Weather our here at Lake Del Valle has been really cold, with mornings in the low 30s and warming up into the high 50s to low 60s throughout the day. The surface temperature this week has dropped down to 52 degrees. The hot bite has been trout with many anglers having success.

For trout, most anglers are using either power bait or mice tails. I would also recommend using either kastmasters or small spinners. Some boaters have had success trolling with spinners or small jerk baits as well.

For catfish, most anglers have been catching them in deep water channels or fishing around rock walls. Best baits to use would be either anchovies, chicken liver or night crawlers.

Our good friends Dr. Al Hurwitz and Abbey Lev came out to troll this week and here is their report. "Al Hurwitz of Saratoga and Abbey Lev of Sunnyvale trolled the lake on 12/21/17. This was the first day of winter, the shortest day of the year, and one of the coldest mornings we have ever experienced at Dell Valle (air temperature 28 degrees at 7AM). Given the stained water, we trolled with Flatfish type lures to give off plenty of vibration. We also applied scent to the lures. We were looking for Rainbow Trout, but to our amazement, we caught three Largemouth and two Smallmouth Bass, four of which were in the 1.5-2.5 lb range. The lures were trolled about 10-12 feet below the surface while flat lining. The fish were caught in two areas: on the western shore opposite the area between Heron Bay and Swallow Bay; and on the rock wall by the buoy line near the dam. The water surface temperature was 51-53 degrees. The fish fought well, but (because of the cold-water temperature) not as forcefully as during the summer months. We were quite surprised to have such a nice Bass bite on this very cold winter's day. The water was clearer than last week, and we hope to pick up some Trout soon by trolling spoons, Rapalas, and spinners as the clarity continues to improve.

See you soon. All the best for the holidays. -Dr. Al Hurwitz"

Featured Anglers of the Week for 12/19/17-12/24/17

Mike Saephan of San Jose caught one catfish that weighed 11 LBS

Plucky Phan and friend of San Jose caught 7 trout that largest weighed 5 LBS Todd Pugslet of Mt. View caught 2 trout the largest weighed 8 LBS

Tony Farris of Boulder Creek caught 5 trout the largest weighed 8 LBS Paul Yancik of Alameda caught one trout that weighed 4 LBS

Daryl Hill caught 3 trout the largest weighed 7 LBS