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Berryessa Lake and Reports

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Saturday, November 20th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 60

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished a club fishout saterday the 20th. We lanched out of Sanish flat. The wind was so bad I never left the spanish flat area. My partner Russel and I started fishing at the mouth of capell. I caught two smallies (short of course)on a splitsot purple ghost 4" (Kevkel worm).Russel caught a 16 1/2" largemouth. We fished the long point for about an hour. We then moved to the docks at steel park. We tried pitching jigs and sincos, no good. We started pitching splitshot rigs up too the main walk and draging them out.We caught all our fish on watermelon baby brush hogs.We ended up doing this all day because we were catching fish. Russ ended up winning the tourniment with 13.65lbs and I took tenth with only 3.15lbs. Not bad for hiding out of the wind.
    City: san jose

    Tips: There is fish all over the lake, Find some type of structure in about 15' to 35' and fish any of your confedents baits. People in the club caught fish every where and on all different types of baits, the only thing is everyone was fishing 15' to 40' deep. Have fun, be safe and tight lines.

Saturday, November 13th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 59-61 surface t

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the Bass Reapers club tournament saturday and sunday and like larry had said no paticular color was better than any other. I myself fished the dropshot all day saturday and found my first two fish on a hump in 19 feet on the east side after those two it shut down for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours as I was checking all my spots that I had pre-fished earlier. I continued to fish in the 19 to 40 foot range on points and humps and drop offs with no luck, I decided to make my 5th move to a rock wall that had been good for me in the past and it was a good move. I was using the 4 1/2 Arrons magic and the MMII and a purple ghost I had poured for the Reapers open last year. I started in droping in 10 and move out when I hit my 3rd fish in 19 to 20 foot and used that pattern for the rest of my limit. Needless to say it only got me 4th place with 7.67 lbs but I had a great time on the water now sunday was alot tougher and the bite was next to nill one fish and several tail bites but I finished overall in 4th.
    City: Fairfield

    Tips: Try the Roboworms as I mentioned above and the guys that don't dropshot you are missing out on fish.

Thursday, November 4th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 53 (air temp

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Had a pretty good day. Fishing by myself caught 11 fish., 8 spots, 2 smallies, 1 largemouth. Best 5 would go for around 10 lbs (largemouth went about 2.5 lbs).Fished from Skiers Cove & South in narrows. Fished Robo curly tail (hologram shad) on split shot and drop shot, Robo worm (Warmouth)on darter head. All fish came between 20 & 40'Better fish came shallow and on the darter head.
    City: Fremont

    Tips: Be patient, fish at half the speed you like to fish at. If you don't get bit drag a split shot and small curly tail worm.

Monday, November 1st, 2004

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    Water Temp: 62-64

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Well, I ran up to Berryessa with a client with the intent of doing a lot of searching (being the water is know starting to turn over)

    We launched out of Markley Cove and thus ran to Wraggs Canyon. Started on point's, Client Drop-shottin and I throwing a brown/208TwinTailGrub 1/2oz jig. Point 1, nothin, Point 2, one hit at 35ft Jig. P3-4-5-6- All produced one fish on Drop-shottin around 20-25ft (Side's). Thing'in to myself OBoy the lake's on probably up North. Started to head North hitting the corner to the main lake, WOW, what's this 5-6ft roller's from the North,(Wragg's was dead calm, is the reason I left). Made it to Big Island and fished some outside point's, Noth'in. Went inside and fished a Small island and caught a 2 1/2lb smallmouth on a jig. fished all the way around it and caught noth'in. That's it we're out of here, down south we went and went between Little P and Portugue's Canyon and went up to this point and proceeded to put 6 fish in the boat in a matter of 30min. 1 on a jig and the rest on a Robo Arron's majic and a ???? worm. Tried the dam area Nothin. 5PM Quit.

    Rich Thiel.

    Caught probably a dozen fish inwhich 6 were keeper's.
    City: Livermore

    Tips: Fish looooooong extended point's. There's more fish on them than the short buttercut one's. Everyone of our fish came deep and off of medium shale. No big rock fish at all. If your look'in for jig fish, their there, You may have to cut down your skirt some, but I feel that you can get 5 quality fish by doing this over any drop-shot fish.

Saturday, October 23rd, 2004

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    Water Temp: 67

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Wow, what a difference the biggest mid-October storm in 30 years makes!! Since my last trip, the lake really hasn't changed much, but the fish have! They are in their wandering mode now, wandering mostly offshore - probably wondering what happened to fall!! Yesterday was a nice day, especially in the afternoon. I guided two guys for the second time at Berryessa and suggested we start mid-morning and fish 'til dark. That worked out well. The bite was slow in the morning and slowly got better and was fair at dark. We worked very hard for 13 bass - all three species - with one of the fellows landing the biggest of the day just before we left, a nice 2 1/2 smallie, after losing an even bigger one. He was the hot stick, catching 7 of our 13 bass and losing several! We wound up with an 8 3/4 lb limit - not too great. I was hoping for a topwater bite for us as it clouded up towards evening, but it remained only a hope. Nothing! Had a trout hit a topwater!! We fished from Markley Cove to above Rancho Montebello. After my clients left, I decided to try a little night fishing since a front was moving in. I fished for about 3 hours with 4 bites - no fish. This is common for October at night - the bass are not on the bottom and are mostly offshore - suspended in the bait. Last night was no exception! The fishing might have improved if I had stayed, but my warm bed was calling. All in all, a pretty good "tough" day.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: While my clients were split-shotting Camanche Jack's early dawn, purple ghost, and purple/brown worms, I tried reaction baits, including topwater through the day. They might have worked early in the morning, but not the rest of the day. Didn't have a jig bite either. No spoon or drop-shot fish. Unlike Folsom a few week ago, the Berryessa bait was suspended far off the bottom as the turnover starts. All of our fish were caught split-shotting, and if we caught one, we usually caught two or three. There had to be a deep water break nearby, and sometimes those are hard to find. Many areas produced nothing. Senkos might have worked, but we didn't throw any. The worm bite was just good enough. The 4 1/2 inch worm worked better than the 6 inch ones. There were really no bites, just "ohmygosh - I've got one"! I suggest moving around until you find some willing bass. The weather isn't going back to fall next week, so the fishing may remain puzzling until the weather settles down some.

Sunday, October 10th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 59-61

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I just read Rich's report before posting this one, and I have to agree - this is transition time and the fish and bait arn't as easy to locate as they were a few weeks ago. My client and I started out of Markley about 7:45 am - a little later than I wanted. He got tied up in a construction area and was a little late. Anyway, the first point we started in the narrows had bass in 2 feet of water, chasing shad. We ripped bass up to 2 lbs plus a nice one on a jig. That lasted about 10 minutes and they were gone. As Rich said, points 2 thru 100 (that's what it seemed like!) produced nothing for the next three hours. The X-19 screen was mostly bare, except for suspended carp. About noon, in the main body - east and west shore, we started getting some action and actually ended up with a good five fish limit of just under 10 pounds. Our biggest was a 2-13 largemouth and we caught 13 total. We targeted rocky areas with any kind of ledge or drop-off. That was the key. We did find a technique and color that definately worked the best, but my client is fishing an upcoming tournament so I need to be quiet about that. I can say that there really was no hot spot - just a fish here and there. One area did produced 5 bites and we landed 3. I guess that would be the hot spot of the day. But with fall fish movements, that could be a cold spot the next day!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: The fishing conditions were excellent - warm and cloudy with very little wind. After the great start, I thought this would be the day of days! So much for that thought, though I'm not complaining. My client learned a lot and we had a fun day. Some of the fish we caught were shallow because of the clouds, but some were as deep as 40 feet, too. Don't hesitate to move around a lot - you may need to during the next month.

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    Water Temp: 69-72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I had a very enjoyable and successful guide trip Saturday with a newly married young couple and his dad. This was her first fishing trip - and she is hooked - no doubt!!! She loved it! The brief front had just passed through and the morning was crisp and breezy, not the best conditions. Fishing started slow out of Markely Cove - we did catch a few in the narrows. Most of the tournament boats must have gone up north - didn't see many. We decided to head up north too. As the morning wore on, the fish got bigger, including 2 spots at 2 1/4 pounds each. At l pm I felt my brown/purple 4 1/2 inch worm get bit and then stuck in a rock. I gave up and tried to break my 8# test Berkley XL - suddenly the rock moved and even jumped out of the water - twice. In the boat the largemouth weighed 4 lbs 2 oz - a nice surprise! We wound up with 8 smallies, 6 spots, and the quality largemouth - 15 total for 12 lbs 4 oz. Hearing the exciting yells of the young lady catching her first bass, a 1 3/4 lb smallmouth was really worth the drive. The afternoon turned out to be beautiful and we really had a great time!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: We only fished worms, Texas rigged and split-shotted. Drop-shotting just didn't work for us, nor did spooning. The jig bite was off too, at least where we were. But worms in purple ghost, purple/brown, and morning dawn/chartreuse tail, all produced many bites. The hits were very subtle most of the day, so naturally, my clients missed many fish as they were learning. Dad lost a big bass that really broke my heart - drag was too tight. We caught most of our fish in the 20 to 25 foot range, though the 4-2 was in 15 feet! Pretty shallow for a bluebird day. We fished mostly points. Walls didn't produced much, though dad lost his big one on a wall in the narrows. The split-shot rig was by far the best presentation.

Sunday, October 3rd, 2004

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    Water Temp: 69-72

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Had my best trip ever to berryessa this weekend. Saturday I fished around Markley cove and did good on numbers;I was amazed at how many fish I caught that broke the 2 lb. mark. I fished the no nothin banks on the left as you leave markley with a Jig and a texas riged worm in aarons magic. I ended the day with a 3.89 on a brn/brn 1/2 oz jig. Total for the day was 13.67. Sunday I decided to go up the creek and see how the bite was up there, and although I only caught 13 fish I caught I caught 2 big ones at 5.13 and 4.91 and my total for the day was 18.11. I caught only small ones in the creek until I got way in the back where it starts to narrow down. What a weekend!!!
    City: Winters

    Tips: Go way up the creek and throw brown on brown jigs till your arm falls off. The bigger fish wanted the bait moved very slow

Saturday, September 11th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 78-82

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Saturday, caught a couple 13-15 inches crank baiting first thing in the morning, and a couple 13 to 15 inchers drop shotting in 20 feet of water. I did hear of a few fish to four pounds being caught on a top water bite in the morning.

    Tips: Fishing tough, water to warm.

Sunday, August 8th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 80 degrees 8 fe

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: went camping at spanish flat.caught a couple monster bluegill and alot of 12 inch bass.a baby catch and a carp that almost pulled in my pole but i grabed before it did
    City: San Bruno

    Tips: The weather is hot and the water is low fishing is on the slow side fish have gone deeper because of the 100 degree weather

Saturday, July 31st, 2004

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    Water Temp: 81-84

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I hope everyone is enjoying the cooler summer - this night guide isn't! I had guide trips Thurs and Fri nights - both with a lot of wind and very cool temps, especially Fri. It is amazing how the bass follow the weather patterns - Thurs was a little warmer and my client and I caught 2 before dark and 12 after, including a 5 lb 2 oz largemouth that hit a 7" Power Worm shortly after dark. All of our fish were over 13" and we had a solid 13 1/2 lb limit. We did well because the wind laid down around 11 pm which made the fish pretty aggressive. Fri night was the opposite - two brother took their dad on a trip for his 70th birthday and we had a ball before dark. The wind that had blown all day laid down before dark and the smallies went on a tear!! All three caught several bass with dad getting the largest - which was proper - a 2 1/4 lb largemouth. That worried me about the night bite because the bass will anticipate a cold front coming and feed before dark. Sure enough, the wind started after dark - a cold wind - and we only caught 3 after dark - 11 before. So, 14 each trip but we had to work hard for the bites except for the hour before dark on Fri night. That was fun! I had a day trip Tues and it was the slowest summer bite I have seen in some time. We were dragging 6" worms and one of the guys started with a 3 lb spot - wow!! I then got the hardest hit I think I have ever got dragging - and she jumped out of the water withing 5 seconds. Just a 2-10 largemouth that thought it was a 4 lb smallie. Again, wow! We got another spotted bass and that was it - a three fish day. Amazing. No topwater, crank, spinnerbait, jig, dropshot, Senko bite whatsoever. Name your favorite - they wouldn't bite it! Quality was good however - got to find something good!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I only saw a few small bass breaking water chasing bait. Topwater activity is non-existant, at least in my boat. The recent short heat spell may have had something to do with that. The worm bite is pretty good - split-shotting seems to be the best presentation - casting or dragging. At night the 7" black Berkley Power Worm continues to be the best bait - nailing a few bigger bass too. Thursdays client used Dead Ringer worms and got a few, but changed to the Power Worm. Our daytime fish were caught on a green craw worm. We fished the narrows, Steele Park area, Big Island, and Rancho Montecello. Most bass are holding at the 10 to 20 foot range.

Saturday, July 24th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: well, this is not an exciting rpt, but i thought i throw out some info if anyone is interested...started fishn the main body a 6:30am and threw reaction baits for about 2 hrs with the results = zero, nada, zilch....no surface activity until about 9am, but it came from jet skiers who came out to make their presence known. started slown down and using plastics without much luck either until i started fishn 25' - 35' depths..started to graph more bait and some fish also, but it was still hard to get bit...ended up fishn these depths for 3hrs and got 6 bites, missn 3 fish and releasing 3 bass in 1-2# range...got bit on split shotn 4" worms and drop shotn small baits...amongst the many boaters that came out to play, saw only 2 other bass boats...guess that meant i was in the wrong area or the wrong lake........quit at 12:30 with water temps @ 78.....good fishn....
    City: orinda

    Tips: this is still a beautiful lake IF you get on it early b4 the recreational folks do..fishn deep is a slow process, if your not graphing much, try a different spot...had the best luck with something on the screen, as the fish were not moving to far to eat.....

Thursday, July 15th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 78 degrees 8 fe

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: went too campell cove today for some crappie.fished in boat for a little while using a red and white jig didnt catch any.found a nice shore to fish off for some catfish.hooked into a HUGE CATFISH but as i got him near shore he broke my hook.i did catch 2 baby catfish , blugill and a baby bass.
    City: san bruno

Tuesday, July 13th, 2004

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: going to fish berryessa for the first time this coming saturday on july 16th any tips on where to fish onshore. i do not have a boat so i need advice on how to catch bass on shore
    thanks
    City: stockton

Friday, July 9th, 2004

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    Water Temp: mid-70s

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Windy all day, with high fog until just after noon. Good frog bite throughout the morning, with fish (all largemouths) in about 1 foot of water -- once the fog lifted, the frog bite was over. The only fish (all spots between 10 and 13 inches) I was able to coax into biting in the afternoon came on dartheads -- just about any color 4-inch worm worked, but something with red seemed to work a bit better. Ended up with about a dozen fish, the biggest maybe 2-pounds.
    City: Pinole

    Tips: Fish the very back of every cove in the morning, with topwater, before the sun is visible!

Wednesday, July 7th, 2004

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    Water Temp: 78

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: This report won't be too exciting because the fishing wasn't too exciting - but my two clients learned a lot and we had a great time. Fighting a sustained wind of 15-20 mph wasn't such a great time for the guide, har!! This was a typical cold front summer trip at Berryessa - good fishing before dark - no topwater action - and slow night fishing with lots of small bass biting. We did well before dark, split-shotting green craw 6" worms and 4" electric grape Berkely pulse worms. One of the fellows lost the biggest on the second jump a 2 1/2+ largemouth, hooked on a margarita mutilator worm. We landed 9 before dark with the biggest a 2 lb smallie that did not want to see the inside of my boat. Wow, what a fight! The action was great but the fish averaged only 1 1/2 lbs with two very skinny largemouth in the bunch. A second spawn? After dark, the bite started ok but as it good cooler with heavy wind, it really slowed down. We finished in the narrows on one of my favorite points where the other client could have given us a happy ending. He hooked a big fish which quickly broke he 12# test. Must have been a nick. We wound up with 14 total, including 2 spotted bass which we havn't seen for awhile. Overall, not bad considering wind, fog, and chilly temps. Is this July?!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I showed my clients how to located quality summer bass in flats with dropoffs. These areas had a lot of fish, but the quality wasn't there this trip. If you are planning a night trip to Berryessa or Clear Lake, it is wise not to go during a major cooling period. The hotter the weather (nights too) the better the fishing. We were hoping to catch the bite before all the cool air moved in. As it was, I talked them into one night earlier, but we should have gone Tues night when the wind first started. If you hit that situation right - fishing can be excellent for trophy bass - wind before the cold air sets in sort of a pre-front bite. We fished all around Big Island, Berryessa Marina, and the narrows - anywhere we could get out of the wind a bit.

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: My neice and nephew are comong to visit this weekend (5yr old and 3 yr old). I have been fishing the Delta lately and do not know how Berryessa is doing. Can someone put me on to some dinks, panfish or something that will bite well enough for the neice and nephew not to get too bored on a Saturday morning trip? Thanks in advance for the advice.
    City: woodland

Saturday, July 3rd, 2004

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    Water Temp: 74-81

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: FISHING GUIDE SID SILBERBERG DID VERY GOOD DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE DAY .
    City: sanfrancisco

    Tips: FISH IN THE MORNING 3-6FEET OVER GRASS USE BUZZ BAIT FLUKES OR POP R DURING THE HEET OF THE DAY GO TO 18-23 FEET OF ANY MAJOR POINT WITH PLASTICS.

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    Water Temp: 74-81

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: FISHING GUIDE SID SILBERBERG DID VERY GOOD DURING THE HEIGHT OF THE DAY .
    City: sanfrancisco

    Tips: FISH IN THE MORNING 3-6FEET OVER GRASS USE BUZZ BAIT FLUKES OR POP R DURING THE HEET OF THE DAY GO TO 18-23 FEET OF ANY MAJOR POINT WITH PLASTICS.

Saturday, June 26th, 2004

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: I just read Joe from San Brunos report and he makes a good point. You don't need a boat to catch nice bass but you do have to keep your eyes open and fish carefully. Good job Joe- you beat me fair and square. On the other hand I've never heard of anyone getting bit by a rattlesnake in their boat. Keep on fishin' Joe!
    City: napa