Fishing report, Feb. 10-16: Millerton spotted bass a best bet; few brave cold at Shaver

Compiled by Dave Hurley and edited by Roger George, a former Olympic-class decathlete at Fresno State (he still holds the school record). George guides in the greater Fresno area and holds the striper record at Millerton Lake. Telephone numbers are in 559 calling area unless noted.

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Best bets

Delta sturgeon moving and feeding, Joey Gamez said. Isabella catfish on the prowl, Dave Hurley reported. Millerton spotted bass “best bass bite in the region,” Merritt Gilbert said. New Melones trout and bass bites good, Kyle Wise reported. Southern aqueduct stripers still active, Pete Cormier said.

Roger’s remarks

Roger George’s column will return.

Valley

West-side waterways

Striper 3 Catfish 2

Merritt Gilbert of Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis reported a few anglers are purchasing Duo Realis jerkbaits or Lucky Craft Pointers for the California Aqueduct, but the interest has diminished over the past few weeks. In the southern section of the aqueduct, Pete Cormier of Bob’s Bait in Bakersfield reported a continued solid striped bass bite with jumbo or extra-large minnows or blood worms. Stripers in the 23-inch range have been taken recently as the action is starting to pick up once again.

Call: Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis 292-3474; Bob’s Bait Bucket in Bakersfield (661) 833-8657

Eastman Lake

Bass 2 Trout 2 Bluegill 2 Catfish 2 Crappie 2

Finally some action out of this big bass lake with the California Slay Nation Kayak tournament drawing a number of boats to the lake this past Saturday. The action for bass remains tough with small fish being the rule on finesse techniques over the rockpiles or submerged humps. Merritt Gilbert reported one boat worked the lake throughout the day for only three bites, resulting in one bass.

Call: Eastman Lake 689-3255

Hensley Lake

Bass 2 Trout 2 Catfish 2 Bluegill 2 Crappie 2

Gilbert reported the crappie reports of a week ago have gone away, and bass fishing has been very slow as one boat only experienced two bites on a recent trip. The lake held at 19%.

Call: Valley Rod Gun, Clovis 292-3474; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hensley Lake Hidden Dam 673-5151

Lake Don Pedro

Bass 2 Trout 3 Kokanee 1 King salmon 2 Crappie 2

Don Pedro is getting into play, too, as Kenny and Tina McDonald of Manteca posted limits of rainbows pulling spoons at depths from 10 to 25 feet near Jenkins Hill and Hatch Creek. He said, “We started off with a king salmon at 110 feet before switching over to targeting rainbows in the 54.5-degree water. There are a few shad schools showing up.” The Sonora Bass Anglers held an 18-boat tournament on the lake on Saturday, and the winning weight was 14.31 with a big fish of 3.74, but the average weight per team was only 6.99 with the average fish size of the 160 bass weighed in at 1.89 pounds. The winning team of Jeremiah Payne and Andrew Hatfield landed a few on ripbaits or jigs, but the best action came on plastics on a dart head at depths from 20 to 55 feet. The lake held at 68%.

Call: Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing (209) 581-4734; Kyle Wise – Head Hunter Guide Service – (209) 531- 3966; Ryan Cook – Ryan Cook’s Fishing – 691-7008

Lake Isabella/Bakersfield area

Bass 2 Trout 2 Crappie 2 Catfish 3 Bluegill 2

Bass fishing is fair with jigs or spoons on a slow presentation off of rocky structure or submerged wood in deep water. Trout plants have helped bring out some action from the banks with Power Bait, Mice Tails, or crappie jigs, and catfishing has been the best bet with Triple S Dipbait, chicken livers, or nightcrawlers or cut baits scented with garlic. The annual Lake Isabella Kern Valley Chamber of Commerce Trout Derby will take a different format this year, and it will be held from April 24 through Sept. 6. A total of 500 tagged trout valued from $20 to $500, and the organizers are designed a virtual format for the event. Information is available at kernrivervalley.com/2020-isabella-lake-fishing-derby. French Gulch Marina hosts the only launch ramp with the low lake level. The lake held at 17%.

Buena Vista was planted last week, and Lightning trout have been taken on Power Bait or Mice Tails on a sliding sinker rig with at least a 3-foot leader. Recently-planted rainbows are found in the deeper holes in the cold river water with Power Bait, Power Eggs, salmon eggs, nightcrawlers, or live cricket. Fly fishermen are scoring with small nymphs or Woolly Buggers. Trout plants are scheduled at Lake Isabella, the upper Kern Section 4, Brite Valley, River Walk, and Lake Ming the week of Feb. 21.

Call: Bob’s Bait Bucket in Bakersfield (661) 833-8657; North Fork Marina (760) 376-1812; Golden Trout Pack Station 542-2816

Lake Kaweah

Bass 2 Crappie 2 Trout 2 Catfish 2

The bass remain deep, and the best action is found with jigs, plastics, on the drop-shot or dart head at depths to 30 feet. A trout plant took place a month ago, and the planted rainbows should get the big largemouth bass moving into the shallows. The lake rose slightly to 9%. Trout plants are scheduled at Mooney Grove Park south of Visalia for the next two weeks.

Call: Sierra Sporting Goods 592-5212

Lake Success/Tule River

Bass 2 Crappie 2 Trout 2 Catfish 2

Chuck Stokke of the Sequoia Fishing Company said, “Anglers are going deep for bass with jigs, spoons, or plastics on the drop-shot. Swimbaits grinded on the bottom are also working as the lake was planted with trout last week.” The lake held at 11%.

In the Tule River, Stokke said, “The river is scheduled for plants this week and next week, and nightcrawlers are working best in the cold water.”

The Sequoia National Forest has partially reopened, and information on the current closure and open areas is available at fs.usda.gov/sequoia.

Call: Sequoia Fishing Co. 539-5626, sequoiafishingcompany.com

McClure Reservoir

Bass 2 Trout 2 King salmon 1 Kokanee 1 Crappie 2 Catfish 2

The bass bite remains very challenging for size as the Best Bass Tournament on Saturday featured 75 boats for a winning limit at 7.87 pounds while the 13-boat Kerman Bass Club tournament was taken with an 8.12-pound limit with anglers weighing in 45 fish for an average 1.36 pounds. Ryan Cook of Ryan Cook’s Fishing said, “The best action is in the upper part of the lake from Piney on up at depths from 40 to 70 feet with plastics on the drop-shot. You have to weed through a number of small fish, and if you aren’t around bait, you won’t get bit.” Barrett’s Cove Marina is closed for the winter, and the Bagby, Horseshoe Bend, and McClure Point North launch ramps are closed due to water levels. The lake held at 37%.

Call: Ryan Cook – Ryan Cook’s Guide Service – 691-7008

McSwain Reservoir

Trout 2

Very little change at McSwain as a trout plant has yet to occur or be reported. The campgrounds at both Lake McClure and McSwain are temporarily closed. Trout fishing remains very slow from banks at the Handicapped Docks, the Brush Pile and the peninsula by the Marina has with various colors of trout dough bait, inflated nightcrawlers or silver/blue Kastmasters.

Call: McSwain Marina (209) 378-2534

Millerton Lake/San Joaquin River

Bass 3 Striped bass 1 Shad 1 Bluegill 2 Crappie 2 Trout 2

Gilbert said, “This is probably the best bass lake in our region as the numbers of bass to 2.5 pounds have been decent. One boat reported landing 19 bass to 2.5 pounds with plastics on the drop-shot or dart head in the main lake at depths from 15 to 30 feet. There was also a report of an estimated 18-pound striped bass that struck a lure near the boat on the retrieve from a bass angler. The striper didn’t get hooked, but we haven’t heard of stripers for some time as normally there will be reports of linesides hitchhiking on small spotted bass, but this fish hit a lure.” The lake is dropping, and there is work being completed on the K2 Power House for the next three months. The lake dropped to 32%. The lake dropped slightly to 31%.

A trout plant is scheduled for Sycamore Park Pond during the week of Feb. 21.

Call: Valley Rod & Gun 292-3474

New Melones Reservoir/Tulloch

Bass 3 Crappie 2 Catfish 2 Trout 3 Kokanee 1

Trout trollers are finding good action for planters running shad-patterned spoons on a long-line near the surface, but the best quality is found at depths from 60 to 80 feet with rolled shad. Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Guide Service convinced his client to release a 9-pound brown trout from the depths this week, but there have been other browns caught and kept. Cook said, “The bass bite is good overall with scores from 15 to 40 fish to 4 pounds per day, and the spotted bass are fat and solid at 3 to 3.5 pounds. I have been scoring off of creek channels or main lake points with plastics on the drop-shot, Neko-rig, or jigs, but there have been fish taken on umbrella rigs. The bass are either suspended or on the bottom, and I start in the creek channels in the mornings at depths from 20 to 50 feet before moving out to main lake points at depths from 30 to 60 feet after 11 a.m. The bass are feeding on both shad or crawdads, and with the warmer weather this year, I expect the spotted bass to start spawning soon. There have also been some larger bass taken on glide baits such as Swaver 168s in the early mornings.” The Glory Hole and Tuttletown boat launches are open at the middle ramp, but the Angels Cove launch ramp is closed. Bass tournaments have been placed on hold for the next few months. The lake held at 65%.

Tulloch was the hot spot for bass in the Mother Lode as the American Bass Association held at small tournament on Saturday won by John Liechty of Xperience Bass Fishing Guide Service and his partner, Rob Betsch of Mokelumne Hill at 20.04 pounds, buoyed by a big fish at 8.63 pounds.

Call: Glory Hole Sports (209) 736-4333; Monte Smith (209) 581-4734; John Liechty Xperience Fishing Guide Service (209) 743-9932

Pine Flat Reservoir/Kings River

Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 0 King salmon 1 Catfish 2 Crappie 2

The Cen Cal Elite Bass Tournament featured a winning limit at 10.54 pounds with a big fish at 4.08 by the team of Gary Wasson and Joe Baeza, and there have been some better than average limits taken in the past few weeks during tournaments. However, the bite came to a crashing halt the following day during the Bass 101 tournament as Wasson won again, but this time the weight was 5.18 pounds for only three fish. Only two of the 18 boats participating landed as many as three bass on Sunday. Gilbert said, “A few big bass have been taken on swimbaits such as Huddlestons in rainbow trout pattern around Deer Creek as the planted rainbows have been holding in the creek. The crappie that were reported a week ago seem to have disappeared as we have few fishermen purchasing crappie gear. If there is a good crappie bite, the crappie jigs will be flying out of the store. Trout trollers have been heading back up the hill to Shaver Lake as opposed to trolling Pine Flat.” The lake rose to 23%.

The lower Kings River is solid for planted rainbow trout with nightcrawlers, trout dough bait or Panther Martins. The harvest zone is between the dam and Alta (Cobbles) Weir, and between Alta Weir and Highway 180 is a catch-and-release zone with a zero limit. The lower Kings and Avocado Lake will be planted for the next two weeks.

Call: Valley Rod & Gun 292-3474; Sequoia Fishing Co. 539-5626

San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay

Striper 2 Catfish 2 Bass 2 Crappie 2

Roger George of Roger’s Guide Service said, “The overall bite in the big lake continues to be sporadic ranging from poor, to at best , a decent troll and minnow bite for the last week. The lake has come up about 2 feet in the last week to 1,089,000 acre feet and the water temperatures are hanging at about 56 degrees which should be ideal for a good bite. Experienced anglers are finding fish in the main lake off some main points and coves, but getting them to bite is another matter. The fish have been more spread out and inactive this week and not so much in schools where they will compete for food. I scouted last Wednesday and worked hard to release over 15 school fish and one 30-inch, 10-pound striped bass trolling the main lake. On Friday, I took out Steve Love and Bill Faught of Fresno, and I found a decent pattern that gave us 16 fish in the 21- to 23-inch range fishing from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. before the fish shut off. Lucky Craft, Smithwick, Yozuri and Rapala lures in minnow flavors were working at the usual 50- to 75-foot range. The trick is finding biting fish. However, most other experienced anglers told me they were struggling to land from one to three fish. All my scouting earlier is helping, but I’m having to work hard for every fish. The window for the big ones hasn’t been open lately for some reason.” The lake rose to 53%.

Greg Padilla of Coyote Bait and Tackle reported undersized striped bass pile worms or blood worms with the best action in the deep water near the Highway 33 Bridge.

Call: Coyote Bait and Tackle (408) 463-0711, Roger George of rogergeorgeguideservice.com 905-2954

High Sierra

Access to the region is limited by the order of the U.S. Forest Service which has limited vehicle traffic on all roads within the Sierra National Forest. The closure has been extended for certain areas until March 19. Updated information is available at fs.usda.gov/sierra.

Bass Lake

Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 1

Merritt Gilbert reported trout trolling remains decent for planted rainbows with blade/’crawler combination or Wedding Rings tipped with a nightcrawler behind a dodger at depths from the surface to 20 feet. Trollers are picking up to four rainbows per rod while shore anglers may score a trout or two. Few bass fishermen are targeting the lake with the Sheriff’s Motor Fee remaining in effect. The lake has risen to 51%, but launching a large boat at the public dock is a challenge.

Edison/Florence/Mammoth Pool

Edison is at 21%, Florence at 9% and Mammoth Pool rose to 41%.

Call: Vermilion Valley Resort at Edison Lake 259-4000

Shaver Lake/Huntington Lake

Kokanee 2 Trout 2

Dick Nichols of Dick’s Fishing Charters said, “Following heavy snow storms for over a week, beautiful weather returned to the mountain, but few fishermen braved the cold. A single launch lane was available for the weekend. A few boats are anchoring near Tunnel Creek for brown trout that are moving upstream while kokanee trollers are finding some third-year fish near the Point, Rock Heaven Cove and the Shaver Marina at depths from 32 to 61 feet. The lake held at 74%. More rain and snow is expected toward the end of the week. Launch conditions can be seen via webcam at sierramarina.com/camera.html.

Sections of Huntington Lake near the dam have a coating of ice, but the thickness of the ice has not been verified. The lake dropped to 48%.

Call: Dick Nichols – Dick’s Fishing Charters at Shaver Lake Sports 841-2740; Todd Wittwer – Kokanee.net Guide Service 288-8100; Dinkey Creek Inn 841-3435

Wishon/Courtright

Trout 2

The McKinley Grove Road is closed at Dinkey Creek, ending access to the two lakes on the upper Kings River watershed.

Call: Wishon RV Park 865-5361

Ocean

Half Moon Bay

Striper 2 White sea bass 1 Crab 3 Sand dabs 3 Surf perch 2

Captain Tom Mattusch of the Huli Cat continues to find limits of Dungeness crab and a good number of sand dabs on his combination trips, and this last Thursday was no exception with 4 limits of Dungeness crab along with 96 sanddabs. On Saturday, the Huli Cat ran a crab-only trip and pulled 180 crab for 18 people as the weather offshore was unkind for trying for the sand dabs.Dungeness crab season lasts until June 30.

Call: Captain Dennis Baxter – New Captain Pete (650) 576-3844; Captain Tom Mattusch – Huli Cat (650) 619-0459

Monterey/Santa Cruz

Striper 2 White sea bass 1 Crab 2 Sand dabs 3 Surf perch 2

Chris Arcoleo of Chris’s Fishing and Whale Watching said, “The sand dab counts have been climbing as we put in 510 sand dabs to go with 6 petrale sole and 42 Dungeness crab for 17 anglers on Sunday after scoring 350 sand dabs and 24 crabs for 15 anglers on Saturday on the Caroline. We are ready to run anytime we have good weather and enough interest.”

Allen Bushnell of the Santa Cruz Kayak and Surfcasting Guide Service, said, “Weather and sea conditions continued to be the dominating factor for anglers on the Monterey Bay this week. A number of days were unfishable due to uncomfortable or dangerous conditions caused by large swells, high winds and steep messy chop across the bay. Surfcasting for perch is slowly but steadily getting better. With the ferocious waves and nearshore currents lately, it seems that only the bigger perch are taking the bait. A few dedicated surfcasters have found pockets of deep water on the inside where perch are stacking up nicely. Best advice for this week is try to fish an outgoing tide, and look for cuts or pockets right on the edge of the sand. Make short casts to the deeper areas, and let the sideways current swing your bait past you. Keep the slack out of your line and be ready to instantly set the hook. The Santa Cruz Harbor entrance channel remains fully shoaled at this time. Harbor officials are very definite in their warnings to mariners regarding these extreme conditions, saying, “Severe shoaling, breaking surf, and hazardous conditions exist in the harbor entrance during all tide and surf conditions. Mariners are advised not to attempt to transit the harbor entrance until depths can be restored.” A couple weeks without giant swells to deal with will certainly be good for the hard-working dredge operators tasked with removing about 30,000 tons of sand that were deposited by each of our big swell events lately.”

Call: Chris’ Landing (831) 375-5951; Allen Bushnell – Santa Cruz Kayak and Surf Casting (831) 251-9732

San Francisco Bay

Halibut 2 Striper 2 Leopard shark 2 Sturgeon 2 Crab 2

A few party boats in the Bay Area fleet will be running crab-only or crab/sand dab combination trips this winter, and these include the Pacific Pearl out of Emeryville.

The sturgeon have arrived in San Pablo Bay, and after four consecutive skunks, Captain Trent Slate has scored a slot-limit sturgeon within a hour of setting up with fresh-frozen herring. He was out on Wednesday near China Camp with herring, and he landed a 53-inch sturgeon on his first cast. On Friday morning, he went into Sonoma Creek in shallow water for a 58-inch fat keeper that jumped out off the water several times. Apparently it was only a matter of getting some fresh water flow to get the sturgeon to make their move.

Captain Jonathon Smith of the Happy Hooker was in San Pablo Bay with 10 anglers on Saturday, and they put in one 54-inch sturgeon near China Camp after releasing a short halibut and a striped bass while drifting live bait. They also released a number of undersized leopard sharks. It was encouraging that there were sturgeon jumping in the China Camp area.

Ed Liu of Bay Tackle in El Cerritto said, “We have no idea where the striped bass have gone as they were off of the Marin shoreline and in the Napa River before the rains, but now they are nowhere to be found in San Pablo or the central bay. Halibut have been landed on frozen bait at Treasure Island, Brooks Island, and Southhampton Shoals, and the best halibut action is in the warmer waters of the afternoons. Perch fishing is good for rubber lip, pogy, and barred perch in the bay. Sturgeon have been taken in the south bay near the Dumbarton Bridge, and right now the best locations are at the mouths of rivers or creeks since the sturgeon are feeding on what is coming down from the creeks. The next herring spawn should be either at Sausalito or at Richmond as there hasn’t been a spawn for over a week. We are concerned about the stripers since normally at this time of year, we are catching 20 or 30 of the linesides.”

Reminder: White sturgeon may not be taken in the following described area between Jan. 1 and March 15: That portion of San Francisco Bay included within the following boundaries: A direct line between Pt. Chauncy (National Marine Fisheries Laboratory) and Pt. Richmond, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and a direct line between Pt. Lobos and Pt. Bonita.

Call: Captain Trent Slate Bite Me Charters (415) 307-8582; Captain Jerad Davis, Salty Lady (415) 760-9362; Captain Steve Mitchell of Hook’d Up Sport Fishing (707) 655-6736; Happy Hooker (510) 223-5388

San Luis Obispo

Surf perch 2

The ports of Port San Luis and Morro Bay will be running nature trips and whale watching until the April 1 rockfish opener. The other action is surf perch from the piers and the beaches.

Call: Virg’s Landing (800) 762-5263; Patriot Sport Fishing (805) 595-4100; Morro Bay Landing

Others

Delta/Stockton

Bass 2 Striper 2 Sturgeon 3 Catfish 2 Bluegill 2

The 37th Annual Foundation Sportsmen’s Club Original Sturgeon aka, “Super Bowl” Derby out of McAvoy’s Boat Harbor was held in spectacular weather over the entire weekend, and the number of participants jumped exponentially in response to the great weather, increased participation in fishing overall, and tremendous amount of sturgeon still holding in the Pittsburg area. The target-length came in at a more reasonable 51 inches, nearly splitting the slot-limit in half, and with the increased participation this year, the top prize money increased to $6,892 from $4,600 in 2020 with 919 participants entered compared to 736 in 2020. The past two years have since an overall increase of 333 anglers from 2019.

Anglers went out in search of the 51-inch target length starting at 7 a.m. on Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., and many participants fished throughout the entire 30 hours of the event.

Tony Lopez of Benicia Bait and Tackle said, “It was a smooth derby with a number of diamondbacks brought to the scales. The bait shop at McAvoy’s was extremely busy as they went through around 80 pounds of grass shrimp throughout the weekend. A number of sturgeon were landed near Garnet Point.”

The Foundation Sportsmen’s Club started with a group of anglers in Bay Point who needed a place to go, and they rebuilt a dilapidated bait shop for their clubhouse. According to the club’s history, shortly after the club was formed, a young man named Johnny Filbeck lost his battle with cancer, and since he was a huge football fan, the club members formed a 501 (c) 3 foundation to establish a scholarship fund in Johnny’s name to help high school students from the Bay Point area who participated in sports during their four years of high school to attend college. Major funding for the scholarships come from the ‘Super Bowl’ Sturgeon Derby.

The local bait shops prepared with plenty of live ghost shrimp, grass shrimp, and pile worms, and those shops that took reservations were able to serve their customers.

The weekend was dominated by the 919 anglers participating in the Foundation Sportsman’s Club ‘Original Sturgeon’ Derby, and boat traffic was high from the Benicia/Martinez to the Rio Vista Bridge. Bait shops cashed in on a great weekend as meeting demand was a challenge with the absence of ghost shrimp until just prior to the start of the derby on Saturday morning. The Sacramento River rose in the northern end of Delta, but it dropped back quickly and remains relatively clear as most of the precipitation soaked into the dry ground.

Captain Steve Mitchell of Hook’d Up Sport Fishing was in the final stages of having the ‘Top Gun’ applied with a new wrap, but he was invited to fish the derby on a private boat. Mitchell was out with Oakland Police Department Sergeant Demetrius Fowler and Detective John Breden, and Fowler landed his first legal sturgeon at 58.75 inches on Saturday while Breden released an oversized. Breden got on the board on Sunday with a 46-inch keeper, but the two legal fish were far off of the derby target-length of 51 inches.

Captain Joey Gamez of Golden State Sport Fishing had an all-star crew for the derby consisting of his son, Joey Jr., deckhand Anthony Gibbs, and Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Guide Service, and they caught and released multiple sturgeon but similar to Mitchell, every sturgeon was too far off of the mark to be brought in to be measured.

Prior to the derby, Captain Zach Medinas of Gatecrasher Fishing Adventures reported great action on his catch-and-release trips with 6 slot-limit sturgeon along with ‘one of our largest oversized for the season’ on his last trip with his custom-cured salmon roe.

On the Friday before the derby, Scott Marran of Yuba City was out with Paul ‘Seadog’ Matchem working the deep water off of Pittsburg, and after releasing a shaker and losing one in the anchor, Matchem was able to bring in a 51-inch keeper. Marran said, “I don’t like anchoring in deep water, but there are literally thousands of sturgeon still off of Pittsburg. We measured that sturgeon right on the mark, and it would have been exactly on the target the next day.”

Striped bass remain scarce, and in the north Delta, Alan Fong of the Fishermen’s Warehouse in Sacramento said, “Liberty Islands and the surrounding area remains very slow for stripers, but just wait, they will be coming.”

Additionally in the north Delta, Johnny Tran of New Romeo’s Bait and Tackle in Freeport said, “Striped bass fishing is fair in the Deep Water Channel with blood worms, pile worms, jumbo minnows, or sardines coated with garlic spray. A few sturgeon have been coming through, but they are scattered. The water is a bite muddy, but there are crappie to be found in the clear water of the sloughs around Liberty Island with waxworms or small minnows.”

The combination of cold and muddy water slowed down fishing action in the San Joaquin Delta, but the week of clear weather is allowing for the conditions to clear and the water to warm up once again.

Vince Borges of Vince Borges Outdoors said, “Fishing has been tough for both largemouth and striped bass as the water is muddy in a number of locations. I fished a small derby with my son last weekend, and the first place landed a five-fish limit weighing 12 pounds with the second place coming in with three bass at 6 pounds. We came in fifth with one fish over 3 pounds so you can see that it was very tough. The clear warmer weather this week should help turn things around, but it will take a while for the water to clear up. The water temperature starting at 48 degrees before coming up to 51 degrees in some locations. Three-fourths of the Delta was muddy although there were some areas with clear water. Whiskey Slough, Frank’s Tract, and the Middle River were chocolate milk while sloughs like Taylor haven’t muddied up yet. There were some areas within Discovery Bay where the water was also clearer, but it was mixed. It will take a least a week without wind or rain to clear up the water. Swim jigs were the key to getting bit, and we did find some clear water around Rock Slough, but Mandeville was also muddy with the area around the Duck Pond having around 1.5-foot visibility. We tried other things but we could only get bit on the swimjigs.”

Omega Nguyen of Mega Bait in Tackle reported the water in the south San Joaquin near the mouth of the Stanislaus has turned ‘chocolate’ as well as being high near Lathrop, and most anglers are heading out of the local area to fish further west out of Rio Vista, Pittsburg, or Martinez. The Super Bowl Sturgeon Derby brought out a number of anglers to purchase lamprey eel, pile worms, and ghost shrimp. Nguyen has a supply of all sizes of minnows, and the jumbo minnows are $17/dozen, several dollars less than other area bait shops.

Johnny Tran of New Romeo’s Bait and Tackle in Freeport reported the sloughs off of Eight Mile Road east of Stockton have been good for crappie with waxworms or small minnows.

Johnny Wang, manager of Turner’s Outdoors in Stockton, said, “The first bridge off of Eight Mile Road has been a good location for catching big brooder shiners from 4 to 8 inches on meal worms, and these minnows have been excellent for drifting in White Slough for quality largemouth and striped bass. In the south Delta, the sea lions have been on a rampage, eating crappie and largemouth bass, and making conditions for fishing far more difficult.”

Call: Randy Pringle (209) 543-6260; Captain Steve Mitchell – Hook’d Up Sport Fishing – (707) 655-6736; J.D. Richey – Richey’s Sport Fishing – (916) 952-1554; Vince Borges – Vince Borges Outdoors (209) 918-0828

Lake Nacimiento/San Antonio/Santa Margarita/Lopez

Bass 2 White bass 2 Striper 0 Catfish 2 Crappie 2 Bluegill 2

At Nacimiento, the reservoir rose over 20 feet to 41% of capacity, but the bass bite remains slow overall with the off-color water and floating and submerged debris resulting from the heavy rainfall in the coastal mountains. The bite is best with plastics on a variety of finesse presentations or jigs working for as many as 10 spotted bass per day. A webcam of the lake is available at http://www.lakenacimientolive.com/. At Lopez, trout plants are scheduled for the next two weeks, and the planted rainbows will bring out bank anglers and trollers. The swimbait bite should start to pick up as well. The water temperature has increased to 56 degrees in the afternoons. The bass fishing remains a grind with the best action found at depths to 30 feet with plastics on the Texas-rig, drop-shot, shakey head, or Ned rig along with jigs. The size of the bass remains on the small size, but there have been some larger fish to 3 pounds. Panfish are taken on red worms or jumbo red worms. A webcam of the lake is available at http://805webcams.com/lopez-lake-webcam/. At Santa Margarita, the bass bite remains slow, but there have been some quality largemouth bass to 6 pounds taken on reaction baits such as crankbaits or spinnerbaits, but the most consistent action is on the bottom with plastics on the drop-shot or Texas-rig along with jigs. There are crappie found in the coves in open water with minijigs while catfish continue to hit mackerel scented with garlic. At San Antonio, the lake is rising with inflow into the lake, and it is now over 20%. Catfishing is best near the mouth of the inlets with moving water with scented cut baits. Every other species remains slow. The Harris Creek ramp has new launching hours on Fridays from noon to 5 and from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Events

Tournament results

Camanche - Manteca Bassin’ Buddies –– February 6th: - 1st: Angelo Quierolo/Jerry Walser – 13.51 pounds; 2nd – Dan Byker/Jerry LM – 13.19 (Big Fish – 3.83); 3rd – Bill Martin/Marshall Horsley – 11.69.

Tulloch –American Bass Association/Mother Lode–– February 6th: - 1st: John Liechty/Rob Betsch – 20.04 pounds (Big Fish – 8.63); 2nd – Steve Riggs/Steve Chappell – 18.31; 3rd – Hayden Lee/Dean Korbelik – 17.97.

Don Pedro - Sonora Bass Anglers–– February 6th: - 1st: Jeremiah Payne/Andrew Hatfield – 14.31 pounds (Big Fish – 3.74); 2nd – H. Harskamp/C. Harskamp – 10.93; 3rd – J. Wood/B. Stutzman – 10.53.

McClure – Best Bass Tournaments–– February 6th: - 1st: Cory Kerber/Jeremy Pitts – 7.87 pounds; 2nd – Kevin and Brian Coughlin – 7.71; 3rd – Charles Welch/Ryan Vilmur – 7.65.

McClure – Kerman Club –– February 6th: - 1st: Shawn Young – 8.12 pounds; 2nd – Mitch Melikian – 6.94; 3rd – Chris Griffin – 6.62. Big Fish – 2.91 – Evan Sanders.

Pine Flat –Cen Cal Elite Bass Tournaments–– February 6th: - 1st: Gary Wasson/Joe Baeza – 10.54 pounds (Big Fish – 4.08); 2nd –Denny Bowlin – 7.86; 3rd – Bill Kunz/Cory Kerber- 7.38.

Pine Flat –Bass 101–– February 7th: - 1st: Gary Wasson – 3 fish – 5.18 pounds; 2nd –Mark Corrente – 3 fish – 3.84; 3rd – Tom Loya – 2 fish – 2.60.

Upcoming tournaments (subject to change)

Feb. 13

McClure – Best Bass Tournaments/Kings VIII Bass Club

Pine Flat – Bakersfield Bass Club

Nacimiento – American Bass Association/San Luis Obispo Bass Ambushers

Feb. 14

Delta/Russo’s – Hook, Line, and Sinker

Feb. 20

Delta/New Holland Riverside Marina – Dan Mathisen Outdoors

Delta/Ladd’s Marina – Nor Cal Bass

Don Pedro – Christian Bass League

McClure – Angler’s Press

Pine Flat – Sierra Bass Club/Kerman Bass Club/Kern County Bass Masters

Nacimiento – Best Bass Tournaments

Feb. 21

Camanche – Modesto Ambassadors

McClure - Nor Cal High School Bass/Kings River Bass Club

Nacimiento – American Bass Association

Feb. 27-28

Kaweah – Cen Cal Elite Bass Tournaments

Feb. 27

Don Pedro – Merced Bass Club

Pine Flat – Gold Empire Bass Club

Success – Xtreme Bass Club

Feb. 28

Delta/Ladd’s Marina – Gold County Bass Tours

Don Pedro – Gold County Bass Tours

Nacimiento – Fresno Bass Club