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Berryessa Lake and Reports

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Monday, May 29th, 2017

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    Water Temp: 73.5

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Memorial Day weekend was great the weather was good being with family and friends was great and the fishing was fabulous!!! My son's friend Dan was on fire he was catching bass left and right and some nice size ones (see photos). Another of my son's friends Kevin went out with me for the day and caught 22 bass whatever bait he tried worked he was so thrilled he's favorite was drop shoting (see photos). My son and I went out for about an hour and he beat me catching four fish to my three largest bass weighing over 3.5 pounds. I went out with Bob when I first got up to the lake I caught a bass right off the bat on a top water lure (chugger) it was exciting Bob caught three bass in about twenty minutes drop shoting. The last day I went out with Albert. We only used plastics and caught a limit of fish and came in by noon (see photos). Like I said the fishing was hot, hot, hot!!!! My son came in and Dan did it again he landed a large mouth bass weighing in at a little over five pounds. That ended a great fishing weekend.
    'til next time...............................................good fishing!!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.
    Sent from my iPad

    Tips: knowing the lake makes the difference in catching a few or catching a lot.i will try some new places that were good last year if I can find them with all this water.

Wednesday, May 17th, 2017

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    Water Temp: 68

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fish with my body Monday 15th ,buitifful morning and windy afternoon
    Got a dozen of fish mostly smallmouth, biggest one 3 lb
    Just read previous report from carp fisherman Sid.
    Please be real Sid.
    Everyone knows you are a carp fisherman.

    Tips: Fish with wacky rig senko and Carolina rig at 12-15 feet

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    Water Temp: 73

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Went out this past Friday it was windy but a beautiful sunny day. It was too windy for me in the main lake but I tucked myself into a cove by the Monticello Ski School and fished there the whole time I was out. I fished Senkos Texas rigged and wacky rigged and drop shot Robo worms (color: morning glory) covered in Procure scent (night crawler and garlic craw dad ). I let two bass go that still had eggs one weighed over eight pounds and the other over ten pounds. Ended up with a nice limit one weighing in at 5 pounds 6 ounces (see photo). The lake is clearing up but only saw a few beds. Top water should be happening soon. 'til next time..............................good fishing!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net if you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

    Tips: lots of water ,all baits are working this past week..you have only to find the fish.they are hungry but if your bait does not work switch to a bait that does.a couple fish on top water a couple on spinners a few on cranks but the balance on plastics.

Friday, May 12th, 2017

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    Water Temp: up to 73

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Went out this past Friday it was windy but a beautiful sunny day. It was too windy for me in the main lake but I tucked myself into a cove by the Monticello Ski School and fished there the whole time I was out. I fished Senkos Texas rigged and wacky rigged and drop shot Robo worms (color: morning glory) covered in Procure scent (night crawler and garlic craw dad ). I let two bass go that still had eggs one weighed over eight pounds and the other over ten pounds. Ended up with a nice limit one weighing in at 5 pounds 6 ounces (see photo). The lake is clearing up but only saw a few beds. Top water should be happening soon. 'til next time..............................good fishing!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net if you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

    Tips: sorry corrected date Friday the 12th email me for pictures will send..see me at the lake for free procure samples.

Monday, May 1st, 2017

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    Report: Went out with my pal Albert before my trip to Miami and caught a nice limit of bass best five weighed in at 15 pounds 6 ounces. There will be another spawn on the full moon on May 10th. Had a great time fishing with my nieces and nephews salt water and fresh water both. We charted a boat from My Girls Charters who specialize in family fishing trips and they did a great job. Looking forward to fishing this weekend at the lake and hope to have a good report for you 'til next time.........................good fishing!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

Sunday, April 30th, 2017

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    Water Temp: 67 to 72

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: The 50 MPH wind Friday and the weekend boat traffic muddied up the lake. I was not surprised it was a slow day for us (and the others we talked to). Tried an array of plastics with no luck. Ended up catching some spots on Bright colored Cranks. Found them in the back of coves chasing bait. Could not believe how warm the water was with prior cool weather we had. It was nice to see the Glory Hole is still flowing thought!

Saturday, April 29th, 2017

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    Water Temp: 64 to 68.5

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: On Thursday I went out with Albert. The water temperature was 64 degrees and to my surprise there were no beds visible in five key locations. We caught our limit of bass the largest weighing a little over 2 pounds. The following day I went out solo rough water white caps all day had to look for quiet water in back of coves not so easy to find but still landed 6 nice fish with the largest weighing just over 6 pounds I let her go she was full of eggs caught her on a chartreuse and white spinner bait. I ended up going in early due to the wind. Saturday I went out with Fabrice and his son Matthew who is six. I decided to start in the back of the Monticello Ski School to avoid the wind. The first bass was caught by Matthew drop shooting a Robo morning glory colored worm. The second bass was caught by you guessed it Matthew on a crank bait. The third bass was caught on a River2Sea craw dad lure by Matthew. Since he was doing so well I wanted to find an area where the bass were a little larger so he could experience landing a bigger fish. My fish finder showed some activity that looked like larger fish so we trolled through that area using a deep diving Speed Trap lure that went 15 feet down and another that went down 8 to 12 feet. You guessed it Matthew landed the first bass. It gave him a good fight but with a little help from his Dad he brought in the biggest bass of the day a 5.5 pound largemouth (see photo). We repeated that drift four more times and landed a bass each time three bass over 4 pounds each and the last bass weighed a little over 2 pounds. I asked aMatthew if he wanted to keep fishing here or go to my secret spot and he said let's go!!! Fabrice caught a bass using a spinner bait in shallow water immediately I checked out the whole area with no signs of beds or fry from a previous spawn to be seen maybe there was no spawn yet and May 10th might be the first one. Matthew wanted to end the day trying to get a catfish so I went to catfish cove threw out a hotdog and we waited to our disappointment no catfish took the bait and it was time to call it a day. 'til next time......................good fishing!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

    Tips: do you want to learn the lake call me no charge for info

Saturday, April 15th, 2017

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    Water Temp: thru Wednesday, April 5th, 2017 up to 67

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: thru Wednesday, April 5th, 2017
    By Fishing With Sid Edit
    Water Temp: thru 4/5/2017
    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)
    Report: Evan you did a great job with your drown video showing the lake when it was down 45feet and now when it is full and over flowing into the gloryhole just arrived back from miami happy easter to you and your family.
    Lake Berryessa Fills and Glory Hole Spills:
    The Video History
    This amazing series of Lake Berryessa News Drone videos by Evan Kilkus documents the 45 foot rise of Lake Berryessa in 2017.
    It was the second largest annual increase in the history of the lake. It was also the second highest level the lake has reached in its 58 year history.
    The lake has only spilled into Glory Hole 26 times in those 58 years. Also the rainfall total (46.7 inches as of 4/12/17) is the highest in 20 years.
    The video below shows how low the lake was 2 years ago. You should watch it before the others to get some perspective on the amazing rise of the lake in 2017.
    http://lakeberryessanews.com/photo-album/videos.html
    Low Lake Berryessa in 2014
    No 1. Fishing guide, Lake Berryessa
    650-583-3333 Book trips now!
    www.fishingconnection.net
    Y.B.A.C. Fishing Chariman
    Sid 650-867-9999
    Tips: fish are on beds now looking to go this week to the lake, Happy Easter to everyone happy holidays .

Thursday, April 6th, 2017

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    Water Temp: 59-64

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I took myself to Berryessa on Wed to check out the eastside - not my favorite part of the lake. I'm a structure guy and the eastside is kinda boring. Talk about bushes and trees in the water - thousands of them!!! I guess it is no surprise that all the bass I caught were largemouth!! It was kind of a re-learning trip as everything is different with the lake up 50 feet. That really changes the shallow east side. I started about 9:30 am and quit about 6 pm. The bite was best in the early afternoon when some faint sunlight appeared. The wind only blew about an hour from the south and it wasn't too bad. I tried crankbaits early with no action and soon realized the Senko bite was ok. I used #301 most of the day 'til I ran out. They liked #222 also - very bright color. I had lots of action, landing 8 good bass for about 17 lbs - and 2 dinks - on a 6" Senko. How do they do that?? No trophies for me - biggest at 4 1/2 lbs

    Tips: I was able to find bass in the brush next to a depth change. They were fairly aggressive - some good hits! I did spend a lot of time looking the whole lake over. Amazing how this lake changes with an added 50 feet. Berryessa is not a reservoir and has lots and lots of flats and coves where water depth makes a big change in the bite. It helps to learn as much as possible when the lake is down so as to be successful when the easy spring bite becomes tougher in the summer and fall when bass move off-shore. I threw jigs also off and on, but couldn't get bit.

Wednesday, April 5th, 2017

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    Water Temp: thru 4/5/2017

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Evan you did a great job with your drown video showing the lake when it was down 45feet and now when it is full and over flowing into the gloryhole just arrived back from miami happy easter to you and your family.
    Lake Berryessa Fills and Glory Hole Spills:
    The Video History
    This amazing series of Lake Berryessa News Drone videos by Evan Kilkus documents the 45 foot rise of Lake Berryessa in 2017.
    It was the second largest annual increase in the history of the lake. It was also the second highest level the lake has reached in its 58 year history.
    The lake has only spilled into Glory Hole 26 times in those 58 years. Also the rainfall total (46.7 inches as of 4/12/17) is the highest in 20 years.
    The video below shows how low the lake was 2 years ago. You should watch it before the others to get some perspective on the amazing rise of the lake in 2017.
    http://lakeberryessanews.com/photo-album/videos.html
    Low Lake Berryessa in 2014
    1. Fishing guide, Lake Berryessa
    650-583-3333 Book trips now!
    www.fishingconnection.net
    Y.B.A.C. Fishing Chariman
    Sid 650-867-9999

    Tips: fish are on beds now looking to go this week to the lake, Happy Easter to everyone happy holidays .

Tuesday, March 21st, 2017

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    Water Temp: 58-60

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the Tri-Valley Bassmasters tournament on March 18th. Typical of lakes this time of year, had to work hard to catch anything. Fished from Spanish Flats to the dam. Threw the tackle box at them and got 10 small fish for our efforts. Biggest fish was a 22 inch rainbow. Saw fish down deep at 60 feet on the graph but few close to shore. Angler of the year John Herrera had the biggest fish weighing 4.0912331 lbs (we'll just round that off to 4.09). With the help of his partner John Williams, they had a bag totaling 12.15 lbs. Biggest fish was caught on a grub.

    Tips: Lake looks really nice, was nice to fish it with out a huge wake every few minutes.

Tuesday, March 14th, 2017

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    Water Temp: 52-57

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: I did a rare Sunday guide trip. Don't usually do Sunday trips, but these two are busy ER nurses with little time off. They came self-contained with their own equipment and baits. I think this was their first time to Berry, but I could be wrong. Excellent fisher-people with good baits and rods - she even had a G.Loomis NRX rod!! First one of my clients to have one of those great rods. I showed them around the lake and tried to stay out of the way of folks fishing a 30 + boat tournament. Bass boats everywhere! In spite of that, they landed 7 smallies and spots, but only up to 2 1/4 lbs. I really think they enjoyed the beautiful day - away from the pressures of their jobs.

    Tips: They caught their bass on a variety of baits - didn't seem to be a favorite. Most were in the top 15 feet of water. He even caught a nice one on a rip bait, which surprised me a bit considering the color of the water. It really was fun watching them fish hard - enjoying every minute!! Darker plastics seem to be the best. Now we all need to remember how to fish a full lake! What a beautiful sight!!!

Sunday, March 12th, 2017

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    Water Temp: 58 to 67

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Went out with Albert on Saturday our first stop after the Narrows was the cove near the Ranch house. The water covered most of the trees on the side of the cove and I was able to steer my boat behind the trees to fish. We tried our luck there for about ten minutes but the water was so murky we had little visibility and decided to look for a better spot will definitely come back to this spot. Headed to the Vineyards and fished in two feet to a little over four feet of water landing four bass weighing in at a little over fourteen pounds using a chartreuse spinning bait only. The water warmed up from when we started at 58 degrees to 67 degrees with about a foot and a half visibility. What I liked about this area it had a lot of activity birds all around and the fish were jumping all over. Thinking that it was a school of large bass I threw top water lures waiting for the explosive hit with no luck then I noticed the fish had orange stomachs so what I had hoped was bass turned out to be carp. Albert caught his largest fish on a red and black Speed Trap. I attribute my success to using Procure scent on my bait which contributes to luring the bass in murky water to my bait and to Hobie polarized sunglasses which lets me see into the water and cuts the glare. My prediction is that within two weeks the bass should be on their beds as the water continues to warm up and get clearer. 'til next time.......................................good fishing!!!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

    Tips: Never to young to enjoy fish see photos

Thursday, February 23rd, 2017

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    Water Temp: 52 TO 56

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Went out with Bobby on Thursday at eight in the morning to check out the lake before this Saturday's tournament. We trolled with a chartreuse Speed Trap lure which always catches fish but the water was too muddy and no bites. I decided to go take a look at the Glory Hole it was great to see the water spilling over the top after all the dry years. The lake looks great and I will have to adjust to the new depths and structures which I'm really looking forward to. We checked out many of my favorite spots but in fifty-two degree water and less then six inches visibility it was almost impossible for us to lure any bass our way. We ran into a boat that had some luck they had caught three bass and one weighed six pounds 12 ounces (see photo). All these bass were caught on different lures a Senko worm, a jig and a chatter bait in about fifteen feet of water. I enjoyed the day even though we had no fish we had a good time checking out the lake which promises to be very productive going into spring and summer. I met Albert the next day he was going to do some shore fishing and asked my advice on what to use I told him since the water is murky to use a strong scent Pro-Cure with garlic is perfect with a spinner bait white with chartreuse and it worked he landed this two pound four ounce bass in twelve feet of water (see photo). 'til next time...................good fishing!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.

    Sent from my iPad

    Tips: bass where staging to spawn in about 15 feet. will be a great spawn when the water will be 5feet or more visibility,

Thursday, February 16th, 2017

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    Water Temp: 54-55.3

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: I took a client from Nebraska yesterday, not really expecting a good bite. Just amazed to see a full lake again - just inches below the glory hole! The water color in the narrows is very dingy, with visibility of about a foot. I showed him the upper lake as far as Big Island, and the visibility was 6 to 8 inches. Very dark murky water. Did not see any boats up there, only in the narrows. Fishing was very slow for us, though his biggest was a nice 3 1/4 lb+ largemouth - in about 3 feet of water on a wall. I did lose a heavy bass also. We used so many different baits, I can't remember which bait he caught the 3 pounder on. I lost my big one on a D&M Piranha swim jig - set too late!! We started about 8:30, hoping for an afternoon bite. It didn't happen, probably because of wind and the incoming storm. Tuesday was probably a better fishing day with lots of sun!!

    Tips: Did not see much debris in the narrows, but saw a big area of it in the main body. Other than that, debris wasn't much of a problem. Don't have many tips because the bass didn't tell us much. I was surprised the jig bite didn't happen for us. My client was a great guy and very involved in Nebraska bass fishing organizations.

Tuesday, January 31st, 2017

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    Water Temp: 51

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Finally made it up to the lake after almost three months and what a difference the lake looks great and I was so excited to get out there and fish. John, Albert and I headed out on Saturday morning. The fog was pretty thick with less then twenty feet of visibility so we slowly headed towards the Narrows looking for cleaner water. Our first stop was to the back of the Monticello Ski School to see how it looked to my surprise their were about six other boats who had the same idea. They told me they hadn't had any luck to speak of. We drop shot for about five minutes and then decided to move to another location in the Narrows. I decided to go to the Dam thinking the water would be clearer there. It was a little better and we caught the first bass on a Speed Trap lure there (see photo). From there we headed back to the main lake and we fished over the mountain which is under water now by the Ranch house. We were drop shooting with one hit that John missed. We checked out some other spots but the water was so dark and the debris was so thick I decided to head toward home and make one stop at the rock mountain by Spanish Flats. We tried our best but the fish were not interested. The water temperature was fifty-one degrees with no wind it was a beautiful day but still to cold to coax the fish out. But it won't be too long before the fishing will be great. The next day I took Jim and his sons out with basically the same results (see photo).

    'til next time..........................................good fishing!!!!!!!!!!!

    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or stories you would like to share or are interested in booking a guided fishing trip please email me at bestguide@hotmail.com or call me at 650-583-3333.







    California Fishing Guide - Bass, Salmon, Trout, Catfish

    www.fishingconnection.net

    Tips: bright colors something that you can see in dirty or muddy water or hear.

Wednesday, January 18th, 2017

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    Report: From Lake Berryessa News

    Lake Level Status: 1/18/17
    The lake level is at 420 feet - 20 feet below Glory Hole, rising only 4 inches in the last 4 days, but still the highest level since the Spring of 2014.
    More good news is that the Capell Public Launch Ramp is open, although the courtesy dock has not yet been repaired and re-installed.
    The lake level at this time last year was 398.8 feet, 21.2 feet lower than today.
    The level has risen 21.4 feet since its low of 398.6 feet on 10/23/16.
    Rainfall total is 20.5 inches (only .06 inches today before the next set of storms), 8.8 inches more than last year at this time.
    At the present level, Lake Berryessa holds 1,192,583 acre-feet of water - 74.5% of its 1,600,000 A-F capacity.

Wednesday, January 11th, 2017

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    Report: From Lake Berryessa News


    Lake Level Status: 1/11/17 (10AM)

    The lake level is now at 417.4 feet - 22.6 feet below Glory Hole - up 3.9’ since yesterday - and the highest it’s been in 3 years! This is already 6.3’ higher than last year’s highest level of 411.1’ on 4/12/16 and higher than 412.0 (highest) on 3/7/15 and 415.7 (highest) on 4/8/14

    The lake level at this time last year was 397.1 feet, 20.3 feet lower than today.

    The level has risen 18.8 feet since its low of 398.6 feet on 10/23/16.

    Rainfall total (as of 1/11/17) is 19.88 inches, 10.78 inches more than last year at this time.

    The latest rainfall (10.81 inches since Jan. 3) has raised the lake level by 10.8 feet (1 foot rise per inch of rain for this period) and it is still rising. At this rainfall rate we’d only need about 23 more inches of rain to fill the lake.

    At the present level, Lake Berryessa holds 1,149,708 acre-feet of water - 71.9% of its 1,600,000 A-F capacity.

Tuesday, January 10th, 2017

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    Report: Lake Level Status: 1/10/17 (10AM)
    The lake level keeps rising and is now at 413.5 feet - 26.5 feet below Glory Hole - up 1.5' since yesterday. This is already 2.4’ higher than last year’s highest level of 411.1’ on 4/12/16.
    The lake level at this time last year was 397.1 feet, 16.4 feet lower than today.
    The level has risen 14.9 feet since its low of 398.6 feet on 10/23/16.
    Rainfall total (as of 1/10/17) is 17.1 inches, 8 inches more than last year at this time. This does not include the 0.49 inches that has fallen this morning.
    The latest rainfall (8.8 inches since Jan. 3) has raised the lake level by 9.6 feet (13.1 inches rise per inch of rain for this period) and it is still rising. At this rainfall rate we’d only need about 28 more inches of rain to fill the lake - about 4 more storms like this. Since the lake is shaped like a bowl, as the lake rises it takes more rain to make it rise higher.
    At the present level, Lake Berryessa holds 1,072,612 acre-feet of water - 67% of its 1,600,000 A-F capacity.

Sunday, January 8th, 2017

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    Report: Lake Berryessa News
    12 hrs ·
    3:00 PM Sunday: 3-6" of rain (since midnight) in the Lake Berryessa Watershed!
    HWY 128 is reported to be CLOSED somewhere between Markley Cove Resort and Pleasants Valley Rd.(Winters) due to flooding.
    Berryessa Knoxville Rd. is closed near East Side Rd. due to debris on the road.
    The Lake Berryessa News will provide more details when they become available.