Fishing Report
Friday, August 18th, 2023
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California Delta
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Water Temp: 76
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Launched early at Paradise; lots of kayak tourney guys prepping; pretty windy at 5am. Went down to main channel areas, oxbows. Nothing on topwater (poppers, frogs). Brother and buddy were getting bit on plastics. I was hoping for reaction throwing 1.5 and 2.5 cranks, spinnerbait and bladed jig. They liked the squarebills; 2.5 got more bites overall. Lots of 10-13"ers, only a couple 2lbers and one 3lber. We worked rock walls in Little Connection/Little Potato, purposely stayed away from more popular areas not to bother the tourney guys. Late morning we were gonna call an early day due to old-guy soreness (back, shoulders). Moved up Disappointment to fish closer to the ramp. Worked rockwall, nothing much on reaction but plenty on plastics, again mostly 12-13"ers. Largest boated today was a couple 2lbers and a 3lber. Off the water by noon, decent day, just fun fishin' and catchin', not carin' about size, just fun gettin' bit and fish on the hook. Spoke with one kayak tourney guy at the ramp who had nice catch lengths (largest 21") and he was headin' back out to cull a 13"er. Wished him luck and I bet he placed well. Kayakers are dang good bassers!
Tips: As always, not qualified to give tips but here's what worked for us: Squarebills 1.5 and 2.5 in red craw and green tomato (red craw with chartreuse belly); red craw spinnerbait and bladed jig w/orange trailers; Plastics: 5" & 6" senkos, grn pumpkin and junebug. Yamatanuki, grn pumpkin/blue. Ned rig: desert craw (Roboworm). Decent fun on a moderately windy day.
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Sunday, July 16th, 2023
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Casitas Lake
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Water Temp: 78-83
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: I hear it's bad up and down the state and then I Saw The Casitas results and they are consistent with what I am now experiencing. I fished all day two days prior from 5:30 launch time until I gladly pulled off at 4;00. The main obstacle as I see it is the fact from 42 feet deep to the bank has submerged growth on steroids. There might be 5 feet of clearance surface to top of structure in some area that grew prior to going from 29% to 73% .
At first light pretty much everywhere there is water you will see 1 inch to 4 inch bass fry flying through the air. If you had the notion you could catch bass fry with ease all day long. Our temperature jumped 5 degrees in the last 2 weeks. It was 83 when I left main lake for home. I am told that there is still a red ear and bluegill bite going on.
In the last 3 weekly trips I have taken. I have managed two fish on the first trip two days before the last full moon. I had 5+ pounds and had no idea that was killer as I was off the water for 5 weeks with two broken ribs prior to this trip(Hope your feeling better WRB!) I had to go down to a 2.8 keiteck on my bladed hook. And caught them on windswept main lake points. Then the wheels fell off the cart.
I have a fairly vast amount of tackle and options x 10 so the next two educated blanks= 20 hours on the water with absolutely not a tap or more importantly a follower I am very perplexed.
I have found bass fry all the way down to about 35. I have spawning/active bluegill/redear. I have threadfin in 15-30.
I don't have any type of reaction bite going on. I cannot buy a fish on plastics in any form except...The Small Keiteck. I have not been rewarded with the same thing in any larger size. I have only seen one fish in 30 hours on the water silhouetted in the bright green slime that has coated the entirety of the shallow structure.
Things I wish I could do are flat out overridden by the facts of the fishery. For example there isn't anyway to throw a big ol' crank. If it's not a squarebill you'll be using a plug knocker. For Me the keitech was the answer once I found the right combo of bladed hook for my swimbait. But it certainly does not explain … the zero's. I have fished the shallows top to bottom for zip. I won't bother you with all the different techniques or baits. Yes, I tried it/that/those/there.
I don't have bells and whistles for electronics but I have enough to see enough to just flat shrug as to what I need to be looking for. I have gone down many rabbit holes when it comes to the fishes diet for naught.
All that being said I was surprised that the ABA tournament wasn't a night thing because my next trips will be from noon until 7:45 to find out if the evening mud lines are where I need to be. I hope it's that simple but I doubt it. Beyond a doubt the toughest summer bite in my life.
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Friday, July 14th, 2023
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California Delta
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Water Temp: 77
Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)
Report: Hi all, Launched at Lazy M on Thursday at low tide. Threw my frog on mats in Italian Slough and got 1 blowup, so headed on out to Old River and did some punching on some favorite spots with nothing to show. Shot up to Mildred to check some spots out and managed a couple 1's and 2's on a spinnerbait. Flew up to Frank's and hit thulies and structure for some more of the same. It was windy and white capping, so decided to check Disco Bay to finish my day. Nothing going on there for me. The water up north is much better than the dirty water down south for me, and seems to be a bit warmer water as well. Also the incoming seemed to be much better than the outgoing tide. Good Luck to everyone !!!
Tips: Have fun, and remember to enjoy yourself !!
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Friday, July 7th, 2023
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California Delta
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Water Temp: 72
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Launched Paradise, very calm early morning incoming tide; ran down to some oxbows off San Joaquin; topwater was decent, several juvenile blowups and managed 3 keepers on Yo-zuri 3DB 110 Pencil Popper (bone) and R2S Bubblewalker (loon). Red craw squarebill and underspin pulled lots of 10"ers and 1lbers; ran to central delta and fished 3-6 ft sparse tules and tule points; nothing on spinnerbait but I think that's just me and how I was fishing it. Nothing on punch but got some good practice pitching it; Changed to squarebill crank, underspin, and bladed jig and managed a few 1 and 2lbers... 2lb 12oz largest of the day. That's ok, we don't fish tourneys so anything on the hook is always fun.
Tips: Not qualified to give tips but here's what worked for us: 4.5" pencil popper in bone walk/pause/walk pause. Bubblewalker- pop pop pause; Red craw Frittside 5 slow retrieve to barely nip the vegetation. 3.8" Keitech and horny toad on 3/16oz underspin. Ned, Senko, and Yamatanuki also brought in a few but not red hot. Back at Paradise, one guy told me spinnerbait was his main catcher. Anyways, seems to be getting better.
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Thursday, June 29th, 2023
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Casitas Lake
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Water Temp: 72-75
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Having missed 5 weeks with some broken ribs I finally got back on the water. I heard it was tough so I went out and junk fished all day long. My conclusion is it's tough. I caught some fish (2) on small keitechs. Unless the water gets warmer the fish are going to continue being tough. I saw two fish over 5 pounds. One where it should have been and the other definitely lost. The 3 inch bass are thick as ticks and may constitute some sort of pattern but so far no real pattern other than the fishing picked up with the wind. No reaction to any topwater and it was 2 days before the full moon. I found a 3 inch bass with a shad stuck in it's mouth. I poked them with a rod tip and nothing moved after a minute or two I saw the gill on the bass almost imperceptibly move. I punched anchor lock and pulled the shad out of the bass and it just floated and the shad was dead. I cradled the bass in my hand for a few minutes until it had stopped floating and I watched it swim away a few minutes later...7 years from now that fish owes me a little thrill before I let him go just like that first time. I might have to tinker with a very small downshot rig but on this day it was for eliminating all the stuff that wasn't working which was just about anything I threw. Water seems dead and I saw shad in shallow but nothing in the shallows with it.
Tips: observation: with 3 inch fish able to catch and eat shad Casitas fishing should get better over the next few years. Not trout eaters but healthier anyway.
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Friday, June 16th, 2023
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California Delta
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Water Temp: 68
Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)
Report: Launched early at Paradise. Pretty windy at the ramp. Ran down to some usual haunts just off main San Joaquin channel. Water was 68deg everywhere in that area. We got off the main channel to some fairly protected oxbow rock walls so my boat wouldn't get blown so much. Decided to test the topwater so tied on a Zara Spook Jr. in chartreuse w/black head. 2nd cast got a blowup, 17" striper, dang, thought it was a nice bass. After releasing, threw to the same spot and bang, another 17" striper. I checked to make sure it wasn't the same one I already caught, I don't believe it was. Got a couple more bass blowups along the tules but nothing keeper size. Tried crankin' and picked up more juveniles (bass). As we moved to various locations, my brother and other buddy picked up a few on ned and neko. I tried the Yamatanuki but it just wasn't happenin' today, nor my t-rigged 6" senko. I guess I wasn't choosin' the right spots to throw. Ran up to White Slough and found some fairly clear water in a back slough at 73deg. Threw craw colored Little John and caught 3 small keepers. Buddy picked up 3 on LiveTarget pumpkinseed squarebill and lost something sizeable that took drag immediately. We were in 5-7 feet and could touch weed/grass tops at about 3-4ft down. Brother picked up a few more on ned and wacky senko but nothing big. Called it a day pretty early (around 10:30); Said hello to Steve Cooper/In Deep On the Delta. Hey Sugarwhite, thanx for the positive comment!
Tips: As always, I'm not really qualified to give tips, but I'll share what worked for us. My Spook Jr (3.5") walked not too agressively (light rod twitches) seemed to work early morning along tule edges. It was a plastics day for my brother and buddy using ned and neko in junebug and green pumpkin. My plastics (Yamatanuki and 6" t-rigged senko in green pumpkin/blue flake) didn't draw any bites like they did last week. On my t-rig Senko, I was throwin' it out and just reeling it slowly through the weeds with rod tip pointed at it, not using my rod action at all. Bite would come as it it would hang up, then break free. Picked that technique up from one of Steve C's "In Deep ... " vids. It worked great last week, landing me a 2 and a 4 lber. This week, no such luck. As for cranks, shallow diving Spro Little John 50 squarebill in Western Craw worked slowly on with my rod tip high so I could just nip the weed tops. My buddy was using a LiveTarget Pumpkinseed squarebill but he was holding a low rod tip and driving it into the vegetation, then getting bit as he snapped it out. He's good at it, but me, not so good. Well anyways, that's what worked for us.
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Wednesday, June 14th, 2023
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Camanche Lake
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Report: by StanL » Wed Jun 14, 2023 10:44 am
The top water bite has been really good in the middle of the day with whopper plopper, and walking baits and screwballs have also been good all day long with a 2.8 Keitech Ned has been working. Also, hope this helps. Good luck Fishing.
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Saturday, June 10th, 2023
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California Delta
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Water Temp: 72
Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)
Report: Hi all, I launched at Paradise And started fishing around the dock and slips. Caught a couple of dinks, so off I went to find some dirty water. The water at paradise is gin clear, and the fish could see me before I saw them. Hit whites and got a couple frog fish, which was nice. Went to Garlic Bros. and couldn't get anything. Did see fry in a few spots. Nothing big to speak of yet. But summer just started, so I'm going to be patient. I saw a picture of Ish that pumped me up. They are there !!!
Sug out.
P.S. Miss ya Deep V...post. Thanks !
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Friday, June 2nd, 2023
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Black Butte Lake
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Water Temp: 72
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Once again the Family spent Memorial weekend out at Black Butte in Buckhorn Camp Ground. This year the lake was completely full (which is rarely the case over the past 8+ years). The waster clarity was well over 6 feet deep. The winds pickup almost every afternoon and blew into the early evening. Fishing was great at the Dam and Fisherman's cove. Spent the first morning up in Stoney Creek area with zero fish in the boat. Water was much colder there with snow run-off still entering the lake. Bass could be found in the main lake at 10 - 20 feet of water around structure and the dam spillway. We even brought in 5+ large bluegill attacking our shad imitation lures. Keitechs as well as smaller broken-back rapalas were bringing them in the boat. Over the 2 days fished, we brought in 35+ into the boat. Even took the family to the West end of the lake to try our luck at bow-fishing carp. We took many shots but the carp were swimming at 3+ feet down and were hard to hit.
Still a fun weekend with family unity, great food and fishing as well.Tips: Take a child fishing, they will remember it for a lifetime!
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Tuesday, May 9th, 2023
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Castaic Lake
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Report: by callwakeup » Tue May 09, 2023 4:45 pm
fished Castaic today for the 1st time this year. For me the bite was moderate and all fish caught in 15 to 20' and the bait needed to be glued to the bottom with the slowest crawl.
I didnt see any fish up shallow and no signs of beds. My question -- did the spawn here already occur and the bulk is done - or did all this cold rain and new water push the spawn back and it hasn't really started yet?
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Sunday, April 23rd, 2023
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Berryessa Lake
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Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Posted many reports here pre 2005. Living in Oregon since then. Used to fish Won Bass from 2001-2004- Berryessa and Clear Lake. Making yearly Napa trip mid June to visit family- looking for numbers, not giants! What would you guys toss?? Any current tips appreciated! Come on Napa Steve and Skandy35- help a fishing brother out! PS- I really miss Lake Hennessey and Black Butte- two of my favorite lakes ever. I fish Cottage Grove Lake, Dorena Lake, Tenmile Lake, Cooper Creek Reservoir, Loon Lake and Siltcoos (once) here in Oregon.
Tips: I'd love some!
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Friday, April 21st, 2023
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Shasta Lake
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Report: by BASNFAN » Fri Apr 21, 2023 6:45 pm
I took my cousin Charlie up to Shasta and we fished 3 1/2 days beginning on Monday the 17th. A couple of good showers that afternoon but very cold day with best water temp at about 52 degrees. It warmed a little each day (air temp and H2O temp). By Thursday PM, we found some water temps up to 57. Fishing was great but the catching sucked. In the 3 1/2 days, we only put 8 bass and one 17 inch trout in the boat. Biggest bass was just 15 1/2 inches. Might have done better but I am not the greatest deep water fisherman. We did mark lots of fish in the 10 to 20 ft range and got quite a few bites but for the most part, they would just not hook up. Our neighbor at the cabins with his big, beautiful bass boat only caught 2 bass on Thursday so I don't feel so bad. The lake is now only about 9 feet from full pool.
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Monday, April 17th, 2023
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Casitas Lake
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Water Temp: 63-67
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Fish are on beds or roaming the banks from one end of the lake to another. I recommend a 5" senko with a weedless wacky hook. The fish are in 2-10 feet of water...They like it dead sticked or on the initial fall. Size from 2 1/2 to 3 pounds on average. What ever you fish think weedless. When hooked grind them straight to the boat...don't "play" them. Don't give them a chance to turn into the brush or you'll regret it....I am using 10 braid with 12 fluorocarbon and a #1 Owner jungle wacky hook. My usual is 10/10 but I bumped the leader because of the brush. It should be good for a month at least.
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Sunday, April 2nd, 2023
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Don Pedro Lake
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Water Temp: 51
Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)
Report: Very hard bass fishing this weekend, fished points on main lake, coves behind islang. Drug carolina brush hogs,jigs, drop shot, A-rib, and drop shot. Spent most of the time draggin and keeping jigs onbottom, casted up to bank and worked baits from boat, 20' from shore. Fishsed water, 20' or less. Used the drift when possible to present slowly. Ended up with one bite, was absolutely defeated as this lake and most of the motherlode lakes are on fire and bass are up to banks taking every variety of bait Someone tell me the did better than I! LOL
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Monday, March 27th, 2023
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Clear Lake
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Water Temp: 52-55
Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)
Report: Took a couple of clients out in-between storms March 15-18th, and have been out solo several times since then. Had one client score a 7 pound fish, the other client with a solid limit ranging from 3.5 pounds to one 6 pounder.
Water levels have risen and have topped out around 8 ft Rumsey. What a difference from the grim outlook we were facing back in the Fall.
Water clarity has been highly variable depending on creek flows and where the winds blow all the silt and debris. March 15-18 we had this odd easterly wind that was turned the north end into a mud bath, so we stayed either mid lake or down south. After that things settled down and clarity was maybe 1-2 feet and more of the usual dark stained color.
On my own, I have been fishing State Park all the way to Lakeport, focusing on creek outlets and known areas outside of spawning flats. Compared to this time last year, the bite is significantly better and I’m finding more of that “normal” pre-spawn pattern happening around the lake.Tips: Most of our fish came on crankbaits and bladed jigs in shades of red. LV500s and jerkbaits have been decent in cleaner water. I've gotten a few fish to commit to a glide bait, although the bites have been more selective and infrequent. If you’re into fishing big swimbaits, now is the time more than ever.
Watch out for debris. I've encountered a few good size logs and branches floating around the main lake - some that I definitely would not want to hit with considerable speed.
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New Melones Lake
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Water Temp: 49-52
Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)
Report: Mainly fished carson creek and soldier gulch. Got 5 for just under 10 lbs. Dragging jigs and ned baits 20-25 ft. Largest fish 3.7 lbs was taken on weightless senko. Talked to a couple guys at the end of the day that said they had success with A-rigs, crankbaits and float & fly.
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Sunday, March 26th, 2023
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New Melones Lake
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Water Temp: 50
Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)
Report: Cold and wind
Tips: Jigs
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Thursday, March 2nd, 2023
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Casitas Lake
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Report: by Kelly Ripa » Wed Mar 01, 2023 1:14 pm
31" inches in downtown Ojai.....Pretty impressive amount of water has come down in the canyon that is diverted to Casitas Lake. It makes me wonder how much fell in the March Miracle in years past. I lived here then but don't remember the specifics that filled both Cachuma and Casitas in 10 days. I had 7 1/4" just the other day so I took a trip to Casitas to check it out. I think I'll work on my garden full time until they get the marina together. zero docks to tie to once you launch as they have bathrooms and boats tied up willie nilly and the main courtesy dock was in two pieces and not connected to the bank. From what I observed on that day. Nothing is being done to give us any kind of quality to the launch ramp and it's use. They have covered their hienies by saying you boat and launch at your own risk. Just driving down the usually submerged 70 years old pothole filled excuse for a road is going to break my bunks. I don't have my old champ with shocks on the trailer and I suppose some environmentalist would have a fit if one load of gravel was used to make the task less punishing to boats and trailers in the potholes of that road. I could not get anything official but it looks like another 5 feet on top of the 20 from three weeks ago. I'm all for a March Miracle as we aren't even at 50% now. The good news is technically the submerged island is now an island again.
Rip
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Monday, February 27th, 2023
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McClure Lake
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Report: by basstrophy » Mon Feb 27, 2023 8:39 pm
Slay Nations season opener at Lake McClure saw 40 anglers brave the chilly windy conditions. The air temperature was in the high 30’s to low 40’s with overcast skies, the water temperature ranged from 47 to 48 degrees, wind was calm early but blew from 10 to 15 mph later in the day. Lake McClure was stingy for most, but Max Lee found the right combination for an incredible 86.25”, besting second place by 1.5”.
In Max Lee’s own words, "Going into this event I had no expectations; this was my first time on McClure Lake along with no practice. I have practiced on Pine Flat Lake which is also a highland reservoir with spotted bass. I had previously patterned the lake and gained confidence on a 3.3 fat impact swimbait with a 3/16th ball headed jig. On tournament day, the original game plan was to make the run into temperance arm. However, after realizing that fishing started as soon as we launched. I decided to fish around the boat ramp, I started in the back of a cove and found no success. I had previously done my map study and knew of high spots and points on the island south of the launch area. I figured with the water being slightly stained and the wind blowing, there was going to be some kind of bladed lure bite. I had confidence in a ball-headed Keitech, so I thought why not throw an A-rig with multiple swimmers. Upon reviewing my footage, I realized there were a few key things to trigger a bite. Crawling the rig as close to the bottom as possible, Fishing in less than 20 feet of water, casting into the wind and bringing the rig in with the wind. My first bite came on the wind protected side of a chunk rock point. The next bite came on a wind-blown chunk rock wall, I had gotten hung up and went to pop my rig loose and he ate it as I was reeling up. I continued to cover water and ran around the entire island for no more bites. My next bite was 100 yards North of the first bite on a slow tapering rock point that had a hard clay transition. That was the big fish of the day. I continued down the stretch of bank until I got to the area where I had gotten my 2nd bite of the day. With no bites I decided to double back and fish into the wind on the main lake side of the island. My 4th bite came on the northern point of the Island. I made the cast to shore on a boulder and was bit before it made it to the bottom. I fished into the wind 300 yards for no bites and was running out of boulders to cast at. I decided to make a run straight across the lake to a creek runoff area. I made one cast on the boulders on the shoreline and got my 5th bite. I would like to thank my friends and family for the support and encouragement they gave me. Along with the fellow anglers that I fish with and compete against. I appreciate and love the amount of passion and commitment my fellow peers and mentors have for fishing."
Damian Thao came in second place with 84.75”. Thao started the morning off with a spinnerbait fish with in the first 5 cast of the day. He fished shallow all day long in the 5-to-10-foot range. He caught fish on a drop-shot Robo worm 6” straight tail Oxblood that attributed a few good keepers. The key to his better fish were secondary points with flats that had grass. He used his Garmin Panoptix to find the fish moving shallow and would cast to them. He rotated a few key locations and was able to catch bigger fish in the afternoon. Damian thanked his sponsors Wild West Bass Trail, Garmin, Power Pole, Duo Realis, LA Custom Jigs, TM Custom Lures, P-Line, 1st. Gen Fishing, and Kayak City. Thao displayed his appreciation to Dave Nunes with Slay Nation for putting on this event.
David Morris, one of the greatest people one can meet, finished in 3rd place with 80.50”. Morris caught all his fish on a wacky rigged 297 Senko in the 5” size. He went upriver and fished 7-to-15 feet deep on rocks catching 12 fish throughout the day. Morris thanked his wonderful wife for all her support in making his fishing possible.
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Pardee Lake
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Water Temp: 46.9
Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)
Report: Went as far up river as I could go to catch fish. Caught some decent ones but Camanche was way better. Ended up catching a 6lber at camanche along with some healthy spots.
Tips: Fish slow on the bottom with jigs
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