The weather this week was pretty decent besides the wind it was warm and nice to be out at the lake. Water clarity is about five feet at the docks but gets better as you go out and the temperature is 76 degrees. We are starting to see the bait balls of Shad and that means boils! Stripers are beginning to really boil especially in the afternoons over by the reeds in front of the Marina or wherever the balls of Shad are. Top waters, Rat-L Traps, jerk baits or swim baits would be best to use during those boils. They are still biting on Anchovies over at the Dam or at the Narrows, but still getting a lot of shakers reported too. Catfish will be biting on Chicken Livers, Sardines, Anchovies or just any stink bait around Heron Bay, the Narrows, and the South End. Largemouth will bite in the morning with top waters but once the sun comes up they go down deep. Same for smallmouth except you are more likely to catch one in the afternoon if go down about 20 feet or lower. Al is still having good luck with Panther Martins and made a note that they were coughing up threadfin shad and to match those shad. There was no plant for this week and happy fishing!


Doc Al's Fishing Report
Al Hurwitz of Saratoga and Abbey Lev of Sunnyvale had what was probably the best smallmouth bass fishing experience of their lives today. We caught 33 fish, 32 of which were smallmouth, and one of which is striped bass. All fish were returned to the lake. The smallmouths are averaged 3/4 lbs. There were five smallmouth between 1-1.5 lbs. and five over 1.5 lbs., with the largest weighing 2.5 lbs. The fish were caught all over the lake. but 90 percent were hooked up by the dam area. We were trolling panther Martin Spinners 20 feet below the surface in a 30-35 foot water column. Water temperature was 76-77 degrees at the surface, and the water clarity was excellent, making it easy for the fish to see the lures. The feeding activity of the Bass was very aggresive, and once hooked, they occasionally regurgitated Threadfin Shad which they were actively ingesting. I suggest using spinners, plugs, and plastics the size and color of Threadfin Shad and applying Shad scent. Try to get the lures down 20 feet below the surface, particularly as the day warms up. If trolling, stay near structure and cover favored by the smallmouths. I did speak to some fisherman who were catching smallies on the surface with plugs and poppers --- probably a good techniques early in the morning. In my opinion, Lake Del Valle is fast becoming one of the best smallmouth bass fisheries in California and will likely yield some very big record size smallmouth in the years ahead.