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Fall bass fishing in the majority of our local lakes this year has been mediocre at best and many lakes that are normally quite productive were downright stingy when it came to giving up a limit of bass. Many anglers have speculated as to why fall fishing on so many of our local lakes has been so tough for the last couple years, but no one has come up with a concrete answer. All you have to do is read any of the tournament results from Don Pedro, New Melones, Berryessa or Camanche during the months of September, October and even November and the weights are extremely low and limits very tough to come by. Well, that finally appears to be changing now that we have our first storm under our belts and temperatures are topping out in the mid to upper 60's. While the few bodies of water that have been productive over the past couple months remain so, the other less productive lakes are finally beginning to kick out bigger and better numbers of fish. I recently made a trip to Lake Amador with Paul Cunningham of Sacramento and was pleasantly surprised by the amount of fish we caught. Amador has definitely been on the stubborn side this summer and fall, kicking out an average of 3 to 10 fish on most of the trips I've made. Cunningham and I hit the water around 3:00 in the afternoon and immediately began catching fish on Bill Norman crankbaits and a Castaic gizzard shad. By 5:30, we had boated 11 fish to 3-1/2 pounds and the bite held steady for us until we left just before midnight. Total fish count for the trip was 21 fish, a couple more just over 3 pounds, and several quality fish in the 2 to 2-3/4 pound mark. This was our best trip since late spring, and a sure sign that the fall bite is finally kicking into gear. |
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Another good example is the recent 100% bass tournament of champions held over the weekend at Lake Don Pedro. The tournament was won by the team of Bob Bellin and Rich Ingram, both from the town of Oakdale. They had two very impressive days, bringing in a seven fish limit weighing 18.28 pounds the first day then followed it up with a 19.39 pound limit the next day. They caught both limits by 8:30 each morning jigging spoons on the main body. Equally impressive was the second place team of Danny Gellespie and Paul Prunchak. They were targeting big fish with a Cotton Cordell Redfin in a trout pattern and a big shad colored swim bait. While they only managed five fish for the two day event, those five fish weighed an incredible 29.09 pounds topped by an 8.33 pounder. Just a few weeks ago, that 8 pounder could have won a one day tournament. Of course Clear Lake remains the best bet in northern California and the bite appears to be improving every week. I just spoke to Scott Green from Rohnert Park who reported catching a five fish limit over 30 pounds on Monday and another limit close to 20 pounds on Tuesday. He was fishing a variety of crankbaits and plastic worms and jigs on the north end of the lake. Other anglers have been reporting similar results throughout the south end of the lake as well as the Clear Lake Oaks arm. Crankbaits and plastics fishing in 5 to 15 feet of water seem to be producing the best results. Also, look for the spinnerbait bite to kick into gear over the next week or two. Whether you fish the fertile waters of Clear Lake and the Delta or the clear waters of our foothill lakes, these next few weeks can be some of the most productive of the year. Water temperatures are dropping into the upper 50's and the bass are putting on their feed bags before winter hits. |
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