Fishing Report

Limit:

Saturday, December 16th, 2000

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched out of Whiskey Slough, Planned on drifting minnows for Stripers, ended up drifting minnows for crappie. fished whiskey from the house to the mouth drifting the minnows, caught about a dozen crappie, three largemouth, and a catfish. Buddy had two good striper bites both of which broke his old line. SEE YA JEFF
      City: Suisun City

      Tips: if your fishing for big fish with light line, make sure it is still good! NO BRAINER

  • Alameda County, California
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      Water Temp: 61

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Last ew storms muddied the lake. Threw or a ew hours this morning and got 1 hit and one ish a 2.5 trout on a luckycrat iretiger lv500. bass bite is slow almost non existant.
      City: Castro Valley

      Tips: dont let the muddy water ruin your day. The ish will still bite sometime

  • Mariposa County, California
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      Water Temp: 54-57

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Well I thought I might be o some help or some o you Nuts that are planning on ishing the upcoming NCC @ McClure on the 30th. I started the day ripping a Pointer Minnow 78 around rocky banks in the Barret's cove area. Caught several beore the sun inally broke through, best was 2.25# ootball spot about 14" and one 15"+ snake that weighed less than 2#s. Spent some time in and around Horseshoe area where I caught a real good spot about 2.5# on a 1/4 oz. jig in about 20' o water. Came back down the lake to meet ellow nuts Angel and cv about noon near Temprace. The ish in this portion o the lake were deeper and I caught a couple on the jig about 30' deep. Later in the aternoon I ound an out cropping o rock that ranged rom about 5' dropping into an abyss about 60' deep. I caught 4 here on a 4" worm on 5# test line all over 15 inches, biggest almost 3#s. All tolled I had 6 over 15" and weighed the best two at 5.36#s on my cull-m-right to take the day money rom my buddies, har, har. Best 5 close to 12#s.
      City: Le Grand

      Tips: Throw rip bait early, later small jigs and 4" plastics and lite line, 5-6 # test.

    • By

      Water Temp: 56

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Headed down to McClure to check the lake out a little beore the Nutcase Classic. Fished the south end o the lake and tried to cover a lot o water while varying technique and speeds. Fishing was tough, only had 4 ish or the day and nothing over the slot. No pattern to them at all and each came on a dierent bait. Fish seemed to be spread out. Early in the day caught them in about 15 eet o water, latter they were out in 20-30 eet but tried 4-50+. Really did not learn much, but I thought I would share what I saw.
      City: Brentwood

      Tips: 1 on brown/green jig, 1 on a white crank bait, 1 on a c-rig pumpkin lizzard, and 1 on a c-rig white Senko.

  • Butte County, California
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      Water Temp: 48 degrees

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: We (Jay

      Tips: Look or bait and stick ups and just shake your worm or drop shot and you will get bit.

Friday, December 15th, 2000

  • Santa Clara County, California
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      Water Temp: 52 - 55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Finally was able to get the boat out of the garage. Haven't been out due to construction at the house. launched at 11:30am and headed to my favorite winter spot. Decided to give this 'dropshot' method a try since it's what everyone is talking about. It works. Had four fish up to 2.3 lbs (it was short and fat) and missed at least six others. Fished in 25-55 ft. of water. One thing about the dropshot is you have to wait for the fish to take your bait, usually they just hit it hard and try to swim off with it, yet it won't move. Had many short hits that split my 4" worms. color didn't matter, neither did the plastic. Got hits on everything using this method. it's very boring, yet pretty effective. I could only take doing this for an hour or so, then went searching for fish with crankbaits. Had two others in about 8ft. of water on a fat rap, stained water. ****Be careful boating. Not all of the shallow areas are marked. Ran my boat up on a shoal in about 10 in. water that wasn't marked in the back of the lake. I knew the submerged island was there (it's out of water and I know this lake pretty well), however did not know it protrudes 25 yards out underwater and isn't marked. Not good. Went from 5ft. to 10in. with no warning. The water level is still dropping. It dropped appx. 2ft. from the time I launched to the time I loaded.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: I have caught my biggest fish at Calero in Dec./Jan. using spider grubs in about 20ft. of water off main lake points. Largest winter fish was an 8.5 last year.

    • By

      Water Temp: 52 - 55

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Finally was able to get the boat out of the garage. Haven't been out due to construction at the house. launched at 11:30am and headed to my favorite winter spot. Decided to give this 'dropshot' method a try since it's what everyone is talking about. It works. Had four fish up to 2.3 lbs (it was short and fat) and missed at least six others. Fished in 25-55 ft. of water. One thing about the dropshot is you have to wait for the fish to take your bait, usually they just hit it hard and try to swim off with it, yet it won't move. Had many short hits that split my 4" worms. color didn't matter, neither did the plastic. Got hits on everything using this method. it's very boring, yet pretty effective. I could only take doing this for an hour or so, then went searching for fish with crankbaits. Had two others in about 8ft. of water on a fat rap, stained water. ****Be careful boating. Not all of the shallow areas are marked. Ran my boat up on a shoal in about 10 in. water that wasn't marked in the back of the lake. I knew the submerged island was there (it's out of water and I know this lake pretty well), however did not know it protrudes 25 yards out underwater and isn't marked. Not good. Went from 5ft. to 10in. with no warning. The water level is still dropping. It dropped appx. 2ft. from the time I launched to the time I loaded.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: I have caught my biggest fish at Calero in Dec./Jan. using spider grubs in about 20ft. of water off main lake points. Largest winter fish was an 8.5 last year.

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Just wanted everyone to know about a great place to become a member THE KELSEY BASS RANCH this unknown jewel is located in Snelling California Near Mclure Lake Don Pedro area. 123 acres of pristine well cared for lake on private ranch . Bass to 14lbs have been caught, CATCH and RELEASE ONLY. cALL (209) 563-6573 Great spot for fishing family outings, Or for those Real Hard Core Bass Addicts it's all here. Quiet and no JET SKI's Fishing at it's best. Great Christmas giftfor that fishing husband. MERRY CHRISTMAS KEEP A TIGHT LINE
      City: Hanford

      Tips: ASK BOBBY BARRACK HE'S fished Kelsey Before.

  • Tulare County, California
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      Water Temp: 51-52

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: The lake is droping real ast, about 1 1/2 t. per day. Fished rom 11am. till 4 pm. caught 8 ish with a nice one that weigh 6 1/4 lbs. drop shots and jigs in 35-45 t. ish not too active like when lake was stable.
      City: Visalia

  • Shasta County, California
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      Water Temp: 52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: A bit nippy this AM so I did some chores and headed or Hirz Bay, got there at 945AM, 39 degrees, sun up and the og disapating, ran over across rom Kamloops(Dekas Rock) and poked around droopshotting, had numerous taps but got only a hal a worm back or no worm, had them nose hooked, changed the rig to wacky style and that took care o that, no more taps, went down the east shore north o Dekas Rock in the shade(brrrr cold) and ound some ish in 13 t o water in a couple o cuts along sosme red banks, whipped out the jig and banged three real quick, all were exactly 1.7 lb spots, very lethargic and sot pressure bites, two guys rom Wash State rolled up rom about 200 yards out and inquired what I was doing so I gave them the ino and tossed them a couple o my jig heads and plastic, let them to work the shallow stu and was about 100 yards upstream when one o them started hollering and boated another good spot, they came back over to me and we talked about the ish being so shallow, I told them that this is unusual and probably due to the 2 1/2 inches o rain the last day or so. I continued on and ished till 230PM and caught a ew more dinks and pulled out behind the two guys rom Wash St.They got o on Pine Grove and were heading or phils. water down to 64.90 t and a bit murky, no wind today and the temp was 51 when I pulled out. Shasta Recreation has put in a new loat at Hirz Bay south, the north ramp is out o the water. Launch ees are going up to 6 bucks a pop on Jan 1st.
      City: Redding

Wednesday, December 13th, 2000

  • Kane County, Arizona
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      Water Temp: 49-52

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: LAKE POWELL FISH REPORTDECEMBER 14, 2000 By Wayne Gustaveson Home Page: www.wayneswords.com Lake Elevation: 3672 Water Temperature: 49-52 FLake level is declining rapidly with the increased need or electrical power generation rom thedam. The low steady state release pattern is over and we can expect the lake to decline more thanit has or the past ew years. It will dip below 3670 by the irst o the year. Cold weather has put all ish species into deep winter patterns. The expected winter striper bitewas small and slow. It is possible to graph a ew scattered striper schools in most lake areas. They remain curious and are willing to bite or bump a bait but ull-blown active eeding has notbeen observed during the past two weeks. The normal pattern is to graph a school, drop the bait or spoon and catch one or two ish. Thenthe school disappears. My eeling is that they rest on the bottom and are very hard to detect onthe graph. Speed reeling a spoon with pauses toward the surace oten causes the school toascend part way in the water column. Then they drit away once more and blend with thebottom. I am sure that a short eeding period happens occasionally, maybe at a certain time everyday. I have not ound active ish during the warm part o the day when I have been out.The best approach would be to troll with down riggers at 50-60 eet. The reaction to speedreeling indicates some ish willing to chase while the main group is not eeding. Fishing anchovieswith consistent chumming would be the next preerred method. I will continue to targetindividual ish or small groups with spoons and white jigs hoping to get a quick catch o 4-5 ishbeore moving on to ind the next bunch. Using the standard trout ice-ishing technique withanchovy bait on a small silver spoon may work.Depth is critical. Targeting 50-60 oot depth strata is the most productive, but resting ish whichmay be started will be as deep as 80

Tuesday, December 12th, 2000

  • Santa Clara County, California
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      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched around 10am, tried top water, worms, cranks, with no luck. Finally went to the dam and spooned up a 14 inch bass. note the hook wasn't in him, managed to wedge the 3/4 ounce lure sideways in his mouth! Not a great fish, but good enough to win three dollars from my buddy! Note...dress warm, that wind is cold.
      City: campbell

      Tips: Fish all seem to be deep. Metered a mess of them, but with the cold front and recent cold rain, they were reluctant to bite.

    • By

      Water Temp: n/a

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched around 10am, tried top water, worms, cranks, with no luck. Finally went to the dam and spooned up a 14 inch bass. note the hook wasn't in him, managed to wedge the 3/4 ounce lure sideways in his mouth! Not a great fish, but good enough to win three dollars from my buddy! Note...dress warm, that wind is cold.
      City: campbell

      Tips: Fish all seem to be deep. Metered a mess of them, but with the cold front and recent cold rain, they were reluctant to bite.

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Temp: 50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Floated minnows for stripers exclusively today. Four of us keeped 8 fish that went 75#. Had a 20#, 2 16#s a couple 6-7# and a couple 4-5#. All together caught about 25 fish. All from drifting live minnows is the Disco bay area.
      City: Los Banos

      Tips: Action was best when water was moving. Watch your electronics for fish and bait. Had to keep following the fish.

  • Shasta County, California
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      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: rained hard yesterday so I punked out and waited until today, in the water at 717AM, 31 degrees boy was it un whistling up the pit throught that mist, I was so bundled up that it took 10 minutes to get all the stu o to ish, went to the entrance o dark canyon or 3 on a dropshot rig, on was a dink that jumped o on the casting deck and hurled himsel? back into the lake, one was a 1lb and a little bit the other was 1.8. Went up to Arbuckle creek, zero, moved to the other bank just west o Arbuckle lat and stuck a nice 2.6 on a jig. Went back over to the red point adjacent to sugarpine and lost 3 dinks on the dropshot rig, 2 on the bottom hook and one on the top, collectively they might have gone 20 inches. no other boats showed up until about 1030. green worms seemed the most productive, dark green that is. out o the water at 130pm air temp 48. lake down to 64.40 and stable, a little discolored rom the rain. The drop shotted ish were all caught between 35-48t, the jig ish was taken at 35t, all were caught with a straight up and down presentation. Big Daddy, those worms you sent did the trick, now i I can ind a bigger bass.
      City: Redding

Monday, December 11th, 2000

  • Mariposa County, California
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      Water Temp: 57

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: My boy's and I go ishing every ew day's and have noticed the ish seem to be in the same general area's you would ind them in the middle o summer except a heck o alot deeper. We have been using live crawdads at 30' to 60' deep. For The last couple o day's the ish seem to be gettig lazy, no tapping, just a dead weight when you lit your rod tip.
      City: lake don pedro

      Tips: all the bigger ish (3 to 5 pounds) were caught between 50' to 60'.

Sunday, December 10th, 2000

  • Amador County, California
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      Water Temp: ?

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: 2nd cast 2lb jig ish in 15t.I set that rod down to try a black/red deep diving crankbait or the irst time.2nd cast the rod loads up on a 1-10.A couple o minutes later it happens again on a 1-8.Meanwhile my co-workers are umbling or lashlights trying to rig up.Next spot they're ready, I on a get a 2.8 on a jig.Limit by 8am.I quit throwin the jig hoping they would hook-up.Nothin on plastic.The crank was un but the jig produced more and bigger ish.One buddy skunked -he orgot to rip them lips.The other landed 3 missed a ew-he also had a suicidal ish try to pull his rod away rom him but he orgot to set the hook.DUH ! A good winter day with Bald Eagles at the lakeside.No biguns, No trout or us trollin on top.There was alot o hit and runs.
      City: Manteca

      Tips: When you get bit go back later and you will get bit again!Black/red crankbait-JIGS JIGS JIGS brown n brown

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Temp: 53

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished hook tourn. we won with 25.67. we had a 9.08 kicker. All fish were caught on speed traps. We caught 15 keepers. It was a great day of fishing. God blessed us this day.
      City: sacto

      Tips: speed traps through the grass.

  • Lake County, California
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      Water Temp: 49-50

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: This is just a short update on the continued good jig bite at Clear Lake. Friday aternoon-night was the best weather conditions o the all - warm, cloudy evening with moon covered. I continue to be amazed how these conditions trigger heavy eeding. As the sun set, I landed an 8-13 and a 3-8 on a brown/orange Rodstrainer jig on a rock ledge near Shag Rock. Ater dinner, we ished the south end and caught 5 or 6 more, with the ive biggest o the trip at 29 1/4 lbs, including another at 8-3. We might have gotten over the 30 lb mark, but one o the clients lost a nice one as he attempted a second hook set. Be careul about a second hookset, because dropping the rod tip to set again can spell trouble. Sometimes, you may eel insecure about your hookset, but just keep the line tight. In the winter, you don't have to worry as much about the ish jumping, which is when you lose a poorly hooked bass. The summer and early all is another story! Once again, all our bites ater dark were on Weapon Jigs/6" Yamamoto grub trailers. For some reason, we missed several ish. I think the reason was because some o the bites were so aggressive that we ailed to detect the subtle pick-ups. Saturday night was back to tough weather conditions - cold, damp, and bright moon. We struggled with only 2 bass around 3 1/2 lbs each. About 10 pm, a wonderul thing hapened (as a guide who was a little stressed, it was wonderul!). Some thin cirrus clouds moved in and dimmed the moon. BINGO!! I'm not sure in what order, but client landed a 3-14 and a 5, and I boated a 6-11 and a 7-2 - in less than an hour, all on jigs. Clouds moved out, and so did the bass - end o story. Not another bite. Anybody think that these bass are in tune with atmospheric conditions? Though I have seen events like this hundreds o times in my career, I am still in awe o what turns these ish on, or o. As a sidelight, my client was with me last year in November when the same thing happened at the same location at the same time. Weird! Same results - ish turned on in a matter o minutes as clouds moved in. And I especially like the clouds that don't have rain in them!!!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Sat. night was the irst trip that I only used my jig rod. My client alternated between worms and jigs, but all his bites (I'm pretty sure) were on jigs. I know the ish he landed were on jigs. The trick is to swim the jig as slowly as you can over the rocks, stopping it wherever you think it is sae to do so (withour snagging up). Shaking the jig doesn't seem to work lately. They hit when it stops or drops down o a rock or something. I inally lost my irst ish in our trips ater hooking it, using my 30 lb test lame green Berkley Fireline. I hooked it right under the boat in about 25 eet o water, and sometimes those are the hardest hooksets to maintain. I have lost several big bass with under-the-boat hooksets using jigs. Bad angle, I guess.

  • Shasta County, California
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      Water Temp: 53.4

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: launched out o Jones Valley, on the water at 6:30, spent my day in the Pit and Sqaw trying two new baits, boated 21, w/4 over 2pds., biggest being 2.9, worked main lake points, and along the points i they were airly steep. The baits are rom BigBsworms. I used the brushhog & earthworm, the best color or the day was Dark Amber Green #5 with a 1/8oz. darter. I was very impressed w/these baits, the brushog is a soter plastic unlike Zoom's Hog, giving it a better tecture, the bass didn't want to let go, they are 6" baits, and they just inhaled them. The Earthworm is a bait alot like the Senko, what I liked about it was, it alls slower than a Senko, making it even more versatile, along w/being a soter bait, my hook has no problem penatrating through & inding bone. To get these baits, call Bryan Oakey at 1-805-922-5981 or e-mail him,BigBsBass@aol.com He's got over three hundred colors, I'm able to get colors that I can't ind elsewhere.
      City: Redding

      Tips: Main Lake Points, airly steep edges leading back into coves. 1/8oz. Darters, w/8pd. test line on a med/Lt 6-1/2'spinning rod, all ish I caught were 8 to 24'dp.