Here are Central Valley’s best fishing spots this week; Fresno-area lakes, Shaver, Pismo
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 stripers and sturgeon bites very good, Alan Fong reported. Shaver pumping out mixed limits, Dick Nichols said.
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 3
In the California Aqueduct, Striperz Gone Wild is hosting their annual Toy Drive on December 13 starting at 7:30 am, tentatively scheduled at their normal location at Volta Road near Los Banos. Unwrapped toys will be collected for Central Valley youth in need, and the organization will be providing a free breakfast and giveaways in addition to the fishing tournament with adult and youth divisions. Fishing overall remains slow with the fast water flows from the intense pumping out of the south Delta.
Eastman Lake/Hensley Lake
Bass 2 Trout 2 Bluegill 2 Catfish 2 Crappie 2
At Eastman, Tas Moua of 559 Fresno Bait and Tackle reported kayakers are picking up one to four bass with a variety of techniques, but the bite has been slow overall. The recent trout plant should spur on the swimbait bite. At Hensley, Moau reported catfish or crappie are the top species. No bass tournaments are scheduled through the end of December.
Lake Don Pedro
Bass 2 Trout 3 Kokanee 2 King salmon 3 Crappie 2
The bass bite has been slowing down as the water temperature drops, but with the heavy trout plants in recent weeks, the swimbait bite is picking up with Hawg Hunter Magnums or Huddlestons on a slow retrieve on the bottom. Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing reported the recently planted rainbows are found at various depths from 30 to 75 feet with shad patterned spoons. King salmon are also all over the board, taken as deep as 85 feet or as shallow on lead core line.
The lake has yet to turn over, but there is a thermocline at 58 degrees between 60 and 65 feet. Launch updates are posted at www.donpedrolake.com. The lake will be busy in December with six bass tournaments on the schedule. A self-inspection is required for launching.
McClure Reservoir
Bass 2 Trout 2 King salmon 2 Kokanee 0 Crappie 2 Catfish 2
Recently planted rainbows are taken on Speedy Shiners or T-Bone Tackle spoons at depths from the surface to 25 feet. Besides the occasional larger model taken on swimbaits, small bass are the rule as the fish are scattered and suspended. Jigs or plastics on the drop-shot are your best bet. The lake is hosting 5 club tournaments in December.
Lake McSwain
Trout 2
The lake dropped to 64%, and the launch ramp is out of the water. Boaters should contact the McSwain Marina prior to trailering up a vessel. Limits are possible, and spoons have been particularly effective from the banks.
Millerton Lake/San Joaquin River
Bass 2 Striped bass 1 Shad 1 Bluegill 2 Crappie 2
Tas Moua reported bass in the 1.25- to 1.5-pound range are still holding from 30 to 60 feet with plastics on a drop-shot or shakey head. Blade baits have been effective in shallower water when the fish move in. Crappie are showing amongst the submerged structure. There is one bass tournament scheduled in December.
New Melones Reservoir/Tulloch
Bass 2 Crappie 2 Catfish 2 Trout 2 Kokanee
Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Sport Fishing reported the trout trolling bite has slowed down, but the rainbows should be rising to the surface soon. Planted rainbows are taken along the shoreline, and the recent plants have led to some quality largemouth and spotted bass taken on swimbaits in the shallows. Hayden Lee caught and released a 12.5-pound largemouth on a 9.5-inch Hawg Hunter Magnum, and he also released several bass in the 2- to 3-pound range on the swimbait. 5-inch Senkos are also effective for the suspended fish. Due to limited staffing, decontamination washdowns for the public will be by appointment only through the New Melones Marina.
Pine Flat Reservoir/Kings River
Bass 2 Trout 3Kokanee 0 King salmon 2 Catfish 2 Crappie 2
The 3rd annual Black Friday Tournament attracted 31 boats with the top limit at just over 11 pounds. The bass are holding deep from 60 to 90 feet chasing shad, but these are small fish. The best quality is found shallower from 15 to 40 feet with 3-ounce Blade Runner spoons, flutter spoons, plastics on the drop-shot with a 3/4th-ounce weight, umbrella rigs, or lipless crankbaits. The water temperature is also dropping into the low 60’s.
In the lower Kings, recent trout plants have resulted in shoulder-to-shoulder fishing below the dam. Limits are possible, but there are no future plants listed on the schedule. The flows have dropped to 609 cfs at Trimmer with most trout holding in the pools. No bass tournaments are scheduled on the schedule for December. A trout plant is scheduled at Avocado Lake this week.
San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay
Striper 2 Catfish 2 Bass 2 Crappie 2
The water level in the main lake has risen significantly to 62% with increased pumping out of the south Delta. Tas Moua reported boaters in the Forebay are going through 30 to 40 striped bass per day with around half of the fish being over the minimum 18-inch size limit. Umbrella rigs or spoons are working for the deep suspended stripers. The forebay has slowed down a bit, but undersized stripers remain the story here with bait or reaction baits. The forebay dropped to 83%. Roger George of Roger George Guide Service reported that the troll bite has been slow in the big lake with a lot of suspending fish in the rapidly rising water. Los Banos Creek Reservoir is closed to public access through April 2026.
High Sierra
Bass Lake
Bass 2 Trout 3 Kokanee 0
This week’s trout plant has spurred on the bite from the banks and from boats. Trollers are scoring near the dam in the upper 25 feet with Dick’s Trout Buster’s tipped with a piece of crawler behind weighted Mountain Flashers. The lake is dropping, and it’s hard to launch by yourself. Recently planted and holdover rainbow trout are taken from the shorelines with crappie jigs. Bass fishing is best with plastics on the drop-shot or Senkos from the face of the dam. A webcam is available at https://www.basslakeca.com/bass-lake-webcam-1.
Edison/Florence/Mammoth Pool/Wishon/Courtright.
Kaiser Pass Road is scheduled to close on December 1 and it will not reopen until late May 2026. Access to both Wishon and Courtright is closed as of December 1, and access will not reopen until early April depending upon snow levels. Road conditions are available at the High Sierra Ranger Station – 855-5355 or https://www.fs.usda.gov/sierra.
Road conditions 297-0706.
Shaver Lake/Huntington Lake
Bass 2 Trout 3 Kokanee 3
Shaver Lake guide emeritus, Dick Nichols of Mountain Tackle, reported, “Three Shaver regulars trolled the lake this past week as Jay Irvine, Dave Geil, and Dave Loftin found solid action for both 2nd-year kokanee and rainbow trout. Successful techniques were running Dick’s Trout Busters behind a Mountain Flasher at a setback of 115 feet for the rainbows and from 25 to 30 feet with a 70-foot setback on the downriggers for the kokanee. The houses along the Point, and from the Sierra Marina to the Point were the top locations. Trophy rainbows to 5.4 pounds were landed. Bank anglers are soaking Power Bait, nightcrawlers, or spoons from the banks around the launch ramp and Roads 1 and 2.
Check http://www.sierramarina.com/webcam-weather-page.html for conditions.
Ocean
Monterey/Santa Cruz
Rockfish 3 Halibut 2 Striper 2 White seabass 1 Sand dabs 3 Surf perch 3
Allen Bushnell of Santa Cruz Kayak Fishing and Surf Casting Guide Service reported, “Looks like Chris’ Fishing Trips launched from Monterey on Wednesday and headed south towards Big Sur as the Caroline posted limits of rockfish and five lings on Wednesday. The Check Mate must have found a different reef, because they counted full limits of the desirable vermilion rockfish, ten lings and 150 assorted other rockfish for the 21 anglers aboard. Perch fishing is getting better as we near the shortest day of the year. At the end of this week, surfcasting broke open in a big way. Waves and swell dropped, winds stayed down and tides were favorable. By Wednesday, surfcasters were reporting nearly a fish per cast at many of our local beaches. Mostly barred surf perch, the average size is growing steadily. Whereas last month most perch were in the7-to 10 -inch range, this week we saw a preponderance of 10 1/2 to 13- inches.”
Golden Gate/San Francisco Bay/Half Moon Bay
Halibut 2 Striper 2 Rockfish 3 Leopard shark 2 Crab 3
Out of the Golden Gate, Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sport Fishing reported the California Dawn 1 and 2 out of Berkeley were out in spectacular weather on Sunday for a combined 50 limits of rockfish and Dungeness crab including crew, 46 limits of rockfish, and a 15-pound lingcod at the Farallon Islands. The only limiting factor on rockfish limits is the presence of weather too rough to go to the islands or a big swell. Captain Jerad Davis of the Salty Lady out of Sausalito put in 25 limits of crab and rockfish on their last trip. Davis said, “It doesn’t get much better than this.”
Out of Half Moon Bay, rockfishing remains solid for up to limits with a few lingcod for recreational charter boats, but few boats have been running.
San Luis Obispo
Rockfish 3 Surf perch 3
Rockfishing was excellent over the weekend with two boats out of Morro Bay Landing returning with 34 limits of rockfish and 35 lingcod to 20 pounds. It was more of the same out of Port San Luis with one boat from Patriot Sport Fishing scoring 15 limits and a 7-pound lingcod. The Black Pearl out of Morro Bay is running a Lingcod Lotto every Monday and Friday on their 6- to 8- hour trips with every legal ling cod entered in the weekly drawing for a free trip.
Delta/Stockton
Bass 2 Striper 3 Sturgeon 3 Catfish 2 Bluegill 3
Striped bass fishing in the California Delta continues to improve on a weekly basis, and if the water temperature holds in the mid-50’s, striped bass fishing should remain outstanding.
Jeff Soo Hoo of Soo Hoo’s Sport Fishing out of Oakley has been drifting live mudsuckers on both sides of the Delta, and he said, “Every day has been different. The water temperature is at 54 degrees, and we are coming up on some big numbers of stripers for a wide-open bite of a solid grade. The stripers have been holding on the shoals in most locations.”
Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Guide Service started offering sturgeon/striped bass combination trips this week, and he found great action on Friday for sturgeon outside of Pittsburg on the larger tides with salmon roe before switching over to trolling the West Bank with Atlas Rig umbrella rigs at 28 feet in depth for striped bass. He said, “We fished the incoming tide for sturgeon and the small outgo for stripers. The combination trips give my clients the opportunity to both catch-and-release along with taking home some meat.”
The stripers are moving further north into the Delta as Alan Fong of Alan Fong Outdoors anticipates the linesides will be moving into the shallows feeding on mudsuckers, shad, and bluegill as the water continues to cool.
Once the water temperatures drop into the 40’s, the striped bass will be migrating further north or into the south Delta looking for slightly warmer temperatures, but for now, it’s pretty good throughout both the San Joaquin and Sacramento River sides.
Tournament Results:
Pine Flat – 3rd Annual Black Friday Tournament – November 28th: 1st – Nam Pham/Mak Sineth – 11.04 pounds; 2nd- Danvee Xiong/Shue Moua – 10.01; 3rd – Xong Heu/Yoham Chang – 9.94. Big Fish- 4.18 pounds – Scott and Joe Greco.
For more go to fresnobee.com/fishing.
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