I haven't trout fished there and I'm no expert but the water has to be really murky from all the rain. According to the Army Corp website the water has risen from about 6% to 21% in the last week. This lake has been holding at less than 12% for probably two years. That's a lot of water and everything that has been building up in creeks that flow into it is now washed into the lake. It'll eventually settle out but I suspect the bite would be tough. Good luck.

[quote=DC]here we pay licensing fee just like for a car for both boat and trailer. when you buy it you pay sales tax on the value they say it is mot nessidarily

Ok, That was funny Norcal Steve and Fourchon. And for those of you that are perhaps a little ill informed about this state, I have a 2007 Chevy 2500HD and the license for it is over $300 every year. My BIL moved to Montana, bought an older truck and paid one fee, $68 dollars as I recall, lifetime.

As for California, they are pretty benevolent for boat registration. I think it's $20 a year and then you have to pay a mussel fee. The trailer plate is lifetime as I recall but maybe you have to pay something every five years. I can't explain that either. Then there's my car $274 a year and my wife's car over $400 a year and a 50 year old motorcycle that's $149 a year. So why one guy gets a letter asking for an assessment and one doesn't, I have no freaking idea. Maybe they're too drunk with other people's money to care.

The guy that catches that stuff called in sick that day....lol.

The honest answer is I have no idea. I had a boat the whole time I had the jet skis and they were all registered to me so why they got personal property tax on the skis and not the boat is something I've wondered about. I could have asked them, but although I was born at night, it wasn't last night. If a human, and in most cases a business, forgot I owed them money, I'd bring it up and pay. As far as taxes, I pay what they tell me to pay and don't ask further. I think it might be because jet skis are considered a "luxury" and a boat isn't. The logic is a little fuzzy there but otherwise I can't explain it.

[quote=woodguru]I'd never heard of such a thing, they had the registration info and the purchase price, but they want a

Read your post with interest. I had 3 jet skis that they did that to me, every year as I recall they wanted more money from me. Someone I know (very well and I fish with him every single time I go fishing) has owned a boat for 20 years in this tax drunk state and they have never taxed me (him) on it. Don't ask, don't tell.

Absolutely, he doesn't know it but the biggest help he gave me was a nudge to look at my attitude. It doesn't happen to me all that much anymore but I admit on occasion, I'm loaded for bear at the petting zoo. Those things bring me back to self reflect and open my door to a little serenity. I'm grateful for that.

Funny how often those happen when I'm open to them......

I went to a big box store the day before Thanksgiving as I had three tv's conk out in a week for some reason. I live rurally so it was an hour drive into the city and I got there about 20 minutes after they opened. It was a mad house, everybody seemed to be in a high strung rushing mode and I was ready to be annoyed at every single element of mankind. I got into the store, got two tv's in about 10 minutes and was out the door in 15. While at my truck some guy driving by stopped and helped me load the tv. It made me question my own ill humor and I had to offer a little apology to God for my mindset. Sometimes I get up in the morning and put on my sh*t colored glasses and wonder why everything looks like sh*t. I try to work on that. Spiritual progress rather than perfection. All y'all have a great day too.

Well last week I got a 2.25 lber (although it doesn't look it) to save the day 15 minutes before I left at 3.

You don't say if your shore fishing or boat fishing but I go from about 9-3 because it's darn cold now.

I have an Ultrex and can't imagine fishing without it so I have to think you'll love your Ulterra and wonder why you waited so long. I was in Canada this summer on Lake of the Woods at a fishing camp and my Ultrex started acting up, pivoting back and forth, not holding position and then racing back once it discovered it was way off. It was annoying enough that I removed it and installed a brand new Motorguide Pro that I took along "just in case," because at the time I couldn't find an Ultrex, everybody was on backorder. Well the Motorguide was worse, it didn't do anything right and the foot pedal was very hard to control. In utter frustration I put the Ultrex back on and installed new batteries I brought along "just in case", figuring that even if it didn't work right, at least the foot pedal was easier to use. Seems like the new batteries fixed the problem on the Ultrex. The Ultrex is working great again and the brand new Motorguide is sitting in the garage. It may have also reacted poorly to what may have been a battery problem all along, even though both motors ran seemingly fine using the foot pedal with the old batteries. I did read some posts while there that talked about them being sensitive to voltages. Anyway, that was my experience.

Very good ones.... You know your getting old when you pause and wonder if you should buy green bananas.

[quote=Robert J Samples]Well, fishermen and sports fans, I have been a member since December 30, 2019, and have posted more than 1,000 stories of varying quality and interest to you.

The only thing your guilty of is giving. Taking your time to weave stories and yarns to entertain, inform, and amuse your fans. As others have said, sometimes I don't have time to read them all but sometimes its just nice knowing you are there.

Yeah, some nice folks there too I suppose but I go to fish not socialize. Summer is ridiculous with tourism and it is all geared for tourism, not fishing. I don't fish there from late May to early September but the main reason I go now is the lake has enough water to launch a boat where my other favorite lakes don't.

[quote=Jenmp777]Hello, going to Bass Lake, Ca. in a couple of weeks with our boys.

As many mentioned, they are letting water out of the lake and most of the shoreline is muddy. I'd suspect your best locations would be down by the dam or off rocky areas which now are largely out of the water. Bobber fishing might be your best bet with night crawlers or bottom fishing with powerbait. It is a pretty lake so don't miss that while your fishing.

As for Saw's comment, yes the $20 in and $20 out at the Pines is just to keep us middle class folks in our proper place. It is a summer playground for folks with some serious dust and the $40 is just background noise to the other money they throw around. There is also a fee to use a boat there, dependent on hp. Mine is $50 for the year (60 hp). They call it a pollution fee but they don't even look at the boat so I couldn't even speculate what they use that money for. I use the public launch by the dam for free and park on the road for free. There are a couple of spaces on the road by the ramp where you can park a truck and trailer so I'll probably regret saying that. The positive side is that the summer crowds are gone.

As for tackle stores, they sell tackle in the three of the resorts but they are not tackle stores. Two of those are closed and only the Pines Market is still open. It's on the north side of the lake. I'm not sure if they sell licenses but there is a Big 5 in Oakhurst that sells them. I'm not sure a 10 year old needs one. The south side is the forest service side where public can access. That's another little gouge. If you park in the day use area, they often put a "courtesy notice" on your windshield that you owe them $10 since you used their parking. It tapers off this time of year but it does happen, maybe when they are bored. So parking on the road solves that. There are many places you can do with a vehicle, just make sure you're fully off the road. Good luck, have fun, enjoy the scenery, and tight lines.