VOL . 36 • ISS . 14
Lake Berryessa Facts
Monticello Dam Facts : the dam is 304 feet tall , 90 feet wide at the base , and 12 feet wide at the crest . The dam spans 1,023 feet across the canyon ( Devil ’ s Gate ).
Lake Facts : the reservoir is 23 miles long at longest point , 3 miles wide at widest point , 165 miles of shoreline . The storage capacity is1.6 million acre-feet of water
History : Under the waters of Lake Berryessa lie ghost roads that once led to ranchers , farmers , miners , Native Americans , and Mexicans . The earliest dwellers of the Berryessa Valley were the Miwok and Patwin Indian tribes who lived on the valley floor along Putah Creek and its tributaries . In 1947 Solano County in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation formed the Solano Project in order to provide water to Solano County and surrounding irrigable lands .
The Solano Project : The Secretary of the Interior authorized the Solano Project on November 11 , 1948 , under the terms of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 . Construction of the project began in 1953 . Monticello Dam and the Putah Diversion Dam were completed in 1957 and the Putah South Canal was completed early in 1959 . The Monticello Dam , the Putah Diversion Dam , the Putah South Canal , and the Green Valley Conduit and distribution systems are owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and through an agreement operated and maintained by the Solano Irrigation District under contract with the Solano County Flood Control and Water Conservation District .
Public Day Use Areas : The Bureau operates , Oak Shores , Smittle Creek , and Capell Cove Boat Launch . The day use areas offer a spectacular view of the lake with picnic tables , barbeque grills , hiking trails , off-shore fishing , beach related activities and shade .
Concession Facilities : Markley Cove Marina 707-966-2134 Pleasure Cove Marina : 707-966-9600
For more information , go to : https :// www . usbr . gov / mp / ccao / berryessa / visitor-info . html
Fishing Guide Services : Trout and salmon trips are available with Les “ Tiger ” Fernandes , Voice : 707-875-2323
, Cell : 707-490- 4067 , https :// www . fishoncharter . net ,. Rich Crispi of TW Guide Service , 415-259-7071 , twfishingguideservice . com , also offers trout and salmon trips . Bass fishing adventures are available with Larry Hemphill , Fishing Guide & Instructor , ( 530 ) 674-0276 , http :// lunkerlarry . com , and Don Paganelli of ( 916 ) 502-3474 , http :// www . guidebass . com .
MAP FEATURE
Dyer Creek Dyer Creek
To Clearlake To
Clearlake
Camp Berryessa Camp BSA Berryessa BSA
Putah Creek Putah Creek
Pope Creek
Pope Creek
Green Canyon Green Canyon
Berryessa Berryessa
Harris Canyom
Harris Canyom
Anderson Canyon Anderson Canyon
Lake
Lake Berryessa Berryessa
Putah Creek Putah Park
Elevation Creek
440 Park
Elevation 440 Rancho
Monticello Rancho Resort Monticello Lake
Resort Berryessa
Rancho
Marina Lake
Berryessa Monticello Rancho
Marina
Resort Monticello Resort
Smittle Creek Picnic Area Smittle Creek Picnic Area
Knoxville Knoxville
Tully Canyon Tully Canyon
Road
Road
Reclamation Headquarters Reclamation Headquarters
June 23 - July 7 , 2017
Tin Can Canyon
Tin Can Canyon
Oak Shores Oak Shores
Spanish Flat Resort Spanish Flat Resort
Oil Well Canyon Oil Well Canyon
Canyon
Canyon
Gosling Gosling
Portuguese Canyon Portuguese Canyon
Little Portuguese Canyon Little Portuguese Canyon
Steele Canyon Road Steele Canyon Road
Wragg Canyon Road
Wragg Canyon Road
Markley Cove Markley Resort Cove Resort
Monticello Dam Monticello Dam
17
Lake
Lake Berryessa Berryessa
Napa County CA Napa County , CA
To Winters
To Winters
Steele Park Capell
Resort Pleasure
Cove Steele Park Cove
Launch Capell Resort
Pleasure Resort
Ramp Cove Cove
Launch Resort
Ramp
Turtle
Turtle Rock Rock
To Rutherford To
Moskowite
Rutherford Moskowite Corners
Fishing Notes
Corners
• King Rainbow Salmon Trout provide offer good an exciting shore and fishery boat at fishing Berryessa . Shore Fishing . Troll fishing threadfin Notes with minnows shad and and a variety nightcrawlers of minnow under imitation bobbers lures is in best the in main the body • fall King , winter and Salmon near and provide the early dam spring an exciting the . Trolling spring fishery and most summer at Berryessa productive . The fish . in Troll the generally threadfin spring and hold shad summer deeper and a than when variety the the of kokanee fish minnow concentrate and imitation rainbows lures the . thermocline Kokanee . and Use near Salmon nightcrawlers the dam grow in big , hoochies the and spring feisty , spinners and the summer lake , spoons . Expect The and fish to minnow generally catch fish plugs hold ranging behind deeper from dodgers than 14 the up and to kokanee 20 flashers inches and . long rainbows . Troll the . mouth of
in main body
Markley • Kokanee King Salmon Cove Salmon , provide dam grow , Skier an big ’ exciting s Cove and feisty and fishery Big in the Island at Berryessa lake . Good . Expect . lures Troll to catch include threadfin fish Needlefish shad ranging and from , a Sockeye variety 14 up of Slammers to minnow 20 inches , imitation Uncle long . Larry Troll lures ’ the s Spinners mouth the main of , Cripplures Markley body and Cove near , Hum , dam the Dingers dam , Skier in , Sep ’ s the Cove ’ s spring Pro and Secrets and Big summer Island . Wedding Good . The fish lures Rings generally include , tipped Needlefish hold with deeper corn , Sockeye than , behind the Slammers flashers kokanee and , Uncle dodgers rainbows Larry . Fishing ’. s Spinners , kokanee Cripplures • Kokanee bugs , Salmon Hum and Dingers Koke-A-Nuts grow , big Sep and ’ s Pro behind feisty Secrets in Sling the and lake Blades Wedding . Expect and dodgers to Rings catch , tipped fish also ranging with productive corn from , behind 14 . up to flashers 20 inches and long dodgers . Troll . Fishing the mouth of
• kokanee Markley Rainbow bugs Cove Trout , and dam offer Koke-A-Nuts , Skier good ’ s shore Cove behind and Big boat Sling Island fishing Blades . Good . Shore and lures dodgers fishing include with is Needlefish also minnows productive , under Sockeye . bobbers Slammers is best , Uncle in the Larry fall , ’ winter s Spinners and , early • Cripplures Rainbow spring ,
Trout
Hum . Trolling offer Dingers is good most , Sep shore productive ’ s Pro and
Secrets boat in the fishing and spring Wedding . Shore and summer fishing
Rings , tipped with when minnows with the fish corn under concentrate , behind bobbers flashers in is the best and thermocline dodgers fall . ,. Fishing winter and early kokanee spring bugs
. Trolling and Koke-A-Nuts is most productive behind Sling in the Blades spring and and dodgers summer when is also the productive fish concentrate . in the thermocline .
Putah Creek Putah Creek and trout fishery . Some anglers have pushed for an increase in fish plants , but in an article published this March in the Fish Sniffer , Gary Coe , President , President of of Kokanee Power , and Gary Erck , President , of CIFFI , cautioned against this , based on the data from the CDFW .
“ A study over the past 18 months has been conducted on Lake Berryessa , in the hopes of identifying why the kokanee fishery has declined there . By using water quality samples from late 2015 and through 2016 , the DFW has discovered that the dissolved oxygen content of Lake Berryessa is lower than needed for a thriving kokanee fishery . During the sample period , dissolved oxygen was measured at a level of 2 ; a level of 5 is needed for kokanee to thrive ,” they wrote .
“ The watershed that fills Berryessa is mostly rain and very little if any runoff comes from snow – thus , the water entering the lake is warmer than other lakes that receive their water from snowmelt ( think Pardee , Melones , Pedro ),” they said .
“ Speculation is when Berryessa ’ s capacity level drops somewhere below 60 % capacity , the hypolimnium of the lake is very small and that results in very low dissolved oxygen levels - causing the kokanee to die off . When Berryessa fills , the hypolimnium layer is thicker and greater dissolved oxygen is available ,” they noted .
The CDFW concluded that such a die off didn ’ t happen earlier because the latest drought was first extended one we have experienced since kokanee and kings were planted in Lake Berryessa .
The CDFW has planted around 50,000 kokanee fingerlings in the lake most years . They stocked 49,995 in 2013 , 49,994 in 2014 , 25,001 in 2015 , and 50,111 in 2016 .
King salmon plants have varied widely by year . The CDFW planted Berryessa with 178,380 king salmon in 2013 , 88,910 in 2014 , 32,440 in 2015 and zero in 2016 . It is not known whether any salmon will be planted in the lake this year , due to the lack of available fish from either Iron Gate Fish Hatchery or Feather River Fish Hatchery .
The current trout fishery is a result of spring trout plants by CDFW , as well as trout from the CIFFI / Markley trout pen-rearing project .
While king salmon , rainbow trout and kokanee salmon are taken year round at Berryessa , trollers find the best action during the spring and summer when a distinct thermocline forms . Anglers catch the kokanee on hoochies ,
Trolling for trout and salmon is popular year round on Lake Berryessa . spinners , bugs , and spoons , tipped with white corn , behind dodgers and the kokanee on rolled shad and many of the same lures as the kokanee .
When the turn over takes place in the fall , shore anglers fishing minnows and nightcrawlers under bobbers regularly hook rainbow trout in Markley Cove and other area of the lake .
Besides trout , salmon and crappie , the lake also hosts robust populations of smallmouth , spotted , largemouth bass , bluegill and channel catfish that draw many anglers to Berryessa every year .
Photo by DAN BACHER , Fish Sniffer Staff .