Fishing report for Feb. 12: Bass action improving at Don Pedro

Compiled by Dave Hurley and edited by Roger George, a former Olympic-class decathlete at Fresno State and striper record-holder at Millerton Lake and who now guides in the greater Fresno area. Telephone numbers are in 559 calling area unless noted.

Best bets

Eastman largemouth possible on swimbaits, Ron Sanches Jr. reported. Suisun Bay sturgeon ready to bite, Steve Mitchell said. Sand dab/Dungeness crab trips make a delicious duo, Captain Tom Mattusch said. Beaches kicking out surf perch in anticipation of Sand Crab Classic Derby, Allen Bushnell reported.

In the northern section of the aqueduct, Merritt Gilbert of Valley Rod and Gun said, “The occasional small striped bass has been taken with bait around Kettleman City, but overall the action is fairly slow. However, more and more shore anglers are either going to the aqueduct and the O’Neill Forebay as the striped bass have moved out into open water in the main San Luis Reservoir.”

In the southern section of the aqueduct in Kern County, Pete Cormier of Bob’s Bait in Bakersfield said, “There was a picture of a 37-pound striped bass on a sardine out of the aqueduct, and we continue to sell plenty of jumbo minnows and blood worms. Lures such as jerkbaits, flukes and tube baits in shad patterns also continue to work for the linesides.” Catfish are found on anchovies, sardines, mackerel or Sonny’s Dip Baits.

Call: Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis 559-292-3474; Bob’s Bait Bucket 661-833-8657

The bass action at Don Pedro is improving after an 18.00-pound limit took first during last weekend’s 47-boat Merced Bass Club event and another limit at 14.49 pounds took the opener for the Central Division of the Best Bass Tournaments with 61 boats on Saturday.

Mike Gomez of Berserk Baits fished both events and said, “The bite is kind of weird as we had 11.32 pounds last week with 10.75 pounds this week. We found a better grade of bass in deeper water last week as we were scoring between 50 and 60 feet, and I caught all of my fish on underspins. This week, we only received a single hit on the underspin. We started out in the morning chasing bass on the surface that were feeding on shad. My brother, Ruben, picked up two right away on topwater, and we followed them around for a couple of hours without any more success. We had thought these were trout last week on the surface, but they were actually bass. The bass are loaded with small shad, and they are spitting up shad. At 11 a.m., I switched over to the 3/8-ounce Berserk brown/purple jig, and I landed all of my bass on the jig at depths from 20 to 40 feet. The bass had actually moved up from last week despite the water temperature dropping from 54 to 52 degrees.”

Ryan Cook of Ryan Cook’s Fishing said, “The overall bite has been tough with the best fishing at 30 to 50 feet with tubes, plastics on the drop-shot or Senkos.”

The lake held at 80%.

Call: Monte Smith 209-581-4734; Kyle Wise – Head Hunter Guide Service 209-531-3966; Ryan Cook – Ryan Cook’s Fishing 559-691-7008

Bass tournaments continue to arrive at the lake on a regular basis, and there are three tournaments in the upcoming weeks. The king salmon action is ready to break out, and Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Guide Service said, “This is the lake to watch as rolling shad has been producing kings, and the trout bite has improved as well.” The lake held at 62%.

Cook said, “It’s been a tough bass bite here as well with the best action with plastics on the drop-shot, 3.5-inch Dry Creek tubes on a 1/4-ounce dart head along with G-Money jigs or Senkos. The bass are holding on main lake points along with island tops at depths to 50 feet. As the lake has yet to turn over, the reaction bite remains slow.”

Cook is seeking adult boaters to assist with the April 25 Reel In For Kids event at Lake McClure.

Call: Ryan Cook – Ryan Cook’s Fishing 559-691-7008

Steve Marquette of the Lake McClure/McSwain Recreation Company said, “The lake is still waiting for another trout plant, but there is hope for a trout plant prior to Presidents Day Weekend. The best action has been off of the banks near the Brush Pile or the cabins with trout dough bait in bright green or bright green Roostertails. Trollers are working hard for a trout or two with blade/’crawler combinations in front of the Handicapped Docks, the dam, the marina and off of the cabins.” Lake levels remain high.

Call: McSwain Marina 209-378-2534

Bass fishermen are starting to prefish the lake in anticipation of the big Wild West Tournaments Pro/Am event that starts Feb. 28. The lake is off-limits to entrants beginning Feb. 17 until two days of practice Feb. 26-27. Alex Tran, who recently placed within the top 10 at the WWBT Pro/Am at Lake Shasta, reported finding his best action at New Melones deep from 30 to 60 feet with plastics on a Neko-rig or shaky head. The bass are loaded with tiny shad and they are spitting them up. There is hope for the reaction bite to emerge prior to the big tournament. Trout trolling remains incredibly slow for rainbows as there have been no fish reported in the past few weeks. The lake dropped slightly to 82%.

The Angels Cove launch ramp is closed, and the fish cleaning station remains closed at Angels Cove with water line breaks interfering with operations.

New Melones held at 83%.

Call: Glory Hole Sports 209-736-4333; Monte Smith 209-581-4734; John Liechty Xperience Fishing Guide Service 209-743-9932

San Luis continues to be a challenge for striped bass fishermen as the linesides have moved out into deeper water as the lake is filling up from increased pumping out of the south Delta. The shoreline bite remains slow.

Gilbert said, “Most of our striped bass fishermen have been heading to either the O’Neill Forebay or the California Aqueduct around Kettleman City. We haven’t heard too much about the big lake, but there is a good night bite in the forebay with ripbaits or umbrella rigs for numbers of undersized stripers, but you can cull through the numbers for a legal limit.” Storm swimbaits are working for stripers in the 16- to 22-inch range, and there is some good action in the northern section of the California Aqueduct.

Alex Tran at Coyote Bait in Morgan Hill said, “San Luis has been slow overall with the best action in deep water from 70 to 100 feet with jumbo minnows or trolling plugs such as P-Line Predator Minnows or Lucky Crafts. The forebay does feature a jerkbait or umbrella rig bite for stripers in the 18- to 24-inch range, and Kei Tech swimbaits on an underspins have also been effective.” However in the forebay, the majority of striped bass are undersized.

Roger George of Roger’s Guide Service said, “The overall bite has been tough with the full moon and clear water visibility creating a difficult cycle. The one bright spot has seemed to be the trolling bite before the full moon Saturday, but even that has been affected by the bright moon period. Minnow anglers are struggling to find schools of biting fish, and a friend of mine, Steve Sorenson of Fresno, a good minnow angler, said he and two buddies only picked up 11 fish on Friday on a hard bite, down from prior trips. Finding the moving schools in the slowly rising 73% capacity reservoir with water temperatures ranging from 54 to 56 degrees has been the problem. I scouted the lake on Thursday trying to find a pattern, and I was able to catch 17 stripers by moving from area to area all day, picking up one here and there on trolled Lucky Crafts like the Lucky Craft 100 DD in shad and other similar minnow type lures at around 50 to 75 feet once I found some active fish. It was a grind, just as it’s been the last 1 1/2 months . The ripbait and topwater bites are still very slow.”

The lake held at 75%.

George said registration is still open for his Downrigging 101 for Stripers classes March 5 at the Fresno Sportsman’s Warehouse from 6-8 p.m. and March 12 at the Visalia store. Preregistration required as class size is limited. The cost is $50. For information or to register, call George at 905-2954.

Call: Coyote Bait and Tackle 408-463-0711, Roger George, 905-2954, rogergeorgeguideservice.com

Chris’s Landing in Monterey didn’t go fishing on Sunday during the period of small craft advisory, but they did go whale watching. On Saturday, the Check Mate took out 10 anglers for plenty of sand dabs along with 59 Dungeness crab.

Perch fishing is starting to improve with some quality barred perch taken off of the Santa Cruz beaches on Lucky Craft Flash Minnows, Berkley Sand Worms, or sand crabs in anticipation of the sold-out March 14 Sand Crab Surf Perch Derby.

Call: Chris’ Landing 831-375-5951; Allen Bushnell, Santa Cruz Kayak and Surf Casting 831-251-9732

It’s been a challenge for sturgeon fishing in both the north and south bay as the sturgeon appear to be absent for experienced captains.

Captain Chris Smith of the Pacific Dream out of Berkeley will be keeping his boat in the bay throughout the winter months. He took his first sturgeon trip into San Pablo Bay this week, and they landed a 50-inch keeper sturgeon. He said, “The bay is still pretty salty as we landed a couple of leopard sharks along with a cow shark.” He also found success for two slot-limit sturgeon on his latest trip this past Saturday in San Pablo Bay.

Captain Trent Slate of Bite Me Charters out of Loch Lomond reported very slow sturgeon fishing in San Pablo Bay with the majority of sixpack boats coming up empty. He will continue to try for sturgeon, and the diamondbacks who have been out in the central bay dining on herring should be back soon.

Speaking of herring, there haven’t been any huge spawns reported recently, but there is a big tide coming this week that may spark a spawn.

Ed Liu of Bay Tackle in El Cerrito said, “Local anglers continue to cry the blues as the striped bass and halibut are on hiatus. Many of our fishermen are heading into the Delta and in the upper tributaries in search of big striped bass. Grizzly Bay, Montezuma Slough, and Suisun Bay have been the top locations in the Delta while in San Pablo Bay, a few sturgeon have been located in the Napa River, the Petaluma River, and Sonoma Creek. The normally productive China Camp area has been slow. He added, “Perch fishing inside of the bay has also been slow, and we even found very slow perch fishing in Tomales Bay, Dillon Beach, and Bodega Bay. Finding live sand crabs was a struggle as well. The few perch we landed were on Berkley Sand Worms.” The boats are tied up for the winter months with the exception of running sturgeon trips into San Pablo Bay or the south bay. There are still a few striped bass to be had in the central bay for those willing to work for them.

Sturgeon may not be taken in the following described area between Jan. 1 and March 15: That portion of San Francisco Bay included within the following boundaries: A direct line between Pt. Chauncy (National Marine Fisheries Laboratory) and Pt. Richmond, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and a direct line between Pt. Lobos and Pt. Bonita.

Call: Captain Trent Slate, Bite Me Charters 415-307-8582; Happy Hooker 510-223-5388; Captain Jerad Davis, Salty Lady 415-760-9362; Captain Steve Mitchell, Hook’d Up Sport Fishing 707-655-6736

The high and gusty winds shut down any thought of safely fishing from a boat on Sunday, and the winds will chill up and murky up the waters of the Sacramento-Delta. The good news has been the numbers of sturgeon observed in several locations in Suisun Bay, but the good news has been dampened by a lack of willingness to bite.

Captain Steve Mitchell of Hook’d Up Sport Fishing out of Pittsburg is back in operation with a repowered ‘Top Gun’ with new twin outboard motors on an offshore bracket, and he said, “I’m back and ready to go sturgeon fishing, and we were out on Saturday, but the sturgeon were not willing to bite. The good part were the numbers of sturgeon on the meter, and it is really good to see that the fish are here. There were all sizes on the electronics from shakers to oversized, and in fact, every location that we went to was loaded with sturgeon, and they were what we wanted to see as they were on the bottom and moving. However, we only received one decent bite, but despite being on the rod of an experienced captain, the bite went without a hookup. We ended up with three striped bass to 7 pounds. I believe that it has been a night bite this week with the larger moon as one private boat found good sturgeon success while out all night.”

Clyde Wands, shallow trolling expert, when in the Old Sacramento River above Isleton this week in search of striped bass, but he said, “There wasn’t much happening with the exception of a number of shakers and some small keepers. One boat landed two limits to 26 inches, and we came up here since there hasn’t been much happening down below.”

In the San Joaquin-Delta, the signs of an early spring were put on hold on Sunday with the arrival of huge gusty winds for the majority of the day, resulting in the cancellation of a major bass tournament.

The New Jen Bass Tournaments was scheduled to go on Sunday, and they said, “As hard as it is to cancel any event, the safety of our anglers is always our top priority, and although making decisions like this is hard, making sure our anglers get home safe to their families following our events is paramount to the New Jen mission.”

The winds arrived up to 40 mph throughout the Delta on Sunday, and this shut down any thought of boating for at least the day.

Call: Randy Pringle 209-543-6260; Captain Steve Mitchell 707-655-6736; Vince Borges Outdoors 209-918-0828; J.D. Richey, Richey’s Sport Fishing 916-952-1554

New Hogan – Gold Country Jr. Bass Tournaments – February 8th:: 1st –Hailee Friss – 9.41 pounds (Big Fish – 6.07); 2nd – Joey Winchell – 5.62; 3rd – Evan Yasko – 2.66.

Don Pedro – Best Bass Tournaments– February 8th:: 1st –Cory Kerber/Jeremy Pitts – 14.49 pounds; 2nd – George Patton/Gary Crosby – 13.91; 3rd – Randy Whited/Michael Gaston – 13.59 (Big Fish – 4.88).

Lake Camanche – Central Valley Anglers Trout Derby (Three Fish Limits)– February 9th:: 1st – Mark Schon– 9.70 pounds; 2nd – Ted Handel – 4.96; 3rd – Jim Fox – 3.71.

Feb. 15

New Melones – Angler’s Press

Don Pedro – Best Bass Tournaments

McClure – Christian Bass League

Millerton – Cen Cal Elite Bass Tournaments

Feb. 16

Delta/B and W Resort – California Bass Federation

Delta/Russo’s Marina – Hook, Line, and Sinker

New Hogan – Modesto Ambassadors

Feb. 22

Don Pedro – New Jen Bass Tournaments

McClure – RiverRat Bass Tournaments

Pine Flat – Sierra Bass Club/Bakersfield Bass Club

Kaweah – Visalia Bass Club

Santa Margarita – Best Bass Tournaments

Feb. 23

New Melones – California Bass Federation/Kerman Bass Club

McClure – Fresno Bass Club

Millerton – New Jen Bass Tournaments

Feb. 28-March 1

New Melones – Wild West Bass Trails Pro/Am

Feb. 29

Delta/Ladd’s Marina – Dan Mathisen Outdoors

Eastman – Kerman Bass Club

RiverWalk in Bakersfield – Kern County Sheriff’s Trout Derby

Lopez – Golden Empire Bass Club

Santa Margarita – San Luis Obispo Bass Ambushers

March 1

Los Banos Reservoir – Slay Nation Tournament

Kaweah – Central Valley Kayak Fishing

Week of Feb. 16 by California Department of Fish and Wildlife (as of Feb. 9):

Fresno County: Woodward Park Lake, Kings River below Pine Flat Dam, Avocado Lake

Madera County: Sycamore Island Pond

San Luis Obispo County: Barney Schwartz Park Lake

Tulare County: Mooney Grove Park Pond, Del Lago Park Lake

This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 11:53 AM with the headline "Fishing report for Feb. 12: Bass action improving at Don Pedro."