Los Vaqueros Reservoir Fishing Report 7/26/11

General Conditions

We did not have many changes in fishing conditions this week as anglers fishing with bait continued to score nice numbers of striped bass! Most of the bass caught range in size from 6lbs to 12lbs. Most of these fish are being caught on anchovies or shad. Trolling for stripers has slowed way down but a few anglers continue to catch fish on rattle traps and other minnow like lures. Best shore spots for stripers include the mouth of the south cove, oak point and the point between the 2 piers. Anglers fishing with bait from boats are catching stripers in sunken oak and peninsula coves.

Water conditions for fishing are still good. The water temperature is between 70 and 72 degrees at the 5 foot depth. The water temperature around 40 feet is 68 degrees.

Our water level is currently at 49%. The reservoir has been drawn down to for the Dam expansion work that started in March. The South entrance to the watershed remains open for fishing and other recreational activities.

Trout

Trout are receiving very light pressure as most anglers are going after striped bass. We have only had a few reports of some trout being caught. Nightcrawlers are probably your best bet. Try fishing them on the edge of drop offs. The trout hold on these spots to avoid the striped bass. Trout are found in surprisingly shallow water except on very hot days or in the middle of the day.

Largemouth Bass

There are not many anglers fishing for largemouth bass. We see a few caught here and there but nothing very spectacular. Senko’s are your best bet. Nightcrawlers are also a good choice. Try fishing any trees or structure you are able to locate. We appreciate you taking a picture of the bigger bass then releasing them to fight another day.

Stripers

Fishing for stripers is best early or late in the day. We have checked in 60 fish over 8lbs in the last 5 days. We figure at least another 50 or 60 were caught and not reported. Anchovies continue to be your best bet but several anglers trolling rattletraps have had success. Anglers fishing from shore are working a wide variety of shoreline and we are seeing fish being caught from the south cove to the back of sunken oak cove. Boaters anchoring off of points and casting into deeper water are also having good success on stripers. Stripers average 6 to 12lbs with fish up to 18lbs. There are still many shakers being caught, remember bass must be 18 inches to keep. Please release them quickly and carefully.

Salmon

We did not have any report of salmon caught this week although 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.

Catfish

Liver, anchovies and nightcrawlers will all take catfish. We appreciate catch and release of the catfish over 20 lbs. Some of the 1 lb range catfish we planted two weeks ago are showing up on anglers stringers. We will be putting another load of 500lbs in sometime in the next week or two. We had catfish of 20.5lbs, 17.8lbs and 12lbs checked in over the last 3 days.