Bullard's Bar 12/20

Finding no stripers around, I decided to try Bullard's Bar for some kokanee yesterday.  Thanks to a quick tutorial from RacinRob, I did pretty well.  Caught a number of fish throughout the day, and had a bunch more short strikes.  It was so much fun that when I came in, at what I thought was lunchtime, I learned it was after 4:00pm.

Next Clear Lake for crappie and Berryessa for whatever I can find.

Thanks for the report on Bullards.  Hit Berryessa today with 3 other kayakers.  Skunksville for 3 of us,  and one bass for the fourth person (Never saw a pic though.)  Launched out of Putah Canyon.  Quite a few boats and other kayakers but didn't see anyone catching.  Tough day on the water.     

I assume you were catching small kokes? I don't see many bows caught in that area. If they short strike it is one of two things usually. Too fast or too slow. Vary your speed up or down a lot. If you slow down a lot and no strikes at all you went the wrong way. I usually like slow, .9-1.2, but sometimes it takes a fast troll to make them attack harder and get the hook. The other option is that the fish were really small which is possible at that location. Small meaning 5-6" right now.

The fish were definately on the small side, and the short strikes may indeed have come from me going too fast.  About halfway thru the day my fishfinder went dark.  I struggled to control my speed from then on.  Rob, any other lakes you would fish for kokes thru the winter?  I am thinking Boca, but I think that freezes up?

dneilson674, how big exactly were the kokes you caught? I might try Bullards soon.

New Melones is supposed to be good for kokanee.

The fish were definately on the small side, and the short strikes may indeed have come from me going too fast.  About halfway thru the day my fishfinder went dark.  I struggled to control my speed from then on.  Rob, any other lakes you would fish for kokes thru the winter?  I am thinking Boca, but I think that freezes up?

I live 10 minutes from Boca and took a spin out there yesterday since the weather was nice and the forecast had no wind. Water temp was 37 and there was ice covering the area near the dam and along part of the west shore. I slow trolled around for two hours and got what I expected, nothing. But I do enjoy being the only one on the lake. 

The snow makes it tough putting in, and if the next storm at Christmas is what they say, you’ll find much better options off the hill.

The best lake this time of year is Bullards for Kokes. Berry and Melones are dead for Kokanee but the trout have been on a bit at Melones. Berry is tough right now from what I have been hearing. Bullards Kokes are always small. They max at about 13". Right now I would guess about 10" tops. That is why I toss Magnum 6-8" spoons for Spots at Bullards.

Just saw a report from today at Bullards. .9-1.2 mph in the top 10-15' past the house boats. Towards the rest of the lake. Be careful if you troll near the houseboats. Cables everywhere.

Someone asked how big they were.  Small, but all big enough to keep if you wanted dinner.  I released because I wasn't sure I would be as successful as I was, and didn't want to kill fish randomly.  As for depth, I was at 25', but there were a lot of fish at the surface.  They seemed smaller.  I am going to try Clear Lake next week.  Kind of excited about that.
dn

For those of you fishing the resivor, have you ever had any experiance fishing the yuba where it flows into the lake? I've heard rumors of big browns that migrate up stream in the fall for the spawn.  I always wanted hike it down stream off 20? Where it crosses the river to the inlet of the lake but I heard it can be sketchy there