By: The Fish Sniffer Staff March 2, 2007 Last Issue Flipping swim baits for stripers from a delta bank on a gloomy, cold, rainy January day and the only fish I caught all day was this largemouth. No complaining one bit after landing this one. Slow retrieve did the trick, at first I though I had a decent size striper and was not too exited but quickly saw it was a nice sized largemouth that put up a good fight even for how cold it was. Do not know how much it weighed but wanted to get it released quickly. Thanks, Mark Malliot, Tracy, Ca.

SHASTA
Tony Messer described the recent bass fishing as “good and improving.” “We had a tournament out here last week and we saw a lot more 2 pound bass then we had been seeing. Overall, most anglers are hooking from 20 to 30 bass per day with the largest fish going about 2.5 pounds.”

“Plastics are still the hottest baits going. Wacky-rigged Senkos in the natural shad color and color 176 are working well as are Mother’s Finest worms in colors 38 and 39 or Robo Worms in the purple punisher color. You want to be fishing the worms on darter heads,” continued Messer.

Shasta is currently holding at 38.34 from maximum pool and is up about 5 feet over the past 7 days.    

TRINITY
After a long winter, the black bass are starting to bite in the warming waters of Trinity Lake. Steve Gildesgard of Dragonfly Outfitters and Tim Brady had a great day for big fish at Trinity on February 17 when they nailed 6 bass weighing a total of 35 pounds.

“The fish were all largemouths and ranged in size from 3 to 8pounds,” said Gildesgard. “We caught all of the fish while drop shotting with Purple Punisher and Margarita Mutilator Robo Worms at 30 feet deep in the north end. It was an early morning bite; the fish stopped biting at 9 am.”    

OROVILLE
After over a month without any rain, a series of heavy storms has dramatically improved the black bass action at Lake Oroville.

“The bass fishing is awesome, now that lots of water is running into the lake,” stated Chuck Rice at Oroville Outdoors. “The storms really helped out the fishing. Anglers are catching a lot of quality spotted bass on jigs and spinnerbaits.”

Glen Lockhart topped a recent Angler’s Choice Tournament at Oroville with a two-day weight of 10 bass weighing a total of 33.94 pounds. He bagged a five fish limit weighing 20.12 pounds on the first day of the event. Lockhart won a brand-new Legend bass boat for his winning bag, according to Rice.

Cody Meyer of Grass Valley placed second with a two-day limit weighing 25.67 pounds.    

CLEAR LAKE
After a lull in the bass fishing at Clear Lake caused by a couple of months of unusually cold weather, the arrival of warmer storms prodded the largemouth bite to rebound.

“Two anglers weighed in largemouths over 12 pounds since the rain started,” disclosed Bob Higgins at Limit Out Bait and Tackle. “Darrell Cicio of Spring Valley nailed a 12 lb. 1 oz largemouth while fishing a brown jig with a brown and orange trailer. Another angler from Oregon also bagged a 12 lb. 1 oz. largemouth.”

In two recent tournaments, anglers had to catch a limit over 25 pounds to win first place. “In A Clear Lake Bass Masters club tournament, the 14 participating boats all reported catching limits,” said Higgins. “Ten of the anglers had limits over 20 pounds.”

After the rain started, anglers reported the top bass action while using rip baits and other reaction baits.      

SONOMA
Rain showers have perked up the bass bite at Lake Sonoma over the last few days and anglers are taking advantage of the good action.

“The lake came up about 12 feet with the last rains we got and the fish have spread out a bit from their usual pattern,” noted Kevin Quigley of Outdoor Pro Shop. “The best bet anglers have in catching a big limit is to drop shot dark colored worms in creek mouths like Yordie or Cherry. The target range on the bass is 20 to 25 feet deep.”

According to Quigley, the bass average 2 to 3 pounds up to 5 pounds. The majority of the fish are largemouths, but quality smallmouth bass are also on tap at Sonoma.      

BERRYESSA
“It’s been a productive week for everyone on the lake,” reported Dino Righetti at Spanish Flat Resort. “The bass anglers are pulling out good limits of smallmouth and largemouth from the north end of the Big Island. The best bet, according to a few boaters, is pitching jigs and throwing crank baits out in 15 to 20 feet of water.”    

FOLSOM
Don Paganelli of Paganelli’s Bass Fishing Experience has not been out on the lake in recent days, yet he is one of the few black bass guides that fishes the lake on a regular basis.

“If I went out on the lake today, considering the warmer weather we’ve had recently, I’d focus on fishing coves that featured incoming streams,” he advised. “I think the water in those tributaries will be a little warmer than the water in the lake and as a result the areas where that water is flowing in should show a little spike in temperature. “

He continued, “In terms of lures this is getting to be the time in the season where a lot of different things could work depending on the day. I’d start out working rip baits and then move on to working crawdad colored jigs or curly tail grubs rigged on darter heads. All in all I think we can now look forward to some renewed bass action at the lake.”  

CAMANCHE
Fishing for bass is improving with the warmer weather, as evidenced by the results of a recent U.S. Angler’s Choice Bass Club’s Region One tournament held at Lake Camanche.

“Tournament director Terry Davis reported that 29 boats went out on Sunday morning, with 16 boats coming back in with 5 fish limits and many more with near limits,” said Eldon Porray of the Lake Camanche Recreation Company. “We congratulate the team of Kevin and Jose Looper for their winning weight of 14.74 pounds, and also congratulate Billy Hines for his big fish at 3.83 pounds”.

Most fish were caught between 25-50 feet deep, and dark jigs, drop shot worms, and tube baits were the baits most often mentioned by these tournament anglers, noted Porray. Due to the wild weather fronts going through the area over the past two weeks, there have been few trout reports from anglers lately.    

SANTA CLARA VALLEY LAKES
While low water conditions make fishing tough at other Santa Clara Valley reservoirs, Calero and Anderson lakes continue to offer good bass fishing and public access.

“Calero is the best local lake now for catching decent numbers of quality bass,” tipped Dave Maze at Coyote Bait & Tackle. “The largemouths are running 3 to 5 pounds and are being caught by anglers drop shotting and dart heading worms from the shallows out 15 feet from the bank.”

According to Maze, anglers are catching the bass towards the opposite end of the lake from the launch ramp.

“Over at Anderson, the bass are a bit smaller, weighing up to 3 pounds, but the numbers are much better,” he noted. The hot baits to entice the bass include shad pattern and brown jigs and crank baits. “Stick to fishing the south end of the lake for the top success,” he added.  

EASTMAN/HENSLEY LAKES
With an 8-1/2 pound largemouth topping Eastman Lake catches last week, many anglers have not even been trying Hensley because it is so slow, stated Merritt Gilbert of Valley Rod and Gun.

Jigs, swimbaits, and Carolina rigs have all been top producers for decent limits of fish at Eastman Lake the last few weeks. Dark colored plastics like Zoom Brush Hogs or Yamamoto Hula Grubs in Green Pumpkin and Junebug have been the best baits for bass.

“With tournament pressure picking up on the lake, twelve pounds would be a decent weight to shoot for right now,” Gilbert said.

Only a few trout have been coming out of Eastman, toplining a nightcrawler behind a flasher.

Merritt Gilbert of Valley Rod and Gun reported slow action for trout at Bass Lake the last few weeks. “Trollers using Wedding Rings behind dodgers and flashers near the dam have been pulling the most trout near the top of the water column,” Gilbert said.

With the ramp still barely in the water, anglers with smaller boats have been fishing the lake. However, if you are going to launch a bigger boat, it may be a good idea to do so with a four wheel drive truck just in case.    

MILLERTON
“With most of the bass being taken on jigs, anglers are struggling to catch fish bigger than two pounds right now at Millerton Reservoir,” said Merritt Gilbert of Valley Rod and Gun. “Your best bet is to fish wind-blown points in the mornings and stay on the main lake for the best quality fish.”

Many of the smaller fish are being caught up the San Joaquin River arm in cuts and creek channels by anglers drop shotting with four or six in straight tail worms. Some fish are moving up into six to eight feet of water in the afternoons, and are reported to be biting jigs.

No reports of stripers are coming in, and the bite is not expected to pick up until around the first of May.

With tournaments scheduled for the next few weekends, the pressure on the lake is not expected to help out the bite at all.  

PINE FLAT LAKE
The biggest news came last week when two anglers weighed in a 36.23 pound limit for 5 bass in a recent 100% Bass tournament,” said Merritt Gilbert of Valley Rod and Gun. “The team was throwing Spro BBZ-1 Swimbaits in the windy, rainy weather and caught their fish on wind blown banks on the main body.”

Four of the five fish were largemouths, topped by an 11.30 kicker. The other fish was a 4.5 pound spotted bass.