Submit
Report

Northern California Lake Fishing Report

Limit:

Friday, May 30th, 2014

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished for a few hours in the north fork today, left for the docks about 10:30 am. Nice calm day, so when the wind calmed down, tossed senkos and put my Texas rig away. I'm guessing half my fish were on senkos. Managed 21 fish with only 2 at 15", the rest 14 1/2 down to 10". Many more small fish today for some reason. I have been seeing lots of fish fry nearly every place I go.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: If you find fish, then work that area for a while before moving on. Sometimes 3-5 fish can be taken before they really get spooked.

Thursday, May 29th, 2014

  • Tuolumne County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72-75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Tuttletown and went South. No topwater bite to speak of that morning. I was there about a week and a half prior to this trip and there was a decent topwater bite happening but the water was clearer that trip.
      Anyways the fishing has slowed but there is still fish to be caught. They will hit a drop shot but there is manzanita brush everywhere and you will get hung up a lot. I caught about 10-12 fish with a few coming on a drop shot and the rest coming off a jig. I threw the jig mostly since I wasn't getting hung up nearly as much. I also threw crankbaits occasionally without any success. Biggest fish I stuck was about 3.5 lb black off a jig. I was catching fish from 2-20 feet deep.
      Decent fishing but you have to work for them a little.

Tuesday, May 27th, 2014

  • Butte County
    • By

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I did a short trip today, off the water at 10:30 am. First I was amazed at how stained the water was from the holiday boat traffic, dirty like it had rained a good one. Tossed roboworms and got 23 fish total. Another catfish at 6 pounds. I'm guessing they must be in spawn or something, the last 3 trips got a catfish. 1 16" spot, 1 15" spot, one 14 1/2" small mouth with nice bronze like color. Smallest fish a 6" small mouth who thought he was 16". Most fish in 10-25 feet of water, with a couple down at 30 feet.
      City: Magalia

      Tips: Anyone with a boat looking for a fish partner, let me know and lets gets some spotted bass. Email me at Jewelweaver@earthlink.net and lets catch fish. No boat, then lets take my 14 foot Klamath.

Sunday, May 25th, 2014

  • Solano County
    • By

      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: We launched out of B&W at about 5:30 and the wind was already up. We started in the Moke and had a couple swirls at a buzzbait, but no takers. My dad did hook up with small striper. We moved down to old river and found some fish on the main channel that we were able to catch with green pumpkin weightless texas-rigged senkos on the inside of the tules and punching the outside weed lines. We moved further south again with limited success, but the tide was moving out and then slack low tide while we were out. We called it a day around noon.
      City: Elk Grove

      Tips: Weightless texas rigged senkos and punching were the most productive techniques for us, but the closer we got to low tide the tougher the bite became.

    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I have not been to this lake in 14 years, and boy what a shock. Camped for Memorial day weekend and I did not drag my Bass Boat into this hole this time. The water is sooo low. We drove miles on what I used to fish on the lower end , in my Jeep. Took Kyacks this trip. Bass were post spawn and tough the carp were on the bank in droves.

      Tips: No shade, Not alot of people and compared to the past 14 yrs ago this time of year which was 100 fish days. Bass were slow, so we resorted to doing some "bass tackle testing" snagging carp, catch and release of course , what did not break us off. Tip, Do not use a GLoomis 844 GLX for this, took it home in two pieces, but what a blast. Great exercise, fellowship and the Bald Eagles are still there.

Saturday, May 24th, 2014

  • Yuba County
    • By

      Water Temp: 68-70

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Great day fishing wth wife. Warm day with just enough breeze to keep it pleasant. Hardly any boat traffic until about noon. Started fishing about 7:30 and put in a 12 hour day. 85 fish for me with my biggest Spot ever weighing in at 7 pounds. What a beautiful example of a healthy, Bullards Spot. Took me over ten minutes to land her and my legs were shaking when we got her in. Special thanks to my wife with the Boga Grips. She did well herself catching 23 with her biggest spot ever weighing in at a little over 3 pounds.
      City: Reno

      Tips: As always, watching the line was key to picking up the fish as most of he time the bite is so lite with Spots. I was fishing wacky 4" senko style baits. #9 O-ring #2 Owner mosquito hook, with a #7 split shot. 7 pounder was caught around noon in about 12 feet of water. In the evening fish were so shallow they were almost on shore.

  • 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