Author: Rogue Frog

Los Vaqueros Reservoir Fishing Report 10/12/11

Posted on | by Rogue Frog | 49 Comments on Los Vaqueros Reservoir Fishing Report 10/12/11

General Conditions

Our water level is currently at 50% (the reservoir has been drawn down to this level to allow for the Dam expansion project). The last day for boat rentals and marina operations is Sunday October 9. Shoreline will continue to remain open for fishing. Stripers continue to provide the best fishing action. We will have some bait and tackle available at the entrance to the watershed.

Dam Expansion Updates & Closures

The North entrance to the reservoir continues to be closed and will remain closed into the spring of 2012 as expansion work on the dam continues.  At the south entrance to the watershed the Rockwall parking lot is now closed as well as fishing access west of Oak Point.  All access to the trails past the Rock Wall is also closed. These areas will remain closed indefinitely. This work is the preparation needed to relocate the marina facilities.

Boat are no longer being rented due to construction. Boat rentals will start back up in the spring of 2012.  The Marina building will also be closing on October 9.  Parking is limited to South Cove parking lot and the shoreline is only accessible via South Cove shoreline.

Shoreline fishing will continue to be available from Oak Point east to the South Cove. The South side of the reservoir will remain open for shore fishing and other recreational activities through most of the expansion period. Some bait and tackle will be available at the entrance to the reservoir. Please call (925) 371-2628 for specific up-to-date information.

Trout

Trout fishing continues slow. Most anglers are concentrating on striped bass. A few trout have been caught on nightcrawlers. Trout fishing should improve with cooling weather and water.

Largemouth Bass

There are not many anglers fishing for largemouth bass. The anglers that do target them continue to catch fish. Senkos are your best bet. Watermelon or purple are good colors.

Stripers

We continue to see stripers every day although fishing continues to be an up and down affair. We see anywhere from 5 to 15 keeper stripers every day. Many shakers continue to be caught.  Anchovies continue to be your best choice for bait, shad will also take stripers. The average striper is between 6 and 12 lbs.

Remember striped bass must be 18 inches to keep. Please release them quickly and carefully.

Salmon

No Salmon were reported last week.

Catfish

Liver, anchovies and nightcrawlers will all take catfish. We appreciate catch and release of catfish over 20 lbs. There were several nice sized catfish caught from the shore last week.

Lake Camanche Fishing Report 10/12/11

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General Conditions

Lake Camanche’s current elevation is 218.85 feet above sea level. The inflow from Lake Pardee is currently at 716 c.f.s. The spill is at 0 c.f.s. The outflow from Lake Camanche is currently 1612 c.f.s. The lake is 72% full & the water temperature is 71 degrees.

News Flash!

Sometime this week, there will be 20,000 lbs. of trout that will be planted between both shores prior to releasing the 10 tagged fish for the Trout Derby this Saturday. Starting November, between both shores and the trout pond, there will be 10,000 lbs. planted each month until May.

Weekly Weather

North & South Shore
Sunny to partly cloudy all week with lows in the mid to high 50’s and highs in the high 70’s to low 80’s.

Trout

One of our locals, Bruce Jennings, has been catching limits while trolling on the lake from the North Shore marina towards the dam off and on all week. The Day Use point at North Shore is starting to populate with anglers and we are getting reports of limits being caught using chartreuse or rainbow colored power baits. The “rockwall” just before the narrows produced a limit of trout last week. Anglers there reported using worms and flashers.

Bass

No reports of bass this week. If they are being caught, no one is talking.

Lake Chabot Fishing Report 10/12/11

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General Conditions

Several good size catfish are still getting pulled out with late into the fall season.  Nice cool weather is expected to upcoming week.  The lake remains a little muddy from the rain this past week but is expected to clear up later on this week.  Trout fishing is slowly getting better and better with a few reports of trout getting pulled out from both shore and on boat.  Reports of catfish are getting caught over by Halfmoon bay and the Island using mackerel.  Last week Mt. Lassen planted 500 lbs. of trout by the marina and we are expecting another plant later on this week from Mt. Lassen.  So far we have received over 2,500 lbs of trout.  Water level is about 6 feet from spillway and it’s been staying constant.  When you bring in your big fish we’ll get your picture and give a “Lake Chabot Whopper Club” hat.  Water temperature is consistently dropping and is currently in the low 60’s. If you have any questions please call or visit the marina.

Trout

This week the weather is cooling down a little so fishing for trout should pick up.  For all the trollers out there make sure you put on a lure that dives deeper than 10 to 20 feet deep.  Drift fishing is also another good way to pull out trout, especially back by the dam to half moon bay.  We did plant last week of 500 lbs. of trout from Mt. Lassen but only a few fish were reported caught.  We will continue to plant trout for fall, winter and spring.  If you going to bait fish for trout make sure to go down by the dam using Powerbait and Powereggs is your best chance to catch a trout. Fishing has picked up on the west shore trail from the first dock to The Burner.  We will be getting weekly stocks until spring of next year.

Bass

Bass fishing is picking up with several bass getting caught daily, bass are hitting mostly in the early mornings and evenings mostly on plastics.  Most of the anglers are throwing Senko’s and drop shots to get the fish to come out from their close to shoreline structure. Several reports of bass were getting caught over by raccoon point and bass cove by using top water lures in the morning and plastic lures off the bottom in the afternoon.  Livewells can be provided upon request thanks to Walton’s pond.  Please practice catch and release for bass, as they are not stocked into the lake and their population depends on you.

Catfish

The weather is starting to cool down so is the catfish bite will began to slow down. We’ve received over 5,500 lbs of catfish this summer. Five weeks ago Mt. Lassen put in 500 lbs. of catfish into Lake Chabot, that is the last catfish plant for the summer. Catfishing is still doing pretty good up until mid to late October.  Ken Kruse has caught two fish over 9 lbs in the past week using mackerel.  In the past couple years some of the bigger sized catfish usually get pulled out around this time frame, so make sure you have good heavy line. Current hot spot for catfish is back in Halfmoon Bay, Bass cove and around the Island. The first dock at night will be great spot to fish for catfish, so make sure to come out early and claim your spot.  Using mackerel and chicken liver have been a great bait to help anglers catch their limits and the less weight you can get away with the better.

Whoppers

Ken Kruse of San Lorenzo caught a 9.25 and a 10 lb catfish last week using mackerel near the Island.

Los Vaqueros Reservoir Fishing Report 9/13/11

Posted on | by Rogue Frog | 46 Comments on Los Vaqueros Reservoir Fishing Report 9/13/11

General Conditions

Stripers continue to provide the best action at the reservoir although fishing has slowed down when compared to the action a month ago. Water conditions for fishing are still good. The surface temperature is 72° and the temperature at 45 feet is 68°. Our water level is currently at 50% (the reservoir has been drawn down to this level to allow for the Dam expansion project). We are now doing a variety of naturalist-led activities at the Marina every weekend. Give us a call for program details.

Trout

Trout fishing is rated slow. Most anglers are concentrating on striped bass. Try nightcrawlers or Power Bait on the edges of drop offs. Often times the trout hold on the shallow side of these drop offs. One angler had success fishing a crawler/powerbait combo under a bobber.

Largemouth Bass

There are not many anglers fishing for largemouth bass. The anglers that do target them continue to catch fish. Senkos are your best bet. Watermelon is the favorite color plastic bait of many of our regular anglers. Try casting Senkos to the base of trees in 5 to 10 feet of water. Nightcrawlers are also a good choice. Try fishing any other structure you are able to locate. We appreciate catch and release of the largemouth bass.

Stripers

Fishing for stripers is best early or late in the day. We continue to check in stripers every day although fishing has slowed down when compared to a month ago. We see anywhere from 5 to 20 keeper stripers every day. Anchovies continue to be your best choice for bait, shad will also take stripers. Anglers fishing from shore are working a wide variety of spots and we are seeing fish being caught from the all open shoreline. Boaters are doing very well by anchoring off of points and casting into deeper water. Boating anglers are taking stripers from all over the reservoir. We are clearly seeing a wide variety of results. Some boats come in with no striper keepers then the next boat has 3 anglers with 6 nice stripers. Anglers trolling rattle traps are taking a few fish. There are still many shakers being caught, remember bass must be 18 inches to keep. Please release them quickly and carefully.

Salmon

We rarely see anglers targeting salmon this time of year. Trolling as deep as possible (30 to 60 feet) might be worth a try. There is no doubt the salmon are holding in the deeper/cooler water. We should start to see more salmon by the end of September.

Catfish

Liver, anchovies and nightcrawlers will all catch catfish. Most catfish are caught by anglers fishing with anchovies for stripers. We appreciate catch and release of catfish over 20lbs. Some of the 1lb range catfish we planted last month continue to show up on anglers stringers.

Lake Camanche Fishing Report 9/13/11

Posted on | by Rogue Frog | 49 Comments on Lake Camanche Fishing Report 9/13/11

General Conditions

Lake Camanche’s current elevation is 222.51 feet above sea level. The inflow from Lake Pardee is currently at 11 c.f.s. The spill is at 0 c.f.s. The outflow from Lake Camanche is currently 501 c.f.s. The lake is 78% full & the water temperature is 72 degrees.

Trout

You must go deep… 35′ trolling. Powerbait Works great and is available in our market. Good bank fishing on the far side of the Peninsula at North Shore.

Bass

15 minute “Hot Window” at sunrise and sunset. They’re tenacious with Reapers, Crawfish, Tubes & Frogs.

Catfish

Good bank fishing on North Shore, between Marina and the day use area. The stinkier the better! Chicken liver wrapped in cheese cloth works well.