Fly Fishing in Bait Dunker Reservoirs?

[michaeln]

I'm itchin' to go fishin' since recovering from that little bout with double pneumonia I developed after my last trip to Baum Lake (with a $37,000 stay in the hospital).

I am pretty much recovered although not back to full strength yet. I intend to go up to Lake Davis right after the beginning of May, but in the meantime I would like to hit someplace closer. Having been recently laid off, I can go on weekdays when the crowds are down.

There are a lot of low elevation lakes within a couple hours of me (I live in San Francisco), but they are pretty much put & take planter fisheries where most people either dunk PowerBait or worms from the shore or troll with downriggers and 100 yards of chrome spinning flashers. I want to fly fish from my pontoon boat, but I wonder if it's pointless to do so on reservoirs like San Pablo and Del Valle?

The water in those places seems to perpetually be kind of murky with 2-3 foot visibility. Is there much chance that the rubber trout will show interest in nymphs or streamers or buggers in those lakes?

[David Lee]

I hope your recovery went smooth -

Try here - pretty close to home , and not so much pressure .

http://www.kiene.com/reports/lakes/solano.shtm

D.~

[michaeln]

I hope your recovery went smooth -

Try here - pretty close to home , and not so much pressure .

http://www.kiene.com/reports/lakes/solano.shtm

D.~

Thanks David... been researching it since your post and I think it suits me nicely. I will try to get out there mid-week and will report back.

[Darian]

How about the reservoirs in Marin County (at least 3 that I recall) or some of those in the south bay area (Calero, Chesebro, Uvas, etc.) for warm water fishing :?: :?: If you don't mind a little travel, try Spring Lake near Santa Rosa (Black Bass....). Plenty of water that isn't full of water skiers in the bay area.... :nod:

[michaeln]

Good suggestions, Darian, but I am not really set up to fish for bass and warmwater species. Only have two rods, a 4wt and 5wt, and my strong preference is for a coldwater fishery.

Thanks much for the suggestions though!

[David Lee]

Just another thought here ....

Your 4 and 5 wts. will serve you just fine for just about any Bass fishing (Bass don't much care what kind of gear you use) you would be likely to do - Smallmouth and Spotted Bass are a scream to tangle with , and are found in most local lakes . You catch them pretty much the same way (I lines , Buggers , etc.) as you would stillwater Trout .

Try it sometime , it's a ball !!

David

[Hibbygibi]

Forget Marin. You cannot get in the water in any of these resevoirs




How about the reservoirs in Marin County (at least 3 that I recall) or some of those in the south bay area (Calero, Chesebro, Uvas, etc.) for warm water fishing :?: :?: If you don't mind a little travel, try Spring Lake near Santa Rosa (Black Bass....). Plenty of water that isn't full of water skiers in the bay area.... :nod:

[michaeln]

Forget Marin. You cannot get in the water in any of these resevoirs

I don't understand. Can you elaborate, please?

[michaeln]

Try it sometime , it's a ball !!

I will, thanks.

[michaeln]

Doing more research on Lake Solano, and it seems they stopped stocking it with hatchery trout in 2008. There is no longer any stocking of Lake Solano at all. Any fish you catch in there now are wild / native trout, likely the brood stock for Putah Creek.

Has anyone here fished Lake Solano recently?

[Hibbygibi]

You are not permitted to put any kind of boat in any reservoirs in Marin County



I don't understand. Can you elaborate, please?

[michaeln]

Well, although I really appreciate the Solano recommendation, I don't think I want to deal with the NZMS infestation issue. My boat, an NFO Outlaw Rampage, has some drain holes in the underside that are part of the self-baling feature. Unfortunately, lots of small stuff comes in through those holes. I always find lots of leaf bits and little pieces of wood and stuff down there, and it is a place that would be pretty much impossible to clean thoroughly. Water can get in there, but I can't get my hands into all the little areas the water can get to.

NZMS can live up to 25 days with their shells closed, and I intend to visit Lake Davis within about that timeframe. I don't want to be the guy who introduced NZMS to Lake Davis, so I am not going to go to Lake Solano.

I am back to thinking maybe Del Valle instead. Weather is supposed to be nice mid-week, and at least the hardware and bait guys have been slamming some big trout there. Maybe I can find one or two grabs.

Thanks to all for your suggestions.

[rylcrawford]

Just moved from SF to the east bay and went out to San Pablo for the first time last week. Was only on the water from 3-5p, but rented a boat to get away from all the shore anglers.

Managed a chunky planter that went about 15 inches on a wooly bugger. Definitely plenty of room on that res to get away from bait guys and trollers, give it a try.

[michaeln]

I arrived at Del Valle this morning for my first visit to the place at about 6:30AM. It was cold, completely overcast and a cold north wind was blowing steadily. It never stopped all day and got pretty annoying after a while.

I set up my NFO Outlaw Rampage pontoon boat and started trolling the shoreline with a large streamer fly (actually an olive bunny leech that I had tarted up with olive krystal flash on top and pearl krystal flash on both sides, it looked GREAT in the water) on my 5wt rod and a type 2 sinking line with about 25' of 3x flourocarbon leader (approximating the Jay Fair trolling system) at about 7:30AM (I'm slow setting up!). I was rowing the boat (have no motor) and finally had a fish climb on as I rounded a point north of Hetch Hetchy. Nice fish but not a hog, it was a 16-17" rainbow. It put up a pretty wimpy fight though, I ended up stripping it in all the way and never got it on the reel.

I'm a catch & release guy, so I released it. No more hits for the rest of the day and I quit around 2PM because the wind never died down and was in fact picking up. Plus I am old and feeble and had been rowing steadily for literally hours... I was tard!

Everyone I spoke to had either caught nothing or only one, although I saw one guy going to the fish cleaning station with a stringer of 12-18" trout.

Despite the mediocre fishing results, I was really impressed with the place. It's gorgeous this time of year with the green grass and all the oak trees with full foliage, wild flowers all over. I think they really maintain it well too, the restrooms are clean, the picnic areas were clean too.

I'll be back and give it another try.