Where Have All The Fishes Gone?( at Lake Chabot and Los Varqueros)

Just like that Peter Paul and Mary song," Where have all the flowers gone?"The fish at all the lakes and ponds in the San Francisco Bay Area have disappeared. I went out last week to see how trolling was at Los Vaqueros on Thursday and Lake Chabot on Saturday.

Los Vaqueros had about 6 feet visibilty . The winds were light and the water temperature was 50 degrees. Perfect! Well, the fish did not think so. I trolled for five hours, used twenty different lures and did not get a hit. The fish were deep,50 feet . They would not move from that depth. So far I am 0 for four, no fish for four trips. The fish and bait are there but not the bites. I even tried casting from shore for and hour and the results were the same, nothing.

Lake Chabot was even worse. The rains had ended for 5 days. They had planted 2500 pounds of fish three days before. Most of the regulars were at the San Pablo Dam Mud Hole opener. I had the lake almost to myself, a rare thing on a Saturday. Ferne and I put out four poles and trolled for 5 hours. We got about 10 bites, but no hook ups. The longest a fish was on was 2 seconds. we did not get to feel a fish on the end of the line. It was a sharp tug and then nothing. We changed lures every twenty minutes and depths all the time. Nothing worked. I know it was not the hooks, I use only the best and keep them super sharp.

Now, the REEL REPORT on fishing at these two lakes. Lake Chabot reports GREAT fishing for trout. On Saturday, I saw 100 shore fisherpersons and only saw ONE small fish caught. Most of the people left with no fish or bites. They said at the marina that a 9+ lber. was caught that day. It was one of the only fish caught. There may be Whoppers out in the lake but the odds are not good you will catch one.

Los Vaqueros is a puzzle. If I find the key I will let you know. Now the only thing that works is to fish from shore or rent a boat, go to peninsula cove, anchor and bait fish. Trolling is just the luck of the draw. There are no patterns, no go to lures. I am going to do some research on the water quality of the lake . The lake has been stocked with fish for 10 years. There is the greatest amount of bait for the fish to eat in any lake even exceeding Clear Lake. Yet no large trout have been caught on a regular basis. Los Vaqueros should be the premiere fishing lake in California. You can not blame the few stripers for eating the trout. People keep taking them and no fry are sucked into the lake.

Well it is off to the Campbell Perk Ponds for those fighting sardines stocked by DFG this week. I guess that I will have to invest in a lunar chart to see when I should be fishing .

See you all at Race Street Fish Market for my next photo shoot. Until then, God Bless,

Ferne @ Michael

Berkley Glup Alive Baits, they are out fishing all other baits and lures at the Campbell Perk Ponds

I have been trying the new Berkley Glup Alive Baits that have come out on the market. they are a little bit expensive, hard to find, and need special care, but they are catching fish and getting bites far better than anything out their. Today I fished for three hours at those Perk Ponds and caught two fish when everyone else got nothing. I also had three other hits which I missed. This is the third time I have only used these baits, and every time I have out fished everyone else.

The baits I have used are the 3 inch gulp alive trout worms. They come in a tray of twenty sealed in a pack. These worms float unlike the power worms which do not. A great advantage for slowly bringing in the worms, swimming them along the bottom. I also use the 6inch nightcrawlers when the fish want something bigger. Of course I cut them in half so as not to gag the fish.

For the Perk Ponds the bubble gum pink seem to work the best. I fish them on a water bobber with a 6 foot leader of mono, flurocarbon sinks do not use it if you want the worm to float. I cast it out as far as I can and either leave it or drag the worm back slowly. some days the fish like it still, other days like today, they wanted it moving.


When you are done fishing you need to put the worms back in some Gulp liquid. It recharges the worms and keeps them from drying out. I spray some Gulp in the tray place it in a zip lock baggie and then put all of my Gulp in another larger baggie. I have had leaks in the single baggie and the liquid does not smell like a Spring Day!

Berkley makes a power gulp bait dough which has the same attractant but it needs to be mixed with regular power bait as it is really soft and falls off the hook. I have used the worms when trolling with great results Just hook one one the back hook and hold on. I do not recommend any products unless I test them and they work at least twice as good as anything else. So Berkley if you are reading this, I will test some products for you,but be forwarned I do not recommend anything which does not workFor this is the REEL REPORT.


Until the salmon start to bite at Los Vaqueros,

God Bless, Ferne @ Michael

World Record SMALLEST Trout.

If you want to catch a world record trout, be it the world's smallest, go to the Campbell Perk Ponds.
Fish and Game have planted the smallest trout I have ever caught in a lake. The photo shows a normal coffee mug next to a 5 INCH trout. I just wanted to let you in on a once in a life time chance to catch that once in a life time trophy.

Until that next trophy photo,

God Bless
Ferne@ Michael

How NOT to catch fish in January

You know that old saying,"You should have been here last week. The fish were really biting." well that is exactly what happened to me for the entire month of January. I was an hour late at the Campbell Perk Ponds twice. The fish hit anything for the first hour and then disappeared. When I got there two hours after the plant, no one was catching anything. I tried lures , flies, gulp worms in my favorite colour, pink. I managed one small trout, had a great time practicing casting and got a lot of exercise walking the pond. Same thing happened at Sandy Wool, we got there late had about ten short hits and left with our shoes loaded with the stickiest mud known to man. This stuff does not come off. It bonds to your shoes. If you go after a rain, bring a second pair of shoes.

We read about the offer of a 1/2 day boat rental for catching a salmon at Los Vaqueros, so off we went on a beautiful windless day. I even brought the down rigger. Located bait at 80 feet. Salmon do not show up on my fish finder so I look for bait and fish at that depth. Four hours with four poles at four different depths got three people nothing. So back to shore we went. Around 3:00 the trout at Los Vaqueros start coming into shallow water. We got off the boat ,spotted the fish and began casting cast masters with a line counter reel. This is not for the novice. One mistake and you have the worlds worst birds nest. Between tangles we managed ten fish between one and two pounds in about twenty minutes All were released except one trout which swallowed a 1/2 oz. cast master.

But the worst was when Ferne and I went to Quarry Lake in Fremont. We had heard from reliable sources that the fish had finally begun to bite. Most people caught their limits with bait or lures. That was LAST week. We set up on fisherman's row. We did not see any fish caught or any stringers in the water. Bad signs, but we put out two poles with bait and began casting with the other two. The trout on bait would be put in the garden, any on a lure would be let go. I do not like to let go any fish caught on bait . They usually do not survive. Within ten minutes the bait pole showed a hit , then nothing. The line would go out for a few feet and then stop. The fish spit out the bait. Lures were no better, I got short strikes and follow ups but no hook ups. I finally managed to get one on Ferne's pole. She was too busy playing a game on her i pod to reel in the fish. This 2lb. 2 oz. trout was our only fish of the day. It was caught on garlic and cheese flavored power bait. A real gourmet trout.

So do not believe the reports on line or in the paper, they are old reports. The only sure thing has been at Los Vaqueros after 3:00 to the right of the boat dock. They have been there for the whole month of January. But beware February is Super Bowl Sunday!

Remember if you see two people carrying one thousand pounds of fishing gear with one of them playing with their i-pod, go somewhere else. The fish have stopped biting,we arrived too late.


Until the next new moon.... God Bless(for my Dad),

FERNE @ MICHAEL

THE COMPLETE ANGLER Every thing you need to catch fish in the California Bay area

While the weather is causing the trout in the South Bay to bite lightly or not at all, I will show you the BASIC tackle needed to be a successful fisher person. First of all, you will need a few thousand lures. You will need a box or three of the basic minnow imitations from Rapala or Storm or any of the dozens of makers. Limit yourself to the hundred best makers, and no more than five models in assorted sizes. If the fish refuse those you go to the box of metal lures like reef runner or Shasta tackle. If you still get no bites do not despair you have hundreds of more choices. You can use swim baits, spoons like Michigan Stinger in any or all of the one hundred colours. You can add jigs or flies and jig flies. By now you see that you will need a loan to buy all of your lures. But catching a trophy, PRICELESS!

If you fish from a boat, you will need a larger loan. You have to have in no particular order, pole holders, Nor-East is the best and will last a lifetime. A word of caution, do not use cheap holders unless you want to lose your reels and poles. Speaking of poles you will need specialized poles and reels. These not only are necessary but they look great on your boat. You will need line counter reels and long flexible poles. to fit on your downrigger. A downrigger is a device to put your lures at the exact depth the fish are holding. To know this depth you need a fish finder. This is a sonar device which shows depth and fish and structure under the boat. The more you pay , the better the picture on the screen. Rounding out the tackle, you need a colour selector. It lets you know what colour is the most visible at a particular depth. Trolling motors to slow your speed. A drift sock to slow your drift when not trolling. Leadcore reels when you do not want to raise and lower 8lb. weights on the down rigger. The final thing is a small fork lift to carry all of this gear to your boat, which should be large enough to hold the 1000 lbs. of tackle.

Fishing from shore? Different rods and reels. Various spinning reels from ultra light for trout to heavy for catfish. If you like to fly fish get a second job to pay for your specialized tackle and fly tying station. You will need smaller lures and spinners like Panther Martins and a whole boat load of baits. Gulp trout baits, gulp worms, grubs and every creature known to man in every colour there is. You don't want to be without the one colour the fish are hitting. I will tell you what colour to use but I will not give you some. You need to be prepared.

Rounding out your gear, line, hooks, weights, (non lead), leaders, sunglasses, fishing clothes, nets, rain coats, and finally scents. You need at least twenty different kinds . It may not help but the other fisherpersons will think you're a pro.

Well, that is your basic tackle needs. You need it all to be successful. Just do not get mad at me when the kid fishing next to you with a cane pole and worm catches all the fish!


So use part of your unemployment check to start your collection. Remember the camera to photograph your trophy and a fillet knive to clean your nonnative hatchery, artifically hormone fed fish, released in toxic waters for all to catch and eat.

Let me know your favorite lures, I most likely have 5 of them already. Until the weather gets better.

God Bless,

Michael & Ferne
(Ferne has only one pole of her own.).