FRESHWATER
22 Nov 6 , 2020 VOL . 39 • ISS . 23
Fishing , Boating Returns to Del Valle Reservoir
LIVERMORE Lake Del Valle , a popular State Water Project reservoir nestled in the Diablo Range 10 miles southeast of Livermore , reopened to limited day use , fishing , boating and camping on October 2 after being closed since March because of the coronavirus pandemic . Strict capacity restrictions are in place to limit overcrowding and maintain social distancing among visitors , according to the East Bay Regional Park District . The Del Valle Regional Recreation Area is located 50 miles from Stockton via I-205 E . “ The fishing is really good for striped bass and catfish now ,” reported Shirley Stambaugh of the Rocky Mountain Recreation Company . “ Both shore anglers and boaters are experiencing success on stripers while using anchovies and swimbaits . The catfish are hitting sardines and anchovies .” Some big stripers and catfish are being caught . On Monday , Jack Forzano landed a 20 lb . striper , the largest fish weighed in since the lake reopened , while fishing
anchovies from a rental boat at the dam . Ngoc Pham of San Jose demonstrated his angling prowess by catching a 10 lb . channel catfish , also at the dam . J . D . Path and Cooper Ruiz from San Jose had a top-notch day of fishing when they landed 3
FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY by Dan Bacher stripers and one catfish weighing a total of 23.3 . pounds . They hooked the fish while using anchovies in the Lower Narrows . “ Largemouth and smallmouth bass have been doing well also ,” stated Stambaugh . “ They are being caught near all the trees in the water and the rock cliffs .” The water is murky , with about a 4-foot visibility near the Marina . “ Once you get past the Lower Narrows it clears up and it is about a 15-foot visibility ,” she noted . The surface water temperature is holding at 72 degrees F . “ There have been no fish plants since we have been open ,” added Stambaugh . “ We do not know when
the plants will resume . The trout fishing is still tough because the water is too warm .” Also , a blue-green algae “ cyanobacterial ” danger warning has been issued for Del Valle as recent tests showed elevated levels of toxins in the water . Due to Blue-Green Algae , water contact is not recommended , especially for small children and pets , who are most likely to be affected by toxins . Swimming is not currently permitted at Del Valle due to COVID-19 restrictions . “ Park Rangers and other staff have worked diligently to develop a plan to safely reopen Del Valle in accordance with state and local COVID-19 heath orders ,” said General Manager Robert Doyle . “ The health and safety of visitors and our staff is our top priority .” “ Visitors still need to follow all social distancing guidelines from local health agencies , in particular , they need to bring masks and wear them when around others ,” added
Doyle . Del Valle is one of the largest Regional Parks in the East Bay and one of three State Parks the Park District manages . Information : ( 925 ) 449-5201 . Camping is by reservation only : www . ebparks . org / activities / camping .
Sam caught this channel catfish while bait fishing at Lake Del Valle on October 3 .
Photo courtesy of ROCKY MOUNTAIN RECREATION COMPANY .
FRESHWATER REPORTS :
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in copper or gold at around 2.7 mph . I picked up a kit from FishHuntShoot . Com and they worked just like Cal said they would .”
“ While trolling the east side of the lake my wife and I landed 7 mackinaw to 11 pounds , a 16 inch rainbow and a 25 inch brown . We kept a couple macks and let the rest of the fish go . Everything we hooked came 8 to 20 feet deep on lead core . Copper was the best color , but we got fish on gold and orange Speed Spoons too ,” Malvin concluded .
Mickey Daniels of Mickey ’ s Big Mack Charters has been successfully trolling Carnelian Bay . Mickey starts out trolling quickly in shallow water before slowing down and working progressively deeper . His clients are hooking macks running up to 8 pounds .
WEST DELTA
Striper Action Improves Despite Wind & Warm Water
PITTSBURG - While stripers are offering the best action these days , there has been a lot of talk about
fish hard industries presents :
salmon trolling . The salmon bite has ramped up and several fish per day are now being landed by trollers working the Old Sacramento River .
Salmon fishing out of Rio Vista and along the Benicia shoreline have bounced up and down and schools of kings push up the system . Anglers do pretty well for a few days and then things slow . While the water temperature is coming down , it ’ s still fairly warm and that is causing the fish to push up river quickly .
Captain David Hammond of Delta Pro Fishing has been putting his clients on limits of quality stripers every day while trolling . Hammond has been relying on Yo-Zuri deep running Crystal Minnows for most of his fish . Pluggers are scoring consistently while working water in the 3 to 6 foot depth range with Fish Traps and Rat-L-Traps . There hasn ’ t been a lot of topwater action reported as of yet .
Bait soakers are hooking stripers on chicken livers and sardine baits , but weeds continue to be a major issue for bait anglers at this time .
Anglers interested in sturgeon have been doing well in Suisun Bay . If you go salmon roe is the best choice , but eel works too .
Mackinaw are the focus at Lake Tahoe , but there are some big browns showing up too . This 6.3-pound fish was landed on October 8 .
Photo courtesy of TAHOE SPORTFISHING , South Lake Tahoe .
Fish Hard Industries To Host Catfish Gold Rush Derby
At Clear Lake This December !
Mrk your calendar for the big Catfish Gold Rush event at Clear Lake set for December 5 & 6 ! The event will be held at Redbud Park and fishing will take place between daybreak and 3 Pm each day . For all the information related to this exciting event , go to www . fishhardindustries . com .