Anyone fish the ponds on the north side of Natomas

[Scott V]

I am looking for some new bass ponds and I noticed on google that there are ponds on the north side of Lake Natomas. I was thinking of kicking across the lake in my float tube then hitting the ponds right there, but then it looks like if I cross the bike trail there are more ponds.

Any info would be greatly appreciated, I am thinking of heading there today after work.

[ted1]

I checked those out again 2 weeks ago. Same situation as last year. A few hundred spawning carp within casting range up to 20 lbs in the same cove and still didn't want to eat. I picked up 3 or 4 sunfish and 1 small bass. The whole area is very shallow, like maybe 4 feet at the deepest. I've heard tales of big fish a few years ago, but I'm not sure that they are in there with the current water levels. A good place to park is at the intersection of Sunset and Maine, near the riding stables. It's about a 1/2 mile or so to the first "pond". There are several areas to fish, last year I took my tube back there and cast at the carp for a few hours, same situation. Now if you go and find out what those guys will eat, let me know.

Further up the lake, under the bridge and towards the prison, I have seen large bass, probably smallmouth, in the rocks. That's on my list in high summer if the lake temp ever gets warmer.

[Scott V]

Thanks for the info Ted.

[Scott V]

Well I decided to go to some private water I have access to instead of Natomas. I was hoping for bigger and better fish. As usual I was not disappointed. Get plenty of subsurface fish that put a serious bend in a 5 weight, but just could not get a top water bite to stick. Had 4 blow ups but none stuck, oh well no big deal. But I also caught my smallest bass ever, poor little guy took to big of a fly, but he did swim away.

Here are just a couple of the fish.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Dans%20lake/IMGP2701.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Dans%20lake/IMGP2702.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/Dans%20lake/IMGP2703.jpg

[SHigSpeed]

You should put that little guy in an aquarium!

_SHig

[Jgoding]

A. That's how you rig your bait??

B. If he swam away, that just proves LMB are brainless fish????

[Blueracer]

Nice Scott. Did that fella fight enough at first to make you think you had a fish hooked up? Or find out when you got your line in? :)

[robdog]

not sure how I missed this thread but when I saw 'carp' I decided that I am going in!!!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Lake Natomas should be fished more by fly fishers.

About 20 years ago on summer we fished it at sunset for Rainbows feeding on the giant Hex hatch.

Years ago Duane Calkins fished it a lot from a small pram. I will contact him.

For about 50 years there have been photos of giant hatchery monster Rainbow trout in the news paper sports section.

[robdog]

Lake Natomas should be fished more by fly fishers.

About 20 years ago on summer we fished it at sunset for Rainbows feeding on the giant Hex hatch.

Years ago Duane Calkins fished it a lot from a small pram. I will contact him.

For about 50 years there have been photos of giant hatchery monster Rainbow trout in the news paper sports section.

I fished Lake Natomas only a couple of times. The flow seems to be too strong for me to fight. I will try something else the next time attempt to fish this lake & I will definitely checkout those ponds.

[Charlie Gonzales]

As Bill mentioned, Notomas used to have a great Hex hatch, so did the William B. pond. As a teenager I used to fish the ponds that are now under the Kikoman factory and the car dealerships; I think they got bulldozed in the early 90's. I also fished Notomas and the hot ponds on the American because they were all within reach of my bmx bike. All those ponds used to have a good number of bass in them up to about 3lbs, although occasionally you would stumble onto a 5lb'r. Notomas still has quality bass, they just hold in deeper water than your used to looking for them in.
Notomas has held the two past state record trout. I think the current record is around 27lbs caught by guy around Rainbow Bridge. His fish beat a 25lb'r that was caught by a little girl fishing with her Barbie rod and a worm under a bobber at the beach area.

[robdog]

Good stuff Charlie. I used to fish William B. Pond (aka Arden Pond due to that is how to get there) a lot. The AR overflowed it's banks & took over the pond. I haven't fished that place in past couple years because of this fact.

[JAWallace]

Back when DFW was planting Natoma (not Natomas), I used to fish it 4-5 x a week as I live practically on it. I went out in the winter too--that was mostly practice though, not recommended. The trout are mostly gone now as they haven't planted (lawsuit requirement) for about 25 years or so, and until recently the bass haven't been much better. About three years ago we started hooking some bass again. My only bass over 10 lbs was taken in the tules at Willow Creek on a Cabela's 5 wt. fly rod--I got quite a ride in the float tube! That was maybe 25 years ago.

The ponds that Scott mentioned used to be good, although we got most smaller fish there. I've heard they are carped up pretty good now,however there are bass outside of the ponds in the main lake.

A few weeks ago a few of us went out to Willow Creek and we all got fish. Mine were really small. A couple caught were legal. That's all good because clearly they are reproducing again--we think the carp ate the eggs and fry until recently.

As mentioned, you can score decently in the deep water, but it's very spotty. I used to know the lake as well as most anyone, and none of my old spots are working.

As to the trout, there are a good number of wild trout above Rainbow, up to the Folsom cable, and I wish you the very best on hooking one. We have tried over the years, and failed, even for some "average size" trout we could see. The depth there is about 34' and that's where the big guys hang. I have heard some guys with conventional tackle have been successful a little down from the bridges.

[Jake B]

I love willow creek back 25 plus years ago when it was just a cobble road all the way in , that’s where I went almost daily for the hex hatch and were able to catch multiple species including ducks chasing the bugs. Now it’s gone and I wonder why it’s really sad to me because it was such a great local fishery. Are there any small mouth left in there?

[JAWallace]

I love willow creek back 25 plus years ago when it was just a cobble road all the way in , that’s where I went almost daily for the hex hatch and were able to catch multiple species including ducks chasing the bugs. Now it’s gone and I wonder why it’s really sad to me because it was such a great local fishery. Are there any small mouth left in there?

Jake, there are, but like Folsom the Spots are dominant. I have not caught a decent smallie there for a good 10 years. Last trip one of the two I got was a smallie, a juvie, good news.