Fishing Report

Limit:

Monday, December 4th, 2023

  • Lake County, California
    • By

      Report: What's up Western Bass. Christian Ostrander here. My partner and I just won the ABA up here at Clear Lake yesterday. 25 Pounds. Been out here all week. 20 pounds hasn't been hard whatsever. You need three rods out here right now. A-rig, underspin, Trash Fish. Sone days we will catch 20 fish a day, some days a little tougher, we will catch 10 fish. Running around the whole lake. Catching big ones up North on a Trash Fish. Throwing a rig and an underspin down South. Having a lot of fun. I'm guiding up here until January 15 when I leave for the Bassmaster Opens so if anyone wants to come out here and get on some fish, or learn their electronics, LiveScope, scanning, SideScan, whatever, give me a call. Thanks. 209.648.3778

      Tips: Catching big ones up North on a Trash Fish. Throwing a rig and an underspin down South

Friday, November 24th, 2023

  • Lake County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 58

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Fishing Report From Double G

      Fishing Clear Lake for Turkey Day. Fishing was fun. Right now, is a great time to bring kids, or family and friends and introduced them to fishing by soaking a minnow.

      We hit the water at about 10:00 am. It was bluebird skies. Water was clear with a little bit of sediment. There was a little suspended matter to cloud the view – 3 to 4 feet visibility. Maybe the lake’s trying to turnover but it’s not cold enough. There is fresh duckweed on the surface in some areas. There was no current movement, but was level is pretty low, typical drawdown for the rainy season. The water temp was 58 degrees most of the day.

      Baitfish are prolific right now, keeping the fish fat, but also probably why the number bites were on the lower side. Found bait using the Lowrance HDS Pro SideScan, the bass would move through the ball and pick em off slow and easy, methodical. There wasn’t any erratic swishing or slashing through the bait ball. Keep an eye on 6 to 12 feet.

      Tips: Slower bottom moving baits were best. Bottom baits in tried-and-true colors green pumpkins, watermelon, shad imitators. A Frenzy Nail with a 3/16 head so it floats across the silty bottom is better. Got a few hits on a new prototype Frenzy Bait. Stay tuned on that.

Monday, November 20th, 2023

  • Ventura County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 64.5

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Fished Sunday. There was a small club ( 6 boats?) that got out first. I launched and there was a boat where I was headed so I started at the submerged island. It was a very slow morning with a bluegill and a short on spoons by 8. The wind picked up blowing maybe 20 mph from the marina to the dam. I finished my breakfast and stayed along the edge of the island I was following in 45-50 ft. The wind helped and I noticed the fish would stack up under the boat but would eventually fade away so I started mixing up my spoons. The 3/4 oz. hopkins got the most attention all day long. When I got them interested but not biting I would reel up the hopkins and drop down a 1/2oz. tungsten spoon. Game on...I did this until about 9;30 catching fish until they stopped eating and moving 10 feet and locking in for fish until I ran out of edge. I moved into the area along the 150 hwy where there were white caps. I stayed in the 45-50 area and while I didn't get as many fish I did catch 4 legal 1+ pound fish all on the hopkins. At 11:45 the wind stopped and turned 180 blowing from the dam to the marina just as hard. I moved to the lee side of the point where I had started when the wind was blowing on it and I hadn't been bit and wham. the fish now on the lee side were chewing. I stayed with that side but I changed out the 1/2 tungsten for a 3/4 size and went at them alternating the spoons as their disposition on my electronics was displayed. I came across a fish in 65 feet that was 15 off the bottom and dropped the tungsten spoon down and I was on before it got to 30 feet. Two pounds 8 ozs. which was my last keeper before I shut it down at 3:00... I haven't had a limit since the first week of May so I felt pretty good about my efforts. I am seeing some dads out on the water with their boys and they were all dong what I am doing...Catching fish.

      Tips: The amplitude bar on my Lowrance are my eyes at this time of year. If I don't get a few fish to come up to look then I move along. Some spots go for awhile before they shut down others just one fish. Keep moving as some spots are just plain better than others. I fished only main lake points and I stayed in the 45-50 range all day. The baitfish were in 30 but from 47 feet and deeper there isn't anything(or very little ) structure to snag on and the fish are willing to dart out from the brush a few feet away. I am not bouncing my spoon on bottom. I am working it away from the snags by a few feet either above or to the side of the tangle of brush and yo-yoing in open water and I seem to be doing okay. I only had one snag out that deep and It took me a couple of minutes but I shook it free rather than breaking out my plug knocker. If the fish are there but are unwilling...Try ripping the bait violently up 7 feet and down 7 feet for a while...That tends to get them amped up...Cheers

Monday, November 6th, 2023

  • Solano County, California
    • By

      Report: Got out on the Delta this weekend to introduce a new teen angler, Kayden, to fishing from a bass boat. Hit the water from the East Side of the Delta at about 7am. The tide was just starting to come in and I thought I’d go see if there was any stripers in this far. So we started at the mouth where the San Joaquin River comes into the Turning Basin. I used my Lowrance Active Target to search around all the pilings and found a bunch of bait balls and active fish at about 12 to 15 foot depths. I tried a spoon, ripbait, LV500 and a rig but couldn’t get bit, We made our way down the river. Having the teenager on his first trip, put the pressure on to get bit quick.
      So we targeted some wood on and around the main river. We picked up a drop =shot and we immediately put 3 in the boat, so that was fun, But it’s fall on the Delta so I tied on old faithful, the 1/2-ounce Jackhammer and added a Missle Baits Spunk Shad trailer, seems like thats the one to fish this year. I went to work while Kayden threw a white and nickel spinnerbait.We ended up catching about 15 fish and I would guess our best five would of went 14 lbs.

      Tips: Take aways:
      1) Find some colored water. The fish were way easier to catch when there was some color in the water.
      2) The fish were shallower and not as aggressive.
      3) You had to make really good casts and make sure you were reeling your bait thru and on top of the grass as slow as possible.
      4) The water temp was 59-61

Thursday, November 2nd, 2023

  • Solano County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 60-62

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Another zero-dark-thirty launch from Paradise; a lot of floating patches of hyacinth everywhere, no matter where we were, and pockets of surface fog made for tough visibility in the dark. Went to our first location and still had an hour of darkness before daybreak so we power-poled down and started with dropshot...zip, zero, nothing. Then tried throwing ploppers as it was low tide and I thought maybe they'd be up shallow feeding while still dark; amazingly enough, we were getting blow-ups and caught a few, nothing sizeable but some keepers. Feels funny casting in the dark and sometimes I had to turn my headlamp on to work out a minor backlash. But it was weird catching on topwater in the dark ... we'd hear a splash followed by a tug and that's when we'd just start reelin'... no hookset until I knew the fish was on. When that bite slowed, started throwing a donkey rig but then I took the slider off and just started fishing a single fluke (easier to manage). Hits came on the slow fall, twitch twitch pause and majority of hits were on the pause.. As morning turned to light, started throwing a shad pattern Little John 50 and worked the ledge/dropoffs in 9-12 ft due to the low/incoming tide; picked up a few 10-12"ers; alternated with underspins which picked up a few more but again, not much size. Started heading back to Paradise and decided to work some tules; I saw a hen coot jump out of the water and take off fast and then noticed swirling and splashing where she took off from; threw a craw Little John to the spot and a 4lber smashed it on the first turn of the reel. Finished the morning with that one.

      Tips: As always, not so qualified to give tips; here's what worked for us:
      - Choppo / Ploppers in 90 and 75 size
      - Shad / Craw Little John 50 cranks (worked reeeally slow just touching weed tops)
      - Keitech 3.8" on 1/8 and 3/16 underspins
      Hope everyone continues to get time out there!!

Sunday, October 29th, 2023

  • Ventura County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 68 to start 70.3 to finish

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started my Sunday morning on a point that I got chased off before I got to fish it last week. Ten casts into last week with no other private boats yet into the water other than when a boat comes strait at me and comes down right on the place. I left and never saw him again for the rest of the day. I sat on this point for 2.5 hours straight on spot lock catching fish on every cast"drop" of my spoon. 3/4 oz. Hopkins Shorty " chrome " with a red #4 hook. You can cast it and yo-yo back to the boat or just drop it straight down. At first light the fish swallowed the spoon before getting near the brush below. I ended the day at 3:00 with two keeper fish ...4 bluegill " males " ...I have no idea how many shorts but four out of the hundred or more shorts for the day were exactly 12 inches. I never caught more than one legal or 12" fish on any one spot. There was a lot of bait in the 30 foot zone . I found some places were the brush was more sparse which helped me get the spoon to the bottom however that is not necessary at this time. Deepest I fished depth wise could be 50 under the boat but you watch your meter vertical fishing so I would drop to within 2 feet of the brush and start the lift fall. If you see them not doing doing much try dropping the spoon free fall and reeling it straight back up 3-4 times and then drop the spoon into the pack that is now straight under the boat and stop it in the middle of them. Then lower and raise your tip very slowly down 3 feet...stop ...pause...raise slowly 3 feet. You might just get crushed the next time you lower it to your stop point. If that proves to not work. Try putting the spoon 2 feet off the top of the brush and rip it like your mad at it up ...free fall do this over and over and over again ...Nothing. Move to another spot if you can't bring them to you. Once you do catch one. Be as quick to release your fish and drop down again as fast as you can...Have your pliers on the deck because you'll need them. They get into a frenzy once you catch a few it gets hard to even drop the spoon so apply a little thumb on the drop because when they get going it's like fishing for piranha's.and the line will just stop 10 feet down....your on....swing! The yo yo works best after they go off the vertical ...on this morning around 10:00. It seemed the shade the point I was fishing helped me catch fish longer than normal without having to go any where.,

Thursday, October 26th, 2023

  • California
    • By

      Water Temp: 69

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Crappy fishing. I’ll leave it at that.

      Tips: Go somewhere else.

Friday, October 13th, 2023

  • Solano County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 68-70

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Usual early start from Paradise in the dark; idled on down Disappointment to our usual starting spot; couple of blowups on plopper and popper but nothing pinned. When daybreak came, the bite window opened up... this time out, not as many dinks or 10-12"ers but a few. Probably 90% boated were keeper size up to 2.5 lbs and were upchuckin' white baitfish so we stayed with shad colored shallow cranks (white w/blue or blk back), ploppers and poppers. Buddy also caught a few on ned/TRD; Ended early cuz I forgot my cellphone in the truck and headed in to get it. Out of the water by 11am. Nice early start back home, we like it that way.

      Tips: As always, not qualified to give tips... but here's what worked for us today:
      - Shad colored shallow cranks (squarebills, Hybrid Hunter, R2S Biggie)
      - Whopper Plopper and Choppo in 110 size - changed colors from usual Blk / Loon to translucent (Abalone and Ghost Bluegill)
      - R2S Bubble Walker - Powder
      - Dropshot with 6" Margarita Mutilator
      - Ned / TRD - Green Pumpkin, Roboworm - Desert Craw

Saturday, October 7th, 2023

  • Ventura County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Nothing to report that matters. You can still catch small bass on anything and everything you throw. The water temp is warm but given 95 to 100 degree days lately the surface is warm. Their are acres of 7-9 inch bass to be found boiling offshore near shore anywhere they can push the shad up. I threw a big deep diving crank for a lot of my day. At anchor lock after about twenty casts I'd see all the fish that followed my bait sitting in a ball under the boat. If I dropped a 3/4 oz. chrome hopkins spoon through them their would be a mad dash made by the whole pack. I see a lot of bait in 25 -30. I know an a-rig is off the hook now. If you can afford the keitechs it costs it would most likely lead you to at least one legal sized bass. I had two legal fish in the week prior throwing a deep crank ( 16-20' ) in a mint green type of color. I have a Dobyn's lv 500 with that same coloring and I could throw 360 around the point I started on and catch fish on a deep yo yo type retrieve. No Keepers on this trip. If the fish I am catching were legal in size I wouldn't be as worried about the fishery. The ecosystem is broken right now and might be years in becoming a stable fishery again as it requires luck or extremely expensive electronics or both to manage a keeper sized fish. If I had fished in my swimming pool for the last 4 months my catch ratio for a legal largemouth would statistically be about the same.

      Tips: If you aren't an adept fisherman or have little confidence in your skills you need to come to Casitas and learn how to catch bass on these little fish. Everything that works on them will work on Bigger fish...we just don't have numbers of large fish in the lake anymore but you can learn the basics off of them.

Tuesday, October 3rd, 2023

  • Solano County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 68

      Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

      Report: Launched zero dark thirty at Paradise, low incoming tide; hate casting in the dark so just worked dropshot along Disappointment tules and rock wall. Picked up a few 10"-12"ers as we waited for daybreak. As our eyes got adjusted to the dark and oncoming daybreak light, started throwing black Choppo 90 and Plopper 75 in white. Again, a few 10" - 12"ers; Did get one big splash heavy puller but got unpinned a couple secs after reeling, dang, never even got to see it. Worked our way to usual spots; managed a couple 1lb to 1.5lbers on craw and shad (white) colored squarebills (Little John and Frittside). Crankin' slowed to zip as we moved from spot to spot. As we moved around, we'd pick up only a couple and had to keep moving around. Eventually went back to our starting spot since the tide was now higher. Picked up a couple of 1.5 lbers on 6" weightless t-rigged Senkos. Boated nothing over 1.5 lbs. Had the one possible "big one" but came unpinned. Off the water by noon.

      Tips: Never qualified to give tips but here's what put put fish on our hooks:
      Craw colored squarebill - Little John
      White and shad colored squarebill - Frittside 5
      6" T-rigged weightless Senko topped with skirt cut from hula grub and a red bead pegged with a bobbert stop above the skirt; looked weird but it caught some fish.
      Choppo 90 - black
      Whopper Plopper 75 - white
      Ned head with MMIII 6" worm
      Oh, one tip I can give: Check out Steve Cooper's latest In Deep vid; always very informative... some of it we experienced today (the part about not catching as many as we did previous weeks but we didn't really figure out their transition) ...his vid would've helped us!

Sunday, October 1st, 2023

  • Lake County, California
    • By

      Report: First, Clear Lake is amazing fishing! The big fish are biting, and anglers are catching. Matthew Brannon wins with an impressive 5 fish limit going 104.00” This is a 26.5 lb. 5 fish limit out of a kayak. Matthew Brannon’s game plan and execution helped him win the first Sandbaggers tournament. Brannon launched north and fished docks with grass and in 3 to 4 feet of water.“Everything I caught was on a chatter bait.” said Brannon, “I only caught 9 bass for the 21 hours of fishing but caught around 20 catfish.”“I was throwing an ½ ounce Jack Hammer in Bret's Hot Craw paired with Kickin Zacko in blue craw.” said Brannon, “Seemed like the paddle tail worked better than the forked tail trailer.”Brannon observed that the fish had moved from the deep rock piles towards the bank. It seemed the fish followed the bait that had moved shallow.“A month ago, I caught them good on offshore rock piles but couldn’t get a bite.” said Brannon, “I never got a bite out deep, so I just went shallow and found them.”“The key to get my bites was to slow roll the chatter bait as slow as I could.”Brannon would hear the bass popping in the back of the cover near the shore and would use several different lures but never got a bite.“I went all the way to Rodman Slough and found some great looking structure.” said Brannon, “Everything looked so good, but the fish were only in a few very specific locations.”Brannon practiced south lake but had found the better fish were on the north end.

      Portion of the Clear Lake Event Write Up here: https://www.westernbass.com/forum/matthew-brannon-wins-yak-bass-sandbaggers-clear-lake-t144360.html

Friday, September 22nd, 2023

  • Solano County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 68-69

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Launched early at Paradise. Low outgoing and bottomed out at 7am, then incoming, but water was colder and very low. Idled down to our usual spots and waited for daybreak. Threw topwater (Plopppers, Choppos, frog) and managed a few juveniles but no keeper size. Water was 68 degrees and ambient air was much cooler than it's been. Was wondering if this might affect the bite (windows). Long and short of it is that despite all the positive reports, we only caught 3 keeper size and many many 8-12"ers on ploppers. A couple on dropshot, a couple on stick worms, nothing on Ned, a few on squarebill cranks in shad, pumpkinseed (Livetarget), and flatside craws. All of our favorite spots were not producing. Chatted with a couple other guys in bass boats and they said same; speculated the cooled weather change and dropped water temp may have locked their jaws. By 10am, I was still alternating and throwing a plopper 90 and squarebill and hooking up with 11"-13"ers and only a couple that were 14"+, but far and few between. It was not the hotcakes all the youtube reports are pushing, but I'm not doubting them, today was just not like it's been the past couple weeks. Maybe it's US and where/how we chose to fish.... I wouldn't doubt that one bit. Still had fun catching the ones we did, but was expecting a better day based on previous reports....always our luck we go out when weather/water temps or something drastically changes; well, that's just my theory. Off the water by noon and glad of it!! Oh, and we did see spraying on Disappointment just outside of King's. Everywhere we fished, there were A LOT of floating hyacinth mats in varying sizes, some 10-12 yds in diameter or larger, some just 3-5 feet diameter. Oh well.

      Tips: Not qualified to even breathe a tip, but here's what put fish on the hook for us: Ploppers and Choppos in 60, 75, 90, and 110 sizes. Nothing on the frog. Livetarget Pumpkinseed (matte) squarebill; nothing on red craw. Dropshot MMIII and Morning Dawn.
      Stuff we tried but no takers: chatterbait, spinnerbait, misc plastics. Water seemed colder than usual and I never took off my sweatpants over my shorts... I just felt like the cooler ambient and water temp locked their jaws and I'll bet the afternoon bite probably will turn on; we can only fish the mornings til noon. Oh well.

Thursday, September 21st, 2023

  • Amador County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: NA

      Report: More of a heads up than a report
      Went to Pardee this morning 9/21/2023 and got to the gate @ 6 am . Gate was closed and no one in the Kiosk .
      They had a sign on a traffic barricade in the entrance at the Kiosk that said lake was closed and would reopen next February ?
      I pulled into the entrance before I noticed the sign so I had to back out my boat up onto Stoney Creek road into traffic to
      get out and turn around .

Tuesday, September 19th, 2023

  • Lake County, California
    • By

      Report: by On The Water Guide Service » Tue Sep 19, 2023 10:29 am

      As summer is coming to an end and fall is just around the corner, Clearlake is starting to transition with cooler over night temps and slightly cooler water temps. Water temps right now range from the low 70's in the morning to mid to high 70's by afternoon. Water clarity is just perfect with about one foot of visibility and a nice army green color in most areas. The water level is relatively high for this time of year with a reading of 2.85 on the Rumsey gauge. What a strangely mild summer we had this year with not many super hot days. The summer bite was decent but the topwater bite kind of sucked for the most part. I couldn't hardly buy a bite on the whopper Plopper this summer while last year they were cartwheeling on the darn thing. We did catch some Rico fish and some on the frog this summer but not a whole lot.

      The good news is that the bite is finally showing signs of improvement and that's because the cooling water temps has the bait fish heading towards the shore and the bass are actively feeding. The reaction bite is all about first thing in the morning to about 10am and slows down after that. One of the more productive patterns for mid lake and south has been throwing lipless cranks and square bill cranks on a rocky bottom in pretty shallow water of 1' to 10' deep. I have had good success on both shad and crawfish pattern colors. The key is to keep your head down, cover water and just crank down a rocky shoreline and you will catch fish. I have been using the LV500 in the lipless and the strike King KVD 1.5 or the LC BDS-4 in the square bill.

      The north end is finally starting to kick out some fish on shad pattern chatterbaits and spinner baits. The key up north is to target shallow and offshore
      weed clumps with your baits and make your retrieve thru the small lanes and openings in the grass. I have been doing well on the 1/2oz Zman jack hammer chatter bait with a Missle Baits Spunk Shad 5.5 trailer which I throw on 40# straight braid. Don't be surprised if you get the rod jerked out of your arm from a giant catfish from time to time as they are feeding up shallow and hitting bass lures like crazy.

      After the morning reaction bite is over I have been switching over to skipping a 5" whacky rigged Senko under the shade of the docks and picking up a few fish that way. Also a Texas rigged 6" Senko has been good on the tule edges and tule shelves. I would imagine there would be a good mid day punch bite also happening on the weed mats but I haven't tried it much myself. There is a decent jig bite deep at Henderson point and some of the offshore rock piles in the rattlesnake arm mid day and afternoon. I have noticed two things that are happening lately when the bite is really good. One is that I can see the bait flicking at the surface and around the cover and two is that there is a slight breeze coming out of the west. If these two things are happening, they are putting on the feed bag. If it is dead calm or the wind is coming out of the East, not so much.


      Good fishing and please do your part to protect the resource.


      Troy Bellah

Saturday, September 16th, 2023

  • Solano County, California
    • By

      Report: by ILW » Sat Sep 16, 2023 1:08 am

      Was on the river couple days this week. Spent 2 days on the East Delta fished it all, :shock: :shock: White's and Disappointment and 14 mile and everything connected. Disappointment has been heavily sprayed but stil caught a few small fish on worms on the breaks with current pushing on them.

      Got into White/s and found some super clear water with bluegill everywhere. Started punching isolated mats. Out of the 12 mats I punched I only got bit out of 1. I don’t understand?

      I threw a buzzbait and ChatterBait all around and nothing. It was the best looking water I’ve seen with crunchy hydrilla and good clean water. So I thought okay I’ll have to slow down. So I did and picked up the ol Delta faithful Texas rigged Trick Worm. I started throwing it and pulling it through to the edge of the weedline and caught about 10 non keepers. So I went over to 14 mile and picked up a red crankbait. I went to work and once again it was a dink fest. I found a grass line and started flipping it. I caught 2 on a D-Bomb in Candy Grass. I’m not sure but I’m hoping this cooler weather and shorter days will make the fall bite come in better. I guess I will try again today.

  • Ventura County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 78-81

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Lake is closed to boating on these dates:
      Since everything is a frick'n secret at this lake I found out the hard way this morning that the lake was closed to boating today. The guy in front of me drove 3 hours one direction for the bad news I only went 6 miles round trip. He towed the boat 6 hours round trip for nothing. Ka-ching costly but they never said jack about it. The info is taped to a window you drive past to have your boat's transom available to the staff.It was never distributed to the locked in boaters.
      The Lake is closed on these dates:
      Sept 16
      Sept 29 until noon
      Oct. 4
      Oct. 14
      Oct. 27
      Nov. 2
      This is due to the fact that there is a cross country race course involving the roads and the launch ramp at Coyote Creek with high school kids and parents everywhere.Some more of the excellent and brilliant work by staff and management.

Monday, September 11th, 2023

  • Solano County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 71-73

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Been fishing central delta lately. Fishing by 530am and the top water bite has been picking up every week for me and clients. The choppo had been my number one producer however the bubble walker has been excelling lately. I have been targeting vast flats with water depths in the 2 to 6 foot range. Vegetation growth that extends out further then the rest of growth creating points have been getting blown up. When the grass is to thick to throw baits with treble hooks i have been throwing a double buzz bait. Then later in the day frogs on cheese mats have been catching fish.
      Once the sun is up I have been targeting shade banks and feel like I can keep the top water bite going longer by targeting shade. I have found low tide to be best for punching mats. Rotten tomato d bombs been working well. Low incoming tide has been best tide for me as of late. Usually I will be fishing outside weed lines with plastic baits.
      My boat motor is good and going if anyone is interested in getting out send me a message. I'm booked up next 2 weekends but have plenty of week days open. I will be doing striper trips last week of the month.

      Tips: Have a fluke tied on when you miss a blow up.

Monday, September 4th, 2023

  • Solano County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 71-74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: Started early; topwater worked using Choppo 90 and buddy was killin' em on Whopper Plopper 60. Nothing truly sizeable but managed a few 1.5 - 2.5lbers. Very slow crank bite but did boat a couple 2lbers. Also managed many juveniles to 1lbers on ned and dropshot; nothing on wacky senko. Boat started taking water in the bilge so ended early at 1030am. I think my fwd livewell has a crack or leak somewhere in the line because it had water in it through the drain and I NEVER use my fwd livewell. Lots of troubleshooting ahead.

      Tips: As always, not qualified to give tips. Here's what worked: Choppo 90 - Maverick; Plopper 60 - Loon; Ned - Desert Craw on 1/8 oz shroom; dropshot - 6" roboworm MMIII & Morning Dawn. Squarebill crank in brown craw/orange belly.

Friday, September 1st, 2023

  • Butte County, California
    • By

      Water Temp: 73/74

      Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

      Report: We fished Oroville yesterday and it was great to see the lake this full for this time of year. Wind blew and cloudy almost all day. Marked bait fish all over the place, mostly in the 15 to 25 ft depth range, everywhere we went. Bites were almost non existent but we did put three fish in the boat. Best was 16". Texas rigs, darter head rigs, ned rigs, drop shot, crawdad imitators, Kieteks, whacky senko's - - - - - ! We were glad to be on the water but the fishing sucked.

Tuesday, August 29th, 2023

  • Tuolumne County, California
    • By

      Report: Post by Xperience Fishing » Tue Aug 29, 2023 9:38 am

      With the recent sweltering heat, you would think that it was time to take a break from the lakes? Well, that’s not the case. We are still out there catching fish, and some big ones too. Summertime swimbaits, ripping reaction and flipping finesse.

      DON PEDRO

      Water temperature: 78-82
      Water clarity: good, some stain from boat traffic

      This body of water has been one of the most consistent throughout the year given the major influx of water in all of our Mother Lode reservoirs. And, is where we have been catching our best quality fish. Some topwater, good finesse for size and numbers and an occasional giant bite for the swimbait tossing.

      Getting an early start is very important during the warmer months. Each morning we offer topwater, walking baits and ploppers. As the sun comes up switching to finesse has been a good choice. Wacky rigged stick baits, tubes and Texas rigs are a good selection. Once the wind starts to blow a crankbait or spinnerbait can do the trick.

      And, for those looking for a big swimbait bite, that is all to toss for the trip. We are looking for one big bite. If you stick with it you have a chance for a big one!

      Berah McSwain landed a 9-pound GIANT while tossing a trout patterned swimbait on an evening half day.

      I’m currently offering half day mornings and evenings when we are seeing triple-digits. For those who want to learn the gill-glidebaits, over-sized topwater swimbaits, and others? Now is as good of time as any.

      For those interested in just catching fish, we can offer a full breakdown on bass theory, bait selections and more.

      Seasonal tips:
      Look for stained water (mudlines) created by boating traffic. Bass will use the low visibility to hunt. Baits that rattle, vibrate or flash work best.

      Best time to go fishing is anytime you can!

      Thanks

      Xperience Fishing Guide Service
      John Liechty
      Dan Liechty
      (209) 743-9932
      xperiencefishing@yahoo.com

      https://xperiencefishing.net/