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Berryessa Lake and Reports

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Tuesday, May 26th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 67 to 72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: 0n Thursday evening I took Albert and his lovely wife Beverly out for an hour or so. I decided to fish the west side of the lake. We were trolling for trout and had just started and sure enough I got a hit and asked Beverly if you would like to reel the fish in. She did a good job and we had our trout on board. The next three hits were all bass and by the time she had reeled in the last fish she was pooped but had really enjoyed it (see photo). Friday I fished on my own and prepared all the rods for my customers for the following day. I limited out on bass (see photo). Saturday I had my hands full I took out a group for a bachelor party fishing trip. In the first half hour we caught three nice size bass up to 3.5 pounds. The main fisherman who are holding up fish are Deric is the first in blue then its Adrian, Dan, and Matt. We took a ride around the lake and I pointed out some key spots from the Narrows to the Ranch house to the Vineyards fishing along the way. We ended up past the bridge fishing along the trees in the water. At the end of the day when they dropped me off at the dock they said to me that they had a blast (see photos). Sunday I went out with Kevin and his choice of fish is trout but he also enjoys catching bass. He caught a limit of bass up to 4+ pounds then we went looking for signs of trout. Kevin was thrilled because he ended up with a limit of trout too. All in all it was a great Memorial Day weekend on the lake. 'til next week...................................................good fishing!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or would like to book a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

    Tips: once again knowing the signs to look for usually bring success plus the right colors to use.

Thursday, May 7th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 69-73

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I guided 2 great fellas from the east coast on Tuesday, and 3 great senior citizens from the west coast (bay area) on Wednesday. The bite was slow but steady both days. Thot I was at Clear Lake sometimes - we caught several dink largemouth - kinda rare for Berry - but a GOOD sign!! My clients caught 1 3/4 to 3 lb bass of all 3 species (some nice spots!), including a 3 1/2 to 4 lb spot lost at the boat!!! First trip found us in the main body - second in the narrows. On Wed, all three seniors landed the first 3 bass within in 20 minutes - small, large, and spotted bass - each around 2 1/2 lbs. Wow - I was a happy camper - and so were they!! We caught mostly largemouth and spots - only 2 smallies. I fished them around rocky areas - mostly off-shore - about 10 to 20 feet deep. Weather was very nice both days, with a light breeze.

    Tips: We did all sorts of Berryessa techniques using Robo worms, Flappin' hogs, beavers, and Senkos. No treble hooks. One senior brought his own tackle which included the "kitchen sink!" He was throwing everything plastic - and some of it worked!! Nearly every bass both days was between 2 and 3 1/4 lbs. No 1 1/2 pounders - weird! We used Texas rigging, drop shot, and split-shot rigging. Both days 5 fish limits were about 12 1/2 to 13 lbs - pretty good May bite!

Sunday, May 3rd, 2015

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    Water Temp: 70 TO 74

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fishing with Sid‏
    I fished every day of this past week. The first day I fished with my friend Tom and limited out on bass weighing up to 2.5 pounds (see photo). Next day Bob and I went out and you guessed it limited out again on bass weighing up to 4 pounds in a short span of time. Fishing was great and I was looking forward to another successful day with George and Shawn. We set out early morning and started in the Narrows and worked my way to the vineyards. No sign of birds anywhere but we saw lots of bait balls and fish were jumping all over I was thinking this is going to be a great day but to our dismay after trying every which way to entice the fish all we managed was a 1.5 pound bass. It was a ROUGH day. Next day I took Albert and Frank out. I hit all the right spots with no luck. We tried our best but that's how it goes sometimes. The next day I went out by myself and fished in two of my favorite coves. I decided to use the wacky worm setup and ended up catching sixteen bass the largest one under 2 pounds and most of them under 1 pound it was a lot of fun. The next day I took Richard and Grant out. I started deep in the Narrows and as we headed into the main lake we saw lots of balls of bait and fish jumping. I headed into the back of a cove where Albert had caught his 10.5 pound bass hoping we could do a repeat of that moment but it did not happen. We trolled towards the vineyard and Grant got a bite and landed a 1.5 pound crappie on a Speed Trap crank bait. I took them to a spot I thought would be good and we switched to the wacky worm using a dark color Senko worm. Within the first few minutes Grant got smacked hard and landed a 8 pound bass (see photo). He was elated and after a few pictures he kissed the bass good bye and we watched it swim away. No breaks for Grant he cast out again and landed a 2+ pound bass. We fished three points by the Bureau changing the dark worm to a lighter color and you guessed it Grant gets another hit. For me it was a great week of fishing even the bad days are still great. 'til next time..........................................................................good fishing!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or would like to book a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
    City: San Francisco

    Tips: when it rained the next 2 days where bad so you have to adjust and find out what the fish want.

Tuesday, April 21st, 2015

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    Water Temp: 70 plus

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: This past Saturday I went out with Albert. We launched the boat at 10:30 AM and Albert asked his usual question "where are we going to fish"? I told him looking at the surface water temperature which was almost 70 degrees and the water being calm our best bet was to fish in around 2 to 4 feet of water. We went to one of my favorite coves on the east side of the lake. I started in 12 feet of water and ended in two feet. Visibility was clear and we could see the bass. Albert may have thought we were in too shallow water but I knew the larger bass usually are in the shallower water. When Albert cast out his line we were in bout 3 feet of water and he threw towards the shoreline which was about one foot deep. Half way back to the boat he got whacked big time and I knew he had a good size fish on. When we netted the bass and brought it aboard Albert had a huge grin from ear to ear. It weighed in at 10.5 lbs and after taking a few pictures (see attached) we released it and watched it swim back to shallow water. This was Albert's biggest bass so far at this lake. It was very exciting!!! There was a boat next to us where Jay and Casey were fishing after watching Albert bring in his bass they threw to the same area using a fluke bait and landed a 3+ lb bass (see photo). Now I headed out to the vine yards and using the same technique landed a bass weighing 2 lbs. Heading back towards home we trolled along the west side and Albert caught another 2 pounder. we went in early after enjoying a great day and Albert still had that grin can you blame him!!
    'til next time...................................................................................good fishing!!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or would like to book a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
    City: San Francisco

    Tips: shallow and top water will be my goal next few weeks

Sunday, April 12th, 2015

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    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fishing with Sid



    10:40 AM






    To: Sidney Silberberg, lake b Peter Kilkus new


























    Just got back from Florida where I fished every day. Fished with my nephew's and niece's kids in the creek behind my sister's home where we caught some nice bass. I also took the kids out salt water fishing once on Capt. Mo's boat and once with Capt. James boat. The largest fish caught was under two pounds but on each trip the kids with the help of the captains and myself caught 36 fish on light tackle. It was great fun for all of us. My last guided trip on Lake Berryessa was just before I left for vacation. I took Nilas and his son Peter out for the day. We caught a few nice bass largest one up to four pounds. We saw a lot of smallmouth bass in two to five feet of water ready to nest (see photos). Looking forward to upcoming guiding trips. The fishing will only get better as summer approaches. 'til next time............................................................good fishing!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or would like to book a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
    City: San Francisco

    Tips: email me you can request pictures

Wednesday, April 8th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 59-62

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I took two clients on Friday, out of Markley - maybe the last of two times using the main ramp. The lake appears to be down about a foot. This was the 3rd day of a north wind and rather cool temps. We fished the narrows and some of the lower main body. The bite was slow for us, only landing about 6 or 7 bass and missing a few more bites. One of the spots and one of the smallies were pushing 3 lbs and the rest were 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 lbs, not much to write home about. The afternoon bite was dead!!

    Tips: Most bites were on 6" Robo worms in a variety of colors. Our bites were 10 to 20 feet and the water was a bit dingy for sight fishing - because of the wind. Most bites were on deeper flats, near deep water.

Sunday, March 29th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 62/66

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Smallmouth are on the beds and we had a ball caught them all day long from 2 /4 lbs

Wednesday, March 25th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 57-61

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I did another "teach the lake" trip yesterday (Tues), covering a lot of on-shore and off-shore structure. The weather in the morning was windy, cool, with a little rain. I'm sure this moved some bass off the bank - most of the ones we caught were 20 to 30 feet deep. He caught the biggest at 2 3/4 lbs - a smallie-spot hybrid, using a Robo worm. As the sun was coming out and the lake calming down, he had to leave early for business reasons. Ah - life before cell phones!!

    Tips: I can't be much help because the warm days coming up will change the bite - it will get better! Bass should move shallow again - starting to make their bedrooms!!

Sunday, March 22nd, 2015

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    Water Temp: 57 to 62.5

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I went out Friday with Judge and John. Our first stop was to show them the fish in Willy's ski school. I couldn't find their bedding area but saw four nice size female bass and one male swimming around in three feet of crystal clear water by a fallen tree did our best to catch them but they weren't interested in any bait we threw out. After spending almost an hour getting frustrated we headed to my favorite location. We fished in two to four feet of water using Carolina rig, texas brass and glass and a top water chugger with good results. John was throwing the chugger into very shallow water many times without any success he was ready to change his bait but decided to try one more cast and it was worth it a 5.5 pound bass hit the chugger at full speed and the fight was on. From this point on he was hooked and his full limit of bass were caught on top water baits. Judge was using brass and glass with senko 6" worm I told him to slither it slowly along the bottom and on the first tap you feel set the hook. He caught a few nice bass using this method. We had a very good day (see photos). Judge had such a good time he joined me and Albert the next day too. On Sunday Greely and his son Elijah went out with me for a few hours. I went to the same spot I had fished on Friday. Elijah was using a Carolina rig set up with a baby red and black brush hog slathered with Procure crawdad scent and he landed the first bass of the day which he successfully brought to the boat (he is eight years old). He was so happy I gave him the brush hog and he's dad told me he brought it to school for show and tell. We only fished a couple of hours but had a great time. I enjoyed watching the father and son bonding (see photo). 'til next time......................................................good fishing!!!!!!!

    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or would like to book a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
    City: San Francisco

    Tips: Lake is down 28 feet use caution when fishing points and shallow waters

Tuesday, March 17th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 58-61

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Why does one guide for bass on a day after a 97 boat tournament and all the other fishing boats? Because that is when the clients have to go - so we did!! Actually, the fishing was pretty fair in the main body. I had one pretty good young angler and one that had never caught a bass before - his second bass trip. Well, we got that monkey off our back when his first bass hit the net at 3 lbs - smallie!! The experienced fellow - and probable future pro, caught 3 or 4 with his biggest also a 3 lb smallie. They really were twins. I was showing them some of my favorite baits and colors and did manage a few quality bass - the biggest a 4 lb largemouth. We only wound up with 7 or 8 bass, but a respectful 13 1/2 - 14 lbs. Most of our bites were on various color 6" Robo worms, 4" Berkley Chigger Quads, and similar baits.

    Tips: We fished main body points and ledges. We actually found a few quality smallies in the back of one of the large coves - about 5 feet deep. We didn't throw anything with treble hooks.

Wednesday, March 11th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 57 TO 61.5

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Took my new friend Mario out on Friday it was a beautiful spring day the lake was like a mirror. I showed him different spots on the lake and asked a few fisherman if they had any luck yet and the unanimous answer was the fishing isn't any good. Not willing to give up I decided to try our luck going north to the boy scout camp area. Mario's first cast gave us hope. I thought he had hooked a good size bass but when we netted it we saw it was a large trout weighed in at 3+ pounds (see photo). He also hit a bass wacky style with a senko. Even though it was a tough bite kind of day we had a good time on the water. The following day weather seemed the same but with more fish activity. My largest bass for the day was 5.5 pounds and as you can see in the photos we caught limits and all nice size bass. As I went to get the trailer Albert caught the last fish of the day using a cast master he didn't need a net to land the bass and it weighed in at almost 1 ounce (see photo)!!!!! 'til next week.................................................good fishing!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or if you would like to book a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com
    0r call me at 650-583-3333.
    City: San Francisco

    Tips: Find the birds then find the bait then find the fish it works

Saturday, February 21st, 2015

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    Water Temp: 54 to 61

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: This past weekend (Friday and Saturday were excellent Sunday was very windy). Friday I took Jim and his son James out for the day. I went to the back of Monticello ski school the water was like glass but there was no sign of fish activity but it gave me a good chance to teach them how to cast and retrieve different baits which paid off big time later in the day. From there we headed towards the Ranch house and fished using a Carolina rig set up with a Zoom red and black brush hog and a texas rig using brass and glass with a Senco watermelon red worm. The first bass was caught by James a nice 2 1/2 pounder. Jim had a bite on the brush hog started to bring it in and thought it was gone and stopped reeling wrong move as he continued to reel in to check his bait the bass jumped out of the water and spit the bait out. Jim learned that once you commit to reeling in you don't stop or give any slack to the line or its good bye fishy. Unfortunately James hooked a 8 to 10 pound bass (BIG!!!!) played the fish for about twenty minutes got it to the boat and his Dad instead of netting the fish wanted to take a picture of his son with the fish still on the line and you guessed it as James lifted the fish out of the water it was so long see ya and the bass was gone!!! Next lesson learned is to net the bass first and take the pictures in the boat. James got another bite and proceeded to bring in a nice 5+ pound bass this time Jim netted the bass first and then took pictures (see photos). The next day I went out with my buddy Albert and we had a great day on the water. Sunday I took Greeley and his son Elijah out well I wanted to take them out but as we headed out to the main lake it looked like the ocean in a wind storm the swells were at least four feet high and there were huge white caps did not look very inviting so I turned the boat around and headed towards Cappell Cove hoping for calmer water. I found one little section that was pretty calm and there were at least ten float tubers fishing in there so I headed a little further into the back of the cove but no luck the wind was terrible. I had promised Elijah that he would have a picture with a fish next to my sign today and I never break a promise but we had to head in the weather was just bad and all the tubers said they had no luck yet. I decided to call it a day and headed in. When we got to my house I told Elijah (who is eight years old) I was sorry we weren't able to fish because of the bad weather but I didn't want to disappoint him about the picture so I gave him a bass from the cooler from the day before and he got his picture with a fish by the sign (see photo).
    'til next time............................................................................................................................good fishing!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or if you would like to book a guided trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
    City: San Francisco

    Tips: spinner blades white and chartruse was the winner

Thursday, February 19th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 57-61

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I did another "teach the lake" trip today - and joined all the other bass boats. I thought it was Saturday! My client is an excellent stick and knows what he is doing! Another fog-bound morning with a slow bite. We did have several "soft bites" but couldn't hook them. The fog lifted on schedule - around noon - and the surface temp warmed a bit. After showing him lots of off-shore structure and other areas, we worked the east side where he caught his 2nd largemouth - a nice 3 3/4 pounder. He caught a third largemouth and I finally landed a 2 1/2 lb largemouth. The four largemouth went around 10 lbs. Robo worms did the trick. I lost a bigger bass in the morning throwing a Norman DD22.

    Tips: The only tip I could give is "what not to use." Never got a jig bite - which surprised me. Most of our hits were around the 8 to 12 foot range. I saw several bait balls - some at 70 feet!

Tuesday, February 10th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 55-58

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Ok this info is for the recreation fisherman so the tourny guys please skip this post
    Fished main body and found them moving up shallow in the Pm all the areas you like to fish ,deep water with shallows close by Baits? Slow morning , faster Pm

Saturday, February 7th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 54

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: This past Saturday I went fishing with my buddy Albert. There was a chill in the air most of the day and the surface water temperature was 54 degrees and didn't change all day it was C0LD. After working the rocks outside of Monticello Ski School with no luck I headed into the ski school and saw one of my friends he told me he threw everything he could think of and couldn't even get a nibble. Decided I wouldn't waste time there and headed to the ranch house side to see if anything was going on there. Could not find any signs of fish activity but was still able to land a 3 pound 10 ounce smallmouth bass in the grass in about 10 feet of water. Good job Albert!!!!! I figured if we were lucky here we should try the vineyards so that was the next stop. I fished two rods brass and glass and I also threw a top water. We started at twenty feet deep and drifted to four feet and no signs of anything going on. Figured as long as we were here I would try my favorite spot with all the stumps in the water too no avail. Freezing cold and getting frustrated I headed back towards home fishing along the west side and using red and black crank bait Albert hooked a 2 pound smallmouth bass (see photos). Albert was happy I was happy for Albert so we decided to head in so we could defrost. Did I mention it was COLD!!!!!
    'til next time.........................................................................good fishing!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com
    or call me at 650-583-3333
    City: San Francisco

    Tips: tough day

Thursday, February 5th, 2015

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    Water Temp: 54-57

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I guess someone needs to do a report! It was a beautiful day one the lake yesterday - AFTER the fog lifted!! Sun didn't come out 'til about 11 am. I did a "teach the lake" trip with a client who is really getting into bass fishing! We ran all over the mid and south end, I showed him all types of on and off shore structure. The structure looked good on the Lowrance, but the fish and bait didn't show much. We hit some east shore areas and he finally caught a 2 pound largemouth on a long skinny worm he was using. He brought his own baits. I thought there would be a little more activity on the east shore in the late afternoon, but it didn't happen. We got back to the narrows on our way in - and stopped for a few last casts on a rock ledge. I picked up my brown/orange jig with a Yamamoto #180 grub and made about 4 or 5 casts. How many stories have you heard about the "last cast?" Well - here is another. I made one final cast, working my jig uphill over some scattered rock. It got CRUNCHED!! Great fish - a 4 1/4 lb spotted bass. I've always said - quality is better then quanity! What a beautiful fish - my biggest spot at Berryessa by 2 ounces. Now my client knows where she lives!!

    Tips: I just found out last week that Yamamoto no longer makes my favorite #180 super grub. What to do! Heidi, from Yamamoto, said "Get Over It!!" - we have a million other colors! Anything any of us says about the lake conditions probably won't mean very much if the predicted amount of rain does fall this weekend. Let's hope and pray! If the storms do hold together, I think the lake should rise at least to last years level - and maybe more!

Monday, January 5th, 2015

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    Water Temp: cold

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: C J Report Abuse
    City: San Francisco

Friday, January 2nd, 2015

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    Water Temp: 52-55F

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: COLD!! Saw 22F on the road in to Capell. Ramp and lake are in good shape (slightly stained, not really stained). Bounced around main lake stuff early for one really nice spot. Spent the rest of my time in the Narrows, w/ plenty of company! Bite was good - several solid spots and a couple good smallies - no dinks at all.

    Tips: All fish came on jigs in 10 - 30 feet (Hemphill Special-look it up). Main lake and secondary points. Some points had 'em stacked up, others had none - sometimes on the sides, sometimes on the tips. Cover water and keep the jig moving.

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    Water Temp: 52-55F

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: COLD!! Saw 22F on the road in to Capell. Ramp and lake are in good shape (slightly stained, not really stained). Bounced around main lake stuff early for one really nice spot. Spent the rest of my time in the Narrows, w/ plenty of company! Bite was good - several solid spots and a couple good smallies - no dinks at all.

    Tips: All fish came on jigs in 10 - 30 feet (Hemphill Special-look it up). Main lake and secondary points. Some points had 'em stacked up, others had none - sometimes on the sides, sometimes on the tips. Cover water and keep the jig moving.

Monday, December 29th, 2014

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    Water Temp: 50 - 55 by the

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: not alot to report for my brother and I. Had the day off and had not been to Berryessa in a long time. Figured it would be clearer than Sonoma. Water clarity was fishable, stained more in the creeks than the main lake. Fished Pope and Puta, the north end and some of the east end and then a little in skiers. Jerk bait, jig, chatterbait, crankbaits, swimbait, splitshot and even a drop shot. Fished 5 feet to 25 feet mostly. Steve got one fish in the creek area, 20ft ofwater, on a speedtrap had a wierd short fight and when it came up it was a trout. Not a bass but better than not getting bit. There were about 10 boats out there no idea if any had any luck, didn't see any caught. Started late, around 9:30 and finished at 3:30. Water is definitely high enough to launch safely, capel is open. A little wood on the lake but not much. Cold outside, sun barely made it out behind the clouds maybe out an hour or so all day.

    Tips: Don't do what we did.