Where is there a DECENT bass bite?

[JL]

I am sick of not catching fish! Lake Sonoma is fishing downright terrible and I need to get the STENCH out of my boat! Any and ALL suggestions will be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

[Kelly Ripa]

I see the spoon thing didn't work out.

[WRB]

Berryessa is decent winter bass lake using Kelly’s spoon advice in the narrows.
Tom

[JL]

I see the spoon thing didn't work out.

Kelly! Your advice was helpful and appreciated, but the way this lake is fishing right now dynamite would be questionable! LOL!

[JL]

Berryessa is decent winter bass lake using Kelly’s spoon advice in the narrows.
Tom

Thanks Tom!

[Kelly Ripa]

I would always fish a Lake with both largemouth and smallmouth. If I was at berry I might use my 1 oz. stuff no need to go larger than that as I only need to feel it.More likely a Kastmaster thing...

[jiggin4bass]

1/2oz or 3/4oz football head jigs in green pumpkin/black green crystal/blaze orange
with Yamamoto twin tail 4" grub trailer have been working here in several of are lake in the central valley. That color work good at Shasta if you plan on fishing in the next couple of months there.

[JL]

1/2oz or 3/4oz football head jigs in green pumpkin/black green crystal/blaze orange
with Yamamoto twin tail 4" grub trailer have been working here in several of are lake in the central valley. That color work good at Shasta if you plan on fishing in the next couple of months there.

Thanks! I may be headed to Pedro!

[jiggin4bass]

#11 pork in brown as a trailer also works good right now. They will pick the jig up and hold on to it longer for a good hook set.

[WRB]

Make sure you check out lake levels and launch ramp conditions!
Targeting shad schools the old school Grebe watching to locate deep bait still works and jig fishing long rocky points in front of the shad schools in compact funnel zones hasn’t changed.
The bigger Western Grebe are shad eaters, the smaller Pied bill are crawdads eater, spoon vs jig or drop shot.
Tom

[marinerfandave]

Hi jiggin4bass, can you share which company/brand of jig you are using that you refer to above, thanks!

[Kelly Ripa]

JL...You'll not find a finer winter time angler than WRB (Tom aka Oldschool). Send him a PM and he will fill your head with a lot of experienced knowledge. The day I met him he had 2 fish over nine pounds on spoons and sat there and told my partner for the day and I how we could make our own Pork frogs. I decided that my wife would leave me if I attempted to make and color my own pork trailers in her kitchen... and now you can buy them again. However: The bird observations are something I left out of the " long read" but it is something I watch all day as it can put you on fish for sure. The one bird I will always stop and fish next to and rarely see in SoCal is a loon. I always seem to tear up(by winter standards)the fish when I am in the vicinity of a loon. I don't know what the loons target but they seem to fire up entire areas when they are feeding as they most likely will eat anything that moves and it gets things moving for sure. All of the jig observations and colors by jiggn4bass will work for months on your lakes. It is never as easy to catch fish in the winter so I go out with a 5 bite attitude. If I can get five bites and convert that into five fish caught I'm having a great day. Stay warm,keep fishing as it will build character if nothing else ...

Rip

[JL]

Thank you very much Tom and Kelly Ripa! This is what this forum used to do, sharing of information to help each other! You two ROCK! I'm sure others as well as me appreciate it. Also, jiggin bass appreciate the jig tips!

[jiggin4bass]

marinerfandave
That is a color I've been making now for 15 years I tie them up special for spotted and smallmouth bass and for largemouth I use just the green pumpkin. I tie them from 1/8o to 1oz
Sizes.

[Bruce Theriot]

[quote=jiggin4bass post_id=673103 time=1670372116 user_id=25287]
1/2oz or 3/4oz football head jigs in green pumpkin/black green crystal/blaze orange
with Yamamoto twin tail 4" grub trailer have been working here in several of are lake in the central valley. That color work good at Shasta if you plan on fishing in the next couple of months there.
[/quote]

Could you post a picture of that jig? Thanks

[Csuhchris]

Trinity… 3hour drive is worth catching fish!

[JL]

Trinity… 3hour drive is worth catching fish!

Thanks! How are the ramps?

[jiggin4bass]

I also build them in several finesse style jig heads. In the winter I add bucktail to this color it work with a pork trailer added
And i also use a different number of strands in my skirts depending on what time of year I'm fishing

[ash]

I'm not sure where youre coming from but the best winter lakes near me are Berryessa, Comanche and Lake X (Bullards Bar) I enjoy berry as you can always find a bite somewhere and more often then not hit the trifecta of spots, smallies and largies -

[pd]

Can tell you it’s not at Cachuma, that’s for sure.

[Bruce Theriot]

[quote=jiggin4bass post_id=673136 time=1670445971 user_id=25287]
[img][/img]

I also build them in several finesse style jig heads. In the winter I add bucktail to this color it work with a pork trailer added
And i also use a different number of strands in my skirts depending on what time of year I'm fishing
[/quote]

Thanks for the pics. Looks like an awesome color.

[pd]

Talking about birds…here’s a tip: Grebes and loons are one thing, but a heron is another.

[Kelly Ripa]

Good point....Herons and egrets are very valuable tools for finding fish. Often times I know which way the bait school is swimming or are even alerted to their presence by these birds. The egrets will be leap frogging down the bank staying on the shad. As there aren't many shad right now on the bank I am presently seeing more herons. The big blue herons can sometimes be optimizing the baby bass in the shallows which is also a bass magnet. I find when Cachuma or Casitas starts getting down below 30% in capacity there tends to be a little more cannibalism on the largemouths part. All of my baby bass pattern type stuff finds it's way into my approach the lower we get. A few times over the years I have caught some really nice senko/fluke fish right under a herons feet so that alone is a pretty good indication of the usefulness of the birds. Since I've never seen Casitas as low as it is right now I have been paying more attention to the coots. I really don't know what's in front of me at times so they alert me to the fact that there is grass and shallow water where they are 90% of the time. It all helps your situational awareness for the day because I'm not out there but maybe once a week and it takes time for someone that works indoors to settle in to nature and get the feel of the day.

[jiggin4bass]

At two lakes I fish at lot if Grebes are group up in the areas on the lake you always catch fish in those areas. Drop offs, Isolated structure islands the birds are always around those areas.

[ash]

I have been paying more attention to the coots. I really don't know what's in front of me at times so they alert me to the fact that there is grass and shallow water where they are 90% of the time. It all helps your situational awareness for the day because I'm not out there but maybe once a week and it takes time for someone that works indoors to settle in to nature and get the feel of the day.

We don't talk about Coots, everyone knows they are just dirty birds to be ignored or ran through out on the water - espcially in the winter and early spring. Fishing the birds is becoming a lost art while out on the water, everyone is so focused on the screen and not what nature is signaling all around us.

[Kelly Ripa]

It took us some extra minutes to get down the length of Clear Lake in Sept. as we had to come off plane a few times just to get through the western grebes. There just wasn't any line you could take that would work...

it's how we roll.