Fishing Report – Los Vaqueros Reservoir – 4/12/2011

Posted on | by Rogue Frog

General Conditions

Striped bass continue to be your best bet with a few big catfish, trout and largemouth bass providing some action. The big news was a 34.16lb striper caught by David Christeson trolling a rattle trap.

The water temperature is now 61.5 degrees and water level is currently at 50%.

The reservoir is now stabilized so the shore will be drying out. We recommend you wear some old shoes or boots for a couple more weeks. One fishing pier is open and has been a good spot to catch stripers. We have one pier closed due to the low water. With the sun out the shoreline is drying quickly.

Trout

Trout fishing is fair. We are hoping the fishing will pick up since our water level will remain the same for a while.

There still is a need to mix things up. Try different color power baits; try worm/power bait combinations. Power worms can be effective. Move locations and try different depths until you find some fish. Trollers need to change depths and locations until you find some fish.

Nightcrawlers are the best trout choice this time of year. You can float them with a marshmallow, inflate them or fish them under a bobber.

If you are bait fishing from a boat try the backs of coves and cast close to shore. Trout are often only 12 to 15 feet from the shoreline.

Largemouth Bass

We had several regulars report that they caught fish around structure all over the reservoir. A few fish were also caught off of points. Senko’s were the bait of choice. Bass fishing will improve with the warmer weather. Please practice catch and release of the larger bass. Top bass reported for the week was 3.5lbs.

Stripers

We would rate trolling for stripers as excellent for experienced anglers. Between 50 and 75 stripers were weighed in this week. Probably another 75 to 100 keepers were caught and released. Many anglers also reported releasing lots of shakers. Anglers caught fish on bait as well as trolling. As always some fisherman did well while others struggled. Trolling rattle traps, rapala’s or sp minnows were good choices. Lures should be in the 4 to 7 inch range. Silver or rainbow patterns seemed to work well. It was important to troll well behind the boat and to cover lots of water. After a fish is caught it is important to focus on that area. Fish ranged from undersize shakers to 34lbs.

Top striper was 34.16lbs caught while trolling a rattle trap at the north end of the reservoir. David Christeson was the skilled angler.

Just for fun here are some of the fish we weighed in last Saturday and Sunday:
13lbs, 14.5lbs, 8lbs, 7.5lbs, 12.3lbs, 11lbs, 15.6lbs, 34.2lbs, 13.4lbs, 16.6lbs, 3.5lbs,
9lbs,10.6lbs, 12.2lbs, 5lbs, 13lbs and 9.8lbs.

These are just a few of the outstanding catches as there were numerous other fish of all sizes. In addition many anglers do not show us their fish.

Salmon

We had 2 salmon reported this week. Top fish was 3.5lbs. Both fish were caught by anglers fishing for stripers.

Catfish

Several big catfish were caught this week. Top fish weighed in went 15.5lbs. Several other big catfish were reported caught and released. Several of these fish were estimated in the 20lb class.