Central Valley fishing spots ranked; Fresno-area lakes, High Sierra, San Luis Obispo
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
Shaver trout active, Dick Nichols said. Don Pedro king salmon and, McClure trout and bass hitting, Monte Smith reported. New Melones the best bet for big bass, John Liechty said. Millerton bass bite better than Pine Flat, Tas Moua 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, Tas Moua of 559 Fresno Bait and Tackle reported decent striped bass action in the northern section of the aqueduct with flukes or spoons worked along the bottom. The current remains high from increased pumping out of the south Delta. 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, though they may be hard to see.
Eastman Lake/Hensley Lake
Bass 2 Trout 2 Bluegill 2 Catfish 2 Crappie 2
At Eastman, Moua reported a continued tough largemouth bite for the possibility of a few fish per day from the banks to 30 feet in depth with jigs or dragging 7-inch swimbaits on the bottom around rock piles. At Hensley, Moua reported one angler tossed an 8-inch Huddleston swimbait throughout the day for a single 5-pound largemouth. Eastman and Hensley continue to rise slightly. No bass tournaments are scheduled through the end of January.
Lake Don Pedro
Bass 2 Trout 2 King salmon 3 Crappie 2
Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing reported good action for king salmon from 2.5 to 3.5 pounds in the Moccasin Arm trolling spoons, hoochies, or Apex lures with Steve Wirfs of Salida. Smith said, “There are huge balls of bait, but not all bait balls are holding salmon or trout. This should be an excellent year for king salmon with the current size of the fish. There are plenty of recently planted rainbow trout in the 12- to 14-inch range.” For bass, Aaron Jones of Central Valley Bait and Tackle in Modesto reported most anglers are struggling as the number of bites has decreased, saying, “The lake continues to rise, and crawdad-patterned jigs remain best, but jerkbaits, plastics on the drop-shot or umbrella rigs are also working. The bass are holding around submerged structure such as trees or rock. Those with Live Scope are strolling minnows at 20 to 30 feet in depth.” Launch updates are posted at www.donpedrolake.com. A self-inspection is required for launching. There are two remaining bass tournaments scheduled in January, but 9 are scheduled during February.
Isabella/Kaweah/Success/southern California Aqueduct reports available at https://www.tackleandrod.com/weekly-fishing-report.
McClure Reservoir
Bass 3 Trout 3 King salmon 2 Kokanee 0 Crappie 2 Catfish 2
Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing found solid action for quality rainbow trout to 2 pounds running shad patterned spoons on lead core during the past week. He said, “These rainbows are larger than those in Don Pedro, and they were aggressive as we hooked them right behind the boat.” A trout plant was reported during the past week at McClure Point. For bass, Christian Bass League held at tournament on Saturday with a solid winning weight at 16.32 pounds including a big fish at 8.72 pounds by the team of Jonathan Whitesitt and Chuck Fuller. Aaron Jones confirmed the possibility of big fish taken on trout patterned swimbaits, but the most consistent action remains on jigs in crawdad patterns, jerkbaits, or plastics on a shakey head. There are two more club tournaments in January with 8 tournaments on the schedule during February.
Lake McSwain
Trout 2
Bank action has improved with some quality rainbow trout taken from shoreline with garlic-scented Power Bait, inflated nightcrawlers, or Kastmasters from the normal locations of the Handicapped Docks, the Brush Pile, and the peninsula near the marina. Trolling remains best up the river arm past the First Fence Line.
Millerton Lake/San Joaquin River
Bass 3 Striped bass 1 Shad 1 Bluegill 3 Crappie 2
Moua reported recent reports indicate that Millerton is fishing better than nearby Pine Flat with a solid bite with brown/purple or green pumpkin jigs at 20 to 40 feet in depth around Sky Harbor. The flows in the San Joaquin River at Friant are steady at 419 cfs. Sycamore Island is open every day from 6:00 am to 5:30 pm, and the impoundment is scheduled for a trout plant the week of January 26. Woodward Park Pond in Fresno is scheduled for trout plants the next two weeks. The lake continues to rise. 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 Kokanee
Big largemouth and spotted bass are the story, and John Liechty of Xperience Fishing Guide Service put his client onto a personal-best 10.47-pound largemouth on a swimbait in the early afternoon. Aaron Jones of Central Valley Bait and Tackle added, “Melones is fishing very well, and there have been some big ones landed on swimbaits or jigs. The bass are spitting up crawdads, and quality spotted bass are taken on brown/purple or green pumpkin jigs.” For trout, Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Sport Fishing said, “Trout trolling has been getting tougher as the pattern has been foggy mornings with no breeze, and you need the breeze to put a ripple on the water when you are trolling within the top 3 feet of the surface. We are still getting our limits of rainbows, but it has been more challenging.” 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 2 Catfish 2 Crappie 2
Tas Moua reported a continued tough bass bite with the best action at depths from 20 to 30 feet with plastics on the drop-shot or shakey head along with jigs. He said, “A plant of small brown trout must have taken place since there are reports of small browns breaking the surface around the shorelines.” In the lower Kings, the flows have dropped from 1473 to 1072 cfs at Trimmer, and with trout plants continuing, there have been some larger rainbows taken on Berkeley Mice Tails, Pinched crawlers in floating or garlic, small spoons, or garlic Power Bait. The lake continues to rise. Avocado Lake will be planted next week. 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 74% with consistent pumping out of the south Delta. Mickey Clements of Coyote Bait and Tackle in Morgan Hill reported a good ripbait bite with the Jackall Rerange along with umbrella rigs near the rock wall along Highway 152.. .”
Roger George of Roger George Guide Service said that the more stable weather has helped the bite, but I’ve found I’ve had to hit the fish on the head to get bit. I took out guest Guy Miller , from San Jose and we got into a great trolling bite – releasing well over 30 nice stripers in the 21-25” class , as well as a fat 33”, 14 lber. We were trolling Lucky Crafts in Shad colors in the main lake at 50’ plus for the fish. Finding active fish is the key no matter the technique. There is still some topwater and ripbait action in the coves early.” George said.
Flukes have also been working for numbers of linesides from the shorelines. In the O’Neill Forebay,
Clements reported heavy water movement near Check 12 is attracting striped bass to feed, and 7-inch flukes in White Ice on a 6/0 hook with a split-shot is effective in the current. The forebay rose slightly to 81%. Los Banos Creek Reservoir is closed to public access through April 2026.
High Sierra
Bass Lake
Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 0
Bass Lake guide Mike Beighey said, “The lake is low, but some quality rainbow trout are coming in from shoreline, especially across by the Pines Resort with Power Bait. The ramp at the dam is still not in the water, and it is somewhat difficult to launch solo. The trout are shallow and trolling with pink or orange Dick’s Trout Busters tipped with a nightcrawler behind a Mountain dodger along with Rapala’s or Apex lures are most effective.” Tas Moua reported landing spotted bass to 2.25 pounds on a small green pumpkin Keitech Guard Spin Jig with a Dranckrazy trailer after tossing a big swimbait for a while. He said, “The water is coming up, and it is almost to the dock now.”
A webcam is available at https://www.basslakeca.com/bass-lake-webcam-1. No bass tournaments are scheduled through the end of January.
Shaver Lake/Huntington Lake
Bass 2 Trout 3 Kokanee 2
Dick Nichols of Mountain Tackle said, “There is a good bite for mostly rainbow trout with a few kokanee tossed in. Dave Loftin of Visalia fished solo on Friday, and he found a decent bite trolling a Dick’s Huntington Trout Buster tipped with Honey Worm behind weighted Mountain Flashers with at a setback of 90 feet which is around 25 to 27 feet in depth near the dam and Black Rock for 5 trout to 3.5 pounds and 3 kokanee. Loftin reported marking many fish at 35 to 40 feet, but without downriggers, he couldn’t reach them.” Check the launch ramp at http://www.sierramarina.com/webcam-weather-page.html for conditions. Both Shaver and Huntington dropped slightly.
Ocean
Monterey/Santa Cruz
Halibut 2 Striper 2 White seabass 1 Sand dabs 3 Surf perch3
Mickey Clements of Coyote Bait and Tackle in Morgan Hill reported perch fishing remains excellent at this time of year when the surf is down. Tom Niccum of their shop landed a 15-inch Barred Surf Perch, and either Lucky 13 or Honey Badger grubs in Motor Oil Red or Battlestar’s Surf Candy in Soft Shelled Crab are working on a Carolina rig.
Allen Bushnell of Santa Cruz Kayak Fishing and Surf Casting Guide Service reported, “At the top of our local list is crabbing, and there are plenty of Dungeness crab crawling in 120 to 200 feet of water in the bay, especially in the flat area at the edges of the canyons. Recreational anglers are allowed to use enclosed crab pots for multi-day soaks now, so the payoff for setting a string is much improved compared to the open hoop net technique. This year we’re seeing an increase in the number of flatties reported during the cold months.”
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
Boat-based rockfish season is closed until April, but some landings such as Emeryville Sport Fishing will offer crab-only or crab/sand dab combination trips during the winter months. Commercial crabbers are selling off the docks in San Francisco and Half Moon Bay with prices up to $11/pound. Sturgeon fishing is showing life in San Pablo Bay with Captain Trent Slate of Bite Me Charters out of Paradise Cove catching and releasing four diamondbacks on Saturday with three going over 100 pounds. Herring spawns continue to pop up along the Marin County shorelines, and there was a report of a spawn off the Alameda Rockwall. 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.
The popular Pacifica Pier remains crowded with crabbers, and it can get extremely difficult to find a spot on the weekends. 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 take center stage during the coming months.
Delta/Stockton
Bass 2 Striper 2 Sturgeon 3 Catfish 2 Bluegill 3
The water on the Sacramento side of the California Delta remains heavily stained, and with the amount of fresh water flow from the upper tributary reservoirs, the outgoing tide is larger than normal while the incoming tide is minimal. Without rain in the coming weeks, the amount of fresh water should slow down. With the dirty water, striped bass have headed for areas with clear water, and Alan Fong of Alan Fong Outdoors found good action for linesides to 12 pounds tossing swimbaits in the shallows in the Port of Sacramento. Sturgeon fishing remains best in the Suisun Bay sloughs, and Captain Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Guide Service found great action with multiple hook ups on Sunday. The sturgeon bite should be epic by March with the amount of fresh water flushing out the system. The 18th Annual Diamond Classic Catch and Release Tournament is this coming Saturday out of Pittsburg Marina with the pre-derby seminar at the Pittsburg Yacht Club on Friday night. Youth can fish from the marina rock wall starting at 9:00 am with equipment and bait provided by derby volunteers. As always during the winter months, boaters must be prepared for heavy fog in the mornings along with dangerous debris, trees, and logs both on and under the surface. Largemouth bass remains very slow in the 54-degree water, and only 3 limits were weighed in during Saturday’s 21-boat Nor Cal Bass tournament out of Paradise Point Marina. Tournament director, Dave King, said, “We only had 7 teams weigh in, and I received only four bites throughout the day, but the water is clearing up in the east Delta.”
Events:
Tournament Results
:Delta/Paradise Point Marina – Nor Cal Bass – January 18th: 1st – Harvey Pulliam/Jamond Andrews – 14.48 pounds (Big Fish – 4.62); 2nd – Nick Peterson/Brittyn Wiggins – 11.90; 3rd – Steve Bosrock/Zane Pritchard – 11.45.
For more go to fresnobee.com/fishing.
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