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Trip Report - Bass fishing and backpacking in Henry Coe State Park, Ca, Coit Lake

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 8:32 pm
by jartelt
I went backpacking and fishing in Henry Coe State Park (near San Jose) this past weekend. Some friends and I hike 8 miles into Coit Lake and spent two night there. On the second day of the trip we fished for about 6 hours using the float tubes and rafts we carried in.

Overall the fishing was good and we caught plenty of bass. The average size was small (~10 inches) but I caught 3 decent sized bass around 15-16 inches in length. We also caught a fair number of sunfish and some crappie. For anyone interested in backpacing/fishing, Henry Coe is a great place to go. It's not too busy and the lakes are the perfect size for float tube fishing. You won't catch any trophy bass, but you will have a blast catching >30 bass in a given day.

Photo Aug 19, 6 38 23 PM.jpg

Re: Trip Report - Bass fishing and backpacking in Henry Coe State Park, Ca, Coit Lake

Posted: Mon Aug 21, 2017 9:07 pm
by Chad Sweitzer
Oh man! I grew up fishing that park once a year. Each year I looked forward to the Henry Coe Weekend where they open it up partially and the hike to the good pond is only 6 miles. Did that hike annually (except rainy years) from 6 years old until I was 15! Our best weekend I caught 100 fish and our group caught 202 in all! I learned so much about bass behavior sitting in a float tube with 50 10-15 inchers swimming around me! You can literally catch fish on any lure as long as its less than 6 inches long! Haha
Oh, and in each pond there is a 6lb+ female. I fished the same fish for 3 years in the same creek and lost her twice! Never did get to land her!

Re: Trip Report - Bass fishing and backpacking in Henry Coe State Park, Ca, Coit Lake

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2017 6:49 am
by jartelt
Wow, I'll have to search far and long for the 6 pounders next time I am out there!

There is always a big one - somewhere!

Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2017 1:03 pm
by Larry Hemphill
When I moved to Yuba City many years ago, I fell in love with the Yuba Goldfields ponds. I fished them for years before becoming a licensed guide - busy on the big lakes. It is true that most pond bass become stunted because of over-population - folks not allowed to keep any bass. However, more often than not, there are usually one, two, or three very large bass in a typical pond that have all the best instincts for survival and live to an old age. That is the charm of pond fishing - finding and hooking one of those, which may only be possible at night. Overall, pond fishing is always fun for bass up to 6 or 7 lbs. The tales of monster pond bass are often imagination. When you hook a big bass in a small pond or lake, they often appear to be bigger than they really are when they jump since shoreline cover is usually close. It is like the full moon which appears huge when it first rises (next to the earth) but seems much smaller when high in the sky by itself.