GENERAL CONDITIONS

We have had great weather this week, with temperatures in the high 80s, and calm wind blowing at 5mph.

CATFISH

Catfish are still being very elusive with no reports of any anglers hooking into them.

TROUT

Trout has been a hot bite recently and are still sitting in shallow waters. Most anglers are catching them on either garlic or colored Power Bait or nightcrawlers. Staff would also recommend using small spinners or smaller jerk baits, Lucky Craft, or yo zuri. Anglers have been catching trout from the south end all the way to the dam, as well as on shallow sandy beaches.

BASS

Striped bass fishing has been hot this week. Most of the striped bass we have seen are shakers, but anglers are catching to about 8 lbs. You just need to work a little harder for the bigger ones. The best spot to catch bass are out towards the dam on either anchovies or sardines. You may also try using Jerk Baits, like Lucky Craft or jigs.

Black bass are still hitting in the shallows. To catch bass, look for cover, fallen trees, weed beds and tulle patches. Best bet to catch these guys would wacky rigged Senkos, plastic crawdads on a jig head or a shallow running crank baits.

The bass are in their spawning season, so we ask all anglers to please carefully release all bass as she may be pregnant. Remember taking one pregnant fish out of the lake could possibly mean taking up to a thousand fish out of the lake. Staff and public alike want to preserve this popular sportfish for generations to come.

Angler Dr. Al Hurwitz of Saratoga and Abbey Lev of Sunnyvale trolled the lake long and hard, with no fish to show for it. One very good strike in the Narrows trolling a feathered Panther Martin some 30 feet below the surface in the early afternoon. That fish did not stay pinned. The lake level is up, but there remains some of the algae. The algae problem combined with some stiff winds and changing weather conditions made trolling extremely difficult. The fish were 20-30 feet below the surface. Water temperature on top was 65-67 degrees. We used jointed Rapalas, Rooster Tails, Panther Martins, Kastmasters, and speedy Shiners. In spite of "throwing everything at 'em", no fish in the boat. Once the algae settles and the weather stabilizes, the fishing should be very good, particularly for striped bass, smallmouth bass, and largemouth bass. We are not giving up on trolling for trout, however, and hope for some mid and late spring bites.