Going Fishin at Lake Natoma

sheldonbisbee · Post by **sheldonbisbee** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 10:29 am

Whats up there is the fishing good?And what do I use for bait wise?

biteme · Post by **biteme** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:28 am

It can be super tough out there. It just depends on the water flow coming out of Folsom, it fishes like the Delta that way. They say theres SM in there but Ive never caught one. Good luck!

Scott Shambre · Post by **Scott Shambre** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:02 pm

FYI...the lake is 5 MPH and you cannot use a gas motor below the Willow Creek inlet at the midway part of the lake.

SM are in there and in there good. The numbers are NOT there, but the quality is state record class. Like biteme said, if there is no current, there is no bite. It seems that they fill it during the night and "high" tide is around midnight. The lowest water level of the day is around 9 AM and the lake stagnates until around 4 or so when Folsom starts pumping water again.

Spinnerbaits have always been my bait of choice there with jigs and hula grubs in green pumpkin close behind. I have fished a rattlebait there with some success, but that has been kinda hit-or-miss.

Good luck down there, I usually launch near the dam and use my electric up to the ocve that goes back by Hwy. 50. From there up on both sides is pretty good on just about every piece of wood that is in the water. If you launch at Negro Bar and come down, the better water is on the left as you go down...again focusing on the wood in the water.

Good luck!!!

biteme · Post by **biteme** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 12:30 pm

Scott Shambre wrote:FYI...the lake is 5 MPH and you cannot use a gas motor below the Willow Creek inlet at the midway part of the lake.

SM are in there and in there good. The numbers are NOT there, but the quality is state record class. Like biteme said, if there is no current, there is no bite. It seems that they fill it during the night and "high" tide is around midnight. The lowest water level of the day is around 9 AM and the lake stagnates until around 4 or so when Folsom starts pumping water again.

Spinnerbaits have always been my bait of choice there with jigs and hula grubs in green pumpkin close behind. I have fished a rattlebait there with some success, but that has been kinda hit-or-miss.

Good luck down there, I usually launch near the dam and use my electric up to the ocve that goes back by Hwy. 50. From there up on both sides is pretty good on just about every piece of wood that is in the water. If you launch at Negro Bar and come down, the better water is on the left as you go down...again focusing on the wood in the water.

Good luck!!!

Thats crazy Ive never stuck one SM. Ive gone though lots of LM's but thats it. Just a little hint. It will take some work but you can walk in from sunset, thats what Ive done for years. Ive caught lots of 5lbers biggest was little over 5 1/2. But Ive been fishing it for 15 years.
Another tip is to look up the outflows from folsom. GL
BTW if you do get out there in a boat be ready for all kinds of looks. The locals will say things like your not allowed on the lake. My buddy and I were out there about a month ago in a boat and man did we ever get the looks.

brambo0311 · Post by **brambo0311** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:04 pm

It's tough right now. I never fish below Negro bar. I go all the way up to the prison and fish 4" senkos wacky. You might run into one of those giant rainbow trout up there to. Stay in the middle all the way up until you learn the rocks. Right under the foot bridge past the rainbow Bridge dead center is a bad rock that will cause damage stay left.

896J · Post by **896J** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:14 pm

Let us know how you do on that lake. I've always wondered about the fishing there myself.

biteme · Post by **biteme** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 3:19 pm

896J wrote:Let us know how you do on that lake. I've always wondered about the fishing there myself.

Its good, you just need to put time in. The place is full of big river rock. You can roll up on a rock pile like nothing. Some spots are super shallow.

brambo0311 · Post by **brambo0311** » Mon Sep 07, 2009 7:56 pm

biteme wrote:
896J wrote:Let us know how you do on that lake. I've always wondered about the fishing there myself.
Its good, you just need to put time in. The place is full of big river rock. You can roll up on a rock pile like nothing. Some spots are super shallow.

I fished it about 20 times out of mt kayak before I but my boat in there. I still wacked my tin boat on allot of rock and busted a few props. I only recently started taking my glass boat out there, but only idle in the main channel, and drop the trolling motor in the channel before going in. They are right there are boulders the size of busses all over the place.