By: The Fish Sniffer Staff August 11, 2008 Last Issue Here's a nice one from the Ruby Marshes caught on 8/1/08. Photographed by Bob Hunton. Eric Bond

Shasta Lake
In a turn of fortunes, the bass bite at Lake Shasta has slowed after several weeks of ranging from good to great.

"Bass fishing has slowed all over the lake over the past week," reported Arnold Fancelli at Phil's Propellers. "One guy went out on the main body and got a pair of fish weighing 3 and 4 pounds while throwing swimbaits, but those were the only fish he hooked. Overall the best area is up in the Pitt Arm around the standing timber."

"Early and late you can pick up bass on topwater lures, but when the sun is on the water dark colored plastic worms and jigs are your best bet. The lake is currently dropping about a foot per day and that is likely why the bite has dropped off recently," said Fancelli.

Oroville Lake
Although Lake Oroville is known for the large numbers of spotted bass that dwell in its waters, the lake recently produced some hefty largemouths for nocturnal anglers.

Brian Roland demonstrated his bass fishing prowess by bagging a 5.77 lb. largemouth at Oroville, reported Fil Torres at Oroville Outdoors. Brent Cline also nailed a 9.75 lb. largemouth while throwing a spinnerbait at night.

"The night bite is definitely better than it is during the day," said Torres. "Night fishermen are catching 40 to 50 fish, while anglers fishing during the day are hooking maybe 20 fish. The fish being taken at night are also larger than those being caught during the day; night anglers are reporting a lot of 15 to 17 inch spotted bass."

Nocturnal fishing enthusiasts are throwing spinnerbaits, flipping jigs and casting crankbaits. The fish are holding right on the bank.

"Anglers are finding an early morning top water bass bite while using Senkos, Zara Spooks and buzzbaits," disclosed Torres. "Then after the sun comes up anglers drop shotting and dart heading at 30 to 50 feet deep with plastic worms in the main lake and mouth of the North Fork."

Folsom
Things are uncharacteristically quiet at Folsom Lake these days. As a result of the 5-mile per hour speed limit spurred by the low water conditions, water skiers and recreational watercraft enthusiasts have abandoned the lake, much to the delight of local anglers.

"I took a trip to Folsom last Sunday and caught 9 bass," disclosed Jason Pleece of Meadow Vista. "I launched my canoe in the South Fork at about 7 o'clock in the morning and started off working a Rebel Pop R. I got a pair of largemouths, a spot and a smallmouth within the first hour."

"The smallmouth was the last fish I got on the popper and after I let it go the topwater bite stopped. I switched over to a 6 inch purple Robo worm and got 3 more spots in the morning. Around noon I spent some time trying to hook carp with some homemade dough bait, but I didn't have any luck.

He continued, "When the wind came up in the afternoon, I spent a couple of hours drifting over deep structure pulling a Baby Brush Hog on a Carolina Rig. I caught two more largemouth on the Brush Hog. One of them was a little over 3 pounds. That was my best fish of the day." Expect a whole lot until the water stabilizes. After that I'd switch over to plastics and jigs and I'd work slowly."

Clear Lake
The early morning bass bite is really quite good at Clear Lake. "If you hit the water just before or right at sun up, you're going to catch a lot of fish," said Bob Rider, owner of Lakeshore Bait and Tackle. Senkos, spinner baits, and frogs are being mentioned by anglers coming off the water.

The down side? "The bite drops off hard around 8 or 9 in the morning," advised Rider. "Switch to minnows for a continued bite throughout the rest of the day. Fish from 12 - 25 feet of water."

"Look for that feature that's holding fish and you're going to do okay. Most anglers are looking for drop-offs, ledges and shelves. And when the bite slows down - so should you," he disclosed.

Lake Amador
Bass fishing at Lake Amador is going strong in the evenings and at night, according to Larry Hemphill, fishing guide.

Hemphill and Rick Tietz of Yuba City caught and released 20 bass on their latest trip to the lake. "The top water and frog bite was quite good in the evening," said Hemphill. "We experienced our top success tossing out Lucky Craft Sammy lures in ghost shad patterns."

Their top five fish weighed 18 pounds, lead by a 4-1/2 pounds. "The fish averaged a solid 3 pounds," said Hemphill. One angler also caught an 8 lb. 13 oz. largemouth while they were fishing. After dark, they switched over to 10 inch Berkley Power Worms.

"The fish were chasing bait out into the middle of the lake," said Hemphill. "There were shad everywhere. The water was very warm, ranging from 80 to 83.4 degrees."

Camanche
The bass bite was good for several campers at North Shore this week. "They were fishing in the Causeway Cove and caught 6 bass (up to 3 pounds) using Baby Brush Hogs in green pumpkin as well as Senko worms in watermelon flake, rigged wacky style," said Porray. "They said most of their fish came in 10-15 feet of water, in rocky areas from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. "

Young Alex Nicolaysen from Camanche caught 2 nice bass about 15 inches long while fishing watermelon Senkos from shore at North Shore.

Don Pedro
Manny Basi of the Bait Barn reported that anglers drop shotting 6 inch margarita mutilator Roboworms, green weenies or purple weenies will get into good numbers of bass. "Work the shore out to water twenty-five feet deep. Anglers might want to try the Buzzjet - a wake bait, in bluegill colors for a good bite too."

McClure
Bass action is steady with an early morning top water bite on Spooks and then moving to a jig bite. Better jig colors have been purples and browns. Look for bass in the Piney Creek and Barrett Cove areas, reported Chuck Rowell of A 1 Bait and Tackle.