Coyote Lake / Santa Clara

Fishing Notes:
Rainbow Trout Fishing is best from March through July. Troll nightcrawlers behind blades and minnow imitation lures, such as Rebels, Needlefish, Sparklefish and Cripplures. Bank fishermen do well using Power Bait, nightcrawlers and Kastmasters. The north end, near the dam, yields the top action.
Largemouth Bass Spring and early summer are the best times though bass are caught here year round. Fishing is best in trees and brush in the south end of the lake. Use spinnerbaits, crankbaits, flukes, worms and jigs.
Bluegill Fish coves throughout the lake in spring, summer and fall. The top baits are meal worms, red worms and golden grubs.


Coyote Lake A Scenic Spot For Float Tube Bassin'

By Dan Bacher

The term "bass tournament" nowadays creates a picture in most anglers' minds of hundreds of two person teams in high-powered boats launching and quickly blasting upon the water at dawn in search of a stringer of bass that will win a boat, a big check or both. However, the bass tournament held by Coyote Bait and Tackle at Coyote Lake each year is a much different, more leisurely event, with only anglers in float tubes allowed in the competition.

Forty-six hardy contestants arrived at 5:30 a.m. on May 8 to compete for trophies and prizes at the reservoir this year. The conditions were hardly prime for bass fishing from a float tube, since howling winds made it difficult for anglers to get around the lake, but eight persistent anglers managed to weigh in fish by check in time at 1:30 p.m.

The wind wasn't the only thing that was howling that morning; Coyote Reservoir was definitely named for a reason. That reason became evident when Denise and Teri Bradford, owners of Coyote Bait and Tackle, arrived at the crack of dawn for the event.

"When I opened the car door, all you could hear was the sound of what seemed like hundreds of coyotes howling," said Denise Bradford. "As the sound of the coyotes began to subside, then a chorus of wild turkeys could be heard from the other side of the lake."

The rules of the event are similar to those of a regular bass tournament except that only non-motorized float tubes or pontoon boats may be used. Only artificial lures may be used and all fish caught must be released alive; anglers incur a penalty for dead fish. Prizes were awarded to the five top contestants, who braved the tough fishing conditions to catch good-sized largemouth bass this year.

Edwin Fritch of San Jose won first place with a stringer of four fish weighing 10.17 pounds. He won $450 in cash and a trophy for his efforts.

"I used a top water popper in the morning and a Texas-rigged worm in the afternoon," explained Fritch. "I released six sub-legal fish and also lost a fish that weighed nearly 8 pounds. The fish were jumping and grabbing shad on the surface all morning."

Mike Simms placed second with 6.78 pounds, winning $250. He also won the big fish contest with his 4.84 pound largemouth, winning another $205. He fooled the big bass with a 6 inch Zipper Worm. Tim Crane won third place with 6.20 pounds, winning $120. John Lake, president of Bass-N-Tubes, grabbed fourth place, winning $80. Mike Zalud came in fifth with 5.01 pounds, winning $40.

Anglers fishing the tournament reported water temperatures of 56 to 62 degrees. Most of the fish anglers caught were males in post-spawning mode. The fishing this year was nowhere near as good as during last year's event.

"Forty six people competed in the tournament in 1998, with 25 people weighing in fish," noted Bradford. "The top total weight was 16 pounds."

Largemouth bass and rainbow trout are the most popular species on this scenic lake. Florida-strain bass are found in the lake, with fish up to 13 pounds reported in recent years.

Fishing for bass is best at Coyote during the spring and early summer; the lake isn't known much as a fall bass fishery because the lake is often drawn down for flood control purposes. The south end of the lake, where willows, brush and weedbeds predominate, is the top area for bass, though the north end also produces its share of largemouths.

For earthquake safety reasons, Coyote Reservoir can only be half-full when Anderson, the reservoir below it, is full. This is because the Calaveras Fault zone bisects the park area and underlies the foundation of Coyote Dam.

The Department of Fish and Game stocks the lake each year from March through June with 3,000 pounds of rainbows each month, revealed Sid Poe, hatchery manager at the DFG's Yountville Facility. "Fishing for trout, like the bass, is best in spring and early summer," said Bradford. "The top area for anglers to fish from the bank and boats is the lake's north end near the dam."

Trolling for trout is particularly good for anglers using nightcrawlers behind blades, as well as minnow imitation lures such as Needlefish and Kastmasters. Most of the fish caught are recent DFG planters, but holdovers in the 2 to 3 pound class are also caught every season.

On the day of the tournament, bank anglers were also catching rainbow trout on Coyote off Sandy Beach Recreation Area. For example, Francisco Macias of Gilroy landed three 12 to 14 inch rainbow trout while fishing Power Bait.

Coyote is also one of the better bluegill lakes in Santa Clara County. For maximum success, use mealworms and redworms under bobbers in the coves as the water warms up. Less frequent in the catches are crappie and channel catfish.

The reservoir, situated on Coyote Creek at 770 feet above sea level, drains a part of the rugged Mt. Hamilton watershed of Santa Clara County. The lake is three miles long and has a capacity for 635 surface acres.

The region has a long and fascinating history. Before the dam was completed in 1936 by the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District, steelhead and king salmon used to run up the creek to spawn. The Unijaima Ohlone Indian tribe most likely visited the land where the lake is now located to hunt and fish over 3,000 years ago.

After completion of the dam, the district began to lease their property around the reservoir for recreational purposes. Over the years, private concessionaires built a canteen, grocery store and docks and tenants built ninety cabins along the lake's edge.

The Santa Clara County Park District entered into a lease for reservoir facilities with the water district in 1969. The cabins were demolished or relocated. By 1979, the majority of the present park facilities were in place.

Facilities include a boat ramp, shoreline picnic areas on the west shore, and barbecue facilities in the park's south end. Over 75 first-come, first-serve picnic tables are available year round. The Lakeview Campground provides 74 campsites with two restroom facilities and fresh taper and firepit barbecues. One campsite is dedicated to wheelchair access. For information on park facilities, call the Visitor Center at (408) 842-7800.

For fishing information, call Coyote Bait and Tackle (408) 463-0711; Fisherman's Warehouse, San Jose (408) 873-0113; Cope & McPhetre's, Santa Clara (408) 345-2640; Mel Cotton's Sporting Goods, San Jose (408) 287-5994; Reed's Sports Shop, San Jose (408) 926-3020 and Sportsmen's Supply, Campbell (408) 377-0647.