Fishing Report

Limit:

Wednesday, October 31st, 2001

  • Santa Barbara County, California
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      Water Temp: Not bad

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: What do you Know? I got out on Sunday... YAHOO! "the 28" I was irst down the lake to try out my topwater bite. I ished about 10 minutes when I heard a noise over my shoulder and turned to see that a branch had snagged a rod and as I moved along it was pulling it out o the passenger area. You know that o course the reel handle had snagged a multitude o other rods and now 6 or 7 rods where getting ready to plop in the lake in the next second . Splash went the rods and without any hesitation with my rod still in my hand.....Mannn over Boarddd! I hit the water like the lame duck that I am but, I did garner all o the 3000.00 dollars or so worth o rods and reels and get them back in the boat. I wish I didn't keep the darn thing so highly polished that darn wax makes getting back in across that telon/carnuba surace more than a little tricky. So I swam to the outboard and climbed up/in and pulled o my down jacket"as it was cool that morning" and shucked my clothes and wrung them out as best I could. But the sneakers and the jeans were very cold when I put them back on.Actually the water was warm relative to the water temp. About this point I lapsed into my Chumash Indian trick o shivering and shaking.Well the only dry thing I had in the boat was a pair o skimpy shorts or the summer thing and while there was a dry coat in my truck the thought o driving back to the marina made big jim and the twins wince and get even smaller so ...I decided that I I pulled out to where the sun was trying to shine through the little bit o mist that there was and i no wind came up I would be OKAY. Daunted but not out o the game, I ired up the main motor and idled out and I igured that I could throw crankbaits to keep warm until I was a little less rozen. Nothing or 2 hours and I was just getting a little more daunted when I got the irst ish o the day ...at least 5lbs. and then a 4 and then a 21/2lb. smallie all in about 5 minutes! Now I'm eeling a little better"THANK GOD FOR WOOL" and I ended up with 3 smallmouth and 8 largemouth and got the heck o the water by 11:30.I would like to take this time to make a statement: Ater last week's post I recieved a phone call rom my mentor..."WE ALL HAVE THEM!" and he expessed his concern over my last message " I didn't know the old CogKnocker had a computer, much less the ability to access ino on it. In a nutshell he expressed concern over the act that I had actually mentioned WHERE SPECFICALLY I had been ishing the week beore and pointed out that the weights or Saturday where hal what Sundays where. I don't think I have that big o crowd reading these posts but NCBF.Com has in act had about a million hits now and well GEE GUYZ! I could barely get in past the gate into the lake last week or all o the tourney"s and I did in act, not see one single post rom all o that activity. Including any posts rom the people I had advanced inormation to....It's unney but I keep tabs on Clearlake and while everyone complains about all the ishing pressure on that lake very ew people with the exception o Larry Hemphill keep you guys posted on recent developements....WHATS UP WITH THAT ?????? So in light o a request o a personel nature. I will no longer be as speciic with my inormation or advise to all you bassmasters out there. I will strike you a deal. I you e-mail me...I'll e-mail you....Until I see a change in everybody else I can't really be doing all the work....it's a shame because I really love this lake and ater 20+ years on it I have alot to share and learn but.....I have been asked and I will comply with my mentor's wishes to spill less in the way o beans to any and all.
      City: Santa Barbara

      Tips: Keep slugging it out and perseverance will pay o on whatever you have conidence in and i not then at least you were'nt at work.

  • Butte County, California
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      Water Temp: 65degrees

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fish the Bidwell area north wind most o morning dropshot in 40 eet o water,temp 65 dgrees ish power bait on 6lb test number 2 hook caught one keeper over 15 inches then ish shut o about 11 am caught a dink while cranking the largest lake in the lake to take the small bass ater several trys the ish settled or some surace minows I switch to a silver grub several cast in his area no luck, I have ished the lake since the dam was constructed this was the largest ish I have ever seen,not carp but one hell o salmon or lake trout how some sees this ish and gets a picture went on to catch a ew more spots .Have Fun
      City: chico

      Tips: Dont ish the ull moon also had my best luck on bubble gum worms with green tail shorten to three inchs 6lb test ans 1/2 oz sinker drop shotting ,have a good one

  • Shasta County, California
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      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Yeeha- Launched at Jones Valley 6:30am. Worked on the Pit or about a hour with nothing much going on. About 8:00 threw out a spook and got hit hard. 1.7 spot. My buddy threw out away rom the bank and was hit also. We continued ishing this same area or 2 hrs with spooks and caught 12 or 15 Shasta clones. No dinks, but nothing over 2 lbs. We moved o or 3hrs, drop shot and texas ishing with a couple 13" ers and some dinks. About 1:00 went back to the irst site and started thorwing the spooks again. Caugt another 12 to 15. what a blast! They were right out in the middle in 70+ t.
      City: Red Blu

      Tips: Look or the bait ish and don't discount throwing top water baits at anytime or anywhere.

Monday, October 29th, 2001

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Temp: unknown

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Disco Bay all day driting minnows. Caught and released ive stripers 3 or 4 pounds each, and 1 black bass about 6 lbs. Lots o bites without hookups. Used up two dozen minnows and it was time to go home. No real big ish, but it was a beautiul day. I'm sure bigger ish will be moving in soon..... Randy
      City: Sunnyvale

      Tips: This will be my third year ishing Disco Bay. It seems like the best ishing is November and December or the stripers. There is good success driting minnows, but they are very expensive. Any other good working techniques that someone else would like to share ?????... Randy

  • Sacramento County, California
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      Water Temp: lower

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Out here again- this time with my buddy Swimbait. Didn't provide him with much opportunity to practice his big ish crat. We experienced starter ailure ater our initial run to the rock planters. We were stuck on the trolling motor, and we might have squeaked out a 6lb limit- didn't measure the snakes we caught dragging inesse worms. Spooked one also, and Swimbait missed a quality ish on a spook. Most o the snakes we dragged were located in the mouth o creek channels between 25 and 35 t. Alot o these ish had some kind o ungus on thier heads and in thier mouths. Without the ability to run we were suprised by a couple we dragged on shallow lats moving to the next creek channel. They were healthy and those ish hit in less than 10 eet o water in what seemed like eatureless areas.
      City: El Dorado Hills

      Tips: Last couple experiences where I committed to inesse techniques both here and Berryessa the result was the same: smaller ish. I've caught my share o quality ish on sissy baits, but i you can get on the ish with any kind o power ishing technique, you will catch larger ish.

  • Washoe County, California
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      Water Temp: ???????

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Did real good Friday 10/26/01at the Dam/4:00 P.M. jiging o the bottom in 95 eet with silver Jigs, however, bigest ish was mabey 3 pounds. Olin Rushin
      City: Canyon Country, Ca

Sunday, October 28th, 2001

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Got out late(noon) out o B&W,headed down river and ished tules and riprap all the way to Pirate's Lair.Picked up 4 at ish with the best ones going 2.5 and 3.5 lbs.Got 'em on Senkos,brush hogs and one on a crank.Saw tourney guys get 'em on chart. blades.Key seemed to be moving water near tules or weeds.Awesome aternoon on the water!!Got home in time to see some o the Dbacks whoopin' on dem Yankees.Wish it was SF in the series though.
      City: Napa

    • By

      Water Temp: 62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: My brother and I ished our irst Walton's Pond tourney out o Del's. Our next irst was catching ish on Senkos. We tossed them in the weeds at low tide and used this pattern to boat 6 solid keepers to 3 pounds. We ound a decent crank bite on both tidal movements with the outgoing being a bit better or us. Thanks to Jon Walton or running such a riendly operation.
      City: Belmont

      Tips: I know there is some way to catch bass on Senkos in tules, we just haven't igured it out yet.

    • By

      Water Temp: 62-64

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the Walton's Pond Tourn with my 9 year old son Nicholas. It was his very irst toun. and he was so excited that he was up at 2:00am.Rod and reel and ready to go.Threw blades around Cooney Is. and hooked a alot o small ish and 1 keeper. Bad low tide, that went way out and had to ind deep tules and lipped Senko's. Caught 3 more keepers. Did weigh in, because we didn't have a limit. Great job John with 24 lbs and Thanks or everything....My Son had un...
      City: remont

      Tips: At low tide, ish the out edge weedlines w/jigs and don't give up...They are there...

    • By

      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the North-West end or the irst time on shore. Nice spots out there to watch the sunset. Started throwing grubs on darters, shad plastics, and one texas senko. One nibble on the shad. Ended up throwing the spook and my new tournament rom just or the u** o it. Lots o bass boats and tubers out there...must mean Sonoma sucks worse than usual. Chatted with a ellow isherman who said to throw live mice! WTF! I've never heard o this...strange. Anyhow, my new reel shit out, and lost my leatherman...but ound it agian. I think I'm getting rusterated...almost threw the rod in the damn lake! HAHA! Oh well, will be praying or better luck next time.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Got me...hell try live mice or all I know! LOL!

  • Amador County, California
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      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Plants Spur actionThe irst Trout plant o the all has arrived! A quadruple load o 4,800 pounds was split between the South Pond, South launch ramp and North launch ramp. As always, 90% o the ish are at least one pound each and 10% o the load weigh 3 pounds each or better.Based on a small sample, the best action or trollers has been an East -West line rom the North camper's cove entrance down to the dam. Nightcrawlers ished on a Wedding ring or white or chartreuse R-Lures and Needleish have been the best bets. Trout catching is still good or overnighters at the dam. Use Powerbait or nightcrawlers rom 25 to 35 eet or easy limits o 1 to 3 pound Rainbows.The Stable conditions have sparked the bass action too. The ish are stacked near drop-os in 20 eet o water near rock piles and points. Most o the ish are keepers but a ew up to 7 pounds have been reported. Use smoke or green worms near the stick-ups,just about any time o day. Best areas or Bass include Rabbit Creek and islands near the river channel and Lancha Plana rock piles.Northshore resident "Rick" Richter landed a 6.84-pound Largemouthrecently on a smoke worm on the North side o Lancha Plana. Lake Camanche's current elevation is 202.28 eet above sea level, a tiny drop o .04 eet since last Sunday. The lake is expected the lake to hold steady. The surace temperature at the North shore uel dock is 68 degrees in the early mornings while thesurace reading at the dam is 70 degrees. The thermocline is much more gradual now with the top 33 eet o water ranging rom 70 to 68 degrees.There are still plenty o services avialble with the low conditions. The low water #1 ramp is in service at Southshore and 3 lanes o the main ramp at Northshore are in service. M.T.B.E.-ree uel is available on water at the Northshore uel dock Friday through Monday and at the Southshore store land-based pumps on the same days.
      City: Tracy

  • Lake County, California
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      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Ater ishing with clients on Sat with slow ishing and steady 15 to 20 mph winds all day, I was a little worried about what my night trip would bring. And I didn't want to ish in the rain!! I was most interested in what a touch o instant winter would do or the night bite. When I met my clients, I was relieved to see that they were eager and dressed or bear!! We didn't catch anything during the last hour o dark, but started ater dark with the smallest bass o the trip, about 1-14. Sombody had to catch the dink, so I did - on a giant Hoo-daddy. About 10 min later one o the guys sets on a good ish which turned out to be 4-13 - on a Dead Ringer. I was happy, 'cause I wasn't sure my attitude could handle much more wind!! Finally it laid down about 11 pm, and the ishing got better. I truly had one o the greatest hits I have EVER had on a worm - this time on a 10" black Power Worm - my avorite! It was a worthy ish to nearly jerk the rod out o my hand - all 7 pounds 11 ounces o her. She was at and mean! Fall is here!!? I caught her in a weed patch that has been good the past month on the east side o the south end. Next, we move to the narrows area and the same client gets two clones in back to back casts - 3 1/4 lbs each, also on the Dead Ringer. As we hit the last spot, one o my special rockpiles, I land one and we loose two others. Finally, the client that hadn't even had a bite, sets the hook on a 4-7. I told him to leave the worm and hook as they were or a nice photo. What does he do? - drops it in the water again (accidentally, he said). So I net it or the second time. Actually, I just think he wanted to ight it a little longer!! He immediately made up or his slow night, sticking another 4 pounder. I am really glad we had this happy ending, because one o them had lost a really big ish in the cove near Sea Breeze. One o my daytime clients lost a big ish there too. We wound up with 8 total, with a ive ish limit at 24 1/2 lbs. Again, the best bite seemed to be ater midnight and a little winter didn't seem to bother them at all.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Still waiting or the larger ish to show up. Easing o tournament pressure and colder weather should help. Many o our bites Sat night were strong hits - a sure sign that the eed bag is just around the corner!

  • Mariposa County, California
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      Water Temp: 69-72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished a Mid-Cal Bass Tournament Sun. We had ound a large area the week beor that was holding a lot o bass & schools o shad..They had moved out by Sun.Never caught a ish in that area...We ended up with 6 bass or third place.Caught all ours on Cali.& Pro worms."Deep" had to stick 4 o the six..It was a tough day or us.
      City: Riv

  • Fresno County, California
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      Water Temp: 60?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Had the greatest day o ishing in my LIFE! I was loat tubbing in Winchell Cove using a 6" pink worm. Caught 23 ish (small, large, spotted, and stripper bass)
      City: resno

      Tips: pink worms

  • Riverside County, California
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      Water Temp: 60-70?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: got there at about 8:00 and I hooked up a dropshot rig. On my second cast I hooked up a nice 4 pounder. Then spread thrue the next 2 hours I hooked up two nice 2 pounders and my dad got a nice 2 pounder(His irst bass). We had to leave early but it wasn't a bad day or shore ishing.
      City: Riverside

      Tips: Fish worms or a jigs. Use a slow presentation.

  • Shasta County, California
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      Water Temp: 61-64

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: decided to try my hand at a tournament and John Coyle o MGMLURES graciously agreed to partner up with me, in the water at Bridge Bay at 5am ater a quick check in or the 100% uture pro event, heavy overcast and light mist alling and not a hint o wind, air temp 55, talked to a ew o the other entrants waiting or the start, we went to John's water so i won't be speciic about where, blast o was at 625 am with the smaller boats irst out which I thought was a nice touch, We took o or the McCloud and settled in a ew minutes later where John immediately hooked a decent 1.8 with his irst cast on his secret top water lure, i got two blowups on the same bait and decided to pick up my jig rod, down the bank we go and John gets another blowup and I boat one shasta clone just over the 13 inch minimum. We split to one o my holes and get 4 in 5 minutes with John hooking a spot/smallmouth cross that is only 13 1/2 but at. we roam the bank or a bit and I get the last one needed or the limit at 730am and we are eling pretty good. I tie on my avorite MGM #109 worm and we move rom place to place boating clones regularly. The bite or us shut down at 1045 but we keep plugging away. I alternated between a jig and the #109 worm and a ew others but the 109 is producing bigtime. We get back on them at 1pm in another one o my spots and I get 4 more in ten minutes and am down to the balance beam approach looking or an ounce here and there but it ain't happening. I ished deep and shallow and in between but we are only connecting on the 13 inchers, we ply the banks with some top water or a while but can't get nothing going but do see ish working the surace and still not a hint o wind. We run out o time and back to bridge bay or the weigh in, ater about 6 boats we are still in third and them some guys come in with that one GOOD FISH and now we are dropping rapidly and end up in 12th, big ish was only 3 lbs. At least we didn't inish last. John got the big ish and I managed 5 keepers ater culling through 20 others, it has been that way or a ew weeks and the weather change under way right now should only improve things, shad spread out all over and not balled up with a lot o small bass working them all over. My kingdom or one 2.5 lb spot! Had a great time with the split shot master and actually used his technique or a ew o them clones, the up coming pro/am should do better or those involved.
      City: Redding

  • California
    • By

      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the North-West end or the irst time on shore. Nice spots out there to watch the sunset. Started throwing grubs on darters, shad plastics, and one texas senko. One nibble on the shad. Ended up throwing the spook and my new tournament rom just or the u** o it. Lots o bass boats and tubers out there...must mean Sonoma sucks worse than usual. Chatted with a ellow isherman who said to throw live mice! WTF! I've never heard o this...strange. Anyhow, my new reel shit out, and lost my leatherman...but ound it agian. I think I'm getting rusterated...almost threw the rod in the damn lake! HAHA! Oh well, will be praying or better luck next time.
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: Got me...hell try live mice or all I know! LOL!

Saturday, October 27th, 2001

  • Ventura County, California
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      Water Temp: 65

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: used a small natural colored grub jig and casted towards shore. caught tons o small one's.biggest was around 8inches. uck it...i'll catch one o those big one's real soon!!!! here ishy ishy!!!!
      City: hollywood

      Tips: go deep....or go home

  • Sacramento County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 65 ?

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched at Brown's at about 8:00. Looked or a reaction bite with blades and ripbaits, but couldn't ind it. Fell back on the trusty (usually) splitshot. Partner up ront starts picks up a ew ish, but not me. I'd like to think it was because he got the ew ish that were there. Talked to a guy who was doing well dropshotting in 35-45 eet o water. Stuck with the splitshot and got one rat or my eorts. First time out since mid-august and things have deinitely changed. I the water keeps dropping this ast, I'm bound to ind some ish.
      City: Sacto

  • California
    • By

      Water Temp: ???

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished the East side, water level on this side is really low. Prpbably why I didn't get a damn thing. One bite on a darter-head grub, but missed the set. Think the bass are hiding somewhere out there...God knows where.
      City: Santa Roda

      Tips: Throw everything...I did. Let me know i you ind a good lure or these days!