Berryessa - Go early to beat the heat

Fished the middle of the lake yesterday morning (8/3/22). Walked the bank at Oak Shores while a buddy tried kayaking a bit ... new to the sport and he wanted to try some different craft - so I let him get his feet wet with my Hobie.

Managed to get a half dozen grabs on topwater between 8AM and 10AM, but what little action we had was limited to the mornings only. This is traditional Berryessa August fare ... so get on the water early and switch to conventional tackle as the heat builds (so you can get to the deeper water with more oxygen).

Blazing hot yesterday, temps built to about 102 and chased us off the lake with authority.

Was using a black 2/0 popper with furnace hackle and white legs. The bays have a lot of weeds on the surface and I would run the popper along this edge to wake things up. Saw plenty of fish early and nothing later, so they are getting into cover and out of thin oxygen as the heat builds.

Landed a smallmouth and unbuttoned a similar fish before retiring early

Get on the water early and bring plenty of fluids.

Ugh, Berryessa in summer. Alarm at 3am. Secret launch at 430am. Done fishing by 9am max to avoid the heat and boats.

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for the Berryessa fishing report DWH.

How are the Kokanee in recent times?

I don't think they are fished much this time of year - likely they are deep due to the temperatures.

I see plenty of anglers after them in April and May, but there were no boats in the likely spots yesterday, and I think it's simply the wrong time of year for a "cold water" fish.

I haven't heard a whole lot on Kokanee at Berry this year, but I would think it's still prime-time. There's a KP derby there this weekend. The results should be an indicator of how it's fishing.

Over 100 fishermen in the Kokanee Derby last week, only 5 teams showed to weigh their fish (3 fish). In summary, very few fish caught. I still don't see boats in the traditional areas, so most anglers appear to be fishing elsewhere.

The Kokanee Power website shows 28 teams weighing in 3 fish, so it's a wee bit confusing on the various reports (Bob Simms radio, etc).https://kokaneepower.profishingtournaments.com/tournament.php?id=82

Bob Simms said the fish were caught at the mouth of Pleasure Cove, not off of Big Island, which is visible to me from Oak Shores. That might explain why I am seeing no boats.