Future Pro Lake Oroville
Fishing on Lake Oroville during the late summer and early fall can be feast or famine. The key to success is locating the schools of pond smelt. Find the bait and the wolf packs of hungry spotted bass will not be far away.
In the morning I like to start out by following the shade line with a topwater bait, covering as much water as possible. A walk the dog style bait such as the IMA Skimmer does an excellent job of imitating a frenzied bait fish. I fish the Skimmer on a St. Croix 7’ moderate action LTBC70MHM Legend Tournament Casting Rod combined with a US Reel SuperCaster 1000 Pro and 30lb. braided line. During this time of year, I will always keep my topwater rod at the ready as I continuously look for windows of opportunity throughout the day.
As the sun rises higher in the sky, the fish tend to move out into deeper water. This is when having good electronics is a must. When fishing for deep fish I rely on two techniques, the spoon and the drop shot. For fishing a spoon, I use an identical St. Croix / US Reel combo as the one I use for topwater with the exception of substituting the braided line with 15lb. Sunline Machinegun Cast Monofilament. On the business end of my line I will use a 62mm Blade Runner Tackle Spoon in either Morning Dawn or White. The 62mm spoon weighs 3/4oz. and does a great job imitating the pond smelt.
If the bass will not bite a spoon, I will switch to a dropshot. Since Lake Oroville is a clear water lake, light line is the order of the day. I drop shot with a 6’9” Medium Light Action St. Croix LTBS69MLXF Spinning Rod, US Reel Super Caster 240 SX Reel and 6lb. Sunline Sniper FC fluorocarbon line. A number one size nose hook and a Basstrix Flash Trix Minnow or a Big Bite Baits 4” Finesse worm works well.
I hope these tips will help you put a few more fish in the boat. Lake Oroville is a tremendous spotted bass fishery. Enjoy the tournament.
Mark is sponsored by: Basstrix, Big Bite Baits, Blade Runner Tackle, Eye Surrender Sunglasses, HardCore Bass Apparel, Pepper Custom Baits, Sunline, St. Croix Rods, and US Reel.