Calfishing

Founded in 1996, is dedicated to connecting fishermen in California and the world. Original content - no AI generated garbage

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

May 20, 2003 – Lake Chabot

Yes indeed, I caught a bass at Lake Chabot :) But the curse has not been entirely lifted ...

Got there at 5:30pm. Hot and amazingly calm. I was stoked. I hoofed it up to Coots landing to launch my tube. My heels are still burning from walking in my wading boots with socks. If I had worn my waders, I would have melted before I got there lol.

Cruised the bank for a while before I saw 4 nice fish all milling around. There was a 4lb male who was glued to the bed and three nice females that were 5,6, and 8lbs or so. All three came up and checked me out for about 5 minutes. I could almost have kicked them with my fins. Chabot fish love to do this. I just waited by the shore. They kinda cruised off. I started on the male with swimmy swimbait texas rig. He was a stud and started bashing it right away every cast. This got the girls' attention :) The middle sized fish started to get real interested so I switched to a t-rig brush hog on 14lb florocarbon. The male went even more nuts on this. Finally I pitch in and the female rushes up and hits it about 3 feet off the bottom. Strike 1. Two pitches later she does it again and I nailed her. Fun fight on the spinning rod. The 14lb floro stood up good when the ran into a tree. She was 6lbs 2oz. After that the party was over.

Looked for more fish and saw some but they all just wanted to look at my fins, not my lures. I paddled over to a new spot and lined up a long cast with the 9" Eagle. I ripped it on top a couple times and POW this big fish just explodes on it. Missed by about 3 feet. **%$$$. I reel and see no followers. Next cast I do the same thing but kill the bait when it comes into view. Get this ... there were 8 fish over 10 on my bait!!! I mean, maybe the small one was 9lbs but I left my bait on the bottom and watched them eye it for a good 2 or 3 minutes. Big ones were 12 to 13lbs and there were several that big UNREAL. I kicked away and waited a good 5 minutes. Called N to cry about it. Then I get ready to make another cast and I look over and they are all sitting there watching me still. Bastards.

Left that and looked some more as it got dark. Saw 4 nice fish that were looking like they wanted to lock up. One was about 11. The rest were 7 to 8. Gonna try for them manana.

What worked: Brush hog

https://t.co/L1nxOgQR3w

Where did you fish? Lake Chabot

https://t.co/DJiyM8Ul1U

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

May 13, 2003 – Shadow Cliffs

Today was de-ja-vu all over again. I wake up a little later than I wanted too. Load up and leave the house around 5:40am. I get to the lake at 6:10, pull up look out and ... there is the same dude sitting on my spot again! I guess I just suck at waking up early :) So I get my tube ready and launch out and just like yesterday, he leaves. I really have been meaning to just say hello and be nice the last two days but I've never gotten within talking distance. In any case, I go out and look for the big one and she is gone :( doh. But remember yesterday when I said there was only one other fish over 5 on a bed? Well she was there with about a 4lb male and I caught her after just a bit on the t-rig sandburgalar special Big Hammer. She was 5lbs 3oz and fought like crazy.

I looked around some but didn't see very many fish at all. It was super calm and glassy again. I made about my 3rd or 4th pass through the good area when all of a sudden I see a male flash down deep. Ahhh soooo. There was an 8 and a 10 or 11 sitting down there. The bigger one left right away and never came back. The 8 was just locked though. First pitch and she's looking at the bait, and I'm thinking this is gonna be quick. It wound up taking about 30 minutes to catch her. She was interested in the swimbait, showed zero interest in the tube, and hit a watermelon red/flake mad man about 5 times but I couldn't see the bait or feel the bite until I pulled it away and she would just spit it. Finally I went around her to the deep side and made a few casts with the swimbait. She mouthed it like 3 times before she slurped. I probably looked like a moron almost setting the hook 3 times. But I got her, and man she was smokin hot. Jumped a couple times, ran off about 30 feet of line. It was a blast. She was 8lbs 12oz. Very nice healthy fish.

After that I was a dumbass and paddled around the entire lake literally to the back of the panhandle, down to stanley shore and then back. I was huffin and puffin. Other dude was on a fish the whole morning so I am thinking it was a big one. Never saw him get it though and he left the spot as I was driving out.

After work ... I tanked because I was beat

What worked: 5” Big Hammer Swimbait

https://t.co/8M1SYYpCfH

Where did you fish? Shadow Cliffs

https://t.co/4mlyTAYbVm

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

May 12, 2003 – Shadow Cliffs

I am just bound and determined to get a really big one at Shadow Cliffs. I got up at 5am this morning to give it a try. By the time I got to the lake it was 6:15am or so. I roll up and look out at the lake and what do I see? There is a dude in his boat sitting on my big dog spot casting a Slammer! Surreal!!! This guy is like my shadow or something, I can't figure it out. He's the same guy who cut in front of N and I on opening morning at Pablo and who was in the sacred cove that entire weekend. I guess he knows something x( So I launch my tube and amazingly, he just leaves and heads down the lake. I think it was so early that he couldn't see the fish. I made three passes looking for these big ones I have been seeing for two weeks now. Finally I spot one of them, and amazingly she's on a bed. Or kinda... If I got just to where I could barely barely see her, she would sit there and not move. If I got too close or made a splash with my lure, she would leave and make a circle and slowly, slowly come back.

I tried for this fish for like 2 hours. I tried every lure I had with me. She never looked at my bait once. I tried leaving the bait in the nest for 5 minutes at a time. I tried to hit her with the bait (yeah right) .. I tried harassing the male. Nothing worked. During those two hours I left and came back a couple times and man was it glassy and clear. I sighted two other big uncatchable ones and some smaller fish. I caught a 4-8, a 4 and a 2 something. They were all easy fish because they were out deep where normally no one could mess with them. I tried the swimmy swimbait on the big one in desperation before I left, but she would just flee when she saw it coming. ugggggggg.

Shadow Cliffs big ones can school you sometimes. I really thought I would get a good one this morning. Oh well. At least I got some bites :) The 4 and the 2 were on drop shot tube bait, and the 4-8 was on the t-rig hammer. I wish I knew what the water temp is ... I can't tell if the spawn is getting done there or if there is still more to come. Beside this one fish, there were very few fish over 5 on beds. Only one actually, and it left after I cast at it.

What worked: 5” Big Hammer Swimbait
https://t.co/8M1SYYpCfH

Where did you fish? Shadow Cliffs
https://t.co/4mlyTAYbVm

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

Daily doodle 2/11/2025

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

May 3, 2003 – San Pablo Dam
Fishing for big bass is an odyssey sometimes. Today was definitely an adventure. I woke up late since the forecast called for rain. I was fishing by myself so I loaded up and left the house around 9:30am, arriving at the lake by 10:30. One thing about Pablo is that there are ALWAYS lots of boats in the parking lot, and if they aren’t bass, they are trout guys. Well, today there was one trailer in the whole lot. I could not believe it. I guess the forecast scared people away.

I launched the boat and it was calm and warm with a mix of bright sun and clouds. I checked some of my favorite areas and did a lot of flipping and Slammering since the water is way up and there’s lots of cover. I had two big follows on the Slammer but they were not going to bite it, they were just looking. This went on for 2 maybe 3 hours. All day today I felt like I was really in the zone. My boat was working perfectly, I was making the good casts to the good areas. But after a few hours, still nothing to show for it.

I decided to hit some other spots and I pulled up on a clump of tullies. A few pitches with a senko and one runs off with it. It was a zippy 4lb 2oz fish. Felt good to get a bite. Just then these raindrops start falling that are just enormous. Big fat rain, but not too heavy. I put on my rain gear and my deck boots and a few minutes later I was glad that I did because it started raining like a dang monsoon. It rained so hard for 30 minutes that there was 4” of water in the bottom of my boat! Even through my raingear, I was soaked up to my armpits. Luckily I kept a spare jacket dry in my cooler :) . Then, just as soon as it started, it stopped and all of a sudden it’s beautiful again. I really think that I was right in the eye of the storm, because it wasn’t windy all day. Even in the pouring rain, there was barely a breeze.

When the sun came out I fished fast with the Slammer, trying to get a fish to show itself or give me some clue as to what was going on. I saw a few 5 to 6lb fish sunning on top, but they would bolt when I got near. I did see one nice fish, maybe 12lbs, but it was just cruising. At one point, I was able to sneak up on a 5lber that I sighted from way far off. I pitched a senko at it but it just followed it down and didn’t bite.

Finally, I work back around to where I caught the 4 pounder. It’s still very nice out and I actually was wearing just my dry jacket while I let my t-shirt and hat dry in the sun. Then I look and see a nice fish. I’m thinking maybe 8 or 10lbs. I make a few casts towards it with a 5” Big Hammer swimbait and it doesn’t move. The beautiful thing was that even though the water was very murky, I could see this fish in the sun from about 100 feet away. So the fish never knew I was there. I made a few more casts, maybe 4 or 5 casts and the fish was staying there, but not interesting in my bait.

Then, as I’m watching, I see another fish move up by this fish. Keep in mind that I had absolutely the most perfect positioning on these fish. I was almost 100 feet away from them. It was so far I could barely make the pitch underhanded, and one thing I know how to do it pitch :) The other fish looked bigger but was very green and hard to see. At this point I realized the first one I was looking at was probably more like 10 or 11lbs. I lined up a cast on the other fish and it didn’t move. The next cast I swam my swimbait in from about 10 feet past the fish and shook it on it’s face. THUMP THUMP. Whoa! I couldn’t believe the fish ate it that quick!! I nailed her good and she ran out towards deeper water. She didn’t come up until she was about 30 feet from the boat and when she rolled I started getting excited because it was definitely a TOAD. I was thinking she was about 12lbs, and then she went and dove under the stern of the boat. I ran back there and coaxed her back out to the side. Grabbed the net and held it between my legs and I led her towards it. She came up really docile by the side and I slid her in, then I dumped the rod, grabbed the net with both hands and lifted her in.

So here is where karma comes in to play. About 2 weeks ago I bought a new cooler for my boat. It’s 152 quarts, which is overkill, but dammit, I figured the only fish I am brining in that cooler is going to be a really really big bass, that needs a really really big cooler! That was some good karma. The other karma was that I had about 2” of standing water on my lower deck from the rain. So I just laid her there for a minute (in the deep end of course :) ) while I filled the cooler, then I laid her in the cooler and sprinkled a little catch and release formula on her.

I took a minute to try to calm down because I knew she was big. I was thinking now that she was probably 14 to 15lbs. I got the scale and lifted her up. The scale flashed and settled on 17lbs 14oz. I was like WHAT?!!???!!???!?!???!?!! I just stared at it for like 5 seconds waiting for it to go down, but it didn’t. I put her back, held down the power button and zeroed the scale again. I put her back on it one more time and it hung right to 17lbs 14oz again!!! I could NOT believe it. At this point I was starting to lose my mind.

I was very close to the ramp and I kind of debated doing the self taken pics and releasing her or taking her in for an official weight. I called B and J and idled closer to the ramp. Then I said, to hell with it, I have a 152 quart cooler, I’m taking her in. I got to the dock, jumped out and ran up and got the truck because there was no way in hell I could carry that cooler full of water up to the marina shop. I pulled out and parked right at the back door. The guy was working by himself and there was literally no one for 100 yards. We drained off enough water to get the cooler over the gunnel and carried it about 50 feet up to the scale. He got the scale ready and I lifted her out and put it on the scale. The scale flashed for a split second and then just pegged at 18.0lbs!!! The guy at the shop was pretty excited and I was just about to pass out. What a fish! She was not super long, but she had this gut on her that was unlike any fish I have ever seen in person.

We carried her back to the boat and he helped me get the cooler back in the boat, then I drove down by myself to the ramp. I could have launched and taken her back to her spot, but I didn’t feel like that was in the best interest of the fish. She was doing great and I wanted to keep it that way. I dumped most of the water so I could get the cooler out of the boat, just about killing myself in the process, then I snapped one pic in the cooler, took her out and released her. She was awesome, she just pointed out and swam off steady and strong. I snapped two quick pics as she headed out. One day this bass will be 20lbs. I know it in my heart. Letting her go was one of the awesome moments in my life. The stars really lined up for me today.

I did forget to measure the fish, which I am really upset about. Based on the pics in the cooler and working with N, we are estimating that the fish was between 26 to 27” long and had a girth of around 27”. For your reference, the cooler is 14” across the bottom, and 37” long. Each little panel along the side is 4 and ¼”long, not counting the groove between the panels. I know myself when I look at the pic of me holding the fish, it doesn’t look like an 18lb bass, but if you could just see the massive girth on her, like you can kind of get a feel for in the cooler pic, she was really something.

Here is the gear

5" #36 Prizm Shad Big Hammer Swimbait - I opted for a natural bait because I was not sight fishing in the sense that I could see my lure

Castaway FR76 Flippin Stick
Shimano Curado 200b
20lb Triple Fish Camoescent line
luck - lots of it

Catch and Release Forever

What worked: 5” Big Hammer Swimbait

https://t.co/8M1SYYpCfH

Where did you fish? San Pablo Dam

https://t.co/gZ8qLmVFyX

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

April 27, 2003 – San Pablo Dam
The bass at San Pablo are like 747's circling an airport and waiting to land right now. I ran the entire lake today looking for fish and it wasn't until the end that I found them. They were stacked like cordwood and they want to spawn bad, but it's just jacked up because the water is still hovering around 59 to 61 degrees, and right now it's raining and windy and cold!

Anyway, it started out nice and calm and sunny at 8:30am this morning. I took advantage of that and ran through a couple coves on high just looking. Didn't see a thing. Water was 59 degrees. I should have just flipped but I was hoping to get lucky and find one. I pitched a 7" senko at some tullies as I went by going way too fast and saw the tully shake behind my bait. An 8lber follows it as I'm pulling it out of the water. That kind of summarized my day right there. Too much looking, not enough fishing.

It got windy by 9:30ish so I decided to throw the 12" generic hardbait at the main lake wood. Ran through a couple trees and I see a big bass floating on top dead. It weighed 12lbs 9oz and woooo did it stink. Couldn't tell why it died. After I shook it off my scale I stood up and made a cast on some wood. I took a few cranks and got distracted because that stinky fish was slapping up against the boat. I was reeling and I felt my bait hit a branch so I turned around and just then this 8lber comes shooting out of the tree and whacks my trout and is gone. Just like that. I don't think it even tried to eat it. I think it just reacted to it when it hit the tree branch. Oh well.

Ran some more trees for nothing. Then I threw the generic into some tullies and got it snagged so I just loaded up the rod and pulled as hard as I could to rip it out. POP, it breaks off. I'm like, AHH CRAP but then it floats up on top so I go get it and I think cool, no problem. But I was really wondering why on earth my 25lb broke that easy ... well I reel in the line and it's still snagged in the tullies and won't come out. Turns out I ripped the eye right out of the nose of the bait. $*!! 100 dollar hardbait down the drain. Time to call Jerry LOL.

So I mosey over to my best spot in scow and pitch the stupid 7" senko at it for a while. It was super windy by now and I had to point the bow up and practically fish behind the boat. Three casts to this one spot and I get a mush biter. I set and the fish swam straight at me. I seriously thought it was a one pounder or something. When it got right under the boat and I was going to swing it in, all of a sudden it dives and I'm like oh, hm, this could be a good one. I reach for the net and get it ready. The fish comes up and splashes on top. My trolling motor takes this opportunity to short out and stop working so I get spun around and pop, the fish shakes off. Looked like a 6lber or so. Sweet ... as you can see I was on a roll.

Saw one fish about 10lbs in scow and double anchored on it in the howling wind for 10 minutes and never saw it again. Left there and hit some random stuff that I never fish. Saw one male. N called and had a 6 and a 3 flipping. I bounced around the lake just looking around. N called again and had just lost a 12 on the Slammer. Sheesh, guy was kicking my butt today :)

Now it's clouding up and looking like rain. I meet up with N and he sticks a 4.8 right in front of me on the Slammer! He says he saw a 4lber and I look and see it. Then I look up shallow and there were fish just littered on this spot in like 1 foot of water. Saw several 7 to 10lb fish and a bunch of males. None were on beds really, they just wanted to spawn so bad, you could tell, but they were messed up by the weather. We milled around through there for the rest of the day. I did sneak up on one nice fish about 9lbs that was kind of with a male. I pitched a brush hog at it and it didn't flinch so I pitched and hit it right on top of the nose and it flared it's mouth like it was going to eat it but the bait was 6" away by then. The fish was really grumpy and didn't want to move, but she was also in 1 foot of water and didn't like it when I would splash the bait too close. After a while she just left. By then it was starting to really rain so I left.

I guess if you caught them every time, it wouldn't make it as fun :) Try again next weekend.

What worked?

MS Slammer https://t.co/3Z1bzTTFEa

Where did you fish?

San Pablo Dam Reservoir https://t.co/VNgbOtj8n0

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

April 16, 2003 - Rancho Seco Lake

Fished Rancho all day on Wednesday. I took a vacation day to fish the day of the full moon. The morning was cold and breezy which gave way to calm and decently warm but cloudy and then turned back into cold and breezy at the end of the day.

I made one lap around the lake mostly looking but throwing the trout in front of the boat too. I sighted 3 fish over 10 on beds on the first lap, but they were all very spooky so I just marked them and kept going. I had some nice follows to maybe 13lbs on the stocker and eagle baits but they wouldn't bite. They were hanging back pretty far on the bait although one big one followed it 3 times. Not that many fish were up in general, even males. I never ran over a single fish that just stayed locked. Most would go rocketing off the bed as soon as you got near them.

On the second pass I went back to the best looking fish, and 11lber or so that was on a bed in the weeds in about 4 feet of water. I anchored and fished for her. Turned out there were two big ones there, the other one was around 10. The fish were hanging way up off the bottom which usually means they will be hard to catch. These fish were so weird. The definitely were on the nest but they were so non-commital towards it. If you made the slightest splash or got to close with the boat, they would just move off 10 feet and wait. I spent an hour and 15 minutes on these fish and they never even looked at my bait. I tried leaving my bait on the bed and sitting down in the boat for 5 minutes at a time and it had no effect.

While I was fishing for these fish I heard a splash behind me and looked. Then I see this huge surge of water and this giant boil erupts! I was like WHOA!!! Then this trout goes shooting up into the shallows with this huge wake behind it. I throw out with a sidewinder as far as I can but as about 10 feet short and didn't get bit. Man that was awesome though. It was definitely a huge huge fish that was on that trout.
By then it was getting breezy so I threw the trout around the lake again, this time more seriously. I had one fish come up and hit the stocker trout on top while I was waking the bait. It missed. Then I had a fish hit the 9" eagle pretty good slow rolling it down about 5 or 10 feet deep. I set and the harness pulled out of the bait but it didn't hook up. x( There were teeth marks on the bait all along it so I know the fish totally hit it.

Finally around 3:30 I come back to one of the other fish that I had seen. The first time I saw her she was rolling around spawning. I thought, oh this fish is caught. But instead she was very spooky. When I see her again, she's doing the same thing. I anchor, wait a while, then make a soft cast. Poof, seeya. I wait and she comes back and starts rolling around. Cast, poof gone. After 15 or 20 minutes of this I realize it's actually two fish. It glassed over for a second and the big one was like 14lbs and the other one was like 10lbs. The male was really hiding under the weeds and so were the females, making it even harder to see what was going on. I tried anchoring in 6 or 8 different spots to see if I could hide from the fish but still see them. They were so spooky it was stupid. I sat there for 2 hours. I tried probably a dozen different baits, even the castaic bluegill baits which I don't like. The only thing that they looked at was the 5" big hammer. But they wouldn't look at it on texas rig, only on the 3/4oz lead head. I thought that the 10lber ate it twice but both times I set into nothing. Finally I gave up and went home.

Those fish at Ranco are pretty jacked. It's not like San Diego where they won't show themselves at all, but they absolutely know the game and even the 6 to 8lbers that I saw (some of which you could see the hookholes in their lip) would just simply not stay on the nest. I would say Rancho is in between standard Nor-Cal sight fish and San Diego sight fish. It's definitely the most spooky fish I've seen up here. They are learning the game and with the clear water, they have no where to hide. That is why I predict that this year will go down as being the best year for sight fishing ever at Rancho. I think that subsequent years just will not be as good as the fish learn to hide better and spawn deeper.

What worked?
Nothing!

Where did you fish?
Rancho Seco Lake: https://t.co/v2Yj4Uos1F

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

Daily doodle 2/9/2025

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

Daily doodle 2/8/2025

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

April 13, 2003 - Shadow Cliffs

Well my big plan was to go to Rancho today, but when I woke up at 6am it was raining and windy and looked like crap. So I snoozed it for a bit and it just kept on with the rain until around 8:30 or 9 and at that point I was over it. So I took a leisurely morning and packed up and went to shadow cliffs arriving there around 10:30 or so. I had pretty much decided that all I was going to do was throw trouts no matter what so I made a half a lap around the lake and had a few followers before I pull up on this ledge and I see a couple fish on it.

I threw out the anchor because one of the fish looked decent and I fished for them with the grub and the big hammer for about 15 minutes. They were hard to see and they kept moving all over the place. It was windy. So I pulled up and came inside of them just to try that angle and I pitched the 5" big hammer out a couple times when all of a sudden I pull it over the ledge and the big fish lights up out of no where and flares her gills and eats it. I stuck her and she started freaking out and darting around. She was bigger than I thought and then she did what I knew she would do and shot up straight into the air about 3 feet. %*&$#!!!!! I hate that. She gave about 3 headshakes mid air and spit it, even with the 1/2oz head. Damnnn. Looked like a 10 to 11lb fish. I was furious at myself for hooking her on the hammer again. That's three fish of at least 9lbs that I've lost on that bait in the last two weeks. When they go straight up through the roof they almost always spit it. But it's such the catch 22 because I can't seem to find any other baits that get their attention like that bait. Anyway, more on this later.

I left that one and started throwing the 9" stocker trout down the windy bank. The wind really kicked up and made a mudline with white caps and the whole bit. I was feeling a trout bite happening and sure enough I got bit. It was one of those ones where you're like, uh is there a fish on there? This 2lber had somehow managed to hook himself on the front treble. I couldn't believe it.

The very next cast and 8 or 9lber comes up right on the bait. RRRR. Wouldn't eat it. I had a few more follows and then I throw on this small nub where I always see good fish. Wack, I get bit and nothing, wack again it hits it and this time I set into nothing. Then wack AGAIN ... this bastard hit it 3 times! I never really saw the fish other than a flash but it looked decent 5 to 7lbs. Kept cruising and had two more bites with non-hookup. Pretty sure they were small. I get all the way around the lake and the visibility is pretty poor because of the wind/whitecaps. I checked a few spots where I had seen males before and tried to use the boat to make a bubble in the water so I could look better. I come on this one spot and I see a dark spot. Then I see the female and she looks pretty good. I swung around and anchored.

My anchor kept pulling though because it was so windy and I couldn't work on her very good. Finally I got smart and went all the way to the shore about 100 feet upwind and tied off to this pole on the shore. Then I scoped out to just the right spot :) I threw the grub about 30 casts and I could tell they just weren't interested. I still couldn't tell how big the big one was but she was at least 8. Finally it hit me ... why not put the big hammer on my grub rod? I grabbed in my box for this purple prizm 5" big hammer that I had dipped in chartreuse dipping dye. It makes this sweet purple chartreuse color that looks like a bluegill. I rigged it through the side of the big hammer and skin hooked it in the back. I seriously thought to myself, this is fate. The first pitch I shake it twice and I feel pressure. I pulled back slightly and I see the big one working her jaws. I set as fast as I could and she was on. Amazingly she never jumped. She came up to the top 3 times and rolled but mostly she just ran peeling off my 16lb sugoi like smooth butta off my tweaked curado with the dartanium drag. yeah baby :) Har. I had her on for about 3 minutes. By far the longest fight I've ever had with a bass. When she came up she was whipped and I got her. I hung her on the scale and it flashed 10-15, 11-2, 11-1, 10-15, 11-2. I gave up and called it at 11-0. I didn't want her to dry out. Got a few pics and released her. She was pretty pooped but swam away no problem. I worked a long time for a double digit at Shadow Cliffs and it felt good, especially after losing the one earlier.

The rest of the day I just threw the trout and looked for sight fish. I shook off three 2 to 3lb males at the boat trying to work deeper beds where I couldn't see very good. I worked on the original fish for another hour but the only thing she would look at was the 9" eagle swimbait and she never would actually bite it, she just would lay there an inch away from it and stare. I did sight one huge one by the second dock that I watched for a while cruising around. She was 14 to 15lbs and I could see her really good but she wasn't on a bed so it was hopeless. I had a few follows to 10lbs on the stocker, slammer and eagle. I got one 4lber to full on eat the eagle right at the boat, but needless to say it didn't get hooked.

So another 5 fish day for me. I don't know what the world is coming to ;)

What worked?
5" Big Hammer Swimbait Big Hammer Lures
https://t.co/8M1SYYpCfH

Where did you fish?
Shadow Cliffs
https://t.co/qic9HLSvK6

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

April 12, 2003 - Spring Lake

I woke up this morning and felt really tired. Big weather fronts do that to me for some reason. It's weird. Anway, after pushing snooze a few million times I dragged my butt out of bed and hit the road by myself to go up to spring lake. It looked stormy and by the time I got to the bridge it was raining. And it wasn't kidding either. It straight up poured rain for the last hour of the drive. I was kind of questioning my sanity at that point, but I was too far to wuss out so I got to the lake in this torrential downpour, took a deep breath and got out of the truck. OMG I was soaked in like 30 seconds. As I launched the boat, the rain turned to hail for about 10 minutes. It was just brutal.

I got out there and just started hucking the Slammer. I figured if I was there I may as well go for it. So about an hour goes by and it's just unrelenting rain and the vis is about 1.5 foot so I decided to flip for a while and see if I could just get bit. Nothing for like 2 hours of flipping the money jig and the 7" senko. I had the lake to myself which usually makes my chances of getting a double digit go up by about 10x but it sure was slow. Water temp was 60 to 62 which was good, but it felt way warmer than the air, which I don't know if that's good or bad, but it sure was weird to put your hand in the water and have it feel good.

Anyway, I get around to the money hole where I caught both my 8's at Spring Lake and finally the rain stops. I make a long pitch with the jig right to the best spot. It's cold and my hands are fairly dysfunctional and I get thwacked. It was one of those ones where you just get the rod with both hands and lean back. The hookset sucked but I got the fish. A fat 3lb 7oz male with a rubbed up tail. Nice. Suddenly I didn't feel so stupid for being out there in a downpour. I treated myself to an iced tea and a sandwich. Then I moved back up and made the same cast again. THUNK. This time I was ready and I nailed the fish and it felt good but it was just a hard fighting 3lb 11oz fish. They were really eating the jig whole. I take a pic and work down about 75 feet. Pitch out another long pitch and get whacked again. Smaller fish at 2-9. Even though they were small it was a blast getting them on the jig. Every fish was hooked way back in the roof of the mouth. They were just throttling it.

After that the rain kicked back up big time for an hour or two. Having caught a few I felt ready to throw the trout more which I did for a good long while for not a thing. I think it was too muddy for them to find it in the grass on top. I pitched another 2-8 fish off a little point on the jig and then went back to the money hole for another 2-8 male about 100 feet from the main spot. The only key was to fish the jig 10 to 15 feet off the tullies. They just were not up in the stuff.

Rest of the day I threw the trout and got nothing. This whole deal with actually catching more than one fish per trip is really getting out of control :) I wish I could find a few more good areas on Spring Lake since all my fish keep coming off this same spot. If the water clears up they should be murdering the trout lures there. I saw ospreys dive and get a couple trout.

What worked?
black/red flake brush hog full size
https://t.co/L1nxOgQR3w

Where did you fish?
Spring Lake
https://t.co/9G9MKTyfXN

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

Daily doodle 2/7/25

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

Daily doodle 2/6/25

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

Daily doodle 2/5/25

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

Daily doodle 2/2/2025

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

Daily doodle 1/31/25

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

Daily doodle 1/30

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

April 9, 2003 - San Pablo Dam

Ok, here is the report. I agonized forever about where to go yesterday. I had the motor off the boat but around 9pm I decided to hell with it I was gonna go to Pablo not Rancho. Dragged the motor back downstairs and put it on. I got up early and was at the lake at 6:10am. It was kind of cold early with swirling mist on the lake. It was such a long day that I don't know if I can stand to write the play by play, but let's talk about the swings and the misses.

Early I checked my fish that I saw a week and a half ago. Nothing there. I waited until the sun came out and then they moved up. I made probably 6 passes across this 200 yard area. None of the big ones would stick around. There were several 10 to 14lb fish moving between the bedding areas and the wood. Finally I notice that one big one about 11lbs kept sitting on the same spot when I would go by. There was no male there, but even though she was very spooky when I beached the boat and tried for her the first time, she would eventually come back to this same zone when I would leave. So finally I came at her from a different angle and I threw the full size castaic bluegill out way past her and brought it by and left it there. She came over for a look. Then I pitched again and she left. Then I pitched again and she came over and looked again. My bluegill suspends almost perfectly so I started reeling it along the bottom bumping the bottom. She followed real close and I was feeling the bump bump bump when it loaded up. I pulled back but didn't set because I didn't see her open her mouth but she had it when I pulled back and poof she spit it. ARG. After that she was done. It was cool to get that bite because I really finessed her good but o well.

Next fish I spot was on some main lake nothing spot. It chased my 9" Stocker trout off the bank and nipped it then went back to a nest with 3 males. That fish was about 7lbs. Keep in mind, it's like 11am already. I worked on her for a long time but she wouldn't bite. I didn't want to waste my whole day on her so I gave up and left.

Next stop I was still throwing the stocker. I kept snagging it on the bottom and I kept setting the hook on the bottom. Then I get one that feels just like a snag. The bait just stopped. I wound down hard and it just goes whammmmmm and pulled the rod down. Nice. Fish jumped twice and did a tail walk way out off the boat. It was cool. Landed that one and it went 8-4. Got some trout guys to take a pic since they saw me reel it in.

I cruise back throwing the stocker trout and it was kind of breezy. Then by just pure incredible luck I see a fish flash in the muddy shallows. Then I see it's tail and I'm like OOOHH crap that's a toad. I sat there and watched for a while but I couldn't see her or the nest at all. So I left, threw the trout, then came back about 5 minutes later and anchored. I waited a few minutes and then I saw her flash again and I got a good landmark on where she was. I tried a lizard on her at first, just leaving it where I thought she was. Every once and I while I could get a glimpse of her tail. Then I switched to the big hammer and swam it through a couple times. Then I just left it there for a few casts and shook it a little. Maybe 20 or 30 minutes go by and I pitch out with the hammer and let it pendulum in to the nest on a tight line. The line gets taut and moves just a little so I pull for one second and then set and it was ON. She didn't jump but man did she run. I had her on 20lb and she pulled off a good 25 feet of line. I just kept leading her around keeping a good angle on her and letting her take drag when she wanted it. Finally she rolled up by the boat and I scooped her. That adrenaline rush is awesome! 14-6 - took some self taken pics because I didn't want to show her to any of the trout guys and have them blabbing at the marina and released her.

After that one I started just running the lake looking for sight fish at 100mph. The next spot I come into OMG there were 3 toads on this bed and I could see them pretty good. Vis was about 3 feet all day... There were also 4 males in this area and 2 of them were on the same bed. It was a 5 fish bed. I didn't even anchor because it was so calm. I just started pitching the big hammer at the biggest fish. They were HOT!!! The big one was just locked and her tail started finning around right away. 10 pitches, maybe less, and she bashes it. I swung and she went nuts. She jumped twice and raced around the boat. I reached for the net and got it between my legs. Then she came right to the boat and I tried to get her but missed and she did a big headshake bellyflop at the boat and spit it!!! *&%*&% damn. You guys probably heard me cussing from down there. She was 12 to 14lbs. A total pig.

I was pretty bent so I went back to a 7 I had seen nearby. It was gone so I went back to the main spot again. Only one fish was there now although I did see the other two cruising the cove. I'm not sure if it was the fish I lost because all 3 of them were toads, but the one that was there was locked on. I couldn't believe it. I told myself. DO NOT USE THE BIG HAMMER. USE THE T-RIG. I put on the 5" chart Assalt grub with a 5/0 hook so the hook just barely holds in the tail. The fish was so easy it was sad. 6 or 8 pitches and the male ate the bait right in front of her. I shook him off really gently and as soon as it popped out she pounced on it. I stuck her super hard and she went nuts again. Oh my heart was pounding. She ran right toward the boat and came out of the water completely not more than 5 feet in front of the trolling motor. I just held on and kept my tip up to keep an angle on the hook and after some scuffling I got her. 12-8 on the digital. Awesome.

I stayed in there for a little longer before I left hoping the other ones would come back but they were spooky. I hit another spot and saw a 10 under a log but it was just acting wierd so I didn't waste too much time there. It was getting late so I checked a few more areas and didn't see much, one other 8 in a tree, then I came back to the big nest but it was all mud by then and I couldn't see anything at all. There was one cove that had some sun on it still so I jammed over there and looked.

I saw something in that cove, that if it was a bass, it was an absolute monster. It never came back and it might have been a carp, but it was hugee... Anyway, I saw a 3lb male on a dark spot so I anchored. Made about 10 casts before I saw the female. Then I switched to a drop shot tube because I wanted something I could see up off the bottom because I couldn't see the bottom or the fish. A few casts and she appeared again and mouthed the bait. Next cast she ate it. 7-3. Caught her on a spinning rod with 12lb. That was fun.

So I didn't get the 50 pound bag, although I had my shot. It was a great day.

A couple other notes... I got bit twice on the flying lure rigged mad man craw flipping bushes. Missed both. Saw one and it was only like 3lbs. Cool to get bit on it. The 12-8 had a piece of line going down her throat. Looked like about 6lb test. She probably broke someone off on a worm or powerbait. I couldn't get the hook, but I cut the line off as close to her stomach as I could. That was a good feeling. Glad she escaped her brush with powerbait death :) I also forgot to mention I had several follows on the stocker including one that was 10+. Nice to get a few follows on the trout. Best 5 were 44-5. Water temp was 59 to 64. The warmer water had the fish. The other interesting thing was that anywhere I could find a school of these little minnows (baby shad or silversides?) I would find the spawning fish. The correlation was really strong. Maybe the males like having something to eat nearby. Seriously ... I saw them eating those little minnows during the spawn last year one time. Interesting.

What worked:

5” Big Hammer Swimbait – Invader color

https://t.co/8M1SYYpCfH

Where did you fish?

https://t.co/POFSdyCF6F

[Calfishing @calfishingOG]

April 5, 2003 - Clear Lake

Ah Clear lake. Clear lake is usually pretty good to us, but when that place gets tough, it sure can get tough. We woke up at 4:45am to find the boat completely covered in ice/frost. It was cooolllddd. When the sun came up more you could see snow on all the mountains up above rodman slough and the north end of the lake. In the past we've done pretty good on days like this, but today was a little different conditions I think.

Anyway, we started throwing trouts along lakeport for an hour or two. Usually in the spring if the fish get nuked with a big storm, they tend to pull off and eat the swimbaits. I think the problem yesterday was that the North end of the lake had dropped 10 degrees from 60-62 down to 50-53 degrees. The fish were not happy. We turned to our flip bite around 9am and did that for a few hours. I stuck one nice stick that fought like an 8lber. Couldn't weigh that one in.

We ran back down the lake to some canals to flip in there. I was down to flipping a 3" worm on drop shot just to try to get bit, but still nothing. Finally J gets a weak mush bite on a jig and sets on one. Unfortunately there was a rope we couldn't see right there and the fish went into it instantly. It got twisted up and started twisting around and got off. Dang! Nothing we could do. Looked like a 4lber.

Continued on flipping. Saw some birds diving on big 4" shad and so I tried the 5" hammer and a rattle trap but still nothing. We moved out to some main lake docks and went finesse with the small jig and drop shot worm. I got one 8" bass. We saw several fish caught around us, but they were all small fish and it looked like a lot of guys were split shotting or throwing a small carolina rig on the outside stuff. We both just suck at that kind of fishing so we kept doing the jig / swimbait thing.

Finally at 3:09pm with the weigh in at 3:15 I flip a 5/8 king kobra (brown) with watermelon/red flake mad man into this tree and get a mush biter. Turned out to be a 5lber. We barely barely made it back to the weigh in.

Synopsis: The further North you went, the colder the water was. The North end was just dead. The only way to get them was to split shot and drag plastic on the outside of the docs and mouthes of coves. There may have been an afternoon flip bite but it happened too late because it was so cold and it didn't warm up enough. I didn't talk to anyone who did good, but I'd have to think the South end was the place to be. I heard rumors of good bags on swimbaits, and the winning weight was 31lbs for 5 so as always someone got the big ones. Guys we talked to said fish were spawning everywhere last weekend, but they were gone this weekend. Maybe if it warms up, they'll be right back at it next weekend. This was a tournament where pre-fishing would have helped because we could have identified the conditions better and adjusted on the second day. We had a good time even though the fishing sucked.

Weights were way off from normal clear lake spring time events. 15lbs got a check

What worked:
Assalt King Kobra Jig with Mad Man Craw
https://t.co/5FgSh4ERol

Where did you fish?
Clear Lake
https://t.co/zE0InKYhPF