Submit
Report

Berryessa Lake and Reports

Limit:
Click for interactive map

Thursday, October 6th, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 70 - 74

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: We had a nice warm day with a light breeze on the water. I fished from noon until sundown. Caught a few nice spots and a lot of dinks (either spots or small mouth). Had most luck with 3" thin drop shot baits during the day and 4"-6" drop shot baits in the evening. Most of the bait in the lake is 1" to 3" long right now. I could not get a good rip, crank, spinnerbait, topwater bite going. The bait was 10-30 feet deep during the day and came to the top late in the evening. The best bite seemed to be around 1:30 PM in 20-30 feet of water. More bait was in the cooler 70 degrees coves, the main lake was from 72-74.
    City: Sacramento

    Tips: find the coldest water = more bait = more fish

Monday, October 3rd, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 71

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Subject : Fishing with Sid HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM SID AND FAMILY

    | | | Inbox


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Attachment : MVC-019S.JPG (0.06 MB)

    Day by day the weather is changing, one day you can be in a bathing suit and the next day it is windy and cold and then starts to warm up late in the afternoon. That's what happened to us on Sunday. My wife and I went out and we tried to worm but the wind would not co-operate with us. So we started to troll back home through sloppy water. Bang the first fish hit and from then on we hit double headers and for two hours the bite was on and we caught 13 fish. The largest one was approximately 3 lbs. Abie Nasrah, one of my students from the past, told me that he went out with his dad, George, and his brothers, Nader and Nidal and they totaled 28 fish with the largest weighing in at 4 lbs caught by his father George. The color of the lures they used that were successful were fire tiger and they all trolled between 5 feet and 9 feet deep. Attached is a picture of some of their fish. Good job Nasrah family!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The water temperature is approximately 71 degrees. The next few weeks before it rains trolling will definately be the answer. 'til next week....................good fishing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.com
    City: Napa

    Tips: Trolling covers alot of ground quickly

Sunday, October 2nd, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 60

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Hit Berryessa on Sunday for the 1st time since spring. Searched around Big Island for bait, and it sure was there in huge schools, but the bass were all suspended below em and not eating. Only had a few bites(small fish) all morning on jerkbaits, traps, blades, drop shot, even a small swimbait. I figured it's a morning thing, so my girlfriend and I had some lunch, and went back in the afternoon to find em stacked on the bottom on 20-30 foot ledges under huge schools of bait. My girl crushed em on drop shot cut tails and I stuck to Carolina rigged slim senkos for fewer but slighly bigger fish, all in shad colors. Also got a few on a jerkbait but nothing on traps or topwater. Most were fat 2lb largies, a few 1.5 lb smallies, no spots, and the biggest was a 3 lb smallie off a deep rock pile on drop shot senko.
    City: SF

    Tips: Sleep in and fish from 3pm to sunset!

  • By

    Water Temp: 60

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Hit Berryessa on Sunday for the 1st time since spring. Searched around Big Island for bait, and it sure was there in huge schools, but the bass were all suspended below em and not eating. Only had a few bites(small fish) all morning on jerkbaits, traps, blades, drop shot, even a small swimbait. I figured it's a morning thing, so my girlfriend and I had some lunch, and went back in the afternoon to find em stacked on the bottom on 20-30 foot ledges under huge schools of bait. My girl crushed em on drop shot cut tails and I stuck to Carolina rigged slim senkos for fewer but slighly bigger fish, all in shad colors. Also got a few on a jerkbait but nothing on traps or topwater. Most were fat 2lb largies, a few 1.5 lb smallies, no spots, and the biggest was a 3 lb smallie off a deep rock pile on drop shot senko.
    City: SF

    Tips: Sleep in and fish from 3pm to sunset!

Saturday, October 1st, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 72 deg at 8 fee

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished off the shore of Cappell Cove from about 5pm to 8pm. Found a nice spot in a mini cove and tossed out clams on a 3/0 hook with a 1/2 oz sliding sinker. Catfish were hitting with regularity in about 15 feet of water. I tried fresh clams right out of the shell and I also tried canned whole clams. Got 1 to 2 pound cats on both.

    Tips: Since I was getting equal bites on both the natural clams and the canned clams, I prefer the canned clams because they are firmer and stay on the hook better.

Monday, September 19th, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 73

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Subject : Fishing with Sid past 3 reports

    | | | Inbox


    Weather is starting to change and on some days it is pretty windy. The trick is to find a sheltered area (not always easy) to fish in. Many times I've gone out where it is white caps on the main lake and found a sheltered area where the water was like glass. It is normally on the opposite side of the mountain from the direction of the wind. This week I would like to talk about sqaw fish also known as sacramento pike. Apparently they are increasing in numbers rapidly and they cause havoc to the survival of all other species of fish in the lake. I have been told by Fish & Game that if I catch one it should be destroyed and thrown on the shore for the birds to eat. With the cooling water the bass bite is increasing and the trout are coming closer to the surface. With summer winding down and less boat traffic the fishing should improve week by week. If you have any questions or stories to share regarding fishing, call me at 650-583-3333. 'til next week................................... www.fishingconnection.net



    San Pablo Reservoir - September 26, 2005

    GENERAL CONDITIONS:
    Midweek discounts are still in effect. We're heading into the stretch run for '05 so you'll want to make full use of these last few months until coming back for the '06 season. Remember, San Pablo 's last day will be Oct. 31st this season, two weeks earlier than usual.

    SURFACE WATER : 72 to 74 degrees.

    TROUT - BAIT FISHING: TROUT PLANTS TO CONTINUE THROUGH SUMMER! The Main Rec Area seems to be the popular spot for early trout anglers. White Power Eggs or night crawlers and marshmallows have proven the early favorites. The water levels won't change the rest of year so you won't need to worry about that upsetting the fish.

    TROUT - TROLLING: TROUT PLANTS TO CONTINUE THROUGH SUMMER! This is the area where we've seen the biggest increase in trout activity. Trolling near the Pines or Scow Canyon seems to work exceptionally well. The trout aren't quite to the surface, even in the mornings, so you'll want to start in the 5 to 15 foot range. As for lures, Rapalas and Needlefish are the two best options at San Pablo. Look for something in a shad pattern.

    BASS:
    Even the bass fishing has cooled off. Anglers fishing near the rental docks from the shore have caught a few fish upwards of five pounds already this season and continued to do so last week. The Main Rec. Area, for most species, can't be beat. The bass are responding to crankbaits, especially earlier in the morning.

    CATFISH:
    Catfish angling has slowed some but not enough to quit fishing for them. Stick with night crawlers or chicken liver on a set-up with two hooks. The Tower or Main Rec. Area seem to be the prime spots to hit.

    WHOPPERS:

    9/12 - Pierre Barrier of El Sobrante caught a 2 lb. 7 oz. blue gill near the Oaks on a Rapala Deep Diver.

    9/13 - Paul Madison of San Leandro caught a 13 lb. catfish near Round Top on chicken liver.

    9/15 - Vladmir, all the way from the Ukraine, took an 11 lb. catfish on a worm at the Main Rec. Area.

    9/18 - Armando Rodriguez of San Francisco took two cats, one 11 lb. 9.6 oz. and one of undisclosed size, from the Main Rec. Area on chicken liver.

    9/21 - John Doody caught a 10.6 lb. bass from the Main Rec. Area using chicken liver.

    9/24 - Jerry Yoshida of Richmond caught a 5.8 lb. trout from the pines while trolling a Rapala.
    Subject : RE: Subject : Fishing with Sid - Lake Berryessa

    | | | fishing in... | Inbox


    Sid:



    We had great Crappie and Bass fishing Saturday, 15+ catch & Release. Jen caught one we could not ID, long, thin silverfish, not Trout or Salmon, a mystery?




    that is the squa fish that is this weeks article sid thanks nfor your question

    This past Friday at Lake Berryessa the weather had cooled considerably and the surface water was 75 degrees. There were strong winds coming from the North which made fishing difficult. The group I took out was very enthusiastic but the weather played a large part in the lack of our success. Of the eight orthopedic doctors (seven male and one female) of course Susan got the largest fish. Everyone enjoyed the day. That evening was a different story, the winds calmed down and the fish went on the bite. You can see the transition of the season occurring. Saturday was a fair day. Sunday I went out on the "HuckFinn" for halibut. The largest halibut for the day was 36.1 lbs. Everyone walked off with fish, Captain Jay really knows the waters. He and his deckhand David did a great job. I would recommend his boat to anyone who likes to fish salt water. 'til next week...................good fishing!!!!! www.fishingconnection.net

    Subject : Fishing with Sid

    | | | Inbox


    Labor Day has come and gone and the weather is starting to cool off. The morning and evening bite is still the best, but we did well during the day on Monday fishing around big island. As the boat activity quiets down from the summer the bite should pick up drastically. We fished some rocky areas that the visibility was about 12 feet and landed bass on suspended baits, worms and other plastics and were able to see hundreds of baby bass from 2" to 8" swimming in the water. We were looking for the bigger guys. Catfishing was great. As the water clears, I recommend trolling a lure behind the boat that goes down about 6' to 8' anywhere from fifty feet to hundred feet behind the boat and you will catch fish. My kids caught limits trolling in from big island to Steel Park using the same system. 'til next week.......................good fihsing!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net Call me at 650-583-3333 with any questions or info.
    City: Napa

  • By

    Water Temp: 73

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: FISHED FROM 0700 TO 1200 OUT OF MARKLEY. PRETTY SLOW DAY AND ONLY DINKS HITTIN. MY BUDDY CAUGHT 4 LMB, LARGEST 1#. I CAUGHT 3 LMB, LARGEST 1.5#.
    City: WINTERS

    Tips: WAIT A COUPLE OF WEEKS FOR WATER TO COOL DOWN SOME MORE. CRANKBAITS WERE THE TICKET TODAY. NO LUCK WITH PLASTICS.

Saturday, September 17th, 2005

  • By

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Cappell Cove between the launch and the pump from 6:30 to 10:00 am. Catfish were biting liver doughbait. Slow action for bass or crappie using pink grubs and Kastmasters. Moved over to Markeley Cove at 10:30 and hooked a small crappie on a Kastmaster. I had a beaver swimming around me for about an hour which probably ruined my chances.
    City: Vacaville

    Tips: Fish at first light with minnows, jigs and spinners in cover. In the morning, crappie were jumping in schools in the coves that have some underwater vegetaion.

  • By

    Water Temp: 75

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I guided a father-son team, new to bass fishing, on Sat. I agree with the previous report - fishing was surprisingly slow - I think we landed only 9 or 10 bass. One surprise was a near 4 lb largemouth that took a Senko in about 5 feet of water near a bush in the narrows. She was pretty skinny - not a good sign. Fishing is tough anyway on a weekend. My clients caught their bass split-shotting purple ghost worms and I caught a few drop-shotting a shad colored Yamamoto 4" Kut Tail worm. I think the lake had a north wind on Friday and that could have made the fishing a little tough.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I would like to thank another polite "bass boat captain" that came within 50-60 feet of our boat doing at least 65 mph. That guy set bass fishing back about 50 years in the eyes of the father in my boat. That seems to happen a lot at Berryessa - maybe just to me? I see bass boats breaking 5 mph speed limits all the time - it seems only at Berryessa. I hope we can clean up our act before it is too late!

Friday, September 16th, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 70

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: launched out of capells @6:30a and was the only one there, i guess that was a sign..air temp was a very cool 52 with a cooler breeze..sun came out around 11, as it finally warmed up..fished til 3 with 11 fish total, including 3 dinky-dinks and 1 bluegill..the rest were bass of the 12-14" variety. fished about 8 different spots with 2 of them holding fish that were relating to bait. could only entice a few to bite in each spot, even tho' i know there were many below. keeper fish were on plastics in the 15-20ft depth. the smaller fish hit jerk and crank. only saw one other bass boat and he said it was a zero day for him...we both blamed the full moon.
    City: orinda

    Tips: this definitely is a time to use your graph..fish will be plenty in some areas and other areas will = zero..didn't fish the main body, as it was too cold in the a.m.(i know, i'm a wuss) and when it got warmer, a strong southernly came out with the sun..but i think the cooler nights have prompted some of the fish to come up shallower than normal for this time of the year. hope this helps...good fishn

Wednesday, August 24th, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 80

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The water at Lake Berryessa is starting to cool down and the bass are becoming active. I normally don't promote a particular lure, but I watched as Steve E. used it and it works well. It is made by "Lucky Craft" and it is called a Slender Pointer 97MR. It may be a little on the pricey side but worth the money. It is a suspending lure and it resembles a large minnow and as you twitch it the bass go wild. Saturday night we went out and fished under the full moon till midnight, the bite was not great but we had a little action. I have been giving some fishing pointers to a family docked near my boat and they had a great day fishing on Saturday. The kids ages range from four to ten. Here is what they caught: J.R. - Carp, Bass, Crappie; Trentino - Crappie; Jenny - Crappie, Sqaw Fish and last but not least the youngest Bianca - Carp, Crappie. Great job to the Vitale Family. 'Til next week.............................good fishing!!!!!! www.fishingconnection.net
    For any info regarding fishing please call Sid at 650-583-3333.
    Current Fishing Conditions
    City: napa

    Tips: Use a suspending lure when you know the bass are suspending.

Thursday, August 18th, 2005

  • By

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Went out in the evnening after work. It was pretty slow. Hooked up on one nice smallmouth and a couple bluegills before it got dark. Tried for cats after that, but no luck.

Monday, August 15th, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 81

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Subject : Fishing with Sid - Lake Berryessa

    | | | Inbox


    Fishing improved over this past weekend with the cooling of the weather. Thursday and Friday were still very hot but the wind came up on Saturday morning and the bite improved. They say when the wind comes from the west the fishing is best. Here's a winner for catching catfish - mackerel - it's very oily and puts out a strong scent and the cats love it. Add it to your list of baits. My wife and I wormed with brass and glass and were successful in landing bass. Trolling with a six foot diving lure in fifteen feet of water will also catch bass. If you have any fishing stories to share, please call me at 650-583-3333 or email me at bestguide@hotmail.com ........'til next week...................good fishing!!!!!! www.fishingconnection.net
    City: napa

Monday, August 1st, 2005

  • By

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: In response to the last report, ya this can be a tough time of the year at lake B. I usually try to plan my fishing days around the best times: morning and evening/night and avoid midday all together. I have the best luck heading out there late in the day to catch the evening bite and then staying late for some night fishing. Things can pick up a little in September and October can be excellent. Looking at the Clear lake reports it seems like they're getting some hit or miss action out of there right now. That might be a better bet.

Sunday, July 31st, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 85 ?

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Went catfishing Sat night in Putah Creek with six people and caught 1 seven inch channel. Fished from 8:30pm until 3pm. Used shrip, nightcrawers, anchovies. Woke up and fished 10 mainbody points and 5 in Putah. We used plastic worms with various techinques and still only boated two very small largemouths.
    City: vallejo

    Tips: I could be wrong,but this seems like a difficult time of the year for this lake. Maybe nightfishing for bass is better?????
    I've heard that the fishing improves in the fall.
    Does anyone have any tips for me?

Saturday, July 16th, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 84

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: went on our first nite fishn excursion of the year and launched on the main body at 6:30pm..our evening bite was curtailed somewhat as we ended up towing a ski boat full of folks back to berryessa marina..i found out that a 50hp doesn't go squat when your'e towing...went to the east side and caught a couple of fish before dark and then went to fish some steeper rocks...ended up gettn alot more bites than hookups, but boated around 10 fish with a 3# and a 5#...the fish were very shallow and most came on plastics...quit at 2am, got too sleepy, glad my partner was awake to drive home...
    City: orinda

    Tips: if you fish at night always go with someone, for safety and also it always seems that the weird things happen at night and it always good to have a witness...also it will enable one to fish shallow and one to fish the deeper and you will cover more water...normally we use 7" worms or larger, but if your'e not gettn bit drop down in size...now if anyone can give me hints on how to get some topwater action in the evening, i'd really appreciate it.......good fishn......

Sunday, July 10th, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 78

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Caught 3 fish over 3lbs dropshotting Morning Dawn Robo worms in about 15'-25' of water. 1 other big bass coming on white/char spinnerbait. Bite was a bit slow when the sun got higher and the pleasure crafters hit the water.
    City: Sacramento

    Tips: Fish all plastics real slow. I put my rod down to adjust another reel, picked it up and found a nice largemouth at the other end.

Friday, July 1st, 2005

  • By

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: went out on the families runabout, fished whenever we anchored. Caught one on dropshot and one on rattle trap...nothing worth braggin about

    Tips: dropshot, rattle traps, carlonia rigged lizards produce at berryessa. Any one catching on top water??

Tuesday, June 28th, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 68-74

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Launched at Capell Cove at 6am. Windy and foggy until 9am. Most fish came on rocky points between Capell launch ramp and Spanish Flat. Once the sun came out the fishing slowed down. 10 fish between 3 oz and 2 lbs. Left at noon.
    City: Fairfield

    Tips: Flukes with fast retrieve early on. Worked hard to scrape up three fish on a red and brown worm from 9am to noon in 10-20 feet of water.

Sunday, June 26th, 2005

  • By

    Water Temp: 73

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Haven't seen many reports, so I thought I'd post one for those who are interested. Went yesterday and fished from safe light til 2:30. Most of the day was like there was low lying fog as visibility was poor. Unfortunately it was smoke. Didn't seem to affect the fish as even tho there weren't any bigun's, we caught enough to keep our interest. Most of the fish related to points and were caught between 8-21' with most of our fish coming on various plastics. West and east side produced. The smallies looked like they've been feeding better the lmb. Nothing over 2#, but it was fun. Tubes, yum baits, power worms and jigs all seem to work.
    City: orinda

    Tips: If there's no wind like yesterday, expect it to be very HOT! The fog/smoke kept the sun to a minimum, but it was still pretty warm.