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16 June 23 - July 7 , 2017 VOL . 36 • ISS . 14
Lake Berryesssa , shown here at Markley Cove Resort , hosts rainbow trout , king salmon , kokanee salmon , smallmouth , spotted and largemouth bass , channel catfish , black crappie and bluegill for anglers to purse .
Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .
Open Water Trout And Crappie At Berryessa
The line popped off the downrigger clip as Les Fernandes of Fish On Charters and I trolled in the morning light at Lake Berryessa . He shouted for me to grab the light trolling rod . I pulled it out of the rod holder and carefully reeled the feisty fish in .
The fish made a few more runs before he netted it and put it into the boat . It was a beautiful , silvery rainbow measuring 15 inches long that looked like a half pounder steelhead . It had perfectly formed tail and fins and was absolutely clean , with none of the copepod ( lernia ) parasites that have plagued the fish in some years .
The fish hit a Shasta Tackle Wiggle Hoochie behind a Sling Blade at 30 feet deep off Steele
Park . We didn ’ t hook any other fish , so Les decided to pull up the lines and move to the area off the Big Island .
We caught three more fish and lost one while using Wiggle Hoochies and Micro Hoochies at 30 feet deep .
After the trout stopped biting , we pulled our lines in . As I was bringing in the rod on the starboard side of the stern , I felt some weight .
“ I think I have a fish on here ,” I told Fernandes . But when I got the fish closer to the boat , I realized it was a fat crappie , not a trout . Les netted the 14-inch crappie and I put it in the ice chest .
On the other rod , Les brought in another crappie about 13-`1 / 2 inches long . I was stoked because I love crappie – and this was the first crappie that I had hooked at Berryessa in nearly 20 years . Amazingly , both fish hit in open water , away from any major structure , over 115 feet of water . We ended the day trolling in Markley Cove , but didn ’ t hook anything there .
The fishing wasn ’ t hot by any means , but all of the fish were robust and healthy . It was great to see both beautiful rainbow trout and crappie back in numbers at Lake Berryessa , now that the lake is full from the winter and spring storms .
When I first fished at Lake Berryessa in September of 1986 , Claude Davis of Esparto wrote fishing report for Markley Cove Resort . He reported at the time that anglers were catching limits of rainbow trout while trolling in the cove and near
Les Fernandez of Fish On Charters holds up a pretty rainbow caught while trolling at Berryessa on June 6 .
Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff . the dam . I decided to call him up and prod him for a little more information and maybe go fishing with him .
“ I hear the trout fishing is really good ,” I told him when he answered his phone . “ When did you get out fishing last ?”
“ Heck , I ’ m not fishing for trout now . Trout taste like garbage . I ’ m crappie fishing off the docks everyday . My friend Buster Hertzberg and I just caught a bunch of them today ,” he replaied .
He invited me up to fish off the docks a couple of days later and I had one of most fun days fishing of my life . Claude showed me where to fish on the docks and how to work the jigs for maximum success . We caught one crappie after another .
The fish ranged from small ones up to 14 inches . I caught over 100 , myself , keeping 50 crappie ranging from ¾ to 1-1 / 2 pounds on red / white mini-jigs .
I fished for crappie with Claude many times after that . Although he preferred to catch crappie more than any other fish , he ironically become most known well known for catching trout on downriggers until he passed away over 15 years ago . I only went trout fishing with him twice , but we landed limits both times .
Unfortunately , the crappie fishing declined after 1991 , although it shows signs of revival this year with the high water conditions .
Dan Bacher , Fish Sniffer Editor , landed these two rainbows and two others , along with two bonus crappie , on a trip to Berryessa with Les Fernandes of Fish On Charters .
Photo by LES FERNANDEZ .
At that time , rainbows were the only salmonid found in the lake , other than an occasional wild brown . The fishery was managed by the DFG as a “ put and grow ” one , but the fish rarely went over 2 pounds .
Starting in the late 1990s , the California Department of Fish and Wildlife introduced kokanee salmon and then king salmon to the lake , providing a trophy fishery for kokanee , kings and rainbows .
In the past few years , anglers have noticed a sharp decline in the salmon