Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

One of the things I love about Berryesssa is the basic steady water levels. The elevation usually doesn't change quickly, just the usual, slow drop in the summer and fall. I checked out the level closely yesterday and it seemed to me that it was a bit high for mid-Sept. Just wonderin'....

for sure...going to be an interesting Fall!

They are projecting a late/dryer than normal winter.

I don’t know if it’s the high levels or what but I struggled on Berryessa all year. It just never produced for me like it has the past few years (with the lower levels). It can’t be me, can it?

That's easy to answer - the fish are closer together when the water is low - LOL! Seriously - when the water is high, there is a lot of shallow cover like brush, weedlines, shallow rock, etc. Bass can do a lot of ambush feeding from the protection of shallow cover. As summer leads into fall, the bait moves deeper as do the bass. Then fall fishing is much the same whether the lake is high or low. The nice thing about fall fishing during low water periods is that the bass are more inclined to use the deeper points, rock areas, and ledges for ambush feeding. They can be easier to locate. The bass will tend to school up more during low water periods as natural deep water points, ledges, creek channels become their ambush areas. When the lake is high, like this year, they have more natural, shallow areas to feed - at least until the first major cold front arrives.


As was the case for my boat last week - follow the bait!! (After you find it!!)