Central CA fishing spots ranked: High Sierra, Fresno-area lakes, Don Pedro, Shaver
Fresno Bee – Jan. 26
Fishing report compiled by California Outdoors Hall of Fame member Dave Hurley and edited by Roger George, who guides in the greater Fresno area and holds the striper record at Millerton Lake.
Best bets
Delta sturgeon and striper action good, Alan Fong reported. Lake McSwain bite soaring with new plants, Dave Hurley said. New Melones oversized bass drawing anglers , John Liechty reported.
Rankings key below: 4: Fish are jumping in the boat. 3: Good fishing. 2: Decent fishing. 1: Poor fishing. 0: Don’t bother
Unless noted, area code is 559
Valley/Westside waterways
Striper 2 Catfish 2
In the California Aqueduct, Omega Nguyen of Mega Bait and Tackle in Lathrop reported overall slow action except catfish and small striped bass at the Clifton Court Forebay. He said, “The flows slowed down for a few days before ramping up again.” Anglers must be extremely careful when walking on the slippery banks, especially when ice forms on cold mornings. There are yellow-painted escape ladders along the sides of the aqueduct although they may be hard to see.
Eastman Lake/Hensley Lake
Bass 2 Trout 2 Bluegill 2 Catfish 2 Crappie 2
At Eastman, the bass bite remains a challenge largemouth bite with jigs or dragging 7-inch swimbaits on the bottom around rock piles for the possibility of a few fish per day from the banks to 30 feet in depth. Large rainbow trout patterned swimbaits have been effective for the occasional trophy largemouth. At Hensley, the bass bite remains quiet with the best options for catfish or carp. Eastman and Hensley continue to rise slightly. No bass tournaments are scheduled at either lake through the end of February.
Lake Don Pedro
Bass 2 Trout 2 King salmon 2 Crappie 2
Aaron Jones of Central Valley Bait and Tackle in Modesto reported an overall decent bass bite with jigs still the top offering along with 6- to 7-inch plastic worms on a shakey head worked slow. He said, “There are not as many suspended fish stacked in the coves, and they are harder to find. Covering water with underspins is another option.”
Best Bass Tournaments drew 57 boats on Saturday with 10 limits weighed in over 13 pounds. Hung Ho and Eva Luong took first with 17.62 pounds with a big fish at 8.23 pounds. For king salmon and rainbow trout, Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing reported heavy fog on the lake early in the week, and the salmon holding in the Moccasin Arm have moved as the bait has scattered. He said, “Steve Wirfs was out on Sunday morning, and it took him a couple of hours to find the fish as they are on the move.” The lake is at 799.74 feet in elevation. Launch updates are posted at www.donpedrolake.com. A self-inspection is required for launching.
There are no remaining bass tournaments scheduled in January, but 9 are scheduled during February. With golden mussel restrictions at New Melones, McClure and Don Pedro are bearing the brunt of tournament action in the Mother Lode.
Isabella/Kaweah/Success/southern California Aqueduct reports available at https://www.tackleandrod.com/weekly-fishing-report.
McClure Reservoir
Bass 2 Trout 2 King salmon 2 Crappie 2 Catfish 2
Aaron Jones reported fewer and smaller bass are the story here with jigs in crawdad patterns, jerkbaits, or plastics on a shakey head at depths to 30 feet. The Sierra Bass Club held a tournament on Saturday with one limit over 10 pounds and the big fish coming in at nearly 4 pounds. There are two more club tournaments in January with 8 tournaments on the schedule during February.
Lake McSwain
Trout 3
A trout plant took place last week, and shoreline action has improved considerably with Berkley’s Mice Tails, garlic-scented Power Bait, inflated nightcrawlers, or Kastmasters from the Handicapped Docks, the Brush Pile, and the peninsula near the marina. Trollers are finding larger holdovers in the river arm past the First Fence Line with Wedding Rings tipped with a nightcrawler or spoons.
Millerton Lake/San Joaquin River
Bass 2 Striped bass 1 Shad 1 Bluegill 3 Crappie 2
Brown/purple or green pumpkin jigs at depths from 20 to 40 feet remain the story as the action remains more consistent than at Pine Flat. The flows in the San Joaquin River at Friant are steady at 452 cfs. Sycamore Island is scheduled for a trout this week and the week of February 9. Woodward Park Pond in Fresno is scheduled for another trout plant this week. The lake dropped 8 feet this past week. One bass tournament on January 31, but 4 tournaments are scheduled in February.
New Melones Reservoir/Tulloch
Bass 3 Crappie 2 Catfish 2 Trout 2
Aaron Jones reported bass fishermen are starting to get their boats decontaminated for New Melones to take advantage of New Melones’s big fish. John Liechty of Xperience Fishing Guide Service said, “Things are really lining up here as the lake is super healthy right now. I predict within a few years the lake will be a world-class bass fishery with the high water and great conditions. Of course, it is a matter of being in the right place at the right time with the right bait, but I have been fishing the lake long enough to see the pattern as there is clearly a window when the big fish are willing to bite a properly placed presentation. All our big fish have come on the 9-inch Hawg Hunter swimbait, but we have found bass from 4 to 6 pounds on finesse techniques. Throwing swimbaits is what my clients are primarily interested in, and we have had success with a couple of 10’s, a 9, and a couple of 8’s since November.”
Trout action has slowed down for trollers as the fish have scattered. Trollers will have to work hard to find the schools. All boats must be quarantined for 30 days or decontaminated at the New Melones Marina. Downstream Lake Tulloch established the 30-day quarantine process to allow boating for inspected boats after the quarantine period is completed, but bass fishing is reported to be strong. Both downstream Tulloch and New Melones continue to rise.
Pine Flat Reservoir/Kings River
Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 0 King salmon 1 Catfish 2 Crappie 2
The bass bite continues to be a challenge with the rising water, and the best action remains at depths from 20 to 30 feet with plastics on the drop-shot or shakey head along with jigs. In the lower Kings, the flows have dropped from 1072 to 861 cfs at Trimmer, and Berkeley Mice Tails, Pinched crawlers in floating or garlic, small spoons, or garlic Power Bait are picking up the recent planters. No plants are scheduled for the coming weeks. The lake rose 7 feet this week. Avocado Lake will be planted the week of February 9. Only two bass tournaments are on the schedule in February, both on February 21.
San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay
Striper 2 Catfish 2 Bass 2 Crappie 2
The water level in the main lake continues to rise to 76% with consistent pumping out of the south Delta. Josh Mesa of Coyote Bait and Tackle in Morgan Hill reported good striped bass action in Portuguese Cove with anchovies, jumbo minnows, or jerkbaits. Jim Tartaglia of ‘Fishing with Jimmy T’ found the best action for stripers to 22 inches in Portuguese Cove when the fog lifted trolling dark color patterns of Lucky Craft Pointers or Rapalas at depths from 65 to 80 feet. The bite was slow when it was foggy.
Roger George of Roger George Guide Service reported a slow troll bite last Wednesday- Thursday with a low pressure front and cloudy conditions slowing things. “ I guided a father- son team on Thursday in a challenging bite and lots of suspended fish . We released 11 good fish in the 22-25” range- but I had to bear down to pick up a fish here and there on Lucky Crafts working both Portuguese Cove and points in the main lake. I still rate it slow overall. Water is coming up over a half foot a day, and the reservoir has reached 1,561,000 acre feet – about 39’ from capacity. We may see a full lake soon.” George said.
In the O’Neill Forebay, Omega Nguyen of Mega Bait in Lathrop reported quality striped bass are landed with pile worms, anchovies, or frozen shad near Check 12 or under the Highway 152 Bridge. The forebay dropped from 81 to 69%. Los Banos Creek Reservoir is closed to public access through April 2026.
High Sierra
Bass Lake
Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 0
Chris Counts of Clovis picked up 7 rainbows to 16 inches on Saturday trolling near the dam and Sheriff’s Tower with spinners tipped with piece of nightcrawler behind a dodger in the upper 15 feet for an overall slow bite. Resident Bass Lake guide, Mike Beighey of Fishing Bass Lake with Mike, confirmed the slower action for trollers. Launching a boat is doable, but it’s easiest with two people. A webcam is available at https://www.basslakeca.com/bass-lake-webcam-1. No bass tournaments are scheduled through the end of February.
Shaver Lake/Huntington Lake
Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 2
Dick Nichols of Mountain Tackle said, “Shaver Lake trout and kokanee might have gone into a rest mode after a great winter bite. Mike Giubinni of Templeton is a regular troller at the lake, and he found extremely slow action from 8 am to noon. Guibinni talked to another boat angler at the dock who had been out since 6;30, and they only had one small brown to the boat. If I were launching from the Sierra Marina launch ramp, I would use a spinner tipped with corn or crawler behind weighted flashers or a larger dodger on side poles or on downriggers to get the lure down to around 30 feet in depth. Check the launch ramp at http://www.sierramarina.com/webcam-weather-page.html for conditions. Both Shaver and Huntington dropped slightly for the second consecutive week.
Ocean
Monterey/Santa Cruz
Halibut 2 Striper 2 White seabass 1 Sand dabs 3 Surf perch 3+
Josh Mesa of Coyote Bait and Tackle in Morgan Hill reported a few striped bass to 30-inches have been landed in the early mornings on Duo Realis jerkbaits in Mazume Sardine with a pink belly but most surf anglers are concentrating on perch with Honey Badgers Super Slayer or Ultra Slayer paddetail swimbaits in motor oil red. Mekini Baits Killer Kool Aid grubs have also been popular on a Carolina-rig.
Allen Bushnell of Santa Cruz Kayak Fishing and Surf Casting Guide Service reported, “Surfcasters found some nice schools near the Soquel Hole Canyon as perch fishing is great. The early showing of halibut during January is unusual, but not unheard of. This may be a year where we can start looking in earnest for the big flatfish in March, rather than April or May. After a long spell of less-than-ideal weather conditions, surfcasting is starting to take off. The broad beaches from Manresa down to Seaside are showing decent structure with sand points, rip currents and deep troughs parallel to the beach.
Chris’s Fishing and Whale Watching in Monterey will run sand dab trips during the winter months.
Golden Gate/San Francisco Bay/Half Moon Bay
Halibut 2 Striper 2 Leopard shark 2 Sturgeon 2 Crab 2
Commercial crabbers are selling crab off the docks, and Captain Chris Smith of the Pacific Dream out of Berkeley sold out on Saturday within a few hours at $15/crab. Emeryville Sport Fishing will offer crab-only or crab/sand dab combination trips during the winter months, but most boats are in the process of regular maintenance. Private boaters and kayakers will start trolling for halibut out of Oyster Point in the south bay with the next few weeks as there are always those pushing the envelope on the early season. Sturgeon are another option for catch-and-release in San Pablo Bay with mud shrimp, herring, or ghost shrimp. Herring spawns are popping up on occasion off the Alameda Rockwall as well as the Marin County shorelines.
Striped bass remain in San Pablo Bay as retired Captain Jim Smith scored limits of linesides along with releasing a 50-inch sturgeon on live mudsuckers in the muddy water. White sturgeon is restricted for catch-and-release from lines connecting Point Chauncy to Point Richmond, the Bay Bridge, and Point Lobos to Point Bonita from January 1 to March 15 annually to protect sturgeon during the herring run.
Ocean Beach has been fair for shoreline crabbing, but the most consistent location remains the Pacifica Pier which is shoulder-to-shoulder with crabbers. The status of the pier is available here - https://www.cityofpacifica.org/departments/public-works/field-services/pacifica-pier.
San Luis Obispo
Surf perch 3
Boat-based rockfish season will not reopen until April 2026, and shore fishing for surf perch or rockfish is the only game in town during the coming months.
Delta/Stockton
Bass 2 Striper 3 Sturgeon 3 Catfish 2 Bluegill 3
Sturgeon fishing remains solid with the 19th Annual Diamond Classic Catch and Release Derby out of Pittsburg Marina attracting 192 participants along with 58 youth from the Pittsburg shoreline. Chris Lauritzen of Lauritzen’s Yacht Harbor in Oakley was the weighmaster, and he was busy on the water with 38 sturgeon weighed in. Both sides of the Delta are loaded with floating and submerged grass and debris, and the cleanest locations have been in the sloughs above Suisun Bay.
Striped bass have headed for the clear water at the Port of Sacramento, and Alan Fong of Alan Fong Outdoors found great action for quality linesides to 18 pounds, catching and releasing with 7-inch shad-patterned swimbaits in the shallows. He said, “The port holds clear water, and the stripers are feeding in the shallows. Trolling in deeper water has been less effective.” Once the water of the main river clears, striped bass fishing will improve considerably. Largemouth bass action remains very slow with cold and off color water affecting the Florida-strain largemouths.
Events:
February 14 – Marin Rod and Gun Club - Golden State Salmon Association Crab Feed – information: https://goldenstatesalmon.org/.
Tournament Results:
Lake McClure – Sierra Bass Club– January 24th: 1st – Ron Orbaker – 11.59 pounds; 2nd – Dan Riportella – 9.70; 3rd – Chris Jones – 8.84. Big Fish – 3.71 – Darrell Barnett.
For more go to fresnobee.com/fishing.
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