Within easy reach for bay area residents Lake Berryessa has much to offer especially for the sports angler. Its black, spotted, and small mouth bass fishing is well renowned and is the source of many tournaments that take place here each year. This of course attracts more boating traffic, and as the weather warms jet skies and jet boats add to the commotion. The lake’s serene and aesthetic appeal eventually gives way to the noisy summer crowd, but that all changes as the holidays and early winter sets in.
The lake again becomes quiet and open coves may host large flocks of visiting Western Grebes. Occasionally you may see an Osprey seriously casing out a stretch of water, or it may be a flock of hovering terns, and indeed their appearance is an omen of good things to happen.
Berryessa’s face is not only changing to those picturesque postcard views that I love, but also the lake is turning over. As optimum conditions develop and the surface water cools, bait schools of thread fin shad congregate like passing clouds as they gravitate to shallower depths.
Like little flashes of glinting silver, threadfin shad have become a basic forage food for game fish in many of our lakes and impoundments. Lake Berryessa is no exception, and when the stage is right the shad schools attract roving bunches of hungry trout and salmon.
Surface Trolling
When the trout and salmon are roaming closer to the surface and attacking the shad schools, top line trolling becomes quite effective. It’s a relaxing and easy way to fish, besides being effective, and what I also like you don’t need downriggers. Don’t get me wrong, downriggers have their time and place, but its nice when you don’t have to fool with them.
On a recent trip, which turned out to be a family get to together we worked the southwest end of the lake from Cappell to Spanish Flats from the morning to early afternoon. The water was flat and clear, and there were only a few boats in the vicinity.
Basically, we had most of the place to ourselves, and when we wrapped it up we landed six very nice rainbow trout and one salmon. That’s not a monster score, but the bottom line is we had a fun outing, the weather was great, albeit a little chilly, and the executed method of shallow water trolling was basic and simple. And that’s the way I like it. That means no fuss or muss, and that also means less mistakes.
Shallow Bait Schools
Right off the bat we metered schools of shad from 5 to 20 feet down. We wanted to match the hatch as close as we could, so we rigged two stern spinning rods loaded with 6 lb monofilament with 3 inch Rapala Jointed Minnows in black & silver and dropped them approximately 100 feet off the stern. These minnow type lures run shallow, and on the long drop they were probably swimming roughly from 3 to 5 feet down.
Up front at amid ship at port and starboard we positioned two more light spinning outfits that we setup with 2 inch Rapala Shad Raps in shad color. Designed with a longer bill so that they dig in and dive deeper, these were cast out about 35 to 40 feet back. On the troll they were digging down to approximately 8 to 10 feet.
With the four lines staggered and spaced in this manner it negates the potential of tangling particularly during terns, and it allowed us to cover deeper and shallow at the same time. Also with the deployment of additional lures, it simulates a school of passing baitfish, which at times can trigger extra hookups.
Trolling Tach
Once everything was ready and rods secured in rod holders with safety lines we maintained a trolling speed of about 2 knots. Troll speed was determined by simply looking at the action of our lures. The plugs were swimming and wobbling in an enticing manner, and that’s the way trout like them. Trout are very predatory and so a lure that is active and swims with that slightly wounded look will generate surprisingly hard strikes. Had they been spinning or not tracking the way they should be, it’s a sign you’re probably going too fast, so slow down until the action looks right with the lures.
Change Lures
If you happen to have a lure that’s pulling to one side and not swimming properly even at the right troll speed, that’s an indicator its not working properly. To be honest, I have a hard time tweaking these lures so they swim true, so I just break open a package and put out a new plug.
Concentrate On The Bait
Where the bait showed the most consistently we hit that area by trolling back and forth over it. The trolling scheme was simple. It involved long passes covering substantial water and then slowly arching back and working over the bait again. Sometimes strikes would occur just as the boat was beginning its turn.
Action would come in unpredictable spurts with long dry periods in between, and hookups came on both the deeper diving Shad Raps and shallow running jointed minnows. While the action was not fast and furious, that’s fine with me because its non-pressure fishing and its just a nice way to relax and enjoy time on the water.
Barring any major storms to muck things up, fishing at Lake Berryessa should continue to be consistent. If you’re getting bored and you need to try out some of your new light tackle that you’ve recently acquired by all means head up to the lake at try your hand at top line trolling. ….
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