Fishing Report

Limit:

Monday, May 16th, 2011

  • Butte County, California
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      Water Temp: 58-63

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: It has been a while sence I have done a report but this Spring has been Awesome.My client today drove all the way from Salinas to cash in on the numbers that Oroville is known for and he was not disapointed. Using a specific senko pattern he was able to hit over the 100 fish mark with post spawn females still up to 2 1/2 lbs and many of those. It was a wild day. All five trips last week the pattern held up as well but with slighter numbers.
      City: Paradise

      Tips: Most things are working, some better than others. The reaction bite is still not producing like the slower presentations. Colors do chage from day to day. If one is not working, change the color!

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Temp: no finder

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Got out a little late about 7:00-7:30am. Second cast 1.5 - 2 lbs. Weather was not fun rained and wind was tough, but we were still catching them. Senkos, Jigs and Cranking. Had about 18 lbs or a little more for 5 fish. Caught 15 in total from 7-3pm. Bite was okay theres alway next week.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: If there is a chance of rain were rain gear!! Lol
      90% of fish i caught were still pre spawn.
      Have Fun and stick to your game plan.

  • Lake County, California
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      Water Temp: 60

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: - - - 1st of all, In regards to comments made by a local resident about tournament anglers killing fish. -----> Not a true statement ! <------ 99.% of all anglers appreciate our local fisheries (Lake Pillsbury) yup, there might be a fish or two that don't make it, BUT, that is a very small %. Many, MANY tournaments that I have personally fished have had 0 - no fish loss. !! ---------- The bass fishing on Lake Pillsbury is really good right now ! Many large fish are up in the shallows spawning. Check out Oak Flat (tulles), Salt Creek, back into Turtle Cove and the mouth of the river. Slow draggin' plastics works best for me. Rig it w/ a roboworm or senko wacky style on drop shot . The roads are in excellent shape ! Be sure to say hi to Nick @ the Soda Crk. Store. - Thanks Don - remember to keep it reel !
      City: UKIAH

      Tips: Make long casts so you don't spook the bedding fish. Don't move your bait too fast. ENJOY BEAUTIFUL LAKE PILLSBURY.

  • Coos County, Oregon
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      Water Temp: 55-59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Actually went to TENMILE for two days. Fished with my old tournament partner Mike who now lives in Grants Pass. His big blue Ranger is waaay nicer than my boat so that's what we fished from. We had a great day Sunday (15th) despite the grim weather report. Never felt one drop of rain all day! Mike had a fish strip a senko off his hook on the hookset. I tossed my jig in and got a 3 lb. bass to start the day. Ten minutes later Mike gets a clone of it on a jig. Five minutes later I get a 3.13, 19 1/2" bass and five minutes later a 3.4, 18" bass. We're thinking this is gonna be a fantastic day. It slowed down a bit until Mike got a crankbait fish a 8:40. It was 3.6, 18 1/2" and ate the crankbait- you couldn't see it at all. Got slow again and then at 10:10 I got a 5.1, 20" bass on the jig. An 18.8 limit by 10 o'clock is decent. That was the last fish I'd catch this trip. Mike went on to catch a 3.11 and 2.8 bass on jigs, a 2.0 and a 3.12 on the crank, and 2 trout (8" & 10") on the crankbait. So he ended the day on a 6 straight fish run. Our best 5 bass went 19.11 and our other 5 went 13.12. Ten fish for 33.7- WHAT a lake! Monday we got there and didn't get a fish until 9AM- a 6" trout on the crankbait. Mike got a 2.0 bass @ 9:40 and a 12" trout at 9:50. The temps and weather looked the same as the day before but the fish wouldn't touch our jigs. At 10:40 and 11:15 Mike got a couple two pound bed fish to go on a tube. At 12:40 Mike got a hard bite on his crankbait and said "It doesn't feel like a bass". It wasn't! It was a giant rainbow- maybe 5-7 pounds. The fish was going absolutely nuts- cleared the water completely 2 or 3 times and even rammed into the side of the boat once. Once it wore down a bit and he got it alongside the boat we saw why. Somehow it had manage to hook itself in the eye. I'd go nuts too if that happened to me. We got the hook out and the fish swam away. You always feel terrible when that happens but it's just part of fishing. Between 1 and 2 PM mike got 3 more 12" trout on the crankbait. We left at about 2PM. Mike got 3 bass and 6 trout. After I got the 5.1 on Sunday Mike caught 15 straight to my none. After fishing with him for several years I'm pretty much used to A) Having a great time and B) Getting a beatdown- It helps keep me humble!! And I can't wait 'till next trip!
      City: yoncalla

      Tips: Take a total rookie fishing- you may have a chance to outfish THEM!! And IGNORE the dang weathermen!!

  • Trinity County, California
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      Water Temp: 56-59

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished south end from 5:30am to noon. Caught 5. Three that were photo worthy a 2 1/2, 3, and 5 lb all smallies. 5 lbder came on a swim bait and the 3 lbder off top water first this in the morning. Numbers are poor this year anyone catching numbers?
      City: Weaverville

Saturday, May 14th, 2011

  • Mason County, California
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      Water Temp: 63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished AM 9-12. Caught 14 bass all 2.5 lbs or less but fun. Caught 1 on crank bait, 1 on Senko, and the rest on Crig Plastics. All fish were shallow along banks that had small stick-ups in the water's edge.
      City: Foster City

      Tips: Try reaction baits first. Switch to plastics up shallow were there are weeds in the water.

  • Napa County, California
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      Water Temp: 63-67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I guided a nice fellow from Australia yesterday and I understood most of what he said! A bit of an Aussie accent!! Fishing was pretty good but not great. We fished a little bit of everything with the biggest bass being a 3 1/4 spawned-out spotted bass that took a Jackall Mikey topwater bait. Several bass came up to look at it but said "not today!" Bass seemed to be suspended off points and some still spawning. Robo worms were effective. Bite was best when the wind was up. No surprise.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: Post-spawn fish seem to be more active now and will hit topwater, spinnerbaits, and swimjigs after first light, areas with shadows as the sun gets higher (water is very clear now in many places), evenings, and cloudy days. Mid-day with high sun can be tough now through the summer and early fall.

  • Yuba County, California
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      Water Temp: 61-63

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Hit the lake early, launched out of Dark Day, still no boat dock there...fished topwater for a solid 1.5hrs, Rio Ricos, Don Ivino Splash It, Vixens, Went to Spinner Baits, still no luck, my buddy got into a crank bait bite on a little Norman wobbler...all dinks, switch over to wacky rigged 4" Senkos. Started catching lots of fish, all dinks. The 2 biggest fish went 3 lbs and 5.2 lbs. Wind picked up around 9am, stayed in coves. Ended up with about 25 fish, all Spots. Only 2 keepers!
      City: Roseville

      Tips: All the fish were around chunk rock, with submerged trees, 10-20 feet water depth. The big fish was caught on a Jig.

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Temp: Unknown

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Saturday afternoon I decided to leave the Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" in the garage and drove down the street to Grupe Park (back end 14 Mile Slough) to do some fly fishing for bass. I used deer hair poppers I tied this past winter. I used a 10 wt. fly rod for the bass and a 6 wt. fly rod for the large panfish that had moved into the area. Ended up catch/release 51 fish from 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. The blugills and redears were all big females filled with eggs. Fish #47 was actually a 10" golden shiner minnow that hit my fly. While fighting this fish with my 6 wt. fly rod an 8 lb. bass grabs the shiner and now it ended up being a 15 minute battle with the big bass which did not want to let go. I was finally able to bring the big bass to shore and as I attempted to grab her she then decided to spit out the big shiner and swam off.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: with the approaching storm it was quit windy today and it was important to keep the wind at my back as best as possible so the fly casting would be easier to manage. This side of 14 Mile Slough near Grupe Park is perfect for fly fishing because it is only about 4 feet deep at the most during high tide.

  • Riverside County, California
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      Water Temp: 67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: The fishing is great lots of numbers with a few 4 and5's on occasion. Wave Tikki Sticks and drop shotted worms are your best bet with a few jig bites mixed in. The fish are everywhere from 3 to 30 feet. Fish slow and be patient the fish are there. The key is the under water trees on main lake and secondary points. Have fun and best of luck!!
      City: Hemet

  • Tuolumne County, California
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      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Nor Cal Bass tourney looking for the big girls and could not find one locked on a bed in the main lake area due to strong winds. We fished main lake points and spawning bays with no success for the bed fish. We did catch about thirty fish total most running in the two pound range with some smaller fish thrown in. Brown/blk jig 1/2 oz, Bezerk Baits jig with a yamomoto watermelon red trailer in five to ten feet of water.
      City: Hilmar

      Tips: Jig worked best on both sides of main lake points in five to ten feet. Move fairly slow but keep moving. Bite was subtle but you can feel it.
      The Berzerk Baits jig out fished the other jigs five to one. Fish jig until sun hits water then go to purple six inch worm on a split shot or carolina rig in fifteen to thirty feet.

  • Butte County, California
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      Water Temp: 59-62

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I have a Minn Kota 101 lb thrust electric motor on my new Ranger Z521 - but didn't need it today at Oroville. We just put up a sail and let the 25-30 mph wind do its thing!! Wow - 5 hours of guiding 3 people in those conditions can be exhausting!! We did have success however, and that made the day. I took the associate pastor of our church and two teenagers today. They all caught fish and our pastor hadn't fished for a year but did not loose his touch. He caught 6 or 7 spots up to near 3 lbs and a rare full-blooded smallmouth. Those are rare these days! They missed many fish because of the wind but even the boys landed fish near 15 inches. I was worried when the pastor's first bass was 6 inches!! Every fish he caught after seemed to be bigger than the one before with the biggest coming on the last cast of the trip. Nice!! I just netted fish today and kept the new boat from blowing into the rocks!
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: It was a simple day today as far as baits went. The trusty 4" Robo worms were all we needed today. Green craw w/chartreuse tail and morning dawn w/chartreuse tail was all we needed. Green with orange tail was good too. All bass were 4 to 10 feet deep. We fished rocky shoreline mostly but caught a few in willows. Wind limited the willow fishing we could do. In 5 seconds we were on the other side of the tree - sailing along!!!!!

  • Trinity County, California
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      Water Temp: 56-59

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Took my son and his friend to the South end for the day. My son's friend caught a 2 1/2 lb trout. He was excited. We caught a few small bass nothing photo worthy. Day was overcast and windy
      City: Weaverville

      Tips: Ramps with docks Clark Springs just past minersville and Twin View by the dam.

    • By

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: I am looking for any launch ramps on the south end that are open and have an available dock. Last time I was down we put in at Minnersville but there was no dock. Any info would be appreciated.

Friday, May 13th, 2011

  • Sonoma County, California
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      Water Temp: 65 plus

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: On the lake at 6amm very still and flat glass.Tried top water with zero blowups.Caught fish all day long on Dingers with anise smelum.In the weeds with texas rig and outside with the wacky.I just went down the bank in about 10 feet of water and could see the fish cruising the banks.Lots of small males in the one to two pound class.Bigest close to three....
      City: Santa Rosa

      Tips: No reaction bite on this bluebird day.The rain is coming again this weekend maybe some females will move up since the 17th is a full moon..................

  • Calaveras County, California
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      Water Temp: 65-67

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: started at 3pm pretty windy at times no luck in south shore area or middle lake went to north shore by brigde hit 4 smalllies back to back went past bridge and over to other side and hit 7 more smallies and two large mouth but no keepers all were babies .... lol only 2 over 1 lbs ... but was fun catching them all using green/white and blue/white wacky worm rig
      City: tunlock

      Tips: on the docks this guy said he had a trout jump in his boat ... I thought that was pretty cool .....

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Temp: 64 - 67 degrees

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Luanched the Custom Valco "BASSBUSTER1" at 8:30 a.m. and was off the water by 1:00 p.m During the bottomed out dead tide ran up into the Disappointment Slough today and mojo shot Zoom Trick worms for a cuople fish until the tide changed and started to come in. Then a brushhog bite started finding bass tight to the tules along the rip rap.

      Tryed throwing my swimmin' jig today, but no hook ups this time. No spinnerbait or crank bait fish. The wind started to blow me around really good about 10:30 a.m. so started back towards Ladd's looking for calmer water to fish while on the way.
      City: Stockton

      Tips: Saw alot of spawning beds during the bottomed out low tide. Much of the spawn looks to be done in this area with a few guarding males still hangin' around.

  • Lake County, California
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      Water Temp: did not look do

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: went out a few hours each day from the 12th-15th. Caught 6-8 bass each day. Fished the northend docks. Caught them on plastic's from senko's to creaturebaits, color did not matter as long as you fished really slow. 3-5 pound fish.

      Tips: work it really slow.

    • By

      Water Temp: 59-54

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: I provided my first guided trip last night in my new Ranger Z521-250hp Evinrude Etec! What a boat - the increased length made some rough water coming in at 1 am - a piece of cake!!! It got a little nasty out there after midnight. I had two guys from the bay area and while the bite wasn't great, we did ok. We caught 6 or 7 up to 5 1/2 lbs. Best five around 17 lbs. One had already spawned - the big one had not - fat as a pig! She was in 18 to 20 feet of water. We should have landed more but one of the fellows lost 2 right at the net - one of them over 4 lbs. No! I didn't knock them off, har! Just bad luck. We fished the Rattlesnake arm and down to Konocti Bay. Brush hogs and Berkley power worms provided most of the action.
      City: Yuba City

      Tips: We naturally had to deal with a minor cold front, but the wind wasn't really too bad until 11:30 pm. Our best bite was the last hour of light and around midnight. I had fun doing something I used to do a lot. I would tell one of the fellows to cast to a specific fence line or underwater rock, saying: "there is always a bass there!" And there was - this time. Fun, fun!! It looks like it it is going to turn winter-like again this weekend, so we probably are going to experience another long, drawn-out spawn.

Wednesday, May 11th, 2011

  • Mason County, California
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      Water Temp: 65-67

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Got there bright and early.I ended up catching 12.The fish i caught in the mourning were on Crankbaits, a Staycee 90, and a Vibrating jig. Later i caught some spinnerbait fish.
      City: 408

      Tips: The bite is on there. SO why not go reaction bait.