Berryessa Big Islands General Info?

I'm planning to fish for kokes and trout around the big island. I've never fished the area and I'm hoping to narrow down the area to fish. I'm not looking for anyone's secret honey hole, just something more specific than "around the island." Any intel? Thanks

You never know till you get there. Look for other boats trolling. The best advise for Kokanee is to paddle around and look for them. One day they may be in one spot and the next day the move a mile or more. They may not ben by big island at all. They may be by the mouth of the narrows or Ranch house. Possible they have moved elsewhere too. It is a 2+ mile paddle from Oak Shores to the narrows. May be 3. Only hint I can give is usually over the old river channel. If you launch at Capell it is about 4.5 miles to Big Island. I caught one one time in 40 fow south of Goat Island. You never know. Good luck. I would guess 40-60', but may be deeper now.

Latest I have seen after just looking is very slow. Fish at 40-70. More trout than Kokes, but they are slo too. Between RH and BI. Plan on paddling/trolling 10 plus miles to have a chance at one.

I thought I would launch at the Oak Shores day use area. Navionics shows the location of Putah Creek, so I'll start there barring specific recent intel. Thanks

The recent intel as of a few days ago is between RH and BI. 45-60'. Nothing anywhere else on the lake I have heard of. Very few have been caught this year. A couple good days here and there from what I hear. When I was there the fish were 20-25' on the west side of the island over 75-80 FOW. That was a few months ago.

Remember Kokes like colder water 50-54 degrees and that's not surface temp ..typically when using a PB at Berry this time of year we would find them around them Island areas in 55-65 FOW..overall Berry has been very tough this year compared to 2-3 years ago ..good luck can't wait to see a pic of your stringer

All the kokanee in the lake are dead due to rampant mismanagement by CDFW.  they have turned a once wonderful kokanee fishery into a virtual wasteland by not planting 1,000,000 fish per year.  This has absolutely nothing to do with a prolonged drought causing terrible conditions for kokanee survival rates due to a reduction of thermocline and smaller water base for predators, and the fishery will not improve unless CDFW plants more fish instead of using kokanee money to give raises to their biology managers. 

Save Our Lake Berryessa Salmon and Trout Fisheries.
The Needs of the Many, Outweighs the Needs of the Very Few.

Sincerely,
CaptCam

I saw that too. He has been complaining for 4 years now, even before it got bad.

I learned some about launching there. The sign says it opens at 7:30 but I got there a little early and the gate was already open. I parked a little past the restroom where the concrete walkway to the water is. It looked like the best option to access the water. At least the best one I saw since I didn't explore everywhere. I asked a ranger what happens if the wind kicked up and I wasn't able to get back in time to get out before closing time. She made it sound like it wasn't really a problem. If there are cars in the lot at closing time they leave the exit gate open. It has the one way tire spikes. They'll take your plate # in case it's still there in the morning so they can start a search if they think it's needed. Sounds like you could fish the evening hours without a problem leaving late. If the Sheriff's boat is running around they might say something if you're out late. Access before the gate opens in the morning didn't look like it was too much extra trouble. If I can get up early enough, that's what I'll do next time.