Los Vaqueros_21Mar10

Rented a boat and fished Los Vaqueros yesterday with my regular fishing buddy.

Nice place with very well-kept facilities, I'd never been there before.

A bit windy in the morning, but it was nice in the afternoon.

Fishing was slow.  Caught a big squawfish on the troll.  I thought I actually had something worthwhile until I got it to the boat.

A guy in another boat showed us an interesting technique.  He fished as you would for bass, tossing a spinner towards the vegetation rafts along the shore.  He had caught 5 trout on a Meps.

As we we not getting any hits, we switched over to casting and ended up getting three trout.  Two were nice, one at about 2-1/2 lbs.  Didn't have any spinners so I used a kastmaster.

-Danman

 

Too bad they don't allow kayaks in there. It's not a privately owned body of water; so I'm mystified as to the ban which was in place before the issue of the Quagga mussel infestation existed.

Too bad they don't allow kayaks in there. It's not a privately owned body of water; so I'm mystified as to the ban which was in place before the issue of the Quagga mussel infestation existed.

I had an argument with their public affairs guy over this. Their rationale is that it is a drinking water supply, so they won't allow any outside boats whose cleanliness they can't verify. When I asked how they ensure the cleanliness of the bait, lures, bird crap, nets, etc that touch the water everyday he got pissed, told me he was no longer going to continue the conversation and hung up. I think the real answer is that there is no clear rationale, but they don't care to open the lake to more use.

Too bad they don't allow kayaks in there. It's not a privately owned body of water; so I'm mystified as to the ban which was in place before the issue of the Quagga mussel infestation existed.

I had an argument with their public affairs guy over this. Their rationale is that it is a drinking water supply, so they won't allow any outside boats whose cleanliness they can't verify. When I asked how they ensure the cleanliness of the bait, lures, bird crap, nets, etc that touch the water everyday he got pissed, told me he was no longer going to continue the conversation and hung up. I think the real answer is that there is no clear rationale, but they don't care to open the lake to more use.

Even more mystifying is that the lake was built under the premise that boats WOULD be allowed to use the lake.  Shame on them for going back on their word.

I'd love to fish that lake but have vowed not to because of this.

16' Electric Motor Powered Boat Rental/Deposit:
Per Hour $25
From 3-5 Hours (1/2 Day) $50
All Day (Over 5 Hours) $65
Boat Deposit $65

18' Electric Motor Powered Pontoon Boat Rental/Deposit:
From 3-5 Hours (1/2 Day) $100
Per hour $50
All Day (Over 5 Hours) $140
Boat Deposit $150

That's a sweet lil moneymaker, right there.  Just sayin.

The boat ramp is there and blocked off with a locked gate.

I agree, it's about the money.

Also,

We spoke to someone there who told us that there is a lot of bait in the lake.

His theory is that the fish feed at night and in the morning (early).

As such, the bite seldom gets going and you have to work for every fish.

Actually, I was more interested in posting the technique.

This time of year at most local lakes, the bite is really better from shore using PowerBait.

Casting with a lure towards shore might be productive when trolling doesn't work.

(I am not much on soaking PB).

-DanMan

I use to go on the half price day. We would catch trout casting rattle traps just like your doing the cast master. Fun cuz it could be a bass, salmon, trout, sqaw, or striper.

thanks for the post.  i always wondered about that place. 

Thank you for the report Dan.

Too bad they don't allow kayaks in there. It's not a privately owned body of water; so I'm mystified as to the ban which was in place before the issue of the Quagga mussel infestation existed.

Too bad they don't allow kayaks in there. It's not a privately owned body of water; so I'm mystified as to the ban which was in place before the issue of the Quagga mussel infestation existed.

I had an argument with their public affairs guy over this. Their rationale is that it is a drinking water supply, so they won't allow any outside boats whose cleanliness they can't verify. When I asked how they ensure the cleanliness of the bait, lures, bird crap, nets, etc that touch the water everyday he got pissed, told me he was no longer going to continue the conversation and hung up. I think the real answer is that there is no clear rationale, but they don't care to open the lake to more use.

Tell 'em that "tangy taste" in their water comes from us peeing like dogs in the delta LONG before that water gets pumped into Los Vaqueros Resv.  

You should see what I do when I drive over the California Aquaduct!!! TAKE THAT L.A.!