Located between Hwy 24 and Interstate 80 on San Pablo Dam Road, San Pablo Reservoir has much to offer. Besides offering aesthetic views of the scenery and local wildlife it is close and easy to get to for most bay area residents, and it has a little bit of everything for the sport angler to sample and enjoy.
While not a huge body of water by any means, it is stocked with white sturgeon, catfish, crappie, black bass, and rainbow trout. The latter by far is the most plentiful due to weekly and generous stocks, and the size of the planters will surprise you. Fish pushing the scales from a pound to well over ten pounds roam this urban body of water, and while they were borne in the confines of a concrete hatchery, nevertheless the gene to fight is clearly evident in these fish. Many of these bigger trout upon feeling the bite of the hook will jump and run with determined agility, and just when you think the towel is about to be thrown in, they’ll take off on another darting run. You definitely can’t let your guard down when dealing with San Pablo trout.
Basically, there are two common techniques employed on this body of water, bait fishing on the bottom and trolling. The former is by far the most common and popular method, and it’s the cheaper route to go. You pick a cozy spot and park your butt right there. Anglers will fish from both shore and boat, and the offensive simply involves still fishing on the bottom with any number of popular baits. Power Bait by far is the most commonly used.
Bait fishing takes a lot of fish, and if you’re one of those contented couch potato types, this more sedentary style of fishing may appeal to you. But if you’re one of those nervous individuals who starts getting fidgety in a short time like myself, and you need that change of scenery to stay focused trolling is the way to go. Regardless of the technique you decide to go with, the early morning definitely is the best time to fish.
San Pablo itself offers ideal trolling conditions. Its big enough to allow a boater to make long tachs, and if you need room to circle back to a productive spot you’ll have ample space to do it. It’s also loaded with threadfin shad that often school near the surface. This protein rich food source triggers the predatory habits, especially of the bigger rainbow trout, and thus top line trolling with plugs can be highly effective and fun.
On our most recent trip in mid March between my brother Angelo and I we ended up with eight fish on the troll dragging plugs. Five of our biggest ranged in size from 3 to 7 pounds, while the three smaller fish were in the 14-inch range. Most of the action took place from the mouth of Scow Canyon to the dam.
Our game plan was simple and easy to setup, and better yet we didn’t need the aid of downriggers. For starters our basic trolling tackle consisted of a light action spinning rods paired with Penn 420 Spin Fisher spinning reels loaded with 6 lb monofilament. To minimize twist and spin, on the end of the line small ball bearing snap swivels were knotted on. The lure of course is then connected to the snap.
Our choice of artificials included: shallow running 3-1/2 inch F9 black & silver Rapalas and two inch SR-5 Shad Raps in natural shad color. Working four lines total, and to present a staggered spread in depth coverage, and to prevent tangles, the shallow running Rapalas were setup on a pair of stern rods and positioned about 90 to 100 feet back. The Shad Raps designed to run deeper, dig down roughly 8 to 10 feet due to their larger plastic lips were positioned amid ship of our skiff and placed about 40 to 50 feet out. Troll speed was adjusted so that both the shallow running and deeper diving plugs were working properly. If they’re tracking in a straight line and swimming in an enticing manner without spinning, that’s what you want.
Our trolling pattern was pretty basic. Long straight tachs were the rule, however, if we saw good bait concentrations holding shallow as indicated by our Lowrance LCX 26 Depth Finder we would crisscross back and forth over that area. The same was true if we were receiving short hits in a particular spot.
We also kept a sharp eye on swirling or jumping trout. That’s usually the tip of the iceberg as there are probably more fish below, and typical of recently stocked fish they gather in tight schools, and indeed staying alert proved productive. When we’d see a fish jump, trolling in that area often produced action. In fact that’s how we nailed our two biggest fish.
We also made it a point to stay away from any boating crowd, particularly with boats that were just joy riding through the area. This by the way is part of the San Pablo scene, but more so during a warm weekend. My feeling is that this pressure and increased surface disturbance may put the fish off the bite, especially if you’re trying to get bit on trolled artificials.
Of special interest we also kept close watch on any Ospreys. Stocked trout that are still adjusting to their new environment and totally unaware to the dangers from above are like sweet candy to these beautiful birds of prey, and one particular individual that we observed was constantly false diving by the dam, but coming up short.
Suspecting that this bird was swooping at trout that were just out of its reach, we trolled to the area. A short time later we received a couple of hits, and then a pair of 2 pound fish.
If you want to try an easy and simple approach and one that’s effective on our urban bay area lakes, try top line trolling with plugs. I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. (End)
Hi’s Tackle Box in San Francisco has the needed tackle if you’d like to try your hand at top line trolling for San Pablo trout.
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