Quarry Lakes, not much to report

This has to be the ugliest lake, no atmosphere, no trees, no shade, no inlets bays or coves, not much structure...  But I've seen quite a few big fish come out of here and for that reason I'm fascinated by this lake, and am currently trying to unlock it's secrets.  I've never had any luck there, but yesterday I hooked a decent sized smallmouth bass, my first ever, trolling a tiny jointed Rapala. Those little guys do put up a good fight! Trolling mini-flashers ahead of a nightcrawler gave me nothing...  I was sure I was gonna get a nice trout this time, but instead just got a twisted mess of line eventually.  Also ended up dunking my phone...  gonna get one of the new waterproof ones today.

No trout for dinner, but the smallie was fun, (and quite unexpected)..

If anyone has tips for this place, I'd love to hear em.   

tip#1= they plant them, you need to be there two days after that and not THREE!
I hate lakes or any other body of water that fits that description....RAIN!!  Bring it HARD!
thanks for reminding me that MOST lakes will be like that  untill we get it GOOD!

I sure miss those stupid RF!

I always thought it took the fish a week or so to settle in and start feeding once planted?

Btw, the lake record LMB is 15lbs...  So I'm guessing a lot of those planters get eaten long before then.  I just don't see where a bass that size could hide, it's so flat and smooth on bottom.

When I was a kid (way back when JC was in junior high) Quarry lakes and all the gravel pits were closed to fishing, but we did it anyway before the law came out to throw us out. We used to catch lots of bass out of those pits and throw them back. Now since they have been "sanitized" so folks can't drown in them from shore and given most of the bass were taken out by folks, those lakes are no longer very good to fish in. And as you put it so well, "butt ugly!"

Eric, I think Raymac the Q-lake specialist(boat fisherman) said it was two days and they're hungry

I always wanted to fish those ponds back in the day...we would see them when we rode BART down that way.

eric, one tip is that trolling speed matters. worms you have to go slower than with a plug. use your gps to keep your trolling speed correct for the lure you have out. and that lake is so small I'm not sure it warrants even mini-flashers? maybe a single spinner ahead of the worm like raymac uses sometimes. twisted line indicates you might have been trolling a little fast? a split shot on the wire of the mini-flashers will help to stop them spin, they don't need a full-on rudder, but a little anti-spin measure helps a bit.

riddle: where does a 15lb LMB hide in quarry lakes: A: anywhere he darn well wants to, 

ugly or not, that lake is on my list for when the winter storms come, it is still fishable and stays clear a long time.

ken kickfish often just anchors up and soaks powerbait for his limit.

When I was a kid (way back when JC was in junior high) Quarry lakes and all the gravel pits were closed to fishing, but we did it anyway before the law came out to throw us out. We used to catch lots of bass out of those pits and throw them back. Now since they have been "sanitized" so folks can't drown in them from shore and given most of the bass were taken out by folks, those lakes are no longer very good to fish in. And as you put it so well, "butt ugly!"

Hey man, we must have crossed paths...

 I doing that place " Way Back When ", We called the guarded pond " Rhodes "..

 Used to sneak in @ night when I was 13 ( 1976 ) Learned how to pick out a backlash by Moonlight.

Then the light would come up, and I would find myself working schools of 100 + bass with 15' of line    

 It was amazing....

 And even back then, there were HAWGS...

 WE were a gang of teemagers " Fremont Bass Masters "   Code for  " Can U buy us Beer? "...

 We even use to harass the guards, jerry rig their cars, string fishing line around the Guard house,

 and when we were hateful,  Burmese Tiger Traps for " Pegleg " and his Dam Motor Scooter..

 AHhhhh Youth....... Maybe this Pic will Bring Back a memory

 See ya on the Islander Fellow Quarry Pit Boy .......... Danglin

I troll (the electric Magical boat as Doug M  calls it)the Quarry about once a week year round.Yes the lake is blah, but what counts is they plant trout on a weekly bases and it's only 5 min from my house. WHO KNOWS HOW LONG IT TAKES FOR THE NEWLY PLANTED FISH TO START HOOKING UP, ANY BODY'S GUESS. No matter how hard the wind blows i can still troll. The lake does have structure.When full it goes from 0 to 90 ft. Lots of drop offs, Flats here and there. I have found that the fish seem to hang in certain areas at a certain depth.I always use my downriggers. 0 TO 20 FT WHEN THE SERFACE TEMPATURE IS IN THE LOW 60's. START SHALLOW AT FIRST LIGHT AND GO DEEPER AS THE SUN RISES OVERHEAD.Have never caught trout deeper then 30ft,( summer) only catfish.Have trolled up a lot of catfish to 7+ lbs. They like rainbow runners in red or green 30+ft deep. I have my go to lures that produce on a regular bases. rainbow runners, needlefish small seps grugs behind a wigglefin. Hand made spinner in front of a nightcrawler or a plastic worm.LS pointers, Rapalas.Kastmasters.Color does seem to matter. Overcast dark colors, bright days shinny (reflective) colors.If one doesn't hook up i try another. I GET AN EARLY START. I fish with perserverance. Have rarely left the lake with out hooking  fish. I find a constant (steady) speed no matter how slow or fast i troll works for me. What they plant is whats there each week. Hope this helps, it works for me.   

Must have Danglin. Weren't those the days? Those bass in the quarry's were phenomenal. Remember "Kimber Pond" off of Mission? It is under houses now. All our old haunts are gone.

When you ever fished the delta back then, did you ever drop your catch into Lake Elizabeth? Those catfish are well over 10 pounds now; if they are still alive. We used to "stock" it ourselves. Must have thrown in over 100 channel cats in there over several years. Sorry DFG, We just did it for fun and besides, they already were in there.

Oh the good old days!!!

Cool Fremont stuff:
Secret Sidewalk.
Hidden Valley.
Standing in the train tunnel cubbyholes as they blast thru...

Thanks for the tips, all.  Sounds like I'm not far off, just need to settle down my trolling speed and keep it consisent.

When you ever fished the delta back then, did you ever drop your catch into Lake Elizabeth?

 No, never messed with Lake Eliza,

 Our pet project was lake Newark, Stocking, structure....

 Used to have fun walking around the lake, watching joggers , picking up bass, Fun Lake

 I'm sure it's a duck Pond now

It's FULL of ducks now, but still a cool lake for being where it is.  I've heard of bass caught there recently, but not by me.

using a brokem back top water bass/bluegil along the shore with the 4x4 post was very effective