winter topline trout (or striper?) trolling in lakes?

If I'm in mountain view and I want to paddle around a lake and drag a spoon or spinner or plug with the hope
of catching a trout or maybe a striper, where would I go? I'd like to test my new kayak, paddle and salmon trolling arrangement,
but catching fish is a real goal.

thanks.

Hey JM,

I lived in Campbell for a few years, and did a lot of trout fishing ( never on a kayak ) at lexington res just outside Los Gatos on hwy 17.   They were on a regular stocking program as long as the water level was up.  There are some bonus carryovers from previous years that may take artificials, stocked fish love powerbait.   No stripers,  but they have a decent largemouth bass population that gets hot in the spring.  Lots of flats, dropoffs, and submerged veg to try.  Another bonus, no powerboats.  I haven't been there in several years,  let me know how you do. 

Brgds,
Ron

Since I am going to have to stick close to home for a while I would love to hit Lexington sometime this winter. Stevens Creek Resv. is also pretty close but I have no idea how the winter fishing is. Plus there is always soaking some bait for South Bay Sturgeon, Oyster Point is not to far away.

lexington looks like an interesting possibility.

there's a map on fishsniffer:

http://www.fishsniffer.com/maps/lexington.html

I have driven by there for years on the way to surf, the
water goes up and down there like a yo-yo, so I wrote it off, but
if I want paddling and trolling practice with the possibility of fish,
this could work.

There's no map for steven's creek, but you guys caught fish there
this fall, why not in the winter when the trout fishing is usually
better?

a bunch of lakes in the foothills, like don pedro and new melones
are reachable in under 3 hours and look to be real candidates for
excercise and fish, but that would make for a real long day.

http://www.fishsniffer.com/maps/donpedro.html

sturgeon is probably not my bag.  I'm more about exercise, practice
for salmon fishing, and lastly fish.  sturgeon is about fish period. big ones,
cold, stiffness, boredom, etc are not part of the calculation.

sturgeon is probably not my bag.  I'm more about exercise, practice
for salmon fishing, and lastly fish.  sturgeon is about fish period. big ones,
cold, stiffness, boredom, etc are not part of the calculation.

I feel the same way but from what I've experienced so far is that it's fun to fish with a big group of other yakers and you always have that chance of hooking up into stripers, batrays and sharks = which can provide a bit of entertainment while you're waiting for the BIG ONE to hit 


As far as lakes = my favorite for an hour's drive is Lake Del Valle in Livermore. Stripers,small mouth, large mouth, trout, catfish and big blue gills!!! BUT - you gotta pay for parking,fishing and launching - $12 bucks I believe.....

There's no map for steven's creek, but you guys caught fish there
this fall, why not in the winter when the trout fishing is usually
better?

water gets too muddy because of rain. When the water clears - you can catch plenty - but most are on the smaller side.

Speaking of Steven's Creek, it was planted just last week ... http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fishplant/fishplant_r3.html

-Allen