Angling Report - Lake Berryessa - 011/13/21 & 11/14/21
Wow what a difference a few weeks and some rain can make. I had not been to Berryessa for a few weeks as I was trying to spend some time on the Delta learning it before it got too cold to be worth my while.
I competed in a club tournament for Folsom Bass Team on the 14th. It was rough...
Just getting to the lake was a chore on Friday. White out fog made the drive up to the lake difficult. We launched around 6:30AM and had whiteout fog until 10AM. The fog was dense enough that we had to idle all the way to our first spot which took a long time. I decided that I wanted to start in the back of creek arms on the main lake. We got into one and I got a decent largemouth on a bladed jig in the grass in about 2' of water. He hammered it hard so I thought maybe I was onto something. Not another bit for a bit and then I drop shotted a smallmouth I saw on the graph on the outside weed line in 15' on a point about halfway back in the creek arm. Those were the only two fish all day. We ran around to a lot of places but didn't find much. Keep in mind I am beating the bank as I am learning the lake. While doing this, however, I keep an eye on the graph and look around to try to learn new features, etc. All of which will change as the water level drops or rises. It helps though. That is all I can say about Friday. it was Friday the 13...
Now for tourney day... Same fog as the day before however not quite as thick and we were able to run to the first spot before the heavy fog set in about an hour after takeoff. We fished our way into the back of the creek arm where I caught the largie. Nothing...
I decided we needed to fish more main lake as I was seeing a lack of baitfish and mostly suspended trout on the graph.
Wise choice. I chose a spot where the main creek channel ran up along a main lake bank. My team partner got the first fish. A decent largemouth on a dropshot in 30'. I then caught a good spot on a Keitech 2.8 underspin casting to the bank while he was casting out deeper. He also got another spot on a dropshot in another spot but I think he had cast up more shallow, maybe 5'. We then moved to a flat that had a lot of activity and I had a few bites on but no hookups the day before. Within about 5 casts I hooked into a nice largemouth on the Keitech 2.8 underspin.
I got hammered real hard on the corner of the flat, a subtle point that reached out into the main lake. It was on a spinnerbait. The fish missed or just knocked into it like smallmouth or spots like to do.
We moved to an area where I had caught some decent largemouth a few weeks prior. A main lake pocket. My team partner was fan casting his dropshot and caught a largie on the outside weedline I am guessing in the creek channel but can't say for sure as I have not graphed that area yet. With 4 fish in the boat by about noon we thought we would for sure get #5...
We fished the rest of the day from steep clay points to all over the main lake and even up Putah Creek and just could not trigger another bite. jerkabits, footbal head jigs, spinnerbaits, spoons on deep schools. Nothing worked for us.
We ended up in 7th place with 7.9 lbs. I feel like this is the time of year when things are tough and when it's most critical to figure out the lake.
- Tow Vehicle: Ford F-150 FX4
- Boat: BassCat Pantera Classic
- Motor: Mercury ProXs 200hp
- Trolling Motor: MinnKota Ultrex 80lb.
- Electronics: Humminbird Helix 12" x 2, Humminbird Mega 360, Hydrowave
- Rods: Fenwick 7'6" Med/Light Spinning
- Reels: Smoke
- Line: 10 lb. cortland braid to 6lb. leader,
- Lures used: 2.8 on Coolbaits underspin
- Pressure: no clue.
- Moon Phase: Waxing Gibbous 70%
- Weather: Whiteout fog each morning until 10am and then sunny 3-4th day of a warming trend after a cold front.
- Wind: calm to maybe a few mph?
- Air Temp: 57-70
- Water Temp: 61-64
- Water Clarity: 0-1'
- Areas targeted: Entire lake but most productive areas were smaller isolated main lake flats that had a channel swing nearby.