Fishing Report – Los Vaqueros Reservoir – 6/16/2011

General Conditions

Striped bass fishing continues to be your best bet here at Los Vaqueros Reservoir with stripers averaging from 9 to 13lbs. Anglers are also catching a few big catfish, a few trout as well as some largemouth bass.

We gave away over 120 whopper mugs in May. We have given away 35 so far in June. To get a mug you can show us a picture of your fish as we appreciate the catch and release practices of many anglers.

Water conditions for fishing are excellent. The water temperature remains on the cool side at 61 degrees. Our hours are 6:00 am to 8:00 pm. Boats are due in by 6:30 pm. These will be our hours through August. Our water level is currently at 50 %. The reservoir has been drawn down to 50% for the Dam expansion work. Except for evaporation this is the level the reservoir will stay at for the next 5 months. The South entrance to the watershed remains open for fishing and other recreational activities.

Some trails are now closed for nesting Eagles. Please check with us on trail closures before heading out. The North entrance to the reservoir is closed for the Dam expansion project and will remain closed for an extended period of time. Due to construction activity near the Dam we have extended the restriction area near the Dam. Orange buoys now mark the closed area. There is still plenty of open water to fish.

We are now doing a variety of activities at the Marina which are led by naturalists. Give us a call for program details. There are programs every weekend designed for children.

Boat rentals are half off Monday through Friday’s (non holidays). You can rent a 16 foot boat for up to 5 hours for only $25. Our Patio boats are available at $50 for half a day. This is a great way to fish or just tour the lake and look for birds and animals.

California Fishing Licenses are available. Please bring your California Drivers License or I.D. for the quickest service.

Trout

Trout fishing is rated slow but we have a few exceptions each week. Trout are in great shape and averaging between 2 and 3lbs. Nightcrawlers or powerbait take most of the trout. One angler took four nice trout on Sunday; he was fishing with nightcrawlers below the Marina.

Largemouth Bass

Not a lot to report on largemouth Bass as they continue to receive very little attention. We have had very few people fishing for them as the focus is mostly on stripers.  Please practice catch and release as this is a limited resource.

Stripers

Many anglers continue to report catching stripers. We also hear many stories of big fish breaking lines. Top striper this week went an even 14lbs. Bank anglers do well on anchovies or Shad. The mouth of the south cove or any of the points near the rock wall can produce good fishing. Anglers willing to walk to the back of sunken oak cove have been successful. Rattletraps continue to produce for trollers. Hitting the points and high spots has been a good strategy. Winds hampered action for trollers several days this week.

Salmon

On May 13 Fish and Game planted 20,000 fingerling Kokanee salmon. On May 27 Fish and Game planted 40,000 fingerling Chinook salmon. These fish should provide some good fishing and excitement in years to come.

Catfish

We had catfish weighed in at 22.1lbs, 20lbs, 19.9lbs and 18lbs. We also heard of several other big fish caught and released. We are anticipating some fish over 30lbs this summer.

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