Fishing Report – Los Vaqueros Reservoir – 4/25/2011

General Conditions

Striped bass fishing continues to be your best bet.

The water temperature is now between 59 and 60 degrees depending on weather conditions and the water level is still at 50%.

Due to construction activity near the dam, the restriction area has been extended. Orange buoys now mark the closed area. There is still plenty of open water to fish.

Trout

Trout fishing is slow to fair. We see some trout every day but there is no one hot spot. Anglers take a few fish trolling as well as catching a few fish on bait. Nightcrawlers are the best trout bait 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. Trout are in great shape and are averaging between 1.5 and 2.5lbs.

Largemouth Bass

Two anglers caught and released 7 bass on Friday. Senko’s are the bait of choice for our regular bass fisherman. Bass fishing has improved and should continue to improve once we get a stretch of warmer weather. Please release the big bass so they can spawn.

Stripers

Trolling for stripers continued to be good for experienced anglers. We saw less big fish this week but anglers did pretty well on fish from 5 to 10lbs. Anglers also caught large numbers of shakers in the 16 inch range. Remember, legal size is 18 inches. Several anglers reported catching and releasing up to 20 undersize stripers.

Anglers also caught fish on bait with anchovies and shad producing the best results. As always, some fishermen did well while others struggled to catch a fish or two. Rattle traps seemed to work best but many other lures produced fish. It is important to troll well behind the boat and to cover lots of water. Stripers are being caught all over the reservoir. After a fish is caught it is important to focus on that area. Wind kept anglers off the water a couple days last week. Call ahead if you plan to rent a boat as the spring is our windiest time of the year.

Top striper caught this week was 16.9lbs. Two fish limits were not uncommon.

Salmon

No salmon were reported this week.

Catfish

Several big catfish were caught this week. Top fish weighed in at an even 16lbs and was caught on an anchovy in Sunken Oak cove. Fishing for catfish will improve with warming water.