - temp pushing 100 degrees - I showed him a popular tournament tourist stop, and we started to fish. I picked up my jig rod with the 10# test Berkely flexline that I had NOT retied after the 5 lber and made a few casts while explaining to him the area we were fishing - along with a few "big bass" stories. Wasn't paying much attention to my jig until something weird was going on. The "rock" was moving, but didn't bite. I set the hook - in case - and the rock really moved! Soon I got a glimpse of the rock - oh my!! I fought the rock for awhile - then handed the rod to the client. "Let's get her" I said. Fun netting your own fish - and it wasn't easy! Again - had to use both hands to get her in - all 9+ pounds of her! After quick photos - we got her back in the water and off she went! I still can't believe that happened. As I told both of my clients - "You just NEVER know" - at Clear Lake!!

      Tips: I won't bore you with anything more. Wonderful clients experiencing a "HOT" bite - and we're not talking fishing action!!

Monday, June 9th, 2014

  • Plumas County
    • By

      Water Temp: 69-74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Wife and I fished Almanor for 2 evenings. First evening the water was calm. Tons a bait in 12 feet of water. Was able to catch them on Craw and Minnow Cranks at first. Once sun down catching fish almost every cast, but most small fish with a 1 to 1. 5 lbers mixed in on jerk bait (don’t ask me why they switched preference). The last 20 minutes of the daylight there was a small Hex Hatch (large yellow May Flies). Fish started to rise. We were able to catch a few on yellow colored topwater baits. I caught a smallie going 3 lbs on the topwater. Shortly after all went dead.

      Next evening, had a pretty good wind. Used dropshot 1 hour before sun down. 4” minnow colored roboworms worked. Found a good school around bait 10’ deep. We caught 2.0, 2.0, 2.3, 2.8, and a 3 lber. What fun! Sun went down and switched to cranks. Caught a couple more 1 lbers. No hatch. Nothing on Topwater.

      Tips: Launched out of Almanor Campground Launch Ramp. Still no dock after 1 year. Sign says work on the ramp would start today (June 10th). I was down there in the morning at 10 am and no one around. Hopefully they start on it soon and get it in.

      Found bait most placed stopped, but not fish. Keep moving until you find the right location with bait and fish.

Sunday, June 8th, 2014

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 75-81

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Best trip of the year, a 8.3 and a 10.2 on the cull em rite. Afternoon, one on a jig and one on top. Ranger took a picture of the 8 and I had to do a selfie on the big girl. Last Sunday I lost another big un at the Boat on a swim bait, could not and did not have the net out.

      Tips: Water is drooping every time I go, Ranger said Only Glory Hole launch will be open soon. Fish are adjacent to deep water, 50 Feet plus with a kick of the tail, and suspended on a "Ledge " or hard structure in 10-15 feet. Use the Shade, it is your friend in the afternoons.

Saturday, June 7th, 2014

  • Amador County
    • By

      Water Temp: 78-82

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: No 22 1/2 lb limit yesterday - but a good limit for a good client and myself. We caught about 13-14 bass total with a 14+ lb limit. This was his first visit to Amador, telling me he was hoping to at least catch a 5 pounder. He basically answered his wish with a nice bass a hair under 5 lbs! Such good guiding - LOL! He caught most of the bass - several in the 2 1/2 to 3 lb range. I had a few great opportunities too. Broke off the first BIG bass I hooked and missed another big one right after dark. The action slowed after midnight and we quit about 1:30 am. No shad showing on the surface and zero topwater bite at dusk.

      Tips: He bought some baits there after we had some good sandwiches! One of them was a black spinnerbait which served him well. Most of his quality bass including the big one were caught on that bait. He fished it very well! The 10" Power worm bite has started - if I could just land them! He did well with them also - black/blue was a good color for us. I even caught one on a jig - just for fun! Most bass were in the 10 to 25 foot range. Only one rude boater this time - cut right in front of us - on plane - as we were heading towards the bank. Oh well.

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Temp: 75-76.2

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went out today in what was going to be record heat for this time of the year with the mercury hitting triple digits. Fished the Middle arm from 6am to 12:30pm with a lot of bites. Caught over 50 fish but all fish small. Largest fish for me today was 1.7lbs. All fish caught on plastic worms in about 10 feet. Nothing came deep for me today.

      Tips: Nothing big but it was a blast fishing. Now is a great time to take a kid fishing and get them hooked on fishing. Good Luck. All bites came on brown worms.

Friday, June 6th, 2014

  • Riverside County
    • By

      Water Temp: 73-75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Got on the water about 6:30 do to the long line at the gate! Had a little morning fog and it was as nice a day as you could get.
      Started off throwing buzz baits, spooks, flukes and jigs but all was slow. Finally started pitching a drop shot(Arons majic/6") in fifteen feet and they started eatin; first one was 4+, 2+, 3+....Moved on down toward the flume and started throwing a 1/2oz NuTech jig in brown/black with a Yamamoto green punking two inch craw and it was on.
      Had twenty over the next couple hours with biggest being about 6lbs. Best five for about 24lbs.

      Tips: Keep moving and pitching the jig to tuly edges and rock points. Slow constant drag seemed to work the best. They will be in the shade of the tulys or in the weeds which there is a ton of. Seemed to be stacked up when we found them!

Thursday, June 5th, 2014

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished today in the north fork till about 10:30 am, stopped due to heat!! Smaller fish today for some reason, managed 38 fish, with one 16" on a senko last thing, 1 15" and 2 other 14 1/2", one 14" smallie, with the rest 10-14". Darn near all banks still holding fish, with points and coves holding many fish. Found one area with extra clear water and full of spawning beds, and fish on the beds, guessing 6-8 beds in 6-8 foot of water. Cool seeing all those moon like craters with fish in the middle. Left those fish alone. Small 3" green senkos the best bait today.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Find bait, or suspended fish and you will catch fish. Small baits best right now, me, no larger the 4.5" or smaller is the trick right now. Fish in 5 feet to 30 feet right now, most in 10-20 feet.

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 71

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went to Disappointment Slough and fished several locations that have been productive in the past. Tried senkos, deep and shallow cranks, spinnerbaits and frogs. Managed a few fish but the action was very slow. Saw a few large cruisers in the shallows but they weren’t interested. The one bright spot was a 5 pounder caught on a frog. I don’t often fish frogs so this one was interesting for me. It wasn’t the typical blow up but the bass just came up underneath and sucked the frog down. It just disappeared so I set the hook and it was off to the races. That made my day. Saw lots of fry in the water, mostly real small but some a bit bigger.
      City: Stockton