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Berryessa Lake and Reports

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Thursday, Apr 18
Hi: 79 ° F
Lo: 55 ° F
Today
Increasing Clouds
Precip: 1%
Tonight
Partly Cloudy
Precip: 1%

Monday, May 10th, 1999

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    Water Temp: 56-63

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished in North end with new friend and fellow "nutcase" (HooksettR).Started in the Vineyards with reaction baits and got the donut.Started dragging green 6" Zoom lizards. Did pretty well, but nothing over two lbs.Caught maybe ten fish between us in the morning. The fish we caught were post spawn,1st and secondary points. NOTHING IN THE BACKS OF COVES! I thought the backs would be loaded,wrong! We moved to the West side about 11 am.This is when hooksetteR came alive. He was splitshotting a 6" green/weenie.He got 3-4 fish between 2-3 lbs.,promting me to switch. It seems that the higher the sun got,the fish got more selective.They would'nt touch a lizard or jig in the afternoon. It also got real slow.Water has really cleared up lately.Visability is around 10-13'.
    City: San Leandro

    Tips: Tips: Fish your best water early,then lighten-up as the sun gets on top of you.

Sunday, May 2nd, 1999

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    Water Temp: n/a

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished lake Sunday all day. Rain in early morning but it stoppoed by 8:30 a.m. It was cloudy all day and fishing was very good. We cought 10-15 with 8 being keepers. (we didn't of course) Not much of a reaction bite, caught all but one on 4 in. magic worms mostly junebug color. Caught one (the largest) on Spiderjig. Most of the fish we got were in the north end.
    City: San Jose

    Tips: Tips: n/a

Tuesday, April 20th, 1999

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    Water Temp: n/a

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Started fishing at about 9:00 AM on the north side. Since I don't have a boat all my fishing is done from the bank. By Noon I landed 10 fish ranging from 2 to 4 pounds ( mostly females) in coves and shallow flats at grass beds. My buddy showed up 6:00pm whith his three year old son "Storm." By then I had caught and released 22 fish! Before my buddy could get rigged up, Storm had a "Fish On!" There is nothing like watching a kid catch his first fish. We were there until 9:00 PM. In that time Storm landed one more and lost two. I caught four and my buddy caught one. (Typical Rookie)
    City: Hercules

    Tips: Tips: Look for males building nests and fish the outskirts where the females are staging with a Carolina Rigged worn or crawfish. PROTECT THE RESOURCE! PRACTICE "CATCH AND RELEASE"

Sunday, April 18th, 1999

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    Water Temp: 57

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Launched out of capel cove about 8am. First spot was dead. Threw rip baits and weenies. Second spot was hot. Caught four fish, two on medium crank baits, two on weenies. My girlfriend lost a nice fish in submerged wood on a crank bait. Actually saw the fish shake'n the crank bait after she broke off. However the crankbait came floating up, saved $4.00 lure. Anyway she caught one off a submerged bush with a shallow diving crankbait went 3lbs. Then, the biggest fish was caught by my 9 yr old daughter, it was 100 lbs. She fell on her crankbait and got the hook stuck in her hand. Had to leave early. We caught total of 9 fish in four hours. Not a bad day., considering.
    City: Fairfield

    Tips: Tips: Don't go directly into the coves, fish outide edges and creek channel going in. I saw a fish in 7 foot of water. I'm guessing went 15 lbs, huge fish, but I spooked it with the boat. A lesson learned!

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    Water Temp: 55.2-67.8

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: My buddy and I went fishing started at 7:00am to 4:00pm. Between the two of us we manage to bring in 25 fishing a lost about 10 at the boat.
    City: Redwood City

    Tips: Tips: worms in the crawdad color fish radically on the bottom by means of carolina riging next to weed beds.

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    Water Temp: 55-67.5

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: FISH ON THE LAKE FROM 7:00AM TO 4:00PM CAUGHT 25 FISH ALL KEEPERS BETWEEN THE RANGE OF 1.5LB TO 4.5LBS WHAT A DAY FISH EVERYWHERE STAGING AND SPAWNING
    City: REDWOOD CITY

    Tips: Tips: n/a

Saturday, April 17th, 1999

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    Water Temp: 63-68

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Sat., 4-17 out of Berryessa Marina. Landed 12 and lost two from 11" to 15". Lost one 3#er at the boat. Split shoting caught most, though I did manage two on topwater and one on acrankbait. Fished from about noon to 7pm. Nice day.
    City: Concord

    Tips: Tips: Fish appeared mainly 6-8 feet off the bank. Many fish moving up to spawn.

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    Water Temp: 57

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fishing was spectacular today. Weather was perfect, fish cooperative. Launched about 8am from Capell Cove. First honey hole had no bites. Threw rip baits and weenies. Second spot we caught 4 fish and lost two. They were all young males, prespawn. My girlfriend pick two off submerge trees on a shallow crankbait. Caught a few off a medium crank baits and a few off weenies. Had to get off the lake early because my daughter fell on her crankbait and got the hook stuck in her hand. Left about 12 o'clock. But as she put it, we had 6 fish and 3 that got away, and she caught one about 100 lbs, (herself).
    City: Fairfield

    Tips: Tips: Water and air temp. are getting warm look deep in the coves, also before you go into the cove throw deep baits or worms in the mouth on shelf of the cove, before spooking the deeper fish. then go for easier fish. Don't get the spawners. Practice "Catch & Release".

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    Water Temp: 59-69

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: fished the north end of the lake all day.Plenty of 13-14'' fish on points in the morning then moving to shallow coves in the afternoon. Had one on a blade one on crank all other fish were taken on worms & brush hogs.I fished by myself and didn't work hard at all to boat several limits....so if I can.......any one can!!. OH water temps...started at 59 surface and at 5:00 it 69.. it won't be long before the bigs ones show ! see out there, Bugs
    City: Woodpile

    Tips: Tips: n/a

Wednesday, April 7th, 1999

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    Water Temp: 50-58

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: JUST YESTERDAY I CAUGHT A 10.5 LARGEMOUTH ON A YELLOW AND GREEN SPINNER. THIS WAS A GOOD FIGHT. MY BUDDY CAUGHT A 8.5 LARGEMOUTH WITH AN JIG N PORK THAT WAS YELLOW AND BLUE. WE CAUGHT THESE BAD BOYS BY THE DAM.
    City: Yolo

    Tips: Tips: IT LOOKS IF YOU FISH WITH YELLOWS YOU WILL CATCH A BIG ONE. USE SPINNERS AND JIG N PORKS. HOPE YOU GET THE LUCK WE DID

Sunday, April 4th, 1999

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    Water Temp: 52-54

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished earler this week, went all the way back up Putha creek. Had good luck for nice smallies up to 2lbs. Lost one over 3lbs. Cought some nice large mouth up to 5.5lbs. We had 5 fish for about 13.5lbs. Probely cought about 20 plus fish. The bite is still slow.
    City: Dixon

    Tips: Tips: Fish a jig or a brush hog, also a white spinner. We used a brown jig and a brown brush hog.

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    Water Temp: n/a

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I was fishen with my buddies. It was real slow. Then all of the sudden out of no where comes a big 7.7lb.fish. I jumped right into the boat.I just about pissed mt pant and then it happened again. I dont nkow what was happening. Maybe mating behavoir.
    City: n/a

    Tips: Tips: None at all. no lures needed. Just go with your buddies.

Thursday, April 1st, 1999

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    Water Temp: 52-54

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: CAUGHT A NICE 8lbs. and A few 4lbs. Fishing is still a little slow but picking up. Also seen a 12lbs cat pulled in on goverment cheese.
    City: WINTERS

    Tips: Tips: ANY THING THAT RESSEMBLES GOVEMENT CHEESE. I WOULD ALSO RECOMEND ANY LURE THAT YOU CAN FIND AT WALMART FOR UNDER A BUCK.

Tuesday, March 30th, 1999

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    Water Temp: 50-55

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I fished both tourneys this weekend at Berryessa.Day one: Reapers,out of Pleasure Cove. Ran all the way to the vineyards.Had limit of seven fish by 9 am,dragging green baby brush hogs. Ended up with over 20 fish,but big fish was only 2.08.Weighed in 10.55 lbs. and finished just out of the money.(again) We mainly stayed on the East side all day. On Sunday,fished the ABA out of Putah.Started on the islands south of p/creek. Caught three keepers,same,dragging those brush hogs. Then went back to the vineyards and caught 20 more fish. All males under 2 lbs. Weighed in a disappointing 7.51 lbs and drove home. The females are there somewhere,but nobody seems to be catching them. Big fish on sat.was a 4.50 lb., and I think I heard that sun, it was only a 3.69.I heard of a rip bite for some people both days, but I couldn't get on it. I'm getting sick of this lake,I'm glad I don't have to fish it again for awhile.
    City: San Leandro

    Tips: Tips: Don't be afraid to use big line.We throw 15lb big game on the reel, and 12 for the leader.They don't seem to be line shy at all.

Sunday, March 28th, 1999

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    Water Temp: mid 50's

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Going in with great expectations -- predicted sunny skies, a waxing full moon -- we were all perhaps a bit disappointed when the cold nights kept the water temps down and the fish not as ready to feed as we had hoped. Not to say we didn't catch fish, but it wasn't a wide-open bite, by any means. This was all on Sunday, at the 2nd Bass-n-Tubes tournament of the year, kicking off from the Spanish Flat campgrounds. Joe Castro got 'Big Fish' with a nice 5.67 lb'er that he caught on a spinnerbait about 15 minutes into the tourney (the only keeper he caught all day!). Several guys limited out, although there was nothing much over a pound & a half, after Joe's nice sow. Once again, John Lake came out on top (5 fish, 7.58 lbs.). Tim Crane, Jr. was second with 7.50, and Eric 'E' Howard got 3rd, with 6.49. A lot of shakin' worms & reapers on leadheads; I caught one flippin' & one on a Carolina rig. I don't know if anyone caught anything crankin', but other than that, I heard of ! a few landed on tube baits, & not much else. Finessin' was the general trend. Check out photos from the tournament on our website: http://members.xoom.com/jeff_sxx/ . Next tourney is April 25 @ Pinto Lake in Watsonville, then Lake Sonoma on May 16. Come on out & join us! Call John Lake @ 408-263-6174, if you're interested.
    City: San Jose

    Tips: Tips: n/a

Saturday, March 27th, 1999

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    Water Temp: 50.1

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished "Bass Reaper" open tournament. We placed approx. 33rd. Tournament paid first 30 places. We got aprox. 20 fish with 4" worms, dragged or "dead sticking". We could not get a big fish bite. We had three small keepers by the first hour. After that the bites were very slow. By 1 o'clock we still needed one more fish for a limit, we ended up culling two fish, but still no big bites...no big fish. We ended up with 9.73 pounds.
    City: Fairfield

    Tips: Tips: Most of the people who had 10+ lbs and the top two or three winners. Caught fish on crankbaits and jigs. I guess using small worms vs. crankbaits/jigs = small fish vs. big fish.

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    Water Temp: 49-56

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Little brother and I fished Reapers on Saturday. Tough bite! No check for me. Congrats to the money getters! Hey, if "you know who" is reading this, next time bring only 7 fish in to the scales!! I figured with the sunny weather and 4 days from full moon the big mommas might be cruisin'. Ha! Tried hard power fishing for most of the day and lost the lunk on a big jig off of a log lay-down but that was about it. Finally decided to down-size and caught fish. Nothing to brag about though. Hopfully it won't be too long before everything turns on. Good luck.
    City: Bay Point

    Tips: Tips: Drag carolina rigged spider jigs in the usual colors, maybe even a Brush hog or small worm across points. Nailed a nice smallie on a Zoom tube off a boulder. Quality smallies being found on tiny jigs with a little 101 black pork up at the Putah inlet.

Friday, March 26th, 1999

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    Water Temp: n/a

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished from 2pm till dusk, Picked up only five fish, all nice size though (2 lbs) Fished North end of the lake with fish in about 10-15 feet. I caught all my fish dragging plastics. Caught both smallies and largemoth
    City: Fairfield

    Tips: Tips: n/a

Tuesday, March 23rd, 1999

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    Water Temp: 53.8

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Got a late start, and found the bite to be slow. Finaly ended up with 12 fish, none of them were too big. Trying to get ready for the reapers tournment this weekend.
    City: Dixon

    Tips: Tips: fish starting to move back into the coves. Slow down and use bigger baits. Try top water early in the morning.

Monday, March 22nd, 1999

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    Water Temp: 53 to 56

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished in Putah Creek Weather was rainey off and on all day caught 12 mixed between Smallies and Largemouth on Sat, and 10 on Sunday largest was 2.50 pounds fished in 6 to 12 feet of water dragged brown with red or green flake spider jigs.fished VERY SLOW. Very soft bite bigger fish were out 30 to 50 feet from the bank, smaller fish were on the bank. Smallmouth actually were the bigger fish caught. seems the Smallmouth were almost ready to spawn.
    City: Modesto

    Tips: Tips: Fish slow, but if the sun comes out the bite will be on. Carolina rig worms or spider jigs 1/4 oz or smaller. But this will change fast, when the sun comes out and the surface water get close to 60 degrees.