I'm planning on fishing Oroville and Berryessa over the next few months. Looking for suggestions on swimbaits to throw.

Also, I haven't had any luck finding info on what the Huddleston Deluxes weigh. What would be a good swimbait rod to throw these? Would this same rod be to heavy for say 9" MS Slammers, Rago Rats, and 5" Big Hammers?

Lastly,
Is the Calcutta 251 large enough to handle the Huddlestons on 20 or 25# line? I want to use a quality left handed reel but the Calcutta 401 is only available in the TE line and that is out of my price range.

Appreciate any advice. Thanks!

If your interested in a swim bait to reach depths of 8-10feet
Shoot me an email at fish4eyebaits@aol.com

I have a pro that has caught 5 & 6 # Spotted bass in Orville
and lake Shasta on my 8" 4EYE Native Trout color pattern.

A Calcutta 251 works fine with 20-25# test line

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/2891.jpg

www.fishjc.com

JC

http://www.bassanglerprofiles.com/joeycastro.htm

Attachment #1, (.jpg file)

I used a Rising Son in dark trout color and that got me a 8.9 at Berryesa. That was first thing in the morning in Marchso good luck

The Calcutta 251 is on the small side for 25lb test. You could probably get away with 20lb test on it. With a smaller spool, the spool gets to spinning really fast when you cast a big lure and it can get awkward and just kind of funky when you only have half the spool left at the end of the cast.

A Cardiff 301 could be a good option for you to get left handed retrieve on a 25lb test reel that is reasonably priced.

For rods, check out the rod reviews if you haven't already:
http://www.calfishing.com/reviews/rods/index.html

Good all arounder type rods would be the Rainshadow SW976, Gloomis BBR964C, or Rogue Rods SB807C. I got a chuckle when I looked at Rogue Rod's site just now because they link over here in their product review section, but I couldn't get a demo rod for the review page from them :) In any case, their rods are nice and I can understand people not wanting to send out demos.

As far as catching swimbait fish on spot lakes, possible but not a percentage thing. If you put in the hours on Berryessa, Shasta, McClure, Oroville, etc you'll get something eventually, but the odds of sticking one in a tournament are kinda slim. That's been what I've heard anyway. If you just want to catch a big one at one of those lakes, then fire away. If it was me trying to get one, I'd be there with the MS Slammer at night fishing the most obvious spots in the lakes like major points and big trees.

Thanks to everyone for your input. The point about the Spot lakes is well taken. Makes me feel better about going to Oroville without my swimbait supplies together. In the meantime, I'll be working on building my swimbait arsenal.