San Justo Lake and Reports

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Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Update today from SBCWD: There has been little change in status since last report. Re-opening for recreational use may not be until fall of 2012. Environmental studies done and underway all agree that use of potash to eradicate the mussels is the way to go. Issue is funding. Cost of potash application will be at least several hundred thousand dollars, and could be over a million. Water district is asking for a grant from the Bureau of Reclamation, since it's their lake, but there are no earmarks now that would enable BOR to foot the bill. Congressman Farr is aware of the issue and has visited the lake for first-hand look. Lake was drawn down about 30' below max last fall. Mussels dried out and caused bad stench. Lake needs to be drawn down even further for application of the potash.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: Lake is not open for recreational use. Pray for a miracle to open the purse strings at BOR.

Friday, July 8th, 2011

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: it's open?

Sunday, June 12th, 2011

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: I'll go to the forum next......I came over to San Justo with friends from Carmel to fish for the planters. We stopped at the bait shop for info. as to where to try our luck. We were directed to the floating pier and to use power bait or kastmasters. I
    like hardware. so I made several casts to judge the depth of the area. i hung up on the bottom several times.....after losing several spoons to something that was to heavy to drag in. I went back to the truck and grabbed my surf striper gear!!! Sure I was laughed at but I was able to pull in the WADDED up remains of hundreds of yards of discarded FISHINGLINE that included two fishing rods,trolling blades,a three pound down rigger ball with 20ft of cable,three of my spoons among others. The SADDDD part is that it was all bound together with 10lbs of ZEBRA MUSSELS !!!!! I took a 5lb mass of these mussels to the bait shop to show anyone that might be interested. It was told to me that " OH !! Those things are common hear since a couple of YEARS ago and to leave them there. I Did. And proceeded to find someone from out of the area, with a badge.
    Half of the remaining 5lbs went to 4 Park Rangers at Los Banos Creek Reservoir that were engaged in some sort of official tour. The remaining went An official at water resources. The rods cleaned up nice.
    I have since mentioned this to several fishermen that had expressed interests and concerns about San Justo....there are lots of eyes and ears out there....their GOING to getcha it's just a matter of time.

    Tips: Please be concerned about your resource or someone will do it for you. Let this be a lesson to those that abuse my resources with your lousy....BEER CAN THROWING, LINE STRIPPING, TOURNAMENT MONEY GRABBING, Inconsiderate bastards.

Monday, August 9th, 2010

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Trespassing it is, and that is enough.

    Tips: You're on! Watch out for the trip wires and infra-red cameras.

Sunday, August 8th, 2010

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: its not poaching if i let'em go.. maybe trespassing but thats it, unless u catch me with a fish.

    Tips: catch me if u can

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

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    Water Temp: Boiling

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The risk of ninja fishing = poaching is being apprehended by the Poaching Task Force, comprised of reps of BLM, DFG, County Sheriff, and FSJ (Friends of San Justo) who visit the reservoir several times a month, at night, with night vision devices, for the sole purpose of arresting and filing poaching charges against anyone who violates the No Trespassing signs on the fences around San Justo Reservoir, which is CLOSED.
    City: Hollister

    Tips: You have been fairly warned!

Monday, July 19th, 2010

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: 2010 UPDATE...Recent meeting of San Benito County Water District with DFG affirmed that DFG's goal is total eradication of the zebra mussels in San Justo Reservoir, since it's the only lake in California with an infestation of zebra mussels. Now the timeline is that the necessary permits will hopefully be obtained by early 2011 (BUT, must be approved by Cal EPA which is currently under-staffed), a contractor (for the dosing) should be selected in Sep 2011, dosing with potash should occur in Oct 2011, confirmation of eradication would be in Feb 2012, and the lake could be re-opened for recreational use in spring of 2012.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: Don't hold your breath while waiting for the permit approvals...you'll turn blue!

Thursday, July 9th, 2009

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Update from knowledgeable source at San Benito Water District indicates the environmental review and permitting processes will now take until the fall of 2010, so the dosing with potash won't happen until the winter of 2010 at the earliest. That could mean that re-opening the lake for recreational fishing may not happen until the summer of 2011. Fortunately, all agencies involved are still cooperating well together and all want the process of eradicating the mussels to be done quickly and efficiently, but thoroughly so there will be no possibility of later reinfestation of San Justo or contamination of downstream sites. Good news is that all agencies involved are working toward eventually re-opening the lake for recreational use.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: If you want to be on the mailing list for future announcements of public meetings related to San Justo Reservoir, send a letter to San Benito Water District, ATTN: Barbara Mauro, 30 Mansfield Road, Hollister, CA 95023 and ask to be put on their mailing list for matters related to San Justo Reservoir.

Thursday, January 1st, 2009

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    Water Temp: N/A

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Latest info from San Benito County Water District is that the environmental review process to comply with NEPA and CEQA will probably take until the fall of 2009 (regarding the use of potash as a means of eradicating the mussels). Another complication that has been added is the discovery of the red-legged frog in a pond downstream from the San Justo dam. Since that frog is an endangered species, the planners must do what is necessary to mitigate the impact of the partial drainage of the reservoir on the frogs. The partial draining of the reservoir must be done during the winter season so it doesn't impact the downstream agricultural users. The plan is to partially drain the reservoir over the winter of 2009-2010 and apply the potash in the sping of 2010. Likelihood is that the earliest San Justo Reservoir could be open for recreational fishing will be the fall of 2010.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: Hang in there, San Justo devotees! The good news is that all of the agencies concerned with eradicating the mussels from San Justo are cooperating well together. Hopefully, that will keep the bureaucratic processes from taking any longer than necessary.

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

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    Water Temp: N/A

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: On Thursday, July 22, there was a report to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors by the multi-agency task force (federal, state, and county agencies) working on the mussel infestation of San Justo Reservoir.

    Overall strategy is to control the infestation this year; eradicate the mussels next year.

    Priority is water use for agricultural and municipal needs. Recreational use is secondary.

    Basic approach for eradicating the mussels is to lower the lake level (short of completely draining it) and then apply potash (potassium chloride) at a proper concentration to kill the mussels but not be harmful to other organisms (fish, birds, vegetation, etc.). If the potash were to be applied with the lake full, it would cost millions of dollars. By lowering the lake level, the cost of potash application can be reduced to the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

    Since the water in the lake is valuable ($200 per acre foot and there are 7500 acre feet when the lake is full, so the water is worth $1,500,000), the lowering of the lake must be coordinated with the seasonal needs of the water for agricultural purposes so it is not wasted.

    A water district consultant is developing a detailed, coordinated Work Plan for dealing with all issues simultaneously, including water allocations, protecting the resource for the future, eradicating the mussels, minimizing migration downstream, minimizing traffic impact caused by potash delivery trucks, and concerns that areas exposed by dropping lake levels where there are leakages are also addressed and leakages repaired.

    Time line is 1) completion of environmental assessment of use of potash this fall 2) Soliciting bids for the potash and its application; 3) Award the contract for application of potash; 4) Apply the potash in April or May 2009, but may be later; 5) Allow 45 days for potash to work on eradicating the mussels; 6) Do testing to ensure the mussels have been eradicated (or mostly so); 7) then, if it was successful, the lake could be opened again for recreational use, maybe by the fall of 2009.

    Further info about the mussel infestations in California is at www.dfg.ca.gov/invasives/quaggamussel/
    City: Monterey

    Tips: During the Environmental Assessment, there will be opportunities for public comment. Although recreational use of the lake is a secondary priority, it wouldn't hurt if some of us showed up at the public hearings and commented on our concerns about the bass population of San Justo and its potential for producing a world record bass.

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

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    Water Temp: n/a

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The staff report to the San Benito County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday apparently recommended a lowering of the lake level (not complete draining) to reduce the volume of water in which liquid potash would be used to eradicate the mussels. The potash can cause a complete kill of zebra mussels in about 48 hrs. Unfortunately, zebra mussels can close their shells for extended periods to protect themselves from chemical attack.

    I'm obtaining an audio recording of the meeting, and a PowerPoint presentation by the Bureau of Reclamation used during the report, and will provide a summary report here soonest.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: Stay tuned...I should have an update by the middle of next week.

Wednesday, July 2nd, 2008

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    Water Temp: N/A

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The report of the multi-agency task force on the mussel infestation at San Justo Reservoir is now on the agenda for the 7/22 meeting of the San Benito County board of supervisors.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: Let's hope they consider stocking catfish in San Justo, since catfish are known to eat the mussels and would be a natural, non-chemical approach to controlling the mussel infestation (and could grow some huge catfish in the process!!!).

Friday, June 13th, 2008

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    Water Temp: N/A

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Talked with Susan Thompson (831-636-4000) at San Benito County re closure of San Justo. Susan was very helpful and provided the following update.

    There is a multi-agency task force working on the San Justo mussel infestation. Its report is not yet finalized, but hopefully will be presented at San Benito County board meeting on 1 July. One complication is the water rationing that has disrupted the plan for lowering the lake and attacking the mussels. There is probably nothing that can be done to open the lake this season but, maybe, next season.
    The Board agrees with staff that the lake should be opened for recreational use if at all possible.
    They are not considering the New York state developed biocide because of organic growers served by the reservoir who would not want such a biocide introduced into their water supply.
    An alternative is potash, in liquid form, which eradicates the mussels, but potash is not approved by the state for that application although it is for use as a fertilizer.
    Son, John, and I, along with a lot of you San Justo devotees, are keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that our lake can be re-opened to recreational fishing as soon as possible.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: Keep informed and, at every opportunity, let the authorities know that you want the mussels controlled in a reasonable way and the lake re-opened.

Sunday, February 17th, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: CLOSED
    City: Hollister

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 63

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: started out around 730 am warm and very foggy fished the rocky banks caught 5 biggest around 3 couple 2 or so the rest small keepers fished till 1145am deep plugs everything caught early as fog lifted we wormed and jigged very slow but still a great day on husto
    City: salinas

    Tips: slow slow down relax enjoy the great day on the lake

Saturday, October 13th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 65

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Beautiful day, clear skies, no wind, but a tough day. Only 3, fished from 7:15 to 14:00.
    1 minnow early AM on a small silver and black Zara Spook. One dink on a silver and black DT10 crank.
    Nothing till around 1300, then caught a 3#r+ on
    a 6" Senko in watermelon and red flake. Just outside the weeds off of a mud bank in 20'.
    Water was full of algae "globs". I tried my old reliable DT Hula grubs with not a bump for many hours. I'll blame the frontal passage on the previous day (Friday).
    City: Monterey

    Tips: Might have better luck fishing the falling barometer vice the rising now that the winter storm pattern seems to be setting up.

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    Water Temp: 72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: John and I fished from 10:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Wind was very light until about 1:15 p.m. when it began blowing fairly hard (10-15 mph) from the north. I spent first two hours trying to find the lunkers that move up and cruise the mud bank when the wind comes up...couldn't stick'em while fishing above the thermocline (which was at 26 feet)with swimbiats, plastic worms, and jigs, although there were many fish showing on the graph down to that depth. Then, when the wind did come up, I switched to buzzbaits and a Zara Spook, but couldn't get bit on the windward shore like I did week before last. I'm guessing the bigun's were there but they didn't want what I was throwing at them (could they be getting conditioned to the buzzbait?). John caught a nice 2 1/2 lb bass on a white buzzbait off a windward rocky bank.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: Keep moving and make a lot of casts! If what you're using isn't working, try something else.

Saturday, July 28th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 75

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Two of us only caught 4. 2 on a Pop-R, biggest 3-8!
    One on a DT HulaGrub. One on an olive Bitsy Jig with green pumpkin trailer.
    City: Monterey

Sunday, July 15th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 74

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Started the day with a nice 3 lb bass on first cast with a buzz bait right off the end of the dock (before untying the rental boat I was sitting in!) We had noticed a large school of baitfish on the surface between the ramp and the fishing dock, with bass surfacing amongst them. The fish hit the buzzbait just before it reached the rental boat tied on the end of the dock. Nice way to start the day!
    I got two more nice bass, one on a Powerbait Critter craw imitation in green pumpkin color (on a 3/8 oz. Jobee head) and the other on a shad-colored Rapala Risto Rap #7 crankbait. They both were taken in about 12-15 feet.

    John nailed eight nice bass, all taken on soft plastics, mostly green pumpkin Double-Wide Sweet Beavers, again in 15 foot depths.

    Many casts with large swimbaits were fruitless, and the buzzbait didn't draw any more strikes either.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: If they're not hitting in the shallow zone, move out deeper, slow down, and fish uphill.

Saturday, July 14th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 74

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Caught and released 5. 3 on a watermelon Yamamoto DT Hula Grub on a football head jig, In Granny's Cove by the dike, 2 dropshotting a Yamamoto watermelon and black flake shad, at the point before entering Darrell's h\Hideaway.
    All caught dragging lure from deep to shallow a good ways, (30-40') off of rocky banks. Largest on HulaGrub 2lb 11oz.

    Tried cranking a Rapala DT10 in shad without success.
    City: Monterey

    Tips: At the ramp, saw a couple of boys release a stringer of 12 bass. (Good on Ya!) They said they caught them on Texas rigged Zoom BabyBrush Hogs in JuneBug color in 17-20' of water. Mostly small, but they had a couple of nice 2#'rs.