"The bass bite is picking up at Sonoma, but it's still pretty tough for most anglers," explained Mike Nunnally of Outdoor Pro Shop in Rohnert Park. "Jarred Adams of the Redwood Empire Bass Club won the latest tournament up there with five fish weighing only 8-1/2 pounds."

According to Nunnally, Adams caught all of his fish throwing crankbaits up in the creek channels. "The early morning topwater bite has been kicking out a few decent fish, then most guys are going to plastic worms and lizards," he explained. "Buzzbaits and Zara Spooks are the best topwater baits right now."

The trout bite continues to improve at Sonoma. "The trout are still down 30 to 40 feet deep, but they should move up shallow with the cooler weather," said Nunnally. "Troll a Needlefish, Cripplure or an orange J. Fair Trolling Fly. Most anglers are reporting an average of two fish per trip."

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"We limited out on rockfish every trip this week," reported Rick Thornton of Anchor Charters. "We're sitting in 80 feet of water off Westport right now and the weather is fantastic; sunny skies and a 3 to 4 foot swell with no wind."

According to Thornton, the catch has been mostly black rockfish running 3 to 5 pounds along with a mix of blues and some quality reds. "On Saturday morning, we had full limits of rockfish and 7 lingcod to 17 pounds for 21 anglers," he said. "Then we made an afternoon trip and caught easy limits for 12 anglers. We're catching most of the fish on Super Flies and a few on 4 to 6 ounce bars."

Albacore continue to show off the coast of Fort Bragg, but only the commercial boats are hitting them right now because the fish are now 70 miles out and conditions have been windy offshore.

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"The lower Umpqua River is still holding a lot of salmon and we are taking over 10 fish per trip," noted Todd Hannah of Oregon Angler Guide Service. "Most of the salmon that we are taking are native fish and we are allowed to keep four fish per trip."

The most success is going to anglers throwing out pink or orange spinners on the lower river, or black and pink plugs on the upper river near Elkton, according to Hannah.

"We are hooking into some quality winter steelhead while salmon fishing, but the largest concentration of fish is near Elkton on the upper section," said Hannah.

"A few over-sized sturgeon are being caught above the Highway 101 Bridge on the Umpqua River, but another good rain is needed to spark a bite," explained Hannah. One more good rain should flush out the crabs, which have been a problem for sturgeon anglers trying to get a hook-up on sand shrimp.

"Combination fishing trips for salmon and crab continue to be very successful, with limits of crab being taken on our recent trips," reported Guide Terry Jarmain. Jarmain and three anglers ventured out in late October, returning with limits of crab and limits of quality salmon.

"The Elk/Sixes River is full of muddy water, but next time we get a good rain the water should clear up and spark a salmon bite," said Jarmain.

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"Lake Shasta is beginning to cool down on the surface and is bringing the fish within the top 15 feet of water," reported Gary Miralles from Shasta Tackle Company.

"The most effective way to locate fish is by spotting where the birds are feeding on the bait or the occasional fish that comes to the surface,"

"We are taking a lot of planter fish out of Jones Valley Cove and Ski Island," said Miralles. The most effective lures have been black and white Hum Dingers or fish Scale Cripplures, according to Miralles.

On Saturday, October 27, Miralles was accompanied by three anglers while fishing off Ski Island and in Jones Valley Cove. "We managed to catch and release over 30 fish averaging 3 pounds," noted Miralles.

"The next good rain that we get will cool down the water temperature and make the fish more active," added Miralles.

"The bass action on Shasta is very productive and has been kicking out good numbers of fish, but the size is not very big," said Tony Messer of Phil's Propellers. "A variety of lures are producing fish throughout the lake, with anglers taking fish using Crankbaits and spinner baits."

"A consistent trout bite is kicking out quality trout while top lining from the surface down to 15 feet," noted Messer. "The most productive lures for trout fishing has been chrome and black Kastmaster or Rapalas."

"A recent trout plant near the dam has improved fishing conditions for bank anglers that are taking mixed limits of trout and salmon," noted Bob Braz of The Fishin Hole. "There is a lot of shad in the water, and with the water being as clear as it is, a light leader is needed to produce fish," said Braz. The most productive baits are shad, crickets, and Kastmaster according to Braz.

"A few trollers are taking limits of quality fish trolling along the top 15 feet of water in Jones Valley and near the dam," explained Braz.

Wendy Hartman hauled in two catfish while soaking chicken liver in Jones Valley Cove during a recent night fishing trip on Lake Shasta. "The bigger cats have been taken while fishing at night," added Braz.

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"The water is now around 80 to 90 miles away and has had no sign of fish in it," said Baxter. "We had a great albacore season. We had the fish show up June 22 and we had a very consistent season up until a week and a half ago. That is 4 months of good fishing we only had to cancel a couple of trips due to bad weather and managed to get a decent fish count on most of our trips."

"We are fishing rockfish this Saturday; the fishing has been great," said Baxter. "We will be fishing in 120 feet of water or less due to the regulations. Remember, despite popular belief YOU STILL CAN GO ROCK COD FISHING, bring home a good bag of fish, and have a great time doing it! Last weekend we had great trips both Saturday and Sunday we slammed the big grumpy deep water chuckleheads vermillions, boccacio, and chillipeppers.

"This week we will be fishing near the coast. There have been a lot of white sea bass around and a ton of squid, you never know what you might catch.

The last fishing trip by Joe Stoops of Chartle Sportfishing was on October 28. "We loaded up with live squid while seabass fishing," said Stoops. "We had no takers, so we switched to lingcod and vermilions. Our 4 anglers boated limits of quality vermilion, black and gopher rockfish to 8 pounds, plus 3 lingcod to 14 pounds and a 5 pound cabezon. We fished east of Davenport in 45' of water. The conditions have been excellent.

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"Anglers fishing Baum at the Hat Creek #1 Powerhouse are catching good numbers of rainbows, including a few in the 18 to 20 inch class, while tossing out nightcrawlers, Panther Martins and Rooster Tail spinners," revealed Gene Rodgers at Vaughn's Sporting Goods. "The fly fishermen are also experiencing solid action using Callibaetis Cripples, pale morning duns and pheasant tail nymphs in sizes #18 to 20."

Stream fishing in the Burney region will close after November 15, so you don't have much time left to fish. In the Cassel area of Hat Creek, anglers are nailing rainbow, brook and brown trout while soaking nightcrawlers and mealworms and casting spinners.

"The Pit River isn't producing numbers of fish now, but anglers have caught some large rainbows to 8 pounds while using nightcrawlers and spinners below the Pit #1 Powerhouse," noted Rodgers.

Baum Lake and Lake Britton remain open to fishing year round. Fishing pressure for smallmouth bass remained light at Britton at press time, with the best action reported on small spinners and plastics, according to Rodgers.

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"The bite has been great up on the north end this week," reported Leigh Schroyer of Mariners Resort. "One of our local anglers has been catching and releasing 6 or 7 fish every morning and we're seeing a lot of limits coming out."

According to Schroyer, trolling crawlers has been the top method, but several fish have also been caught on Needlefish, Krokodiles and trolling flies. "Orange and rainbow have been the hot colors for the Needlefish," he added. "The top fly has been a J. Fair trolling fly in cinnamon leach."

Schroyer said the average fish has been running 3-1/2 pounds and they weighed in lots of 4 to 5 pound fish as well as a few 6 pounders during the past week. He also mentioned "the Dept. of Fish and Game planted 25,000 one pound fish, so if you run into those, leave the area because they are in big schools right now and you probably won't catch any of the larger fish."

"Fall is definitely here now and the fish are feeding up for the winter," reported Lorri Henry of Eagle Lake Marina. "Bank fishermen are actually doing better then the trollers right now."

Henry said the bankies have been fishing a crawler/marshmallow combination or a white marabou jig under a bobber. "The Circus Grounds and the Jetty have been the best spots," she said. "Most of the fish are running 3 to 4 pounds."

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"The fishing is pretty good for numbers of fish, though the average size of the fish is still around 3 pounds," said Wade McGrath at McGrath's Fishing & Diving Supply. "We usually see more fish in the 6 to 7 pound class this time of year. The largest steelhead we've weighed in so far this season weighed 10 pounds."

Sixty percent of the steelies are coming from the low flow area, with the rest from below the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet. Combined releases below the outlet are only 1500 cfs, so you need to use light line and gear in the continuing low water conditions.

Egg, creme and champagne are the most popular Glo Bug patterns. Anglers can also use Christie Eggs and nightcrawlers to entice the fish.

The last fishing adventure to the low flow area by Ray McReynolds of Sierra West Outfitters yielded four hatchery steelhead averaging 3-1/2 pounds each for 2 anglers. "We also hooked and lost some fish," he noted. They fooled the fish with Exude Eggs (imitation salmon eggs).

Anglers drifting salmon roe are bagging some fresh-run steelhead in the Feather near Shanghai Bend, added McReynolds.

"We're catching and releasing a lot of small steelhead in the 12 to 13 inch range, along with an average of 2 to 3 adult steelhead per trip in the low flow area down to Palm Avenue," stated Steve Huber, fishing guide. "Fish averaging 2 to 3 pounds are hitting worms and spinners."

The river above the mouth of Honcut Creek is closed to the take of salmon, though anglers can continue to catch steelhead and other species.

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"The salmon run in the Sacramento River mouth is still kicking out chinooks averaging 10 to 25 pounds," reported Denis Iske of Hap's Bait.

"Most anglers are finding success while trolling Wiggle Warts. Striped bass are still making their way through the system, and anglers fishing near Decker Island are hooking into big fish averaging 20 pounds."

Bob took his 31 pound striper while drifting bait near Decker Island. Ruben was drifting shad during a recent outing on the Sacramento River near Rio Vista when he fooled a feisty 61 inch sturgeon in early October.

"A few anglers fishing in Cache Slough and near Sherman Island are finding a slow bite while soaking shrimp baits, but it's going to take a good rain to make the fish more active," noted Meeka Birring from Freeport Bait.

"Besides the slow sturgeon action near Sherman Island, a steady striper bite is being experienced in the same area as well as near Decker Island and the Rio Vista Bridge," said Birring. Anglers are finding a consistent bite while soaking bullheads, pile worms, or by trolling Broken Back Rebels.

"Salmon anglers fishing from the mouth of the Sacramento River to the Isleton Bridge are landing quality salmon while using spinners, Flatfish, and Wiggle Warts," noted Meeka.

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Almost all of the bass fall within the slot limit, so catch and release is the rule. A few fish up to 3 pound have been taken from the Fine Gold area.

Hot areas have been around the rocky points; drop offs, and the newly exposed islands. Action up river is outstanding with early morning bites lasting hours.

Crank baits have been producing up until mid-day and then anglers are switching to plastics and split shotting techniques. Small spoons or spinners bounced off the rocks are scoring a lot of hits.

The largemouth bass bite is fair. The evening bite has been the most productive. Bass are hitting top water plugs and occasional buzz baits. The exposed tree areas and the shoreline near Squaw Cove have been the top picks. Most of the black bass are in the 2 to 3 pound range with a few fish topping 6 pounds.

"Catfish fishermen are loading up on 2 to 3 pound fish," reported Gilbert. "The fish are concentrated in the coves, especially where there is any running water. Chicken livers or cut anchovies will fool the fish.

The striped bass action is extremely slow. The Fresno County side has one launch ramp open.

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"We're catching lots of rainbows while top-line trolling; I haven't seen a brown yet," revealed Dale Daneman of Dale's Foothill Fishing. "Ron Bustord of Placerville and his fishing partner caught and released 30 fish to 2.3 pounds on one trip. On the following day, Mike Powell and Jack Lime of Placerville caught and released 36 rainbows to 2.2 pounds."

Danemen trolled orange Thomas Buoyant lures at first light. Then as the sun got higher in the sky, he switched over to nightcrawlers behind dodgers. "We nailed the majority of the fish in the back section of the reservoir, also called Pleasant Lake," he noted.

Ice House Reservoir is producing a few small rainbows, but nowhere as good action as Loon. "One angler fishing with me on November 1 landed and released 7 fish in the 10 to 11 inch class," said Daneman. "All of the fish appeared to be wild or holdover rainbows. We trolled Super Dupers, Thomas Buoyant lures, Power Grubs and nightcrawlers behind dodgers."

Stumpy Meadows is also worth a short for fat rainbows. "I caught three rainbows in the 12 to 13 inch class on a recent bank fishing trip to Stumpy Meadows Lake," said Doug Huffman, fishing guide. "The fish hit Power Bait, corn and salmon eggs near the dam in the evening."

In the Yuba River watershed, Spaulding and Lake Valley reservoirs are now closed to fishing and other recreation for the winter, according to Chris Hammond at Diversified Marine Products in Sacramento. However, anglers fishing Power Bait are catching some small rainbows at Fuller Lake now.

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"Flows on the lower Owens have crashed to 150cfs. and the fishing for browns and rainbows is excellent in all areas," stated Tom Loe of the Sierra Drifters. "The mornings have cooled down to the upper 20's."

Nymphing has been best in the wild trout area using small #20 black midge patterns. Use a small strike indicator and 6x fluorocarbon for best results.

"You will also find action on the surface in the back eddies on caddis and mayfly imitations late afternoon or if the clouds appear," stated Loe. "Several types and sizes of both insects are coming off, so have a variety of both in sizes 16-20. Some spinners are being seen late day. We have had some excellent fishing while pulling streamers in olive and natural #8-10 with a moderate sink tip along the undercuts."

At Pleasant Valley Reservoir, the powerhouse is not generating at this time. There may be occasional "pulses" of increased flows leading into the reservoir at times, but they should be only temporary, according to Loe.

"Fishing has been very good for smaller fish on both dries and midge larva #16-18," stated Loe. "The reservoir is very high, but the level is now dropping so there is limited area along the river at this time for fly fishers."

Alpers rainbows trout have been recently planted, so float tubers pulling streamers should have a good time when trolling full or heavy sink tip line and olive, black, steamers with a tad of crystal flash and red in the patterns, added Loe.

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Experienced anglers are landing limits of 2 to 4 pound fish. "It's been a great start. Not too many big fish, but the numbers are excellent," reported Bob Tompkins of the Gun and Tackle Store.

The fish are stacked up around Sandy Point along the eastern shoreline. Flat Fish lures in chartreuse/red dot, Tor-P-Does in red/black dot and Crocodiles in hammered gold are the top choices. The action is best in water around 50 to 60 feet deep. The lures are being trolled at the 20 to 35 foot depths.

"Bank anglers are finding the action a little slow, with the Cliff area being the top spot," said Tompkins. "Rainbow Power Bait or night crawlers are producing 1 to 3 fish per outing."

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7 anglers fishing aboard Queen of Hearts on Monday October 29 managed to pull in 3 salmon to 38 pounds. The Queen of Hearts ran a rockfishing trip on Wednesday, October 31 that produced full limits of assorted rockfish and 12 cabezon to 10 pounds.

"There are not many salmon out here for the taking, but the up side is that the fish being caught are big, quality salmon," reported Captain William Smith from Riptide Sportfishing. "The most productive area to fish has been near Duxbury Reef, and off Muir Beach."

"Rockfishing trips off Montara are still producing quality rockfish while working the deep reef," said Smith.