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Northern California Lake Fishing Report

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Friday, April 5th, 2002

  • Solano County
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      Water Temp: N/A

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Arrived at lake around 2p.m.Caught ish all aternoon.6"and 4"plastics.Ice blue was the color.All buck bass,right against the bank.
      City: VISALIA

      Tips: CATCH AND RELEASE!BASS ARE STAGING TO SPAWN.

    • By

      Water Temp: 60-65 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Pre-ished or the New-Bass Future Pro. Was throwing Senkos as usual, and was catching bass between 1.5 and 3 pounds. Then caught a nice 4.5 around 9:30. At 12:45, I was ishing in a dead end slough and hooked up on a toad! Ater watching her jump out o the water several times while shaking her head, I netted her mysel since I was ishing alone. She weighed an even 11.0 pounds, my best to date. A Pro rom Lake Mead (Doc Watson) was pre-ishing or a tournament next week (WON Bass I think) and witnessed the catch. He took some pictures or me with my camera. I just wish that I could have caught her tomorrow. Oh well.
      City: Rancho Cordova

      Tips: Can you say Senkos?

    • By

      Water Temp: 59-60

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fun Fished this morning (6:30AM) out o Lundborgs on Bethel Island. Backseater was Dallas Merrick o Hayward (Walton's Pond). With just un ishing in mind, didn't push hard in where we should start, just ished what look good to us. I went 2 or 2 on spots catching ish. Dallas's turn went 1 or 1 in choosing spot(s) har!!!. That spot produced the most ish which was a 100yd bank with close deep water access. The ish were TIGHT to the tules and real inicky in what they wanted, Brown Jig/Zoom Blue Chunk trailer was the key to catching these ish. No Senko Fish were caught, we tried.Out o 8 ish caught up till 12(Noon), 7 were caught on a Brown Jig with 1 coming on, and the biggiest (4 1/2lb),a Spinnerbait by Baits by Boyce. Smalliest ish caught was a 2lb. Best 5, 15lbs/7ish 19-20lb. For a un trip, you couldn't ask or a better day. I think I burned 2-3 gallons o gas all mornin. No wind at all this morning. Good luck to the isherman that go out this weekend.Rich Thiel's Guilding ServiceBanner is on top o this pg.
      City: Castro Valley

      Tips: Fish where there is current and deep water nearby (at least 10t bottom. Stay out instead o tight and pitch, pitch, pitch. The ish are tight and the hit very light but solid. Pay attention in what your doing on each pitch. Fish slow, you don't have to run and gun to get a limit around Franks Track. Pay attention to detail and what your throwin too!!!!.

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Besides having a pretty good trip to Clear Lake last Tuesday with a client, I was VERY EXCITED about something new I saw there this spring - over a hundred young bass that had survived the winter!!!! In the past two trips, we have even caught 3 or 4 twelve inchers. This is great news I think. Under one dock I saw about 12 bass rom 6 to 10 inches - last years spawn - good news! I'm sure that all readers to ncb realize that survival o the young over the winter is one o our serious problems at Clear Lake every year. I also saw several bass in the 8 to 10 pound class crusing around, trying to get warm. I saw one that might go around 12. These were better quality than I saw last spring. Another good sign. Please let them spawn!!On Tuesday, we ished mostly #221 5 inch Senkos and caught 9 bass up to 6 1/4 lbs - not a great trip but better than the 5 pounders in previous trips. Wow! - talk about spooky!! The big bass would come up to our baits - look at them - and run away. It was ALMOST unny. I said - almost!! We did see a ew pairs locked on nests, but mostly crusiers. Last year the mood o the ish, a least or my boat, was see the bait and eat it. Not this year - so ar. Like the previous report said - this water is CLEAR!! Be prepared or lots o weed and slime on your baits - the beneit o clear water. Night ishing has been very slow this year so ar, and it is hard to igure out why. This next month will be interesting. Bass are continuing to hit jigs day and night, and also the Power Tube is working.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: It might be necessary to use smaller baits i the water remains clear - but that may change. Sometimes with very warm weather, Clear Lake will gain some color rather quickly. Since the lake is higher than last year - you may have to look urther back in to the tules to ind the bass. I have been drop-shotting a ew bass or the irst time at Clear Lake lately - that is a irst or me!! I have been using a 3 inch pumpkin Senko.

  • Sacramento County
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      Water Temp: 57-60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started about 8am, Fished up the south a ew coves. Took an hour or so to get on some ish. Once there, ished dirent areas all in the same cove. Rocks, gravel, trees, short green weeds on shorelines, etc. Caught a ew ish everywhere but not a lot anywhere. Caught ish rom 2 to 18 t. Saw several beds on shallow points near backs o coves. (mostly small ish) ound one with a pair o 31/2 pounders "locked on". The male Came in three casts and my buddy had the hen beore I could release My ish. Don't get the opportunity to sight ish Folsom Too oten, sure was un. The bed was in about 5 t. o water and as quickly as the lake has been rising it couldn't have been there long. Anyone who thinks the spawn hasn't started at Folsom yet, SURPRISE! My buddys 9yr. old son had big ish or the day at 41/2 lbs. Ever see a kid smile or 4 straight hours? The only time he stopped was to break his athers eggs.Anyhow, not a bad day. 21/2 guys, 5 hrs, 30 ish.
      City: Lotus

      Tips: All ish caught on 4" worms or 3" grubs. All colors caught ish but more natural colors seemed to work best. Bed ish hit WHITE grubs.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My buddy Stan and I caught 17 bass in two hours ishing the trees rom the shore at browns ravine. caught all o them on cotton candy lizards. All were spots nothing big the largest going maybe two and a hal pounds. We had a blast, could only imagine what you could do in a boat and the whole lake to ish.
      City: El Dorado Hills

    • By

      Water Temp: cold

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: bad day to ish only day all week with no sun managed to catch 2 spots around trees.had lunch at averys pond and caught 6 small(10-14 inch) bass with worms tossed along shore
      City: citrus heights

      Tips: lake should get better i water warms like the pond

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

      Report: GONNA BE HITTING THE LAKE TOMORROW, ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR LOCATIONS FOR BIG FISH? PLEASE HELP, NEVER FISHED FROM A BOAT ON THIS LAKE! TAKING OUT THE BOAT TOMORROW, DON'T KNOW WHERE TO GO. HELP???
      City: MODESTO

  • Riverside County
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      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: got to the lake at 12:00 p.m. cause the weather was horrible. started ishing with the cloud cover, that soon let way to sunshine at about 3:00 when i caught my second bass o the day. ater this ish was caught i ripped another lip on a bass on the next cast, the bass where just going crazy there where about 10 people around and everyone was slamming bass. bite melowed out about 4:00 - 4:30 p.m.i cant give a exact total on how many bass i caught cause i lost count. IT WAS A BLAST TODAY. :)
      City: Moreno Valley

      Tips: i was ishing in the marina rom shore with a 4&1/2 weenie in a bun.(plastic worm) get ready all the bass are going to be in ull swing inishing up spawning, so i your going to get out and the weather stays nice then saturaday is a ull moon and the bassin is going to be awesome.

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

      Report: Ya gotta love spring!I caught 25 or so o o willows today.
      City: Redding

      Tips: Finesse worms rigged wacky no weight.

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: ?????

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went to the second pond today and ound a ton o bluegill and some nice sized bass. we ound them along the back bank, The blue gill hit almost anything but especially a tricospinner(ly ishing), Saw a ew bass on beds, should be great ishing in a couple o weeks, i ya go, make sure to travel lite two poles the steep banks make it hard to walk with a ton o gear.
      City: redding

      Tips: Slow, look or weed beds or bluegill and bass will be near by, use sot plastucs in pumpkin and june bug loating they like a slow all. good luck, and bent poles.

Thursday, April 4th, 2002

  • Sacramento County
    • By

      Water Temp: 53-61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Folsom or the last 2 days. Cold ront pushing in and cliuds all morning. The clouds didn't slow the bite at all. I was on ish right away in the north and south orks. I was ishing 2-15 eet o water, throwing white spinnerbait with white blades(Lim-It Lures). Rocks and willows are a must or there will be no ish. Fish were all spots and smallies to 3 pounds. Threw some super lukes and got bit as well. total or the two days was 20 ish.(Fishing 7:30 to 12)
      City: Folsom

      Tips: let your spinner bait lutter down about halway back to the boat, ish will hit it on the lutter down. Use trailer hooks on your spinnerbaits because a lot o the bites are short. Bass are holding tight to cover and should be bedding soon.

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

      Report: Took my 6 yr. old grand son.Started just so. o the ramp.I had tied on senko's or him & his dad.For the irst hr. i threw crank baits,spinter baits & jerk baits...Nothing,they were catching ish.My grand son caught 3 up tp 15 1/4 in & he lost one that he thought was a lake record.Broke o on 8 lb test line.Had a weak spot in the line rom casting on the bank & dragging it into the water...We caught app 30 bass rom 6:30 am to 12:30 pm...All but 3 were caught on senko's,got 3 on a keeper 1038.Most o the ish were rom 13 1/2 in to 16 1/2.Caught shallow & on Watermelon & green with red lake.
      City: Riv

  • Shasta County
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      Water Temp: 60-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched Packers Bay at irst light.lots o boat traic caught 4 real nice spot on secondary points in packers on lucky crat pointer minnow in tenn. shad. caught 3 more keepers on watermelon hula grubs in 20-25t. o water. went to west side o ski island were Ipicked up a 3.5 on tenn. shad went to sqauw and picked up two more rip ish, then bite went dead, zero, nothing. went up pit and saw lots o carp. site ished with a luke, caught dinks. hope to get spinnerbait to work with no results.
      City: Corning

      Tips: rip bite occurres very early.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: As someone who has ished 44 o my 49 years I have to agree that bed ishing should not be allowed or should be limited to catch and release on the spot. Once a spawning emale is pulled o the bed you can kiss that bed goodbye the eggs or ry are IMMEDIATELY eaten. I have ished Shasta or about 8 years now and as the number o tourneys have increased the quality and quantity o ish has declined. One more thing i the people ishing the tourneys do not do something about their rude, arrogant, and inconsiderate actions I will join up with the anti-tourney crowd.
      City: Red Blu

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

      Report: Got up to the lake at about 3:30 this aternoon. got a ew bites but couldn't hook anything or the irst couple hours. then i switched to a 4" watermelon/red lake worm carolina rigged. Ater two casts, had a nice 4.2 largemouth hammer it on the descent in a secondary cove. Ater i took it o the scale and put it back, i rerigged, and had another big male hit it in almost the exact same spot. this one was 3.73 but deinately had some ight in him. I had to leave right ater that, but in all it was a pretty good trip to the lake. very ew boaters, and there was little to no wind which i had yet to experience here.
      City: Rohnert Park

      Tips: try carolina rigged plastics. watermelon/red lake worked or me, but i am sure other colors would work. both were caught in about 15'. keep o the bedding ish!

Wednesday, April 3rd, 2002

  • Solano County
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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Ladd's at 1 p.m. and the wind was really blowing. Headed over to Old River and tried to ind some relie rom the wind in some protected areas but it didn't happen. Tried lipping a brush hog or a while, I managed to boat three in the 2 lb. range, but the wind made it to diicult to hold the boat so I gave that up. Switched over to a white spinner bait and let the wind blow me down the weed lines while I tossed into the gaps. This turned out to be the best move I made. In the next 2 hrs. I boated a 3.3, 3.5, 4.1, 4.5, 6.2 and a 7.8 kicker. I sure hoped it was going to continue but in the next hour and a hal I didn't get another hit. The wind got the best o me by then so I headed in. Best 5 went 26.1 lbs.. My personal best.
      City: Stockton

    • By

      Water Temp: 55-60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished big and lil break monday only got six ish one about three pounds rest two.All ish were got on trap ire tigerwould catch emale than male right ater on all six ish.I ished low tide pretty much all day until 4:00 the water started to rip got some strikes on way in but had to go .I anyone has ino on Pittsburg areas to bass out o Pitt,marina please let me no thanx.
      City: pittsburg

      Tips: All ish seemed to be shallow 5 to 6t,traps

  • Lake County
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      Water Temp: 58 - 62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Its Easter break my son and a teenage riend and I head to Clear Lake or a ather/son getaway. For a change the weather was great and the ishing was as good. We ound loads o ish on beds in the North end. I have never seen the water at "Clear Lake" so clear. With a good pair o polarized glasses you can see the bottom in 11+ t o water around Nice & Lucerne. Needless to say the ish are skittish! Ater catching bed ish we ound dirtier water elsewhere and also caught nice sized ish on Senkos and split shot. Also saw some large Crappie on beds. Should be a great Spring at Clear Lake.
      City: Castro Valley

      Tips: Have a good supply o whatever you use or bed ishing. Remember catch and release!

  • Yuba County
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      Water Temp: 65-70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The Males are up on the beds just waiting or the better hal. These Girls are HUGE! Now is the time to break the lake record Largemouth. You have to be there though to stake out a good ish. East side o the lake. Good Luck
      City: Sacramento

      Tips: Be patient and hold as still as possible. Just watch these beauties or a while.Its amazing what can be seen. Oh yeah, Bring a good pair o polarized sunglasses.