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Berryessa Lake and Reports

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Friday, January 6th, 2017

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    Report: Lake Level Status: 1/6/17

    The latest 4 day rainfall (2.88 inches) has raised the lake level by 1.8 feet (7.5 inches rise per inch of rain) and it is still rising.

    The lake level is at 405.5 feet - 34.5 feet below Glory Hole.

    From Lake Berryessa News
    The Bureau of Reclamation is preparing to open the Capell Public Launch Ramp but their dock needs some repair first

    The level has risen 6.9 feet since its low of 398.6 feet on 10/23/16.

    At the present level, Lake Berryessa holds 958,207 acre-feet of water - 59.9% of its 1,600,000 A-F capacity.

    The lake level at this time last year was 396.75 feet, 8.75 feet lower than today.

    Rainfall total (as of 1/5/17) is 11.68 inches, 3.4 inches more than last year at this time.

Saturday, November 26th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 60-62

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: A very nice married couple called me last week and wanted to go bass fishing - for the first time!! Never bass fished before and wanted to learn more about it and about Lake Berryessa. Great people and we had a great time learning! This is a rod - this is a reel.....no, it wasn't that bad. The weather was cloudy and very cool. After lots of instruction about rod and reels, baits, areas to look for bass in different seasons, we started fishing. Soon they were casting spinning outfits very well and seemed to be working worms and other plastics very well. As one would expect, they lost their first few bites. Setting the hook for bass is always a learning process for beginners. In the afternoon they did land a few bass, but they were small. Funny - the small ones were in an area that usually produces bigger bass. One never knows! Great people and think I got them "hooked!"

    Tips: Drop-shotting Robo worms in shad colors seemed to work the best for them. MM111 worked a bit also. Most bites came from 15 to 30 feet of water.

Friday, November 11th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 65

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Jigged Berryessa today. Did pretty bad (everyone I talked too stated the same as well). The fish and bait were all spread out between the surface and 35 feet. The lake was turning. Hopefully things will pick up after it is done turning.

Sunday, November 6th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 62-65

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Launched from Putah Creek at 6:30am. Went to the north end with crank baits, under spins all far off shore hitting humps with gravel. Only small bass. Went into putah and fished rocky banks with steeper edges, still only small bass. Fished both bridges and caught crappie, spooning. All in all fun fishing just no size. Went off shore in the main body worm fishing, still only saw fish under 2lbs.

Saturday, October 15th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 67-69

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I took two clients to Berryessa today - and wished I had a sail on my Ranger!! The wind in the delta might have been slight, but there were white caps after 9 am at Berryessa - even in the narrows! My two clients were from Japan originally and one is returning on Monday. The other lives in California now. They spoke in their native tongue most of the time - wonder what they were saying about the fishing?? it wasn't very good and they missed a few bites. We did land a few decent bass and some dinks went on the bite in the afternoon. Did have some excitement when we got out the spoon rods. I dropped a Blade Runner 1 3/4 oz UV morning dawn down to the bottom, showing them how to work a spoon. Suddenly I am holding on for dear life as a non-dink took the spoon. Whoa Nellie!! She was a 5 lb spotted bass - my biggest spot at Berryessa. Wow - the bite should be great - right? Not!! They caught a few, but most were very small. One bass was a little bigger than the spoon!!

    Tips: Robo worms were working some as were the spoons. They were throwing some of their own small crankbaits much of the time, and some other baits too. Not much action. The bait is still all over the place - from 10 to 50 feet! I think the water needs to cool a bit more before an active bite returns. Hard to judge the day - the wind was nasty!

Tuesday, September 13th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 71 TO 76

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Subject: Fishing with Sid
    This past Sunday I took Fabrice and his five year old son Matthew out. The weather stayed cool the whole day and the fishing was a little off but father and son had such a great time with the fish they caught. Matthew brought his new rod and he wanted to catch a fish with it and I was going to make it happen. He was using one of my rods and kept catching fish after fish. At one point they had a double hook up that they brought within twenty and ten feet of the boat they were so excited that they stopped reeling for a split second and both fish jumped in the air and spit out the lure. This happened a couple of times during the day. After a fun filled day we headed in with a very happy Matthew smiling from ear to ear(see photos).
    'til next time.......................................................................................good fishing!!!!!
    www.fishingconnection.net If you have any questions or would like to share a story or if you 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
    Sidney Silberberg is one of the hottest fishing guides in Northern California. As a World-Class professional fisherman he helps anglers of all ages enjoy ...

    Tips: Tried drop shoting I prersonaly don't care for it but it catches fish 1 year ago my friend Albert caught a 10.5lb large mouth in two feet of water will try the same spot friday

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    Water Temp: 73-75

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: With the wind and unusual Sept cold front, wasn't sure how my guide trip would go. I had a great guy - a repeat Florida client from this past spring. In a word - we had the lake to ourselves - no one out there. Spooky moon showing thru the trees - not a surface fish or swirl to be seen, no bird sounds - nothing!! I guess they don't like cold fronts either!! So, my report is very short. He landed one bass - but is was his biggest California bass ever. Yes, she went 6.26 lbs!! Evidently, she doesn't know the rules of the a summer cold front - you don't eat! The largemouth cleared the water by a foot or so after he hooked her - what a sight - and sound!!! He played the fish perfectly! My net job wasn't bad either - lucky I guess!! Right at dusk I caught my only fish, a nice smallie at about 2 1/4 lbs. He did hook another good fish, but lost her.

    Tips: With the weather pattern we were faced with, I targeted the steepest walls I could find - and, those with shadows. I tried some different baits at night, but again, the 7" Berkley Power Worm is the only thing they would hit. His big fish was very shallow, up in the moonshade of over-hanging trees. My smallie was in about 20 feet of water. I thought we could get some other "shady" bass to hit, but it didn't happen. I hate cold fronts!!

Saturday, September 10th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 78-82

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Mike and I fished Berry late Thursday afternoon - planning to night fish some also. That didn't happen! The wind was blowing when we started, then the lake went dead calm until just before dark. Then came the wind again - big time - and back to the dock we went. We caught a bunch of bass, with 4 good quality, over 3 1/4 lbs. My biggest smallie took a 6" shad colored Robo worm - great summer fish at 3 lbs 10 oz. A short but sweet trip - EXCEPT for the carp that Mike accidently snagged. It was a 20 lb bass before we actually saw it!! Ugh!!! I was there today (Sat) with clients who caught 2 nice largemouth and several smaller bass. The lake was dead flat calm until 2 pm and made a tough bite for them.

    Tips: We saw lots of small schools of shad that seemed to be scattered all over - but not on the bottom. Not many bass around the shad - maybe because of the flat water and weekend pleasure boating.

Thursday, September 1st, 2016

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    Water Temp: 77

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Took an old friend of mine Randy Stratton up to the the lake to see if we could find a spoon bite. Using a 1-3/4oz. morning dawn BLADE-RUNNER spoon, our first stop on an off shore reef, in the Spanish flat area, produced several spotted bass and smallmouth bass and squaw fish in the 2-1/2 to 4lb. range and a 42lb. catfish that kicked my butt. They were holding in about 30 to 40ft. suspended over deeper water. We also found several other schools of bass in the same depth all over the main body on flat points. Pretty good day with about 25 quality bass, now back to making more lures.
    Rick Tietz

    Tips: find the thermocline with your meter and look for stacks of fish

Saturday, August 27th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 79

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: This past weekend was a highlight for me it seemed like every bass I landed was bigger then the one before. I limited out and my five largest fish weighed in at a total of just under forty pounds yes I said 40 pounds I couldn't believe it myself but it was great!!!! Bob is holding two eight pounders(see photo). The next day the fish were not as large and my limit weighed 16.5 pounds still a good catch see photo of Albert holding a 3.5 pounder. The color of the lure that worked best for me was chartreuse. My son and daughter-in-law fished the same areas with success as well landing limits of bass weighing between 3 to 5 pounds. I'm hoping I'll have some good size hits this holiday weekend too. 'til next time.....................................good fishing!!!!

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

    Tips: it appears that there is a spawn going on or the female fish looked liked it was full of eggs

Sunday, August 14th, 2016

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    Report: Lake Level Status: 8/14/16
    The lake level is now at 402.38 feet - 37.62 feet below Glory Hole.
    At the present level, Lake Berryessa holds 911,793 acre-feet of water - 57.0% of its 1,600,000 A-F capacity.
    The lake continues to drop about an inch per day.
    Evaporation of the lake is averaging .25 inches per day.
    The water temperature is above 80 degrees.
    The lake level at this time last year was 400.65 feet, 1.73 feet lower than today.
    The Capell Public Launch Ramp is closed until next year.
    All recreation areas - Markley Cove, Pleasure Cove, Steele Canyon, Spanish Flat, and Putah Canyon - are open for launching and will remain open all summer and beyond.

Friday, August 12th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 78 to 83

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I went salt water fishing with my club on the "El Dorado" with Captain Robert for strippers and halibut. I came in second place with a halibut weighing 15.6 pounds (see photo of Tom holding a stripper). Back to my favorite fishing place Lake Berryessa I went early morning fishing with Mike and he had a fun day in the photo he is holding 2.5 and a 3 pound small mouth bass. Now is a good opportunity to see the structure where you usually fish since the water is so low you can study how the bass use the terrain. That evening I went out with John and the fishing was great our largest bass was over 5 pounds(see photo). The next morning I met Scott and his two sons Cooper and Cody at the dock and we set out for the day. Cooper fishing on the shore side caught three bass in a row and Cody fishing the deep side complained that he wanted to fish the other side but as he was talking he got a hit and started reeling in his catch which turned out to be a little over 18.5 inches and over 3 pounds so I asked Cody if he was ready to switch and he said no way(see photo of Cody's fish)!!! The next day I went on my son's pontoon boat and no matter what color lure we used with or without "Procure Scent" fish were hitting. Some days no matter what you do it works too bad that can't happen all the time. Large fish weighed over 6 pounds and the smallest fish weighed 2.5 pounds(see photos). We had friends and family visiting so I was busy taking them out and loving every minute of it. 'til next time.................................................good fishing!!!!

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

    Tips: some days everything works

Thursday, July 14th, 2016

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    Water Temp: up to 80

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fishing with Sid
    Sidney Silberberg

    Today 8:52 AM

    I had a great time fishing last weekend. The weather was perfect and the water temperature was up to eighty degrees. My first day out was with Albert and John and we fished around little island with some good results but no big fish. That evening I went out again with Kevin and fished by big island and the bite was on. We caught limits and it didn't matter what color crank bait we used they were hitting on everything we even had a few double hook ups. Needless to say we stayed in that spot. Largest fish was almost nine pounds (see photo). Next day Kevin and I headed out early we naturally headed back to big island hoping for the same results. My plan was to start out there and if the bite was off we would head to the vineyards but happily the bass were waiting for us and we spent the day in that area catching limits again (see photos). George and I went out for a little while that evening he wanted to catch a fish on his rod and within a half hour he caught a nice bass weighing in at just over two pounds and a few others between 3.5 to 4 pounds. My last day was with Steve with the same results over all it was 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.

    Tips: when you know where they are you can load up easy

Wednesday, June 29th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 80

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fishing with Sid‏
    10:57 AM

    To: Fishing with Sid, lake b Peter Kilkus new

    Summer is definitely here and the weather is HOT! I took Harry, Paul and Owen out for the day. Owen started the day by catching two bass in the shade against a rock wall we were trolling in approximately 15 to 18 feet of water and he was using a silver and blue crank bait which dove about 8 to 10 feet. Since we were in the shade I decided to fish the point for awhile using three different methods, a drop shot, a Carolina rig and a weightless senko worm. We tried our best but no bites and so we moved on. Next stop was a cove where I had a lot of success landing good size bass. Harry landed a nice 2+ pound crappie. The whole cove was full of minnows they were everywhere and we watched the bass feeding on this banquet for over an hour. We finished the day off in deep water where we went swimming to cool off before heading in (see photos). Looking forward to the July 4th weekend and wishing everyone a safe and happy one.
    '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.

    Tips: HAPPY JULY4th see you at the lake

Saturday, June 25th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 77-79

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: FINALLY - a night guide trip!! And a good one at that!!! I took a father from Louisiana and his son who just moved to California for a late afternoon/night trip. The trip started slow with a few before dark and 3 topwater hits with none landed. After dark, we experienced one of the quietest nights I have ever seen at Berryessa, Not a SINGLE fish sound, NO bird sounds, No wind, deathly quiet!! Not normal. Even when the moon rose - no change. BUT - the bass did start to feed and they just hooked bass after bass!! First night bass, first California bass, and first spotted bass!! The dad's first Spotted bass was a dandy - 3 lbs 9 oz!! He will take that memory back home - what a fight!! They caught over 25 bass - I lost count! Only 2 undersize. Their limit was about 15+ lbs. No toads this trip. We mostly used the usual 7" Berkley Power worms - the favorite night bait at Berryessa!!

    Tips: We only found one area that was "hot!' Bass were scattered all over. One point did have a lot of quality largemouth on it. Finally, some spotted bass - I think they caught three, including the big one. I had a day trip mid-week that was really slow - not the fault of the clients. The first really hot day with dead flat water - very tough! We had a one hour breeze about 10 am and the bite was pretty good - after that, very tough!!

Thursday, June 9th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 75-80

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I had another good trip Tues with a father/son pair of anglers. There was a slight breeze in the morning and a bit of high fog. The cooling trend was on its way! It burned off quickly and the bite started - with mostly smaller bass on Robo worms and topwater. After fishing Wragg Canyon, we moved out to the main body and worked walls and offshore structure. Dad showed us how it's done with his 4 lb 14 oz largemouth, caught on a morning dawn Robo worm. The bite again was best around noon, but didn't last as long as previous trips because of the wind that got pretty serious after 1 pm. Both father and son did very well catching lots of bass over 2 1/2 lbs - again - mostly largemouth with a few 2 3/4 lb smallies! One decent spotted bass. Their limit of 5 was around 16 1/4 lbs.

    Tips: The worm bite has been so good, as it was last year early in the summer, we used them most of the trip as bigger bass were eating them! No reason to waste time doing other stuff. The quality bass had moved a little deeper than previous trips and had positioned themselves a little differently. A few good areas that were holding bass were now vacant, so some movements are starting as the lake is beginning to drop, nearly 2 feet now. The main ramp at Markely was still open, but probably not for long.

Sunday, June 5th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 78

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Memorial Day weekend was perfect this year at the lake. The weather was glorious and the fishing GREAT!!!!! I went out every day and hit limits of bass using different methods but sticking mostly with a Carolina rig set up which was very productive for me. Sarah caught most of her fish trolling and landed a nice limit of bass and a 2.5 lb trout (see photos). Dan and I fished in Willie's ski school against the wall using drop shot method and within minutes he landed his first bass of the day and said "I never knew bass was so easy to catch." Bob is holding two bass a 4 pounder and a 2.5 pounder caught with a senko worm. It seems that any method we used in clear water worked well. Top water worked well in early morning. I'm looking forward to a successful summer fishing season. '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: I love pro cure scents,mostly crawdad for the worms and trout for the crankbaits love Hobie glasses to see the fish in shallow water plus more favorites that I believe when the fishing is tough makes a difference

Friday, June 3rd, 2016

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    Water Temp: 69-73

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: This is just a short report about the good bass fishing at Berryessa. I guided a nice couple that flew in from Texas to fish the lake. Fishing was very good during mid-day as a breeze came up about 11 pm - and so did the bite! We landed more largemouth than previous trips in the past several years! Between 11am and 1 pm, he landed a 5 lb 2 oz and 4 lb largemouth and I landed one at 4 lb 5 oz. Several 2 1/2 to 3 lb largemouth, Only caught 1 or 2 spots, but a few quality smallmouth up to near 3 lbs! Our 5 best a bit over 18 lbs. We caught most of our bass during those 2 hours in about 8 to 15 feet. The wind soon died and so did we (of the heat)! I also had a great trip last Friday, before the crowd hit! Fishing was excellent for many hours and nearly all bass over 2 lbs - biggest a spawn-out largemouth at 4 lbs. Smallies up to 3 lbs 10 oz hitting nearly all day!

    Tips: Last week we used Robo worms of several colors. Yesterday, morning dawn was the best color as it was last year in early summer. Yamamoto creature baits were good last week as were Senkos. Bass were a little deeper last week, Both trips were in the narrows and main body (mostly west side).

Thursday, April 28th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 63-64

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: So, where were all the rest of you on Wednesdays exciting weather event at Berryessa? There were only 3 rigs at Markley's ramp area - plus Matt Allen somewhere out there taking photos of our water spout that hit the lake in the afternoon thunderstorm! The 3 of us made it back to the ramp just as the rain and hail hit - and it was a major hit! I am no fan of lightning out on the water. As for the fishing, I had a client from Florida who now loves Berryessa! He did very well and caught is first-ever spotted bass - and several more that keep getting bigger, up to 3 lbs. Now he knows how those spotted bass fight!! He hit for the cycle too, getting a largemouth and a smallmouth. The cloud formations over the lake were absolutely amazing in the morning. As the day went on, they grew and grew, got darker and darker, it got windier and windier, and we quickly went 0 to 60 back to the dock!!

    Tips: I have to make one more comment about my last trip to Bullards Bar (see report). I have always wondered what goes through a clients mind when they are out on a famous lake - like Clear Lake or Bullards Bar (no, it wasn't always famous), and catch an amazing big bass (7lbs14oz spot) in the first few minutes ever on the lake. Something like: Wow - this IS a good lake, or, this lake is EASY, or, this guide IS great - no - probably not that thought - LOL! And who get the biggest thrill - the client or the guide? There were some scary moments until she was in the net! Anyway, back to Berryessa. We fished in the narrows mostly. I was going to head out to the main body, but the narrows bite was good and getting better. We used Robo worms most of the trip. Could net get them to touch a Senko that day. Points were no good but the steep walls would produce a nice bass here and there. We did not find any concentration of bass, maybe because of all the weather turmoil in the past few days. When I did take him out to the main body, showing him the size and layout of the lake, it was nasty - big swells! So much for the main body! Gotta call Matt - see if he made it back in one piece!!

Monday, April 11th, 2016

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    Water Temp: 67 droped to 61.5

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: From: Sidney Silberberg (bestguide@hotmail.com)
    Sent: Mon 4/11/16 10:31 AM
    To: Sidney Silberberg (bestguide@hotmail.com); lake b Peter Kilkus new (pkilkus@gmail.com)

    This time of the year is one of my favorite to go fishing the reason being that I can fish in shallow water and see the fish chase and hit the bait. Shore fisherman are doing well also because they can see the fish as they walk the shoreline and throw their bait where it will do the most good. Last weekend Jim and his son Joshua went out with me and had a good few hours out on the water and landed a nice 4 pound bass (see photo). The next day Albert and I headed out and caught a nice limit with the largest fish weighing in at 3.6 pounds (see photo). This weekend I took John out to an area of thee lake he had never been to. I showed him the bass nesting in the shallow water and there were quite a few nests he was fascinated. I went into a cove where we saw fish swimming and I cast out a Carolina rig set up and was immediately hit by a nice size bass. It was a beautiful warm day almost like summer but that evening it started to rain and the next day I went out with John and Albert wearing our rain gear and it did rain all day long. We caught a limit of fish right in the area where we launched the boat. We could see a large cement slab in the water and the fish were roaming in that area. John and Albert were drop shooting and I was using the Carolina rig and on my second rod I was using a River2Sea crawdad. Our last stop of the day was at the tree laying in the water in Willie's ski school and the amazing thing was an approximate 10 pound bass was swimming next to a one pound bass and of course we all tried our best to lure the big one or tempt her but to no avail but it was fun trying. We headed in for the day a little damp but we had a good time.
    '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: I Love pro cure scents works all the time ,if you want more fish try it the fish hold on longer to set the hook