O'Neill Forebay Fishing Report 2023 [Tips, Spots, Pictures, and Everything You Need to Know]

How To Fish O'Neill Forebay

O'Neill Forebay Fishing Report

O’Neill Forebay is a auxiliary reservoir that sits just east of San Luis Reservoir 120 miles away from San Francisco, or 276 miles from Los Angeles.

Overall it’s a popular weekend getaway lake known for its fantastic striped bass and largemouth bass fishing. You can also catch catfish and crappie fishing during the summer. Conversely, you can catch trout, salmon and sturgeon fishing during the winter. In this post you’re going to be given the blueprint to fish this lake.

So what are the best tips for fishing O’Neill Forebay? There are three important factors you must know if you want to know how to fish O’Neill Forebay successfully. First, you need to know what kind of fish is in O’Neill Forebay. Second, it’s important for you to know which part of the lake each species can be found. Lastly, knowing what are the best baits that work on O’Neill Forebay is vital. However, tactics, baits, and locations will be different for each type of fish that you target. So let’s talk about the steps you need to take in order to give you the best chance of catching a fish on O’Neill Forebay.

About O'Neill Forebay

Located 223 miles away from San Francisco, overall it’s considered a popular lake for the weekend angler. And in this post you’re going to be given the blueprint to fish this lake.

O’Neill Forebay Is a very deep body of water with the average depth being 200 feet and a maximum depth of over 500 feet when the lake is completely full. Furthermore, it’s 35 miles long and 4 miles across. Needless to say, O’Neill Forebay fishing can go gangbusters when you have 30,000 acres and over 365 miles of shore line to fish!

Important Lake Warnings

Algae blooms may be present which may affect fishing, swimming, and water contact in general.

According to parks.ca.gov, “every one of California’s new laws requires boat operators to have a California Boating Card. The card is required for anyone under the age of 41 to operate a boat in California’s waters.”

If you are fishing and camping, fire bans may be in effect due to the ongoing drought conditions.

WARNING: There’s a lot of information about this subject you’ll probably want to come back to. No one expects you to remember all these tips. We know your time is precious, so we really tried to over-deliver in value for you. Additionally, we frequently update reports like this, so you’ll want to stay up to date with any changes or additional tips we include for you.

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What Kind Of Fish Are In O'Neill Forebay?

Striped Bass
Largemouth Bass
White and Black Crappie
Bluegill and Sunfish
Perch
Catfish
Salmon*
Sturgeon*

O'Neill Forebay Fishing Tips & General Strategies

It can be a challenge to break down O’Neill Forebay and decide to get started.

The primary game fish of this lake is striped bass. Most of the time you will find striped bass in deeper waters between 50 to 90 feet deep.

Striped bass can be caught on this Lake using spoons, poppers, topwater walking baits in the morning when they are chasing shad near the surface of the water. As the day continues, the striped bass will dive to deeper water and will continue to feed.

Trolling live and artificial baits will give you your best chances of catching a deep striped bass.

There are also several feeder creeks and a large bay located throughout the lake. These areas are notorious for growing thick with weeds and submerged vegetation. This gives Largemouth bass anglers a prime location to target those fish.

High winds and breezy conditions are very common when fishing O’Neill Forebay.

In fact there are wind warning lights and alarms placed strategically around the reservoir to give Anglers the chance to seek cover before the fast oncoming wind creates unsafe boating and fishing conditions.

Most of the fish such as bass, bluegill, crappie, and catfish will spawn in the spring. Bass will spawn in 1’-15’-feet of water notably on rocky structure, gravel flats, humps, and small creek inlets and cuts.

When the summer heat sets in, the bass, bluegill, and crappie will move to deeper water to approximately 15’-30’-feet of water.

Focus on drops offs, channels, points, submerged humps. Deeper area with chunk rock ranging from baseball to basketball size will attract predatory fish like bass, crappie and catfish because it provides a safe area the prey (crayfish, bream, and minnows) can hide.

If you can find the ideal spot at the ideal depth then it will most likely assist you in catching fish.

———HUGE FISHING BLUEPRINT NATIONAL PROMOTION!———

ENTER TO WIN THIS MASSIVE GIVEAWAY – ENDS SOON!

But Where Are The Best Places To Fish At O'Neill Forebay?

And in no particular order here is that list of the best fishing spots at O’Neill Forebay.

DISCLAIMER: The material provided is for general information purposes only. It’s important to understand that any information provided in this article can change at any time. Any maps or graphics featured are not to be used as navigational aids. Fishing Blueprint will not be responsible for any personal injury or property damage from any misuse of the maps or graphics provided. It’s completely impossible to give you every single spot where you can potentially catch a fish. But, what this list does do is to give you a helping hand and narrow down to the most productive fishing spots.

Cut Channel West “152 Channel”

This area features a deep channel that can provide amazing in the spring through the fall. When the weeds grow thick, it pushes fish deeper into the channel.

When there is current flowing into it from San Luis Reservoir baitfish and bass will hold near the edges, points, and cuts within the weedbed.

Furthermore, there are several areas on the deep channel ledge that are hard spots more so than the surrounding areas. Bass will also congregate around these spots.

Look closely…

Fishing on O’Neill Forebay can be very windy and can quickly blow you off your spot. That is why it’s strongly recommended you use a quality drift sock, it’s kinda like a parachute for the water to keep your drift at the perfect speed.

Effective baits for this area include: topwater lures, buzzbaits, frog lures, crankbaits, soft plastic swimbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, chatterbaits, swim jigs, hair jigs, and underspin jigs when the bass are aggressive. Flutter spoons work great in the deeper channel sections and above any vertical timber as well.

If the bass are timid, then drop shot, tubes, Ned rig, Neko rig, Mojo rig, Carolina rig, and football jigs all work really well.

152 Flats

Look closely…

This spot is great because it’s a “grass flat” with important structure. It’s a fairly large area that has very little change in depth and is covered in vegetation. Sometimes this vegetation can grow to the surface creating a floating mat or canopy.

When the weeds are just developing or dying off, this huge flat fishes well, creating deep channels in the vegetation. Bass will hide in weed-filled holes and ambush bait.

It’s relatively shallow (between 15 to 20 feet deep) and what makes this spot unique is all the cover the fish can hide in and call home. Parts of the flat close to deep water (such as the 152 Chanel) and there is a depression in the middle of the flat that drops into 25 feet of water), if the fish feel threatened, they can retreat to. Fishing the outside edges can frequently result in fish being caught.

Additionally,there are several hard bottom patches, small rock piles, and high spots on humps that should be checked for fish.

Lastly, there are some spots within this area that will create large ‘holes’ in the weedbed. These open areas will frequently hold bass.

Holes should be fished with a grass flipping jig, wacky rig senko, Mojo rig, Texas rig, weedless tubes or even a drop shot.

If the grass is submerged you fish over the tops with a topwater lure, buzzbaits, frog lure, chatterbaits, or whopper plopper.

Fish the weedline edges parallel with crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits, frog lures, soft plastic swimbaits, umbrella rigs, swim jigs, underspin jigs or chatterbaits.

There are several hard bottom patches, small rock piles, and high spots on humps that should be checked for fish.

Lastly, there are several small drainage ditches that should be checked for fish as well.

The Islands

These islands attract fish all year long.

For starters, there is another area featuring a deep channel just to the west of South Island that can provide amazing fishing in the spring through the fall.

Interestingly, when the weeds grow thick, it pushes fish deeper in the channel. When there is current flowing it also baitfish and bass will hold near the edges, points, and cuts within the weedbed.

For the last feature, there are several areas on the deep channel ledge that are hard spots more so than the surrounding areas. Bass will also congregate around these spots.

Effective baits for this area include: buzzbaits, crankbaits, chatterbaits, soft plastic swimbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, swim jigs, hair jigs, and underspin jigs when the bass are aggressive. Flutter spoons work great in the deeper channel sections as well.

If the bass are timid, then drop shot, tubes, Ned rig, Neko rig, Mojo rig, Carolina rig, and football jigs all work really well.

Medeiros Flats

When the weeds are just developing or dying off, this huge flat fishes well, creating deep channels in the vegetation. Bass will hide in weed-filled holes and ambush bait.

It’s relatively shallow (between 7 and 16 feet deep) and what makes this spot unique is all the cover the fish can hide in and call home. Parts of the flat close to deep water, if the fish feel threatened, they can retreat to. Fishing the outside edges can frequently result in fish being caught.

You’ll notice there are some spots within this area that will create large ‘holes’ in the weedbed. These open areas will frequently hold bass.

Holes should be fished with a grass flipping jig, wacky rig senko, Mojo rig, Texas rig, weedless tubes or even a drop shot.

If the grass is submerged you fish over the tops with a topwater lure, buzzbaits, frog lure, chatterbaits, or whopper plopper.

Fish the weedline edges parallel with crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits, frog lures, soft plastic swimbaits, umbrella rigs, swim jigs, underspin jigs or chatterbaits.

There are several hard bottom patches, small rock piles, and high spots on humps that should be checked for fish.

To wrap it up, there are several small drainage ditches that should be checked for fish as well.

The Medeiros Wall

The Wall has current when the Dam is pumping out

This section features a long rocky bank. The bank is characteristically very steep and made from large chunk rock to boulder-size substrate.

When there is current flowing into it from San Luis Reservoir baitfish and bass will hold near the edges, points, and cuts against the rock wall and against the weedbed across the channel.

Naturally, crawfish, bluegill, minnows, and shad seek shelter in this area.

Given this embankment’s large area, it’s best to focus your efforts on natural cuts and points.

Effective baits for this area include: topwater lures, buzzbaits, crankbaits, soft plastic swimbaits, chatterbaits, spinnerbaits, jerkbaits, swim jigs, hair jigs, and underspin jigs when the bass are aggressive.

Flutter spoons work great by “hopping” the spoon from one ledge and letting it fall to the next one down underneath it. How high you hop the spoon off the ledge will depend on how aggressive the bass are. The more aggressive = higher the hop versus less aggressive bass will only need a small hop off the ledge.

If the bass are timid, then drop shot, tubes, wacky rigged senko, Mojo rig, Texas rig, Ned rig, Neko rig, Mojo rig, Carolina rig, and football jigs all work really well.

Pump Out Flat

Look closely…

This spot is great because it’s a “structure flat”.

The water is pumped out of O’Neill Forebay and flows over a series humps and down over a submerged ledge.

The depth drops from 25-feet to around 40-feet over a span of 10 yards.

Striped bass and largemouth bass will set up either on top or just off the edge of the drop off. They also use this area to dive into if the fish feel threatened.

Fishing the edge of the long drop off can frequently result in fish being caught year round.

Lastly, there are several drainage ditches on the flat that should be checked for fish as well.

If the bass are timid, then drop shot, tubes, Ned rig, Neko rig, Mojo rig, Carolina rig, and football jigs all work really well.

The Jungle

This expansive area is big and there are multiple ways to fish it.

Sometimes this vegetation can grow to the surface creating a floating mat or canopy.

When the weeds are just developing or dying off, this huge flat fishes well, creating deep channels in the vegetation. Bass will hide in weed-filled holes and ambush bait.

It’s relatively shallow (between 4 and 20 feet deep) and what makes this spot unique is all the cover the fish can hide in and call home. Parts of the flat close to deep water, if the fish feel threatened, they can retreat to. Fishing the outside edges can frequently result in fish being caught.

Holes should be fished with a grass flipping jig, wacky rig senko, Mojo rig, Texas rig, weedless tubes or even a drop shot.

If the grass is submerged you fish over the tops with a topwater lure, buzzbaits, frog lure, chatterbaits, or whopper plopper.

Fish the weedline edges parallel with crankbaits, lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits, frog lures, soft plastic swimbaits, umbrella rigs, swim jigs, underspin jigs or chatterbaits.

There are several hard bottom patches, small rock piles, and high spots on humps that should be checked for fish.

Lastly, there are several small drainage ditches that should be checked for fish as well.

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How To Catch Fish In O'Neill Forebay?

Striped Bass

Commonly known as “stripers”, striped bass travel into freshwater streams to reproduce, yet they are saltwater natives.

Most landlocked striped bass will grow to an average size of 12-20 inches and weigh 1-3 pounds. However, some striped bass can grow to become enormous and can weigh as much as 70+ pounds!

Because their eggs need to move in order to hatch, stripers prefer freshwater rivers and streams as spawning places.

Once a lake or river is dammed off, the area is often inundated by landlocked stripers.

One great example of this is the striped bass that are found in the Colorado river lakes near the California-Arizona border. The river was a key spawning habitat before dams were created, and many giant stripers have come from these waters.

When targeting stripers, focus the majority of your fishing on the deepest water the lake has to offer. Stripers are typically nearby if you can find schools of shad.

It’s strongly recommended you invest in a good fish finder/ sonar unit. Bait fish will appear as a clump of tiny dots suspended in the water column. Additionally, striped bass will appear as larger arcs below or near the school of shad. If you see striped bass near the school of shad you need to fish it.

Stripers may be caught on a variety of baits such as minnow baits, jointed crankbaits, umbrella rigs, or swimming spoons at proper depths when the baitfish are suspended over the deep water.

If you notice any surface feeding action, using topwater baits such as walking baits, or surface prop baits such as whopper ploppers make fishing an absolute blast.

Jigging spoons perform insanely well when the stripers are deep.

Striped bass can often be found in medium to deep water coves and secondary lake arms. One of the first places to find striped bass is to look at your fishing map and find distinct changes in depth such as drop offs or river channel swings.

Striped bass can always be caught using live bait, cut bait (such as frozen anchovy, shad, shrimp, or squid – yep even in lakes), as well as chicken livers.

Lastly, trolling is another great approach to catch stripers. Use larger sizes of flashing lures. Stripers may be caught on a variety of baits such as minnow baits, jointed crankbaits, umbrella rigs, or swimming spoons

General Striped Bass Details

Spawn: April – mid-June in flowing water, current or rivers

Food: Shad, dead or alive.

California State Record: 67 lb 8 oz. 45.25 in. O’Neill Forebay. Hank Ferguson, Soquel 5/7/1992

Table Quality: The meat is excellent. It’s firm, flaky and white. There is a red lateral line that must be removed otherwise it gives off a strong “fishy” taste. Otherwise, these make excellent fish fry meals.

Angling techniques:

Frozen shad or anchovies as “cut bait”
Small soft plastic swimbait
Spoons
Streamer flies

Largemouth Bass

Largemouth bass is a carnivorous member of the sunfish family.

California grows some MONSTER bass. At any time you could hook into a bass that could be your all-time personal best.

In general, if the water clarity is clear to a slightly stained lake. Meaning finesse techniques (like drop shot fishing), small lures (like football jigs), and thin diameter line gets you the most bites when the wind is calm.

On the other hand, if the water is moderately stained or murky, then you need to choose darker lures. This also means you can get away with using thicker diameter line.

Since the 1980’s this lake has been stocked with Florida-strain largemouth bass. Bass fishing in this lake is not as popular as trout or salmon fishing. Luckily, you can still catch a giant bass by lobbying large swimbaits for glide baits in trout patterns.

Once your arm gets tired you can still catch a ton of fish by throwing a drop shot rig, small crankbait, or dragging a Texas rigged Senko around a fish attracting structure.

If that doesn’t catchem, you can switch to either a drop shot rig or a Neko rig and target points, boulders, or channel swings.

General Largemouth Bass Details

Spawn: Spring, March-May

Food: Shad, minnows, small trout, small salmon, bluegill, perch, crayfish

California State Record: 21lbs 12 oz. Caught in 1991 in Castaic Lake at the main boat ramp.

Table Quality: Decent. Firm white meat.

Angling techniques:

White and Black Crappie

If you like crappie fishing, this lake is filled with them.

The best time to fish for crappie in this lake and other lakes similar to it is in summertime while you’re night using a submerged green light. If you don’t know what a green fishing light is, or if you’re unfamiliar, then click this link to learn more.

Green light fishing at night in this lake is amazing. If you haven’t done it you are missing out. The nights are cool and the night sky is filled with stars…

Anyway, I digress…

White crappie tend to linger over submerged brush and timber and are found in schools. The white crappie are much more tolerant in warmer water than their black crappie cousins.

White crappie have a more “silvery” appearance and lack the dark vertical bars when compared to the black crappie.

Black crappie can be described as having irregular black dots and blotches on the back and have more of a “silvery-olive” background.

Average weight of a white or black crappie in this lake is probably going to be just under a pound.

General Crappie Details

Spawn: April – mid-June

Food: Larvae, small fish, and crustaceans. Threadfin shad and minnows make up their main diet.

California State Record:

White crappie: 4 lbs 8 oz. Caught 4/26/1971 in Clear Lake using minnows.
Black crappie: 4 lbs 8 oz. Caught 2/17/2021 in Clear Lake using minnows.

Table Quality: The meat is excellent. It’s firm, flaky and white.

Angling techniques:

Live minnows under bobbers
Crappie jigs
Crappie tubes
Silver spoons
Spinners

Catfish

There are four species of catfish in California, the blue catfish, bullhead catfish, channel catfish, white catfish.

Catfish are predatory animals and scavengers. Some can get very big, while others remain small. They tend to spend most of their time on the bottom of the lake versus swimming higher in the water column suspended.

Catfish can have up to 8 whisker-like barbels by their mouths to help them detect food.

Blue catfish can get very big. They can weigh more than 100 pounds and grow to around 5 feet long. They have 8 whisker-like barbels by their mouths. They prefer larger cut bait and live bait

Conversely, bullhead catfish tend to be smaller and will weigh on average about 1-2-pounds, but can grow to around 4-5-pounds.

Channel catfish weight will range from 0.5-to-15-pounds in this lake, however the average weight will be between 1-4-pounds.

The smallest of all catfish in North America is the white catfish. These catfish are considered rare by anglers’ standards. They average 1-2 pounds and will grow to only about a foot.

All species prefer warmer coves, but can also be found scavenging near the marinas, or around the dam.

All can be caught with live bait, cut bait or dough bait. Some of the best baits you can use are chicken livers, hotdogs, anchovies, mackerel or sardines, catfish stink-bait/dough baits, or even night crawlers. warm coves or near the dam.

General Catfish Details

Spawn: March-June

Food: Carp, bluegill

California State Record:

Blue catfish – 72 lbs 14 oz. Caught 4/22/2003 in Colorado River (Riverside).

Bullhead catfish – 4 lbs 8 oz. Caught 10/7/1993 in Trinity Lake.

Channel catfish – 53 lbs 8 oz. Caught 9/22/2008 in San Joaquin River.

White catfish – 22 lbs 0 oz. Caught 3/21/1994 in Land Park pond (Sacramento).

Table Quality: Soft white meat. In the summer the meat will taste muddy.

Angling techniques:

chicken liver
hotdogs
stink bait
small live bluegill, sunfish, or perch
Frozen cut bait; anchovies, mackerel or sardines.

Bluegill or Sunfish

Also known collectively as “panfish” or “bream”, these small fish are both predators and prey. They fulfill a mid-tier predator role in the ecosystem.

Panfish are highly aggressive and eat minnows, bass fry (newly hatched baby bass), and insects.

The bluegill has teal-blue coloring on the bottom portion of the chin and gill plate. It also has a solid black opercula flap just behind the gill plate.

Fun fact: The oldest reported age for a bluegill is 10 years.

With the exception of appearance and size, the redear sunfish is quite similar to the bluegill. The dorsal fin of the redear sunfish features tiny vertical bands that go downward. It has a black dorsal color and a yellow-green ventral tint. The male’s operculum has a cherry-red edge, while the female’s has an orange coloring.

These panfish are found on the shoreline and prefer nearby structures. They are incredibly aggressive and will quickly attack anything that looks like it could be eaten. Due to their aggressive behavior, they are one of the easiest fish to catch and are a great way to introduce someone to fishing.

General Bluegill/ Sunfish Details

Spawn: April and May

Food: Small fish and insects

California State Record:

Bluegill – 3 lbs 14 oz. Caught 6/22/2008 in Rancho Murieta Reservoir.

Sunfish (red ear) – 5 lbs 3 oz. 6/27/1994 in Folsom South Canal (Sacramento)

Table Quality: Firm, white meat

Angling techniques:

Worms
Dough balls
Slim Jim sausages pieces on a small hook (not lying… it really works)
Small spinners
Trout flies

Chinook “King” Salmon (occasionally)

These landlocked salmon (commonly called King Salmon because they are the largest species of salmon found in the Pacific), with some fish weighing in at 10 to 12 pounds! However, most of the fish will weigh in around 2-4-pounds.

These fish may be found in deep water (40-80-feet) throughout the year, but they are particularly abundant in the main channel near the dam in March. Try trolling with live anchovies or shad, as well as shad-like lures and spoons.

In the summer and fall, trolling shad is the easiest method to capture huge salmon and trout.

Salmon and trout chase shad to the surface, which is one of the most well guarded secrets.

If you notice them eating bait balls, you have to start trolling shad or something that can come close to matching the hatch.

Sure, worms and egg sacks will catch them, but why not make it simpler on yourself and troll what they eat the most?

Shad is a natural food source for these landlocked monsters.

In a typical California reservoir, shad may be found in the vast majority of them, otherwise minnows and other small baitfish will work just fine

General King Salmon Details

Spawn: September – December

Food: Insects, small crustaceans, shad or other small fish.

California State Record: 65 lbs 4 oz. Caught 8/21/2002 in Crescent City.

Table Quality: Depending on the fishes diet, the meat can be white to orange-red in color. The meat is firm, flaky, and is considered excellent eating.

Angling techniques:

Trolling shad
Spinners
Spoons
Streamer Flies
Worms
Salmon eggs
Powerbait

Boat Ramps at O'Neill Forebay

San Luis Creek North Beach Boat Launch

Gustine, CA 95322

(209) 826-1197

Lanes: 2

Restrooms: Yes

Tackle Shops Near O'Neill Forebay

Main Street Market Live Bait and Tackle

13301 CA-33, Gustine, CA 95322

Located in: Santa Nella RV Park

Walmart Supercenter

1575 W Pacheco Blvd, Los Banos, CA 93635

(209) 826-9655

———HUGE FISHING BLUEPRINT NATIONAL PROMOTION!———

ENTER TO WIN THIS MASSIVE GIVEAWAY – ENDS SOON!

Places to Tent Camp Or RV Camping At O'Neill Forebay

San Luis Creek RV Campsite

Gustine, CA 95322

(209) 826-1197

San Luis Creek Group Campsite

31426 Gonzaga Rd, Gustine, CA 95322

(209) 826-1197

Other Activities You Can Do At O'Neill Forebay

Fishing is not the only thing that brings people to the beautiful body of water. Here’s a list of other things you can do!

Biking
Bird watching
Boating
Skiing
Kayaking
Canoeing
Sailing
Swimming
Camping
Horseshoes
Picnicking
Hiking
Gentle walking trails
Nature photography trails
Wildlife viewing
Mountain biking
Stargazing
and most importantly… relaxing.

O’Neill Forebay Fishing Report 2023 [Tips, Spots, Pictures, and Everything You Need to Know]

How To Fish O'Neill Forebay