By: The Fish Sniffer Staff August 26, 2005 Last Issue Gear, check. Lunch, check. 17.75 pound bass on a fly rod, check. While on an excursion on the delta in search of striped bass, the first and biggest fish of the day turned out to be an unverified record large mouth bass taken on a fly rod. As we neared our first destination of the morning, the man at the helm, Mike Thompson, was eager with anticipation. Mike had been out the day before and I had a successful striper conquest. Although he wouldn't tell me point blank that he had a good day previously, as not to jinx us, confidence was high. Mike immediately missed a spook fish that sounded like a toilet flushing as it swirled on his lure. As I stripped line of my fly reel I had no idea what the first (maybe second) cast of the day was to bring. As I set up on the heavy fish I had visions of a 10 pound striper giving me a tussle. When the green tail broke the surface, the vibe in the boat went from jovial to controlled chaos. The old girl didn't have any spectacular leaps in her but she bulldogged me for a while. Mike thought out loud 'that's a 10 or 12 pounder'. The boga grip told a different story. Just under 18 pounds with a girth that rivals my own. A look down her gaping bucket mouth revealed the tail of a catfish that wasn't paying attention. After a quick photo shoot and a high five she was returned to her haunts. Although the fishing remained good for the rest of the day there wasn't much that compared to her. Joe Shelby was the angler and the fly was a flash tail whistler

TRINITY LAKE
"Smallmouth bass fishing been great at Trinity Lake over the past three weeks," revealed Henning Behrens at the Wyntoon Resort. "Anglers are consistently catching quality smallmouths while using crickets in the north end dredger piles."

Mike Connell came all of the way from Beaverton, Oregon to nail a 5.1 lb. smallmouth with a cricket. David Kuehn caught a 4.8 lb. smallmouth and Russell Dirkson of Blue Lake landed a 4.6 lb. smallmouth. Both used crickets in the north end.

SHASTA
According to Dean Hall at Phil's Propellers, anglers are catching big numbers of spotted bass in the 1 to 2 pound class. Plastic grubs and worms are providing the most consistent action, although topwater lures and spinnerbaits are taking fish early, late, and after dark. The bass are scattered all over the lake. To catch them, use your sonar to find schools of shad near rocky structure and you should have not problem catching the feisty spots.

Currently, Lake Shasta is 41.49 feet from maximum pool.

CLEAR LAKE
The largemouth bass bite at Clear Lake continues to be wide open and it shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, according to Bob Higgins of Limit Out Gift and Tackle.

"We are seeing so many anglers coming to the store after catching fifty or more bass that we can't even count them," said Higgins. "The really good part of the deal is that we are starting to see a lot more quality fish showing up."

Higgins reported that the bass are in the shallows early, and as the sun comes up they move deeper. "In the morning the fish are so shallow that they need sunblock," reported Higgins. "Start out the day with Zara Spooks or poppers and move to deep diving crankbaits as the day wears on."

After the sun comes up, Higgins reported that the bass are moving to the first drop off in eight to fifteen feet of water and they become susceptible to deep crankbaits or dropshot rigs.

The frog bite is hit and miss and Higgins said that one day anglers report catching multiple fish while the next they are not getting any blow ups. Steve LaRussa of Coyote Bait and Tackle in San Jose managed to get two frog fish, including an eight and a half pounder, on a recent trip to Clear Lake.

Recent big catches at the lake include Steve Sether who boated a six and an eight and a half pounder on a Zara Spook. Local guide Bob Myskey and his brother boated an eleven and a half pounder while drop shotting.

OROVILLE
Catching a spotted bass over 15 inches remains very tough at Lake Oroville, but you can have a lot of fun with light gear battling fish below 12 inches and in the 12 to 15 inch slot all day long.

"Most of the larger fish are being taken on crankbaits," said Bob Peebles at Oroville Outdoors. "However, the most consistent method for taking bass it drop shotting with 4 to 6 inch plastic worms."

The fish are showing through the main body and forks of the lake. "The fish are showing close to the bank early in the morning and then are dropping down to 30 to 40 feet deep during the day," he added. "You can get a limit of fish over 15 inches, but it's real tough."

Bart Salburg and Kent Porter of Oroville made a trip to Oroville with Larry Hemphill, fishing guide, that yielded 30 spotted bass. "We fished from 6:30 am until 11 am," said Hemphill. "We caught nothing over 15 inches; the fish ranged from 7 to 14-1/2 inches."

The anglers drop shotted and split shotted with Yamamoto cuttail plastic worms in shad and salt and pepper colors at 20 to 25 feet. They also fooled fish with Captain Jack's early dawn and green crawfish worms.

Lake Oroville is 874 feet in elevation, 26 feet from maximum pool, and the lake is holding 3,350,000 acre feet of water. The surface temperature is 80 degrees.

FOLSOM
As typically happens this time of the year, the bass bite at Folsom has slowed down significantly. This is due to heavy recreational boat traffic, the relatively high water temperature, and the abundance of bait available to the fish.

"I took some clients out on a half day instructional trip yesterday from daybreak until noon," related Don Paganelli of Paganelli's Bass Fishing Experience. "We got a couple fish on reaction baits early and then caught a few more drop shotting plastics."

Patience is the key to catching bass at Folsom right now. "There is so much bait in the water that the bass are not aggressive. They are largely inactive and you've got to keep your bait in front of them to get a strike. Look for the fish to be holding off main lake points and rock piles," said Paganelli.

AMADOR
Bass may well be the best option for anglers visiting Amador at this time. No big bass have been reported recently, but anglers are landing decent numbers of bass in the 1 to 3 pound range. The bass are hitting dark brown, black, and red plastic worms worked around rocky points and drop-offs in 8 to 15 feet of water.

CAMANCHE
If you want to catch and release good numbers of black bass, give Lake Camanche a try.

"Lots of 1-4 pound bass are being caught around the rock piles and cliffs in the Lancha Plana area," revealed Chris Cantwell of the Lake Camanche Recreation Company. "Camanche Jack's worms and leeches in smoke, green, or purple are the colors most often mentioned.

"The submerged island tops in the main part of the lake have been giving up plenty of bass; fish 10-15 feet deep, near deeper water. Tube baits and deep running crank baits are the ticket here," noted Cantwell.

Big fish honors go to young Dillon Parrish, of Elk Grove, who caught an awesome 6.2 pound bass on a minnow, shore fishing in the campgrounds at North Shore.

"Anglers fishing topwater lures, such as Ricos or Lucky Craft Pointer minnows in rainbow or orange, are taking some good ones as well," noted Cantwell. "Work areas with wind pushed current around brush and thick grass cover near the Causeway and dike #1."

NEW MELONES
The black bass bite has been up and down, with fishing best at dawn, dusk and night. "Not many big fish are showing, but there is plenty of action for small keepers and almost-keepers," noted Melanie Lewis at Glory Hole Sports. "Fish are filled-to-the-gills with shad. Target main lake points and steep banks in the south side of the lake, and upriver."

While there are lots of fish being caught relatively shallow, bigger fish may be deeper. Drag a Carolina-rigged 4" or 6" green weenie worm or Zoom Baby Brush Hog in green pumpkin, 25-30 feet deep. Since the water is stained, you may want to add rattles or brass'n'glass to make a little noise."

CHABOT
Decent numbers of bass in the 1 to 3 pound range are being taken by angles working plastic worms at Alder Point and Bass Cove. The biggest bass of the week weighed 4 pounds and was caught by Doug Richardson of San Mateo who was using a Rapala in Half Moon Bay.

DEL VALLE
The black bass have been holding at approximately 30 ft. during the day at Lake Del Valle, according to Robert Ingles at the Del Valle Marina. Also look for them buried in the tules and thick weeds.

Try fishing shallow structure with a weedless worm or working deep structure with a jig. "Get out the buzz baits early in the day and late in the evening," Ingles tipped.

MILLERTON
The black bass bite is decent, as is the striper bite at Millerton Lake," said Jeff Huth of Valley Rod and Gun. "Anglers just need to focus on the right areas."

The bass bite is okay for fish in the 11 to 13-inch range and Huth said that it is best to hit the water early in the morning or late in the evening.

"Use Ricos or TD Minnows when the fish are in their low light feed," Huth tipped. "After that, use 1/4 -ounce jigs and small plastics around main lake points." Huth reported that most anglers would catch four to six fish.

Millerton's stripers have been hit and miss upriver, and it seems to revolve around when the pumps are running at the headwaters. Huth said that fishing just downstream of the current when the water is running should get a few strikes from striper in the ten to twenty five pound category.

Drifting swimbaits or Hair Raiser jigs is the best pattern for enticing the stripers. The water can fluctuate dramatically, and can be dangerous, so he recommended that anglers be very aware of their surroundings.

PINE FLAT
Valley Rod and Gun said that the bite at Pine Flat was the worst he had seen in years. "The water is falling a foot a day - and it seems that the fish are responding to it negatively," he explained.

A recent Fresno Bass Club tournament proved how difficult Pine Flat is, as 30 boats with 60 anglers only managed to catch 14 bass.