Fishing Report

Limit:

Friday, August 15th, 2008

  • Amador County, California
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      Water Temp: 81F

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 7pm until about 8am with the full moon. Didn't have luck with the topwater bite I've heard about at dusk and dawn. There was considerable surface activity between dawn and 07:30 about 200' away from the bank. Appeared to be bass chasing shad. Caught bass from 11pm until 7am at a rate of 1 per hour. No consistent patterns except the bass were caught mostly at 16'. Caught bass on dropshot, splitshot, B&G beavers and brush hogs, and 3/4 oz blades. Nothing on large worms or jigs this time. Fished in the shadow of the moon for the most part. The lake is about 35

      Tips: With the hot day time temps, use sunscreen and drink plenty of water. Even at midnight, the air was still above 80F. Stay hydrated.
      It started getting hot again at 7am.

  • Solano County, California
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      Water Temp: 74-77

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Went out friday morning and fished the outgoing tide from 6:00 a.m until about noon.Caught a limit with big fish 2.5lbs.Had good success with senkos fishing between the Bank & weedlines.
      City: Manteca

      Tips: Get out during the week.The weekend crowd isn't worth the trouble.There are a lot of big boats and most of them don't seem to care if they hammer you with a wave!!

  • Los Angeles County, California
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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: OUTSIDE POINTS,ALL DAY,4.5-6 IN ROBO,OX BLOOD-RED FLAKE,BABY BLUEGILL,DROP SHOT,DEAD STICK,15-35 FEET
      City: LA CANADA

      Tips: THROW OUT DEEP AND JUST LET IT SET,WATCH LINE

  • Sonoma County, California
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      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Waking up at 5:30, I jump out of my tent and climb in my boat. The boat in campsites at the back of Warm Springs are quite nice. I highly recommend checking it out. With the sun still below the horizon, I start covering water with a Lunker Punker. About 15 minutes into the morning, I get crushed by a 6.4 pounder. I then caught a few more fish on the vixen. At around 7am the fish made a big move from the banks to the open water. I would see the bass busting bait on the surface. Whenever this happened I put my trolling motor on high, and would fire out either a popper or a vixen. In the next hour I caught 5 more up to 3 pounds, all suspended fish that were chasing bait. At around 10 am the bite shut off. I picked up my friends at camp and we headed out to the main body. After catching only a few small fish on jigs and worms in 25 feet, we call it a day at around 3pm.
      City: San Bruno

      Tips: <a href="http://www.russnyders.com/">Rus Snyders Guide Service</a>

Thursday, August 14th, 2008

  • Lake County, California
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      Water Temp: 78-83

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I was happy to be able to take my good friend Willie Page to Clear Lake Monday evening. This was his first trip there since he moved to Mississippi about 5 years ago where he works with the Navigators Christian Ministry. Willie went nuts after dark, catching bass after bass. Welcome home, Willie!! After catching the first 8, I told him that we needed to see a "real" California bass! Soon a big catfish nailed my 10" black Power worm - or so I thought! With 30 lb test Fireline I couldn't stop her - she went into a piling but soon came out. She was going to jump so I thought that would be fine. She did and - whoa - NO whiskers! I never had time to get nervous and he netted her on the first swipe and I didn't have the giant net! I really wish he could have caught her - I even gave him the shadow section of the dock and I cast to the moonlit area. We both wondered what a 9 lb 14 oz bass was doing in 4 feet of clear water in bright moonlight. Feeding for sure - she almost swallowed the giant worm and I set the hook quickly. She had the body of a late November bass - big gut. I told Willie earlier that the bite is always on by 11 pm - she hit at 11:02 pm!!!! Willie wound up with 11 bass to 4 lb 3 oz and I finished with 2 - only had 5 bites the whole trip. I was glad Willie saw a monster bass so he would move back to California! 22 3/4 lb limits are hard to come by in 'ol Miss! We'll see! Tues night I guided a nice fellow from Marysville who wanted to learn about night fishing Clear Lake. He was a good fisherman but lost the first 3 he hooked (about 7pm) including a good one. That seemed to be the story of the bite Tues evening - bass that didn't want to commit to eating the bait. We landed 14 bass but really missed or lost a bunch. Shadows were again where we found most of our fish. Since I was teaching him about night structure, we covered a lot of water south of the narrows. He caught 9 of our 14 and the biggest which was only 4 lbs. He was sold on the jig bite and he was right - that was the best bait by far! We used three color combo with black/blue being the best. Most of our bass were caught from 7 to 20 feet - on rock! No topwater/buzzbait fish at all.
      City: Yuba city

      Tips: The clear water is really an issue this year during moonlit nights and bass are probably more wary. I think they are harder to locate as they have tons of weeds to hide in and don't need to use the typical shady area to hide and feed. If one can find a solid weed EDGE, that is now structure. I feel right at home now as the carp have recovered from their spawn and are rolling themselves silly in the moonlight. If the shad are scarce, the Mississippi Silversides are not - they have reappeared - by the millions?! To bad they don't get as big as shad. With the absence of shad, I would assume crawfish would be on the menu, so dust off those jigs!

  • Yuba County, California
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      Water Temp: 79 ish

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: I took my 5 year old out on a very hot, still, sunny afternoon. Went
      looking for some underwater structure, but there was no bait and no fish on it. Finally got bit on the launch ramp road by the dam. Several 13" fish for the skillet and then no more bites. Fished the riprap on the dam and had several bites and managed a 12" fish there. My daughter caught a nice bluegill on the dam which helped keep her interest up. The evening topwater sucked as I only caught a couple. Smaller fish were eating bait, but the larger fish were not playing on this night.
      City: Yuba city

      Tips: Just dropshotting in 23'.

  • Sonoma County, California
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      Water Temp: 74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Heading out at 10 am with a boat load of camping gear and a couple friends, I tie an assortment of top water lures, and plastics as we idle across the long 5mph zone that leaves the ramp. Before crossing the 5mph buoys, we decide to fish the long main lake point across from the marina. On my 3rd cast with a Reaction Innovations Vixen I get crushed by a 6 or 7 pounder right at the boat. Unfortunately, after only a few second fight, the fish comes unbuttoned. The next two hours we run around and fish every other point in the area, but come up empty handed. We then set up camp at the back of the Warm Springs arm and head back out at around 3pm. I was surprised to see how must red leaf grass there was back there. We caught a few 2 pounders on frogs, and a 4.5 pounder in 30 feet of water on a jig. The fish seemed very scattered and I was seeing bait fish from the surface down to 40 feet on my graph. We then caught a few more 1-3 pounders on drop shots and jigs. Right before dark, I was expecting to get on a decent top water bite, but it never happened.
      City: San Bruno

      Tips: <a href="http://www.russnyders.com/">Rus Snyders Guide Service</a>

  • Trinity County, California
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Just a question really, will you still be able to launch a boat by the dam as the lake level drops ? We were there on Monday and would like to come back in a few weeks... the fishing was ok, we caught lots of little bass but also a few nice ones...
      City: Red Bluff

      Tips: Fished dark colored tubes on heavier weights

Wednesday, August 13th, 2008

  • San Francisco County, California
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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Fished from 2pm to 3pm South Lake. Caught one,
      1 lb under the dock that the seagulls really like. Senko Pumpkin flake
      City: San Francisco

  • Amador County, California
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      Water Temp: mid 70's

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished up river from 7:00-10:30, throwing top water on the sunny points. Caught 8 bass. 5LM, 3SM. Big fish 5.2# LM. Another solid 2.4# LM on a Senko. Smallies were shaker size w/ 1, 14".
      City: Ione

      Tips: Get out early and beat the heat. Fish your strengths.

  • California
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      Water Temp: 75-78

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: threw the frog for the full 6-10 a.m. period, got some blow ups skipping under trees in Arroyo, and 1 bite, but no froggy feesh. Behind the island in Island Pond where there was an amazing frog bite a month ago is trash now (at least for me). all the weed mats are gone, but if you flip it I'm sure something would turn up.
      City: P-town

      Tips: I would recommend drop shotting, senkos, and flipping the weeds with heavier weights. The fish that went after me frog were in the backs of trees and were pretty much on the bank. I think I am done going to Shadow Cliffs for a while now

Tuesday, August 12th, 2008

  • Utah
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      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Whacked the Greenfish today on Jigs. The water is still down because of Dam Construction but the bass have plenty of critter-bugz to eat.
      City: Eagle Mountain

      Tips: Brown Jigs ... Fished just off the shore. Watch your line!

      www.TeamBassLine.com

  • Nassau County, California
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      Water Temp: 70*

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Had a hot tip that this lake was good. NOT!!! My son-in law along with his brother, myself and the grandsons traveled down for a last day before school started trip. After not having the boat out since April for the CDC tournement. Its was nice to be back on the water for a change. Hit the water about 7. That was to late but you have to have bait when you have kids with you. Even at that the bit was non existant. 5hrs of lines flinging every direction produce 1 whopper. A large mouth that tipped the scales at 2oz. Thats right folks. Should have gone to the Delta. But it was great to have the boys out for a male bonding day. Geez, never want to have beans with dinner the night before!! We did have 1 contest today, you figure it out. But as the old saying goes. A bad day of fishing is better than your best day at work. AMEN!! Never a bad day when your with your family. By the way, that lake is the lowest I have ever seen it. Pray for rain soon. Dog days of summer for sure. See ya all in January at the first Big Valley 100% tourney. Yes, we will be back next year after a 2 year hiadis.
      City: Fresno

      Tips: Wish I had some. Maybe next time. But we will be back to Lake Success. But today we had none.

Monday, August 11th, 2008

  • Mason County, California
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      Water Temp: 75

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: After spending a little while going through the muscle inspection, we finally got on the water at around 8:30. Starting just south of the boat ramp, we caught several small fish on jigs and drop shots, nothing over 14

      Tips: <a href="http://www.russnyders.com/">Rus Snyders Guide Service</a>

  • California
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      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: Can't believe I actually tried to fish it with all the construction going on. Nothing but muddy boots.
      City: San Jose

      Tips: Maybe the cats are biting.

  • Coos County, Oregon
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      Water Temp: 75 plus in spot

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Went to Cottage Grove with my 2 1/2 year old son. Boy did we have a cool day! We launched up the creek and putted over to the spot my friend got a 3.7 off of last Friday. We made about a dozen casts and then the wind had drifted us into the exact spot I was lookin' for. I made a cast to within a foot or two of where he got the fish. It didn't even get to the bottom! A nice hard smack- 2 second delay and wham... fish on! I got the rod down in front of my boy so he could feel it pull and try to help reel it in. He was pretty excited and curious. I netted the fish and when I swung it in the boat he looked down and acted like he wanted to touch it. I lipped it and got the jig out. It flopped hard and then he looked a bit scared of it. I wrestled the camera out and tried to take a decent photo of him and the fish but of course you can only see 1/2 the fish and it's covering the boys face! The coolest part was when I went to weigh it. I went to stick it under the right side of the lower lip and there was already a hole there. Then I weighed it and it was 3.8 and 19" long. I can't be absolutely positive but I'm pretty darn sure this was the same bass my friend released 3 days earlier. Same spot, same lure, same pole, almost same time of day, same hard bite. I am already a catch and release guy but this one really made my day. And I hope it will be a memory that will stay with my little guy forever. Didn't catch any more but with some help from the wind (Rocked him to sleep) and remembering to bring a pillow and blanket he was able to get a nice hour long nap while I drifted and covered some water. All in all a really great dad and son day. Looking forward to many more of those. Now my 5 year old daughter who is very competitive wants to go out and catch a 4 pound bass- Honey , looks like we gotta take the boat out again....sorry! Wink, wink!
      City: yoncalla, oregon

      Tips: Don't be afraid to take a young 'un out in the boat. Get a good fitting life jacket, hat and glasses and cover 'em with sunscreen. My son has been really good. He likes to wander around the boat and look at the cupholders, sit down and drive- well turn the steering wheel and make the sounds, and sometimes he just sits down and enjoys the scenery. He'll stand in front of me for several casts and help me reel it in but gets a bit bored if a bass doesn't grab the lure. He did try to throw the net overboard or maybe he was just trying to dip it and get another big bass! Either way he wasn't too happy when I took it away.

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

  • Napa County, California
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      Water Temp: STPLL WARM UP T

      Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

      Report: The last couple of weekends I found that trolling for bass has been the most
      productive. Early morning I like to troll in 8 to 10 feet with a minus lure that
      dives about one foot and as the sun goes over head I go into deeper water
      (20 to 30 feet) and use a deeper diving lure that goes 6 to 10 feet down. The
      shallower lure closer to shore. While trolling on my son's pontoon boat with my
      daughter-in-law (see photos) our score within an hour was three bass each.
      I took our friend Terry and her two sons and daughter out for a couple of hours
      on my boat (I have included a photo of my boat for those who have asked me
      what kind of boat I use - a Lund fully loaded). We trolled and had a great day
      catching bass with the kids (see photo). I spent one evening in my favorite cove
      and I decided to only use a top water lure. Within an hour's time I had eight
      nice size bass. Bad part of story is that I threw my favorite top water 'chugger'
      into about two feet of water where I saw some activity and sure enough a fish
      devoured the lure and dragged it to some bushes, my line snapped trying to reel
      him in and alas the lure never surfaced. I waited for quite awhile and it never
      did come up. I had that 'chugger' for at least twelve years and it caught me
      a lot of nice bass even though I have another like it, it's just not the same.
      'til next week............................................good fishing!!!!!!!!!!!
      www.fishingconnection.net If you have any stories you would like to share,
      please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
      City: NAPA

      Tips: ENJOY BERRYESSA DAY OR NIGHT FISHIG

  • Ventura County, California
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      Water Temp: 72

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Wow I went camping for 5 days and it was dead on that water. No one caught anything first few days. There was a 7 1/4 lb in the morning on a night crawler and on my second to last day I caught some 5 pounders and one 3. mostly on robo's that I literally had to leave out there for 1 hour before a got a hit. Bass where full of shad and for good reason because the lake is filled with them. Use your loudest lures and buzz baits also use a strong attractant for that extra dirty water. I used scent on my girlfriends night crawler and she was catching perch when no one else was.
      City: OC

      Tips: loud shad like baits. I used a chatter bait in shad color and scent with my worms. even started putting flukes on my buzz baits. TOP WATER is dead right now so hit them in the mid 10 to 20 feet of water weightless worms for a slow fall. If you can get a hold of some live shad that is the way to go but I did better with my slow buzz and chatter baits. Good luck!

  • Lake County, California
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      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: On the dock and ready to go at 6am Scott, Ed, and their sons Patrick and Sam packed into my boat and headed from Konocti Harbor to Anderson Island. The first hour of the day provided steady action. We caught around 10 fish on dropshots and spinnerbaits. As the sun got a little higher the bite slowed a bit, but we still managed to pick up a fish here and there. Fishing any outside weed lines in about 12 feet of water that were near rock piles seemed to be the most productive pattern that I could find. After meeting up with a friend at noon so that we could split up into 3 people per boat, we spent the rest of the day fishing around the narrows. The wind kicked up a bit and we caught a few more fish on blades and shad colored crankbaits. The total count for the day was around 25 fish with the biggest going only 3.5 pounds. On Sunday we fished from Pirates Cove to Red Bud Park. Throwing frogs and poppers in the morning, we had a few blow up

      Tips: <a href="http://www.russnyders.com/">Rus Snyders Guide Service</a>

    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: The report posted below was meant for Lake Anderson on August 11. My mistake
      City: San Bruno