new to northern california

[mythbuster]

hey all
just moved to san francisco (from new york) and i am interested in some bass fishing relatively close to the city. i have a car so i can get around, but i was wondering if anyone can recomend some smaller lakes around the bay area.

also, i was wondering when the bass season offically starts in california.

thanks very much.
best
mb

[fishwithwill]

Hang out on this site and Read the Forum a lot and filter through the noise and you can find some detailed and productive info on bass fishing. Post that you are looking for a back-seat and willing to pay for the gas and launch, you might end up with the best bass fishing of your life. Guaranteed. Read the reports on this website and find a lake that historically has good fishing during your chosen period and hit it using patterns from the reports. Magazines to read are BassWest, Western Outdoors, Fish Sniffer and Fishing and Hunting News for more info. and contacts. California bass season like time does not begin nor end, sometimes are better than others but they bite all year. Check out Pro-Am Draw Tournaments. Fish as an Am and accelerate your learning curve. Check out Angler's Choice, WON Bass, and 100% Bass as they seem to be the most popular, locally. Dont limit yourself to bass only. This state has the best fishing for so many different species both native and introduced. Check out the Bay and Ocean, too. You have such great fishing around you. It will take some time to learn it but it is worth it. Check out Hi's Tackle shop in SF. Also in San Jose there are other well-rounded and bass savy shops like Delta Bait, Mel Cotton's, Reed's, and Coyote Bait and Tackle. Especially, go visit Glen at Delta Bait in San Jose, he is the best.
Welcome,
William Wright

[Charles]

mb,

I don't know much about the bay area but I can tell you that bass season never ends in California.

You gotta check out the Delta.Its bustin open right now.

Charles

[Gary Dobyns]

You can catch'em year around, and we do. Big ones too. In San Fran look up a pro-shop called Hi's Tackle Box. The owner is a great guy named Jona. He can fix you up with info and tackle.

[mythbuster]

thanks everyone for the fast replies!

wow fishing all year. this is definately not new york, where they will slap you with a nasty ticket if you dont fall within the dates of the legal 'season'.

i will definately check out hi's tackle box. any lake recomendations would be great too. as i said preferably something smaller to begin with.

thanks again.
best
mb

[EGBASS]

Not much more to add except welcome to Bass Heaven.

If you start to miss those smallies, look into Trinity Lake, Berryessa, and Pardee Lake. The Sac river on the Delta has been known to give up good smallies as well.

[Long Nguyen]

Willie-

For us "old timers", Delta Bait and Tackle is the name we're used to. To be correct, it's actually "Fisherman's Warehouse" now.

Your advice is dead on. Oh, and that moster bass your pops caught made for a great photo. I like fishing with pops myself, especially when he catches a fish of a lifetime.

Long

[rexford]

I have a back seat open next Saturday was going
to try Calero out in the morning. Interested?

Thanks,
Mike

[gt5bass]

Welcome to California, the home of year round Lunkers and the next World Record Largemouth Bass. (We already have the WR Spot Record)

You are now an official NutCase, welcome to the addiction!

Make sure to mark you calendar, so you can join us at the Annual Western Rally and Nutcase Classic at Clear Lake, July 28th to July 30th. Fun and Frolic for One and All!

[ash]

Where Gary will crowned the New NumbNut 06 !

[gt5bass]

Not a long as you are fishin' Jonathan. HAR!

[sTony]

Best recommendation I can make for you is to get over here to the California Delta, only one of the best overall fisheries in the world. Lately it's been taking 30 pound limits to make the check line in tournaments and the fishing is only going to get better in the weeks to come. We're about 45 minutes to and hour east of San Francisco so it's not a bad ride. There are also plenty of guys and gals on the website who can get you out on the water. Lake Berryessa isn't all that far from you to the north and the San Jose area has lots of opportunities as well. In my youth we actually used to do well bass fishing right there in the City at Lake Merced. It's been years since I did that though.

Hope this helps and welcome to WesternBass.Com,

sTony

[Jeff Jewell]

MB,
There is no season for bass ( I think this is what your asking). You can legally fish for them all year.