Trolling spinners DO catch fish in lakes

There is a joke about trolling spinners on the Fishsniffer trout board. When ever anyone says what did you catch them on the reply is SPINNERS! They mean grubs or other lures. Well, I took a trip to Los Vaqueros yesterday and proved that SPINNERS do catch fish when trolled. You do need to do a few things to the spinners. First you need the right spinner. I use WYLD EDGE spinners from Oregon. They are designed for steelhead fishing in rivers. They have a heavy body and two ball bearings around the blade which reduce line twist. A single heavy wire hook holds any fish. The colours are GREAT. I would not use anything else. You attach the WYLD EDGE spinners to a dodger. I use UV SEPS and SHASTA TACKLE brands ,they troll at a faster speed because of their shape. The spinners are 18 inches back from the dodger. I apply some Pro Gel or Bass Wax to the dodger and the spinner. I let out two colours of lead core and then let out 90 feet more of braid. The lures are 10 feet down and 130 feet or so in back of the boat.

I put on two of these rigs and set out trolling Los Vaqueros. The first time some fish showed up on the fish finder. I got a hit on one pole then the other. The fish just kept hitting, and getting hooked. the trout were in 10 to 35 feet of water and would come up to gobble the spinner. This is the first time that I saw fish on the screen and they bit the bait. They were not great size, about one pound. But they never stopped . I tried putting on other lures like CripLures, but the fish only hit the spinner rigs. With the single barbless hooks ,it was easy the release the fish.

So try spinners, they DO catch fish.

Until I take this rig to Del Valle. God Bless,

Michael & Ferne

GIANT BROOK TROUT at Los Vaqueros

Finally broke my 0-four streak at Los Vaqueros. I switched work days so I could be there when the 3000 pound stocking took place. I arrived at 11:00 am. and rented a boat. The stock was about 1/2 hour away ,so I trolled around the marina until the truck arrived. I was not expecting any hits when one of the poles with a criplure on got hammered. The drag sang out , but the fish got off,too lean a drag. But that was a good omen. The truck arrived and began dumping the three tanks full of trout. I slowly trolled past the truck, looking for fish. I saw the fish but they had gone up into the no fishing zone creek. Smart fish. I positioned the boat off a sharp dropoff ,50 yards from the fish and anchored. I began casting large flies and then x-raps. No hits, so I switched to spoons. I got a few bumps but no hook ups. I switched to a brightly coloured Little Cleo. I got it for 88 cents at Cabelas. The first cast and fish on. For the next four hours I caught fish after fish. About every thirty fish or so I would get one that just stayed down and swam any way it wanted. When I got it to the boat, I saw this big brown speckled fish. It turned out to be a LARGE brook trout. It was one of the breeders from the plant,full of eggs and ready for my tomatoes. (The breeders make great fertilizer). Final total sixty or so small trout from 1/2 to one pound and three breeders, a 4.85 brookie, a 4.38 brookie and and a 3.25 rainbow. Three fish totaling 12.48 pounds!

Every Tuesday in April they will be having large plants at Los Vaqueros. So get going. The boats are great and priced right.,$25.00 for five hours. If the fish are not so smart as these, you can catch them from the shore.So get out there. If I bring Ferne,you will not have many to catch after she gets through catching twice as many as I do.

Now if the King Salmon were so easy......

For my dad,God bless

Ferne @ Michael

Settle for SMALL trout in the Santa Clara Valley

We just got back from a short trip to Sandy Wool Lake . The small pond was stocked with the usual three to a pound planters. They were all chased to a shallow corner and would not leave. There was room for six people only. No room for us. So we went to the opposite shore about 60 yards away and cast as far as we could with a water bobber and fly. One hour later we caught one and missed two. the one caught was full of eggs , just ripe to plant in the garden.

No room still so we watched the hang gliders and fluff topped duck . Then we went to the garden to bury the trout under a tomato.

This is the way it is going to be, small fish caught for a few days. Than wait for the next plant.

This is not how I want to fish. So it is off to Del Valle and Los Vaqueros in pursuit of the land locked king salmon.I will keep trying until I succeed. when I do find the secret, I will bring Ferne so she can catch them all and I can take photos.

Until the salmon hit the net, God Bless,

Ferne @ Michael

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