Anderson reservoir introduction 12/06/07

I ran into 2 very friendly Norcal Kayak Anglers last week at Calero--Ken and Jaimie (compa), they told me about Anderson reservoir. I asked them to PM me when they were going there so I could check it out with their guidance. Well, within a few days I got the message that they would be going on Thurs AM. I joined them there and learned a lot about the place (not enough to avoid a skunking for me though). I saw many keeper LMB's caught on green senko's.
Thanks guys for a great day on the water in a new (for me) spot! I can't wait till I can try it again---Doug

Nice meeting with you yellowboat.  It's just too bad the fishing was so tough this morning. Ken has the ability to catch fish while everyone else is getting skunked so don't think nothing of it.

I was hoping that the rain would turn on the bite but it did not happen. I think it has to do with the lake being drained at such a fast pace. It lost more than 3' of water in the past 2 weeks. Not to mention it was cold! 

May  be next time we'll have a better luck. I think Ken ended up with 9 or 10 fish for the day. I got skunked too. 

Anderson can be tough, especially under these conditions. If Compa got skunked then you know it was a tough day. I'm sure you learned some valuable information just by being out there with him. It's been a while since I've been to this lake. I'll have to hit it up when we get a warm spell.

FF

yeah, anderson is a great destination for bass and even crappie.  i've caught many of both by the bridge, but years ago, in a float tube.  wonder what the water level is lately.

glad to hear you guys got out and gave it a shot

Thanks for the great report, yellowboat! And Compa!
Anderson can be a tough lake to fish. But if you hit it at the right time, you can catch a lot of bass (mostly small one though). Growing up in Gilroy, I fished Anderson a lot. Haven't fished it from my yak yet but look forward to it…especially on those windy spring days that make my float tube act like a sailboat LOL!
The secret bonus fish in there at the native rainbows. The DFG stopped planting trout in like 1997 because Coyote Creek ws determined to contain endangered steelhead. It is unclear if these current trout are remnants of the planters or descendents of the original steelhead trout that once inhabited the creek (before the dam was built) or if they wash downstream/migrate from Coyote Lake. You will only see/hear of one being caught once-in-a-blue moon but I think its because nobody targets them. There are actually a lot of them in the creek between Coyote and Anderson; I've hiked from Coyote to Anderson and vice-versa a few times.

See ya on the water,
PK

There are actually a lot of them in the creek between Coyote and Anderson; I've hiked from Coyote to Anderson and vice-versa a few times.

OMG, that's crazy!  i caught a rainbow back in like 1997 on a garden worm in the tailout of the dam.  It was fully finned, plump, with bright colors, but only about a foot long.  C & R, of course.  I thought it was a complete fluke.  Actually it was for me b/c I never caught another one though I tried on several subsequent occs.  That'd be incredible if there was a fishable population of resident steelies or rainbows.

Every now and then I've caught trout in the morgan hill lakes.  Chesbro on a number of occasions has produced some random trout for me.  Not consistently, and the last was at least 4 years ago. 

yakuza,
do you mean the tailout below Anderson dam? Because the DFG continued to plant trout there until like 2002. Its a little park called Coyote Creek Park. There's also some small ponds there that hold bass, bluegill, catfish, and carp. But you can only fish the ponds during trout season because they're part of the creek. You can still catch trout at the early part of trout season by fishing right where the water shoots out of Anderson dam. Also a great place to load up on sculpin for stripers at San Luis...

You could be talking about the tailout pool below Coyote dam. Fish wash over the spillway during heavy rain winters and get trapped in the creek there (only open during trout season). I remember in April 98 when there were HUGE bass trapped in that first pool. It was crazy to see these 8-10 pounders cruising around in the surface.

PK

Anderson can be a tough lake to fish. But if you hit it at the right time, you can catch a lot of bass (mostly small one though). Growing up in Gilroy, I fished Anderson a lot. Haven't fished it from my yak yet but look forward to it…especially on those windy spring days that make my float tube act like a sailboat LOL!

Actually it's been very good this year in Anderson. It just so happened that they started to drain the lake at a faster than normal pace. That plus the cold weather and the roller coaster air pressure rolling through might have killed the bite. To give you an idea of how well the lake has been that is the first skunk for me at that lake throughout the whole year. Not to mention that there were a lot of 3 lbers and a few 5#-8# in the mix.
Ken also mentioned about the trout in the creek between Anderson and Coyote. He said he caught some small trout in the creek years ago even after DFG stopped planting. But I doubt there are too many of those left.
And I have seen those big bass you talked about in the first pond below Coyote. They swim around right in front of you but will not take the bait no matter what you throw at them. One of these days...

Wow, thanks for all the great feedback everyone!! I have only been in Ca for about a year, so for me any information is news! Does any body know if the creek mentioned is Yak able? or the ponds? If so maybe a trout fishing expedition would be called for when the trout season opens!    Thanks to all---Doug

You could probably yak the pond below Coyote. But couldn't yak all the way down to Anderson.
Here's the pond below Coyote: