By: The Fish Sniffer Staff June 8, 2009 Last Issue My name is Brett Holderbein. I am from Northern California in Penn Valley. Here are a couple pictures of a 8lb bass that I caught on 5/17/09. My friend JT and I were killing it fishing all day catching 2-4 lb bass and then I landed this one. The only things I use are Kinami flash 4" or 5". I have never caught as many fish on anything else. Kinami baits are the only baits that I use, because they are what work.

Trinity
Black bass anglers nailed a good mixture of largemouths and smallmouths at Trinity Lake over the Memorial Day weekend while enjoying great late spring weather.

The best fishing is available on the dredger piles of the lake’s north end, though bass are being taken throughout the reservoir. “Some bass have already spawned, while others are spawning or in pre-spawn mode,” observed Tim Brady at Dragonfly Outfitters. “Anglers are nailing fish ranging from undersized to 3-1/2 pounds while using an array of rip baits, Senkos, Gitzits and plastic worms.”

Shasta
“Fishing for bass has been pretty good,” related Chris Fancelli of Phil’s Propellers. “The bite isn’t as good as it was a while ago, but anglers are still catching good numbers of fish. Anglers are using a lot of different baits to hook their fish. I’ve talked with guys that have been doing well with topwater lures, while other guys are scoring with tubes.

Most of the bass are holding in about 15 feet of water off main points. Many of these fish are 1 to 1.5 pound post spawn male spotted bass. For a shot at a larger fish, focus on working slightly deeper around isolated trees or other isolated structural features. For quality fish spinnerbaits, small swimbaits and topwater plugs are the way to go.

Oroville
Boaters enjoying the warm weather at Lake Oroville are nailing a mixture of spotted and largemouth bass, with the “spots” predominating in the catches.

“Most of the spots have already spawned, so they’re skinny, ranging from 1 to 2 pounds,” said Brent Cline at Oroville Outdoors. “The largemouths still haven’t spawned, since the water level continues to rise.”

Boaters are fooling the bass with a mixture of tubes, Senkos and other plastics in green pumpkin, baby bass, and natural shad colors. “The spots are showing in the coves, off the main lake points and everywhere,” said Cline, “while the largemouths are holding in the traditional spawning areas.”

Clear Lake
The largemouth fishing has been up and down at Clear Lake this spring, due to the wildly changing weather. Now the fish are spawning, spurring a slowdown in the action.

“On my latest instructional trip on the lake during the day, we just landed one fish,” said Hemphill. “It was a nice 4 lb. largemouth caught by Cathy Kirby of Carmichael of Carmichael.”

The trip that evening was better, though by no means red hot. “We landed 6 fish and missed a lot of bass also,” said Hemphill. “The biggest fish weighed 4-1/4 pounds. The fish fell for Brush Hogs, Dead Winters, and 8 inch plastic worms, the bass were spawning everywhere.”

However, during the previous week the fishing was much better, For example, two anglers night fishing with Hemphill caught and released 16 bass to 6 pounds, 3 ounces. The top five fish taken by Rich Danglers and Dan Stolt of Sacramento weighed a total of 21-1/4 pounds.

“We fished Brush Hogs, Dead Ringers and Berkley Power Worms in Konocti Bay in 3 to 8 feet of water,” said Hemphill. “The fish averaged 2 to 3 pounds each.”

Hemphill forecasted that the fishing should improve as the weather stabilizes and the fish move into post-spawn mode.

Sonoma
Lake Sonoma black bass are in their post-spawn funk and anglers are working hard for every fish they hook. Nonetheless, experienced anglers are averaging 5 to 8 fish per trip, according to Louis Bruno at the Outdoor Pro Shop.

"Your best bet is to fish top water lures such as Zara Spooks and poppers or fish from 10 to 20 feet deep with crankbaits and jigs," said Bruno. "The main lake is producing better action than the creeks."

The fish are a mixture of largemouth and smallmouth bass in the 1-1/2 to 4 pound class. Bruno's last trip to the lake produced a total of 12 bass.

Berryessa
The bass fishing is excellent at Berryessa. Fish Sniffer Associate Editor Cal Kellogg and Don Paganelli caught and released 8 bass, including 7 largemouths to 3-1/2 pounds and one spot, on their latest venture to the lake.

“We caught our fish on hollow body swimbaits and surface lures including Wood Choppers and River2Sea Rovers in the Narrows and vineyards,” said Kellogg. “Our top five fish were all spawned out and weighed a total of 12 pounds.

Folsom
Most of Folsom’s bass have finished spawning, but bass anglers are still achieving good success. Catfish have now become active and can be caught cruising shallow coves and shoreline structure.

“From what I’ve been hearing the trolling for king salmon and rainbow trout is pretty much over at Folsom. Apparently the skiers have really been hitting the lake hard since the weather got warm,” related Jack Hill of Will Fish.

The bass spawn is largely over at Folsom and the bass are scattered from the bank to 20 or more feet deep. The fish are hungry, but they are also in a post-spawn mode, so you’ll achieve the best level of success while using subtle baits. Grubs rigged on darter heads, 4 to 6 inch finesse worms either Carolina rigged or drop shotted and Senkos are all winners.

Amador
“Black bass are hitting best on bluegill and crappie pattern swimbaits in the river and creek arms,” advised Fabbro. “The fish average 2 to 4 pounds each.”

Don Pedro
Manny Basi of The Bait Barn reported challenging black bass fishing across the lake.

“It is still tough – particularly for weekend anglers,” stated Basi. “Finesse tactics with worms, Brush Hogs and dartheads are producing – but not a lot. We have seen an early top water bite that is somewhat productive, with most anglers seeing only 12-14 pound sacks. Live bait, particularly minnows are producing well.”

McClure
Diana Mello at A-1 Bait and Tackle reported a decent bass and trout bite on Lake McClure. “Bass action is OK right now, with live baits, like minnows and crawdads being most productive. Look for them in Piney Creek, Barrett Cove and Temperance Creek,” she stated.