Austin's Nice Bass

San Rafael Customer Austin checks in with a fine looking bass he caught in a Marin lake - as he puts it, "Looking forward to more this weekend..."

So, what are you doing reading this on a Saturday? Get out and get fishing!

Nicasio Reservoir - Marin Bass Club Results

On Sunday 7/26 six two-man teams competed for prize money and bragging rights at the 4th Marin County Bass Club Event of the season held on Lake Nicasio.

Of the anglers that showed we had grown men like Joe Hargreaves from jigmonster.com and Western Sport Shop and Randy Kid from the Sonoma County Belly Boat Club. Randy was coming in with the momentum of having just won his last tournament on the California Delta in dominant fashion with a 24lb bag that included a 10.3 lb and a 9.4 lb fish. A number of cagey locals who knew the lake very well showed up too - even one former east coast tournament angler who had won events on Lake Champlain before moving west.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, a couple of "kids" showed up as well; 16 year old Jeff Russell, who has acted as a stand-in whenever I've had to pull out of a team tourney in the past, and 16 year old Eduardo Li of Hi's tackle - another stand-in during the Team tournament season. These two were matched up as a team. We never saw what hit us!

Ok, you're probably laughing already, but these kids beat us - all of us! They posted an 18 pound lead over the second heaviest limit of the day.

Let's just take these facts one at a time -
1 - They clobbered everyone.
2 - Their LEAD was 18 pounts - not their limit.

Not only that - Jeff set a new Marin Bass Club Tournament Record with a single fish of 11lb 3oz. That's a nice fish. Uh... yeah.

For those of you interested, we will be trying a new format at our next event where you will be allowed to fish any publicly accessible lake in Marin County as long as you are back for the weigh in on time. Also, our next tournament will be ope to everyone - so even if you are not a member of the Marin County Bass Club, you'll get to join in the fun.

And here are some photos of the fun:





Click on through to see more photos.

Recent Reports

Just a quick report to wrap up the fishing for the past week.

Sturgeon fishing and largemouth bass fishing are top draws right now.
Looks like sturgeon fishing has blown wide open in upper San Pablo Bay, with reports of oversize fish and keepers being caught on ghost shrimp in in and around places like Round Mountain, Black Point and the mouths of both Sonoma Creek and Petaluma Creek. Also, there are reports of fish in the 60-70lb range being caught off China Camp, and Paradise cove. This may begin to taper now that the tides are leveling a bit. (And to get a good idea of tidal ranges in the Bay and ocean, we rely on the Tidelog, which shows an excellent graphic representation of tides, plus gives a good place for notes, etc.)

Bass fishing is still hot with combinations of pre-spawn, post-spawn and spawning fish swarming the shallows in places like Kent Lake, Phoenix lake, Alpine lake and Bon Tempe. Best bets are 3/8 oz flipping jigs in white or yellow jacket with either White Trixie or Green Pumpkin Chigger Craws for those bedding fish, and small swimbaits in bluegill patterns, drop shots, and Senkos for the post-spawners.

Also, look for the topwater bite to blow wide open any day now so long as the weather stays warm and warming. Best bets wil be Zara Spooks, Swayback Spooks and Super Spooks, and Lucky Craft Gunfish in Ghost minnow or other translucent natural bait colors and wake baits like the bbz-1 floater or any shallow running cranks fished just under the surface.

I want to take a moment to congratulate Andy Mercado and Chris Lapointe for their victory at the Marin County Bass Club derby hosted on Lake Alpine. And I would also like to congratulate Jigmonster pro staffer Chris "Flipper" Franks and his partner Aaron Anfinson who won the semi-pro side of the Anglers' Choice Pro Team Series on Lake Berryessa. That would be enough for most anglers, but they also second on the pro side, beating a field of big name talent - missing first place by less than one tenth of a pound! These stellar results were a direct result of them putting on a clinic with the Jigmonster Savage Swim Jig (arriving this week at the shop!) Good job guys.

Shifting Tactics for Better Bass Bishing

The last two weeks have been incredible. (And if you haven't been out there yet, why not?) Kent Lake alone kicked out 16 fish over 5 lbs -- and those are just the ones that were reported. (Believe it or not, people don't tell us everything - you have to assume that at least as many have been caught but not reported). Top baits continued to be 3/8 and 1/2 oz flipping jigs in darker colors like green pumpkin/watermelon, pbj, and lava craw along with 5-6" Senkos in watermelon/black flake, green pumpkin/black flake, and baby bass. There have also been some smaller-than-huge swimbaits like the Castaic slow-sinking bluegill and the Maverick Minnow accounting for some big fish.

That said, anglers are begining to notice a change in the bite. When viewed from above (on a hill or up a tree) the number of fish cruising the shallows and loitering in certain small areas has increased dramaticly, along with the skittishness of these fish while in the shallows. It has also been increasingly challenging to "sight" fish for them. This tends to indicate that the first wave of spawners are getting ready to get down to business.

This means you need to stay well off the bank, keep your shadow off the bank and execute every cast and each presentation as cleanly and efficiently as possible. I'm assuming you are using polarized sunglasses (even/especially in low light conditions) and some fluorocarbon line. (Flourocarbon line has the same reflective coefficient as water, so it literally disappears when immersed. Like all fishing line, it does not biodegrade, so you need to pack out so we can all continue to enjoy these areas.) For details on the baits and srategy ascociated with sight fishing try reading the article I wrote called "How to Blink Bedding Bass" in the archives of californiabasscraft.com.

The next Marin County Bass Club meeting will be Wednesday, April 8th. Our guest speaker will be Noah Stevens of the Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club. He will be doing a clinic on getting into bass fishing from a float tube for fun or for tournament competition (which, I'll point out, can be more fun). As usual, the meeting is open to the public and free of charge as it is sponsored by Western Sport Shop, Jigmonster.com, and Noah Stevens will be donating his time to drive down and share his knowledge and experience free of charge. So feel free to stop by and take a look as any one with enthusiasm regardless of skill level is always welcome.

Stop Wishing - GO Fishing!

"and then it was on!..."

Spring rolls in with a bang!! Almost out of nowhere, everyone is getting hammered with fishing options -- take your pick, but make a choice and GO! It is good. Now.

Striped bass are ripping up bait and artificials like cut anchovey or jigs, rip baits like the Rapalas, Rat-L-traps and soft-bodied Storm and Calcutta swimbaits, at places like China Camp, in the San Rafael area around Home Depot, and further north near Bahia and the Petaluma river just to name a few. It may be early to tell, and it could shut off just as quickly, but folks are catching them similar to the wholesale SLAMMING we were seeing four years ago.

Almost right on schedule, anglers have been nailing the start of the spring halibut in the South Bay and up in San Pablo Bay. Best options have been trolling plugs, jigs, swimbaits, and frozen anchovies, or by drifting live shiners or jack smelt on soft tides. The success hasn't been limited to the boaters either - bank fishing has produced as well with success using with striper lures like Rat-L-Traps, jigs, and swimbaits. These are not huge fish yet, but sticking a limit of keeper size halibut is not uncommon.

Sturgeon to 75" are nailing shrimp and herring from Paradise to Buck's Landing and in the South Bay from Coyote Pt to the Oakland airport.

Whew! let me catch my breath. Ok, thanks!

Trout fishing
Kent Lake and Alpine Lake have continued to kick out monster Rainbow Trout on spinners and live bait. Even Bon Tempe is has been producing with reports of holdovers to 20" and great smallmouth action with best bets being Powerbait and live nightcrawlers.

For those who want to relax and fish for planter trout San Pablo reservoir is kicking out huge brood stock trout up to 12lbs or more on Powerbait fished from the bank. Lafayette reservoir seems to have been given all the planters that were banned elswhere because that lake is brimming with 2-3lb trout and everyone is getting them. The trollers, the bankies... anyone and everyone who can manage to get a hook or lure in the water!

Carp and Panfish
Euro-style carp fishing is off the hook as well with Nicasio reservoir and Clearlake leading the charge. Both areas have been kicking out fish from 5-25 lbs for anglers using corn, meal worms and boilies.

For the more sophisticated approach - fly fishermen interested in stalking these "golden bonefish", Nicasio offers plenty of shots at schools of tailing fish. Nope. I'm serious! We've had a number of excited fly anglers who have rushed back to the store to stock back up on black or olive bead-headed wooly buggers after snapping off some larger fish. We've also seen some home made "bread flys" and attractive white panfish poppers.

Take the KIDS!! If you want to get these little versions of yourselves out and on fish before their micro- attention span falters........what was I saying? oh right... Your kids can have a field day at Phoenix Lake - where after a long winter, the bluegills have moved up and will readily attack a red worm under a bobber for all to see.


Bass Report - Wow, I've never made it this far without talking about bass fishing... But, I can stand it no longer.

Right now, Alpine, Nicasio, and Kent Lakes in Marin County will offer you the best shot of the year to stick a new personal best. Best bets are jigs in darker craw colors, 5-6" Senko plastic worms (watermelon with black flake or green pumpkin with black flake), Chatterbaits like the Boogie Bait in chartreuse, chartreuse white, or natural colors, and the drop-shotted Roboworm in purple or green.

You can find males in the shallows and flats killing everything that moves and the bigger females in the deeper areas closest to males. Swim jigs, spinnerbaits and swimbaits slow-rolled through these staging areas will draw strikes, but if you want a tougher challenge that will produce bigger fish, know that these larger bass will be using wood cover as well. So if you find a flat covered in males look for the nearest tree in deeper water.


Big Congrats to Andy Mercado for winning the first Marin Bass Club derby at Phoenix Lake with 5lb 7oz bass, and to Ryan Gilliflan for "best set" with four good fish from 2-3.5 lbs. I will be posting the date of our next derby shortly and it will be at Lake Alpine.

See ya at the shop!

Joe's Bass Report - Cold Front Tactics

Nicasio Reservoir got pretty darn tough with this post frontal, cold windy weather we are having. But, some anglers got them anyways, by adjusting and targeting areas of rip/rap that are both out of the wind and in receive direct sunshine. The best examples of this are almost always on stretches of road where there is water on both sides.

When the wind blasts any stretch of rip/rap directly the windy side gets blown out, and the protected side develops a windless pocket about as wide as the height of the rip/rap. This lack of wind keeps the water on the lee side much clearer and calmer than on the windy side. This in turn allows for deeper penetration of sunlight and the warmth that comes with it.

As an added bonus, rip/rap rock structure holds warmth very well and is a natural fish magnet especialy in the winter when the big females need to incubate their eggs.

Since the cold winds only chill the water on the surface, and the wind blows the colder water away from the rip/rap, it makes these areas even better, from the fish's perspective.

(Compare this to the windy side which becomes an accumulation point for the cold surface water as it's blown into the rip/rap and trapped.)

Many bass anglers assume that the best baits (due to the poor conditions) are either soft plastics, senkos, or other small finesse baits. Although these baits can work, fishing long stretches of rip rap is almost impossible to do efficiently with finesse-type baits. Since many of the biggest females who move into these warmer areas are not in actively feeding mode, my choice is to use reaction baits - Speed Traps and Chatterbaits like the Boogie Bait to be specific.

Marin County Bass Club - Jig Fishing Demo
Reminder! Tomorrow night is the meeting of the Marin County Bass Club at the San Rafael store. I will be giving an in-depth seminar on jig fishing starting at 7:30pm and lasting till about 8:30 I will cover everything you ever wanted to know about jigs. The talk is free and open to the public, so come on down and learn some serious skills!

Bass Bite Heats Up

This week the hot bite has been big pre-spawn largemouth. Even with lake levels having risen as many as seven feet in some areas, the water clarity is still good and the fish are still biting.

Lake Nicasio produced over 25 fish between 2 and 6 lbs for one of my regular customers over the course of 4 or 5 days. He reports a couple big ones caught on spinnerbait. But, almost all the rest were caught on a green neon Robo-X Pitching Craw rigged on a 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook and red 1/4 oz Brass and Glass setup.

Another local - Kelly Oward - stuck a chunky fish just under 5 lbs on a full size Brush Hog in green pumpkin w/black and purple flake. That bait was also rigged on 1/4oz Brass and Glass, but with a 5/0 EWG hook.

More exciting are reports that Alpine Lake in the Marin Watershed had the start of a great pre-spawn bite earlier this week - joining the ranks of Kent Lake and Nicasio Reservoir as we head into spring. Then, with three verified fish caught in the 9 to 11 lb range, it jumped to the top of the board as a "best bet!" All three of those fish were caught on Booyah Boogie Baits - a "chatterbait" style which has been a lesser known technique to most anglers.

Phoenix Lake also chimed in with a pair of 4 1/2 lbers caught on Chrome Rat-L-Traps and 8 more 1/2 - 1 1/2 pooud fish fooled with wacky rigged 4" Senkos.

Local bass pro and Team Jigmonster tournament angler Chris "Flipper" Franks caught almost 11lbs of smallies for a top-10 finish last weekend at the Lake Berryessa tournament. He had a great time doing it - culling all day and catching over 30 fish on the Jigmonster Chaos series football head jig alone. Flipper says the brown and purple PBJ jig was the hot bait and the only bait they wanted.

Jigmonster Lures in San Rafael -
At the San Rafael store, we've just received our first batch of these custom Jigmonster Chaos series football head jigs, as well as the Jigmonster Mayhem flipping jigs (our Santa Rosa store getting theirs this next week).

Marin County Bass Club Meeting -
On wednesday 03/11/09 at 7:00pm the Marin County Bass Club will be meeting at Western Sport Shop in San Rafael their regular monthly meeting. I will be giving an in-depth seminar on jig fishing starting at 7:30pm and lasting till about 8:30 I will cover everything you ever wanted to know about jigs. The talk is free and open to the public, so head on down and learn some serious skills!

Bassing - Best Bets, Current Conditions and Events

Largemouth bass fishing on our local watershed lakes during the months of February and March offer your best shot at sticking, not just a pig, but your best possibility for catching multiple pigs on the same day.

For example, if you hit lake Phoenix Lake on the 3rd or 4th day of a warm weather pattern, you should start to see schools of fish that had been suspending in some of the deeper holes begin to break up and start cruising the shallows. The majority of these fish will be males in the 1-3lb range. But, the big females in the 3-12lb+ range will stay behind in so called "staging areas" where they await the full moons that light their overnight visits to the shallows where the males have been busy building nests in preparation for their arrival.

These "staging areas" are usually the first deeper water away from the spawning areas. If you are fishing a cove, they will be mid-water-column, at the mouth of the cove. This is one of the only times of the year that big fish will be concentrated in a small area. These fish are also now a little "lure dumb" from having not seen many artificials for the past two months.

The best way to target these bigger fish is to run a reaction bait right through them - something like a Lucky Craft LV Max-500 in the Mad Craw color, or a reddish or craw colored larger Rat-L-Trap. You can also throw double-willow bladed Spinnerbaits as well, but for effective results, you should run a trailer hook because they will be striking short and slow.

If you don't get bit, move along and let those fish relax. After about 40-50 minutes make the same casts. This time however, you might try slow rolling a 6-8" Castaic Trout Swimbait Most importantly - don't change your retrieve if you feel a small tap - keep the slow roll going and don't set until you feel the full weight of a large fish loading up the rod. Another option is to let a 5, 6, or 7" Senko (Watermelon/Black Flake is a good starter color) glide and fall slowly with a horizontal posture right past their noses on a slack line. Watch to see your line either twitch, jump, or (oh boy!) start swimming away before setting the hook

That said, Nicasio Reservoir appears to be happening right now. Yes, it's still pretty cold and the low water conditions are not exactly the stuff of dreams. This larger body of water lacks the cut and dried patterns of Phoenix Lake, but if you have the right baits and are ready to work a little bit, Nicasio can reward you with more 5-pound-plus fish then any other lake in Marin County.

With Nicasio, it's all about spots. Best bet would be to take a baitcasting set up with 15-20lb test line and a brass and glass rigged green pumpkin Brush Hog. If you have another set up or two you can also throw a chartreuse chatter bait, such as the BooYah Boogie Bait, a white/chartreuse spinnerbait, or a 4-5" swimbait like the Storm Chartreuse Shiner, or the River2Sea baby bass. If you want to fish for a big bite, throw the Castaic slow sink platinum series Sunfish or a Berkley 10-11" Power Worm in black/blue or june bug

I wanted to give special mention to Noah Stevens, he is a regular customer of the shop and a highly skilled jig fishermen who is known to prowl Lake Alpine with the Jigmonster Lava Craw Jig and stick some quality smallmouth bass from time to time. Noah is also a member of the Sonoma Belly Boat Bass Club and just won their first event of the year with only two fish, one of them being an astounding 11.94 lbs for a new club record, way to go Noah!

I also wanted to say thanks to everyone who came out to the 1st open meeting of the Marin County Bass Club which met at the San Rafael store. Special thanks are in order to Chris "Flipper" Franks who gave an excellent seminar on swimbait fishing in our area. Chris is an up-and-coming tournament pro and member of the Jigmonster bass fishing team.

Meetings for the Marin County Bass Club are held the second Wednesday of every month and are open to the public. For more info on the club please visit californiabasscraft.com. Our next meeting will be on March 11th at Western Sport Shop in San Rafael. I will be giving a free seminar on jig fishing both from the bank here in Marin and from the boat on our major tournament waters. This presentation will cover all aspects of jig fishing, including types of jigs and where and when to fish them.

The Marin County Bass Club will also be holding a big fish derby on March 21st at Phoenix Lake. The entry fee for the event is $15 and you must sign up before March 14th. Look for more details here or call me at the San Rafael store - 415-456-5454.

Now get fishing!