Did anyone do well at Berryessa over the weekend? (Noobie trying to learn)

[LetMeSleepLol]

Did anyone do well on Berryessa this past weekend? I seen a whole lot of boats out there.

I am new to bass fishing and trying to learn the basics. Water temps at Berryessa this past weekend were between 55-59 degrees. I headed up to the Putah creek area as I've heard the fish usually are quicker to spawn on the north side of the lake. I was trying to fish points near the creek channel that led into coves. I figured the fish would be holding there until the water got warmer to spawn up in the coves. Only managed to hook two fish on areas like this.

I seen a ton of other bass boats around me fishing the same areas, so I figured I was roughly in the right spot. Only bites I got were on a dropshot. 3 fish for the day (2 in putah creek area and one off a point in markley cove on the way back in)

BAITS FISHED:
Drop shot: Z Drop Worm Green Pumpkin (1/4 oz)
Jig: Strike king craw, Green Pumpkin (1/2oz)
Lipless: strike king (craw color)
Jerkbait: Staycees 90 (shad color)
Keitech on a swimjig head (shad color) (couple followers no bites)

Open to any suggestions on how to improve my fishing or other areas I should have tried. I really have no clue what I am doing out there and just trying to learn. Thanks guys

[zdbm2004]

I was up on Saturday and had high hopes of seeing big fish up shallow and that didn’t happen. Water is still a little too cool to get them up there and make them stay shallow. I jumped spots with little luck early day and ended up in an area on the north east side that had diving birds such as grebs roaming around outside the trees. Side images lots of fish off shore in 7-10’ and quickly started catching them on a jerk bait and A-rig. Saw fish chasing shad and had a few blow ups in top water but no takers. The fish were healthy and fat still pre spawners and a few had signs of bedding fish that might’ve moved off. Ended up with twenty fish up to 4#. Good luck on the next trip.

[LetMeSleepLol]

I was up on Saturday and had high hopes of seeing big fish up shallow and that didn’t happen. Water is still a little too cool to get them up there and make them stay shallow. I jumped spots with little luck early day and ended up in an area on the north east side that had diving birds such as grebs roaming around outside the trees. Side images lots of fish off shore in 7-10’ and quickly started catching them on a jerk bait and A-rig. Saw fish chasing shad and had a few blow ups in top water but no takers. The fish were healthy and fat still pre spawners and a few had signs of bedding fish that might’ve moved off. Ended up with twenty fish up to 4#. Good luck on the next trip.

Very nice, sounds like a productive day. It's interesting hearing your approach and success. I am very new to all this and it didn't even cross my mind to use my side scan. I have side scan on my boat, but really have not been using it to my advantage. I don't have a clear idea when I should stop fishing and start graphing for fish instead during this time of year.

I guess I'm lacking a plan of attack in general when I go out fishing.

I've fished with guys who swear by making as many casts as possible moving from area to area until they find them. I've also fished with guys who spend more time graphing than they do fishing and won't drop a line until they know exactly where they are at. Everyone has their own approach I suppose and with more time on the water eventually I will find a system that works for me. There is a lot of good info on this forum so I'll keep my ears open and keep at it .

[LetMeSleepLol]

I was up on Saturday and had high hopes of seeing big fish up shallow and that didn’t happen. Water is still a little too cool to get them up there and make them stay shallow. I jumped spots with little luck early day and ended up in an area on the north east side that had diving birds such as grebs roaming around outside the trees. Side images lots of fish off shore in 7-10’ and quickly started catching them on a jerk bait and A-rig. Saw fish chasing shad and had a few blow ups in top water but no takers. The fish were healthy and fat still pre spawners and a few had signs of bedding fish that might’ve moved off. Ended up with twenty fish up to 4#. Good luck on the next trip.

I want to say thanks again for the help. I fished the North East side of the lake this weekend and had some success. Water temps were between 60-64 degrees.

-2 fish off submerged brush sticking out of the water on a wacky senko (green with red flake)
- 2 fish off a half submerged island (natural shad worm on a drop shot)
-4 fish off a rocky point with KVD 1.5 crankbait (8-10 feet) (dark colored crank with a little yellow on it)
-3 spawning fish on beds in putah creek area just past the bridge (drop shotting a white super fluke)

I saw fish busting away from the bank, but had no luck catching them.

I got on a really cool bite on a rocky point with a 1.5 KVD squarebill. The wind was pushing the current straight into the point and the water was stained. I got some new squarebills that dive deeper than my old ones and I could feel it bouncing off the rocks on the bottom. Landed 4 fish in about 10 minutes. The wind then died down and so did the bite.

I headed into putah creek in search for spawning fish. I had never saw or caught a fish on a bed, so I figured it would be fun to find some. MAN DID I HAVE A BLAST. Sight fishing was a ton of fun and just watching the fish swim around in general was cool.

Thanks again for the help. I got some GoPro footage of the day. Not sure if I am allowed to post youtube video links here or not

Big fish of the day