Bacher: Holiday Season Trout Magic at Lake Berryessa
WINTERS – The Holiday Season is a time when anglers experience some of their most magical fishing adventures of the year.
That was the case on Dec. 21 when Cal Kellogg of fishhuntshoot.com went kayak fishing on Lake Berryessa with his fishing buddy, Abdul Masar of San Rafael. It was one of Kellogg’s most memorable holiday season angling adventures.
“We launched our kayaks at Lake Berryessa at the Markley Cove boat ramp at around 8 a.m.,” said Kellogg. “I fished two rods, one rigged with a chrome Trigger Spoon and the other with a trolling fly with a metal head and shad pattern body. By the end of the trip, the two of us had caught a total of 11 rainbow trout.”
Kellogg had never fished from a kayak at Berryessa before but was impressed by the action he experienced while he was there. The two anglers fished until 4 p.m. with the best action taking place while trolling at a speed of 2-1/2 mph around the powerlines that cross the reservoir.
“The fish we landed ranged from 16 to 22 inches long,” he reported. “All were really silvery and had a lot of girth. I released all of the five fish that I caught, including my biggest fish, a 5 lb. rainbow. Masar released all of his six fish except the biggest one, a 4 lb. trout.”
Kellogg’s 5 lb. rainbow hit during the middle of the trip about a half mile below the powerline.
“It slammed the rod down so hard that I had a hard time getting it out of the rod holder,” divulged Kellogg. “The fish had incredible power and jumped at least a dozen times. The fight lasted 4 to 5 minutes. but it seemed like an hour. I was lucky I got the fish in. This trout and the other fish we caught were all pristine, square-tailed perfect fish.”
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He noted that the lake wasn’t very crowded with boats where he was fishing. “While fishing, I saw a family of otters, a coyote hunting squirrels and several bald eagles. The coyote came with one yard of getting a squirrel,” added Kellogg.
In contrast with his memorable day on the reservoir, the ride back to his home in Foresthill was an ordeal with all of the holiday traffic from Davis to Rocklin on Interstate 80.
“It was a nightmare with one big wreck with multiple cars in Sacramento on the way. To make it worse, the fog was just starting to come out,” he added.
Nate Kelsch of Big Nate’s Guide Service also reported top-notch fishing at Lake Berryessa while trolling an array of lures in his boat.
“Today I had returning client Matt and his buddy Bill out for a tutorial trip on Berryessa and they knocked it out of the park,” Kelsch stated after his latest trip. “Not knowing exactly what to expect after the storm, the plan was to cover water power trolling spoons at speeds up to 3.4 mph and it paid off.”
“My crew had their hands full battling big, healthy rainbows and even had a double and a triple hook-up at one point,” he stated. “Once again, we ended the day with limits of large-grade fish with some donkeys in the mix.”
“All fish were caught from the surface down to 27 ft. and I know of a few fish caught as deep as 40 ft. The most productive spoons were Optimizers and TBone Tackle custom spoons,” he stated.
“This is a fun time of year on Berryessa for these awesome Eagle Lake rainbows and the next couple of months should be epic as well," he added. “Camanche, Amador, Collins and Bullards Bar lakes are also fishing great, so there are quite a few options.”
Delta Striper Fishing: On Dec. 21, two anglers fishing with Don Paganelli of Paganelli’s Bass Fishing Experience found outstanding striped bass action in Broad Slough and in Sherman Lake.
“We hooked over 30 plus stripers, with four caught on Blade Runner spoons and the rest on swim baits,” Paganelli revealed. “The spoon fish were 20 to 25 feet deep and the swimbait fish were 3 to 4 feet deep. About half were keepers up to 25 inches and the rest were undersized. We got on the water at 7:30 a.m. and fished until 2:30 p.m.”
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Amador Monster Trout: If it’s giant trout that you’re after, Lake Amador is the place to go. Chris Spears of Elk Grove topped recent catches with a 15.22 lb. trout caught on the Spillway during a December trip to the reservoir. He was fishing with nightcrawlers on the spillway when the beast hit.
That wasn’t the only giant trout caught at Lake Amador this Holiday Season. Anthony landed an 11.92 lb. trout and Ricky Marquez bagged a 13.16 lb. trout while tossing Mini Jigs from shore near the clubhouse.
Brian Sackinshy also had a great day when he landed a 10.24 lb and a 6.30 lb Cutbow while tossing out a white crappie jig in “his secret cove.” He reported catching 25 fish total, but only kept two and released the others.
The latest plant of 1,000 pounds of Cutbows, ranging from 2 to 8 pounds, went into the lake on Dec. 22, reported Lee Lockhart at the Lake Amador Resort. Another trout plant is planned for this week.
Delta Tunnel Approved: Just in time for the Christmas Holidays, the California Department of Water Resources on Dec. 21 officially approved the embattled Delta Conveyance (Tunnel) project and published the project’s Notice of Determination(NOD), drawing outrage from conservation and fishing organizations.
“This holiday season, Governor Newsom is giving corporations and water brokers everything they asked for, the North State’s rivers and Delta, while leaving Tribes, fishermen, and the public high and dry,” stated Regina Chichizola for Save California Salmon. “The fact that the Delta Conveyance Project was approved just weeks after approval of the plan to build the privately owned, 1.5 million acre-feet Sites Reservoir, demonstrates the projects are interconnected water grabs. The Governor and resource agencies are selling us, and California’s environment, out to those who seek to privatize California’s rivers while claiming to be environmental leaders.”
This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Holiday Season Trout Magic at Lake Berryessa
