Del Valle 12/15 Late Report

Well, I suppose third time really is a charm.  Saturday was the third outing I have been able to squeeze in between work and WAF needs over the last month, and it was a long, but fun time out on the water. 

I got into the park by about 7:30, but due to the cold decided to sit in my car with the heater running till the first rays of sun hit the water.  Decided to skip getting in line for the boat launch,and drove one lot to the left and rolled my yack down to the water after loading it with all my gear.  Saw quite a few boats all crowding around the dock/launch area, where the trout were jumping all over the place last time I was there. 

Got the yack in the water and baited up with an inflated crawler tipped with a power egg, and a GSR4 rapala to troll around with.  Only took about 10 mins, and  I had a nice tug on my UL trout rod and brought in a not too shabby rainbow.  Boats all around the area seemed to be getting a decent bite at the time.  Got setup to troll with some mini flashers and another crawler, and started trolling away from the docks to the narrows when I heard the whizzzz of my reel peeling off line.  Brought in a another decent looking rainbow! 

Feeling pretty good about the start of the day I released both trout unharmed.  I really was wanting to try for stripers, and brought some minos from coyote b&t so I re-rigged to troll and drift them while exploring the rest of the lake.  It got pretty slow at this point by about 10 am.  I think I had one hit on the mino while trolling (had teeth marks), and nothing on the lures I had been trying. 

I anchored for a while, and just drifted minos in 30-40 fow which caught me one small mouth (released) and nutting else in half an hour, so I moved on.  Figured I might as well troll as far as I can, wondering how far it is to the dam which I heard some reports of somestriper action, but never made it close.  Pretty darn big lake   Trolling seemed very unproductive the rest of the day, not sure if it was me, but the last two times I came here trolling was kicking ass for trout at least.

Figured if the bass are bitting I might as well seek out some more of them.  Dropping minos down by structure, logs, and cliffs I finally got another hit, which ended up being the last one for the day, and it was a striper dink.  But hey, at least I finally caught my first ever, even if he was under sized I felt pretty good knowing that I will be back, and try again.

Oh, and on the way back to the launch, noticed something crawling along the banks out of the corner of my eye.  To my surprise a bobcat was walking along the bank.  I got my camera out and shot a video while following it down a ways.  It stopped, and was digging between some rocks and eating something that it found there.  No clue what it was, but it allowed me to get pretty close, maybe 20 or so feet, and never seemed to care that I was there.  Even tried to toss a mino up to him, but I missed.

Sorry, I know I'm long winded!  But here are the pics:

Video of BobCat walking:



Video of Bobcat eating:

Badass video of the bobcat, thanks!  That's pretty wild.

nice variety ya got there.  thx for posting it, evn if late. 

BTW i like your rubberized net.  what make and model?

Nice day on the water! I had never fished Del Valle until a couple months ago and during my first day on the water I saw deer, turkeys, and a bald eagle. The wildlife viewing has been awesome there, and the fishing has been pretty good overall too.  Thanks for sharing!

Big J actually gave me the info after I met her for the first time at Fishermans Warehouse:

From her email to me:

"I finally found the tag for the net. It's a Frabill Tru-Trax with a telescoping (4'-8') cam-lock handle system, a Pow'R Lok yoke system, and a tangle-free dipped net that I bought at Outdoor Pro in Oakland."

Liked it so much I bought it online for myself.  It is a bit heavy, but the tangle free net is pretty cool, and it doesn't seem to hurt the fish nearly as much.  But if I could find a lighter rubber net to use instead, I would do it in a heart beat!

The grab bag o' beauty trout, smallie and striper. Greta work. And then footage of the Bobcat.. almost enough to make that trip by itself. AWESOME!! AWESOME!! AWESOME!! Gotta love the stealth of yaks. Anyone in a PB would never be able to view that. WTG AHO for being prepared for all of it!



Z

that is one helluva port+pics&vid! ..... a GrandSlam of a day!   got to fish, catch fish and see a bobcat......thanks for posting and keepitup!
side note: you don't have to wait in line, if you are car-toppin-it. You can drive down the ramp on either side along the curb, unload, then park your veh. up in the lot.(i try to stay as close to the curb as possible.....a benefit of not having a trailer.   

   What kind of camera did you use for that?  Great catch on the BC!   Such a beautiful animal!

Troy

That just goes to prove....it isn't just about fishing.
It's about being outdoors. The fish are a bonus!
Nice work.
Marc

   What kind of camera did you use for that?  Great catch on the BC!   Such a beautiful animal!
Troy

It's actually a very inexpensive Kodak v530 that I picked up on Ebay not wanting to destroy my expensive Canon on the water.  You can find em right now on ebay for somethin like 20-30 bucks.  For a 5MP it seems to take a decent picture.  But I had a hard time getting a nice one of the cat that day, except the one when he was chewing on what ever he was eating. 

I just purchased a Pentax W20 on Ebay this week, deciding I really enjoy the picture taking and would rather not have to worry about water anymore.  Should be here tomorrow, and I cant wait to try it

Awesome footage of the Bob cat! I've camped there before got a visit from a small red fox....it was scavenging at night with about a half dozen racoons 

I still have yet to see the resident Bald Eagles  AND I really don't care too much about the tarantulas that live in Del Valle 

I only saw a bobcat one time. It was from the window of my living room. I thought I was looking at a dog in the forest when all of the sudden it made a huge leap into a tree. Imagine my surprise.
Great video and report. Thanks

Al -

Cool report and WTG on the Del Valle trifecta. Man the bobcat thing is cool (unless your camping). Sorry having a SkyGreen flashback.

Scott

Sorry having a SkyGreen flashback.

  you crack me up Scott 

Great pictures and that must have been some sight to see the bobcat in broad daylight. 

I still have yet to see the resident Bald Eagles  AND I really don't care too much about the tarantulas that live in Del Valle 

Birds of prey have grown in numbers in the bay area and that is great to see. I have seen the eagles in Delvalle a couple of year ago but have not seen them this year either.
However I keep seeing a golden eagle in a couple of the lakes in the south bay. As a matter of fact I saw two of those flapping on the water and diving for fish. Too bad my camera does not have a powerful enough zoom. And I could not get close enough for a good shot.  May be next time.

Mooch, don’t tell me you have never tried tarantula adobado!  J/K