It is forecasted to be a great weekend to be outside and having a fish at the end of the line would only make it better. There are plenty of places to achieve that scenario. There are crappie in Santa Clara Valley, trout and stripers at Los Vaqueros, bass at Oroville, brown trout at Tahoe and stripers and largemouth in Franks Tract. Those aren’t the only choices but they are among this week’s Best Bites:

COYOTE crappie: Best crappie fishing in the valley. Best action is at night with minnows under a bobber. Lake is open to boating and bass bite is good. A lot of smaller fish are being caught. Coyote Bait & Tackle (408) 463-0711

LOS VAQUEROS trout: Shore fishing for trout in South Cove has resulted in lots of limits for those using Rapalas, Kastmasters, nightcrawlers or Power Bait. Boaters are getting trout near the dam, Peninsula Cove and Howden Cove. Striper fishing has been productive. Plenty of bass are in the two to three pound range. Catfish bite is improving. Best spots are near the marina docks and Cowboy Cove. (925) 371-2628

OROVILLE bass: Better quality bass are starting to be caught. Weekend tournament was won with a 16 pound bag and big fish was 6 pounds. Senkos, tubes, RoboWorms work well but reaction baits and spinner baits are a good bet. Find the bass from the surface to 25 feet. Whole lake is producing. Bass Tackle Depot (530) 533-4990

SHADOW CLIFFS trout: A 17.9 pound trout was caught Sunday by Alex of San Ramon who was using a lure from the Stanley Shoreline. Weekly trout plants are going in. A plant of 800 pounds went in last week and 1,000 pounds of Mount Lassen trout are going in this week. (510) 544-3230

TAHOE brown trout: Fishing for brown trout in the shallows has been productive. Guide Mike Nielsen had 11 browns on two trips Tuesday. Most trips get 3 to 8 browns weighing between 2 and 4 pounds. There are the occasional rainbows being caught. Mack fishing requires finding the fish. Trolling has been more productive than jigging. Mike Nielsen (530) 721-0593 www.tahoetopliners.com

FRANK'S TRACT black bass, stripers: Stripers are moving into Franks Tract and Liberty Island. Most of the large fish are being caught on topwater baits like Lunker Plunkers, River2Sea S-Wavers and pencil poppers. Most action is later in the evening or early morning. A lot of 14 to 16 pounders are being hooked, but some are as large as 30. Black bass are staging. Drop shot, crank baits, spinner baits (chartreuse/blue or chatreuse/white) work when it’s windy. Hook, Line & Sinker (925) 625-2441

MOTHBALL FLEET stripers: Large stripers are coming in from the deep water near the Mothball Fleet. Bass from 25 to 40 pounds are being caught with live bait. Jumbo minnows, bullhead or mudsuckers – the bigger the better – are working. Sturgeon bite is decent near Chain Island and the PG&E plant. Salmon roe and eel is the top bait. Dockside Bait (925) 252-0151