Indian Valley Reservoir

Been thinking I haven't been there in ages (pre puddle years) and I could go for a BBQ'd Koke.  Has anyone been there in the past 2 years?  Any luck? What about the water levels and what not?  I know that drawdown must have cause some havoc on the kokes and trout, but has it recovered at all?  Internet searches haven't turned up much...

HobieDave and I went there in April 2011.  Caught a nice Crappie and lost a big Koke.  The water level was high that year but haven't been back since.  This reservoir has nice structures and tall trees.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=30426.msg324361#msg324361

HobieDave and I went there in April 2011.  Caught a nice Crappie and lost a big Koke.  The water level was high that year but haven't been back since.  This reservoir has nice structures and tall trees.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=30426.msg324361#msg324361

So the level was back up from when they drew it waaaaay down.  Thats good news.  Did you guys put in by the dam, or the north end?  It's too bad, that lake was turning out some monster kokes before they screwed it up.  As long as planting has continued though... the recovery shouldn't take too long.

HobieDave and I went there in April 2011.  Caught a nice Crappie and lost a big Koke.  The water level was high that year but haven't been back since.  This reservoir has nice structures and tall trees.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=30426.msg324361#msg324361

So the level was back up from when they drew it waaaaay down.  Thats good news.  Did you guys put in by the dam, or the north end?  It's too bad, that lake was turning out some monster kokes before they screwed it up.  As long as planting has continued though... the recovery shouldn't take too long.

It's my first time there so I'm not sure which end we put in (but not the dam for sure).  See the pictures in my report maybe you can tell where we launched:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=30474.0

HobieDave and I went there in April 2011.  Caught a nice Crappie and lost a big Koke.  The water level was high that year but haven't been back since.  This reservoir has nice structures and tall trees.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=30426.msg324361#msg324361

So the level was back up from when they drew it waaaaay down.  Thats good news.  Did you guys put in by the dam, or the north end?  It's too bad, that lake was turning out some monster kokes before they screwed it up.  As long as planting has continued though... the recovery shouldn't take too long.

It's my first time there so I'm not sure which end we put in (but not the dam for sure).  See the pictures in my report maybe you can tell where we launched:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=30474.0

Looks like you guys had a little trouble finding the place?  Maps can get you screwed up there for sure.  Roads to nowhere and what not.  Anyway, you put in at the main launch by the looks of things.  It's not at the dam exactly, but it is on that end of the lake. 

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ca/nwis/uv/?site_no=11451290&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,00062,00045

http://waterdata.usgs.gov/ca/nwis/uv/?site_no=11451290&PARAmeter_cd=00065,00060,00062,00045

Mike, I found this earlier... maybe I am reading wrong or something, but what is considered full?  The info provided isn't very useful without knowing what it is relative to right?

I fished the south end last year around this time for some small bass. No koke love & I tried for them. The level at that time was down a little from 2011 but not super low. If I go back this year I'm gonna bring the dirtbike & camp out as that sounded more fun based on the fishing results I got. That dirt road in to the lake makes day tripping a pain. About 20 miles roundtrip of washboard.

I fished the south end last year around this time for some small bass. No koke love & I tried for them. The level at that time was down a little from 2011 but not super low. If I go back this year I'm gonna bring the dirtbike & camp out as that sounded more fun based on the fishing results I got. That dirt road in to the lake makes day tripping a pain. About 20 miles roundtrip of washboard.

It does make for a long day leaving from Cloverdale... if productive it's worth it to me.  However... maybe I need to learn to find them at Berryessa instead?

From what I've heard the Kokes are gone from when the water was down.

Yeah Berry should hopefully bust wide open any day now. Knock on wood. 

From what I've heard the Kokes are gone from when the water was down.

what a terrible waste... that lake was producing monsters around '05.  Are they no longer planting them?

Yeah Berry should hopefully bust wide open any day now. Knock on wood. 

I've been watching the forums and no Koke reports yet. Unless everyone is very tight lipped.

I am planning to survey the lake for kokes in the next few months.  I will let you know what we find.

Like you ATD I have been wanting to hit this lake up as well. Some co-workers went fishing there years ago and said on one end there are all kinds of trees in the water which would be great for bass. So I started to search and see what kind of reports I could find to get a grasp of whats in store. Well im a member on another site (WesternBass - if it was wrong of me to mention another site please slap my wrist and let me know and it won't happen again) and saw this from 2009 and thought im sure glad I will be fishing out of a kayak.

Name: Nitro Mike
Date: 2009-05-29
Location: Sebastopol
E-Mail: [email protected]
Water Temp: 70
Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 feet visibility)
Report: Would never had made this trip, except that a bunch of family and friends gathered for an extended holiday camping trip. Sorry to say, our kill rate on rattlesnakes was much higher than our catch rate on bass: Smallmouth C & R = 1 Rattlesnake kill = 6 Water in the North end "at least" a mile down. We were throwing buzz baits in areas that normaly would be 25-30 feet underwater. Did manage to GPS some nice rock ledges and drop offs should the water level ever reach previous levels in my lifetime.
Tips: Go somewhere that you are not required to side mount a 357 or 45 everywhere you go due to rattlesnake infestation......