Limits At Del Valle

I was out there on the 5th, and saw lots of boats anchored in the marina area soaking bait early morning.  I trolled up and down the narrows but no bites.  Only saw 1 guy catch a fish that was soaking from a bobber.  Talked to a few guys on boats and said it was pretty slow that day.

100+ yards of boiling fish sounds so freakin' cool

I've seen the stripers boil at Del Valle, back in those years when this thread was first posted.  Once I went with with Joel and he launched ahead of me and turned the corner from the launch.  I was still launching my kayak, and all of a sudden the water started boiling just to the side of the ramp.  The boats anchored further out didn't get anything.  But I quickly tied on a small Kastmaster and flipped it out and caught two stripers right away just off the shore.  Then I called Joel, who returned, but never let me forget that I caught two fish before I broke to call him on the radio.

But those stripers were small and the boils fairly limited.  The most impressive boils I've ever fished were up at Lake Mendocino, back when it still had a lot of large stripers and I was a newbie.  I had gone up to meet Sean White to buy a kayak seat from him, and another kayaker was there to pick up a kayak from Sean.  The three of us decided to try fishing the lake in the afternoon.  We didn't get anything and the sun was getting low so we were about to head back toward the dam.  Then suddenly we hear this loud, cacaphony coming from across the lake.  In the fading sunlight we could see the glittering bodies of large stripers--masses of them--jumping clear out of the water.  Even from across the lake they sounded like a large group of people rapidly cracking their hands together as loud as they could.  Sean looked at us both, and said should we try for it.  By then it was nearly dark, and they were quite a distance away.  The other two of us were older, and I wasn't sure I could sprint that far in time to catch the action.  I thought it would probably cut out before I could get there.  But we decided to try, and the noise kept going and going.  I think it took 15 or even 20 minutes to paddle over there and it continued on.  We were each dragging a golden shiner, and had a line with a Kastmaster ready to flip into the chaos.  As soon as we hit the periphery of the boil, we all immediately hooked up our Kastmasters, and then our trailing shiners got hit.  We had three double hookups at once, and I think we all would have gotten limits, except that I think I lost my second one at the boat.  We paddled back through blackness, but that was my great experience in the middle of a striper boil.

I have not fished DV in my boat since they started doing inspections a few years ago.  What does it cost to launch a yak there and are they inspecting the yaks? 

I have not fished DV in my boat since they started doing inspections a few years ago.  What does it cost to launch a yak there and are they inspecting the yaks? 

$3 for any non motorized. $40 for a annual.

100+ yards of boiling fish sounds so freakin' cool

I've seen the stripers boil at Del Valle, back in those years when this thread was first posted.  Once I went with with Joel and he launched ahead of me and turned the corner from the launch.  I was still launching my kayak, and all of a sudden the water started boiling just to the side of the ramp.  The boats anchored further out didn't get anything.  But I quickly tied on a small Kastmaster and flipped it out and caught two stripers right away just off the shore.  Then I called Joel, who returned, but never let me forget that I caught two fish before I broke to call him on the radio.

But those stripers were small and the boils fairly limited.  The most impressive boils I've ever fished were up at Lake Mendocino, back when it still had a lot of large stripers and I was a newbie.  I had gone up to meet Sean White to buy a kayak seat from him, and another kayaker was there to pick up a kayak from Sean.  The three of us decided to try fishing the lake in the afternoon.  We didn't get anything and the sun was getting low so we were about to head back toward the dam.  Then suddenly we hear this loud, cacaphony coming from across the lake.  In the fading sunlight we could see the glittering bodies of large stripers--masses of them--jumping clear out of the water.  Even from across the lake they sounded like a large group of people rapidly cracking their hands together as loud as they could.  Sean looked at us both, and said should we try for it.  By then it was nearly dark, and they were quite a distance away.  The other two of us were older, and I wasn't sure I could sprint that far in time to catch the action.  I thought it would probably cut out before I could get there.  But we decided to try, and the noise kept going and going.  I think it took 15 or even 20 minutes to paddle over there and it continued on.  We were each dragging a golden shiner, and had a line with a Kastmaster ready to flip into the chaos.  As soon as we hit the periphery of the boil, we all immediately hooked up our Kastmasters, and then our trailing shiners got hit.  We had three double hookups at once, and I think we all would have gotten limits, except that I think I lost my second one at the boat.  We paddled back through blackness, but that was my great experience in the middle of a striper boil.

You're Mendo story almost brought a tear to my eye, Doug. I will forever miss the days of giant striper boils at Lake Mendo. I feel fortunate that we were able to enjoy it while it lasted.

Hi guys, I am new to the group. Thanks to Don, I now have my first yak and I have been working all week on it to get into the water. I live in San Jose and looking for folks to go fishing with and help me learn the right way to fish from a kayak. If anyone is going to DV in the morning and willing to have a rookie come along, please let me know.

Thanks Chris

If you use a fish finder and mark the opening to swallow bay you may see schools of large stripers sitting on the bottom. I used to see them a lot when I would be trolling for trout when I lived there. Last time I ever went for stripers was back in '07 when Lino and I got into a big school of them right by the boat dock. We managed our limits quickly.

I sure wish they would let you use live bait in there since it is one of the lakes that has a maintainable striper population that very few know about. They've been in there since the 70's when the lake almost went dry and they pumped water into it from the delta. That started the first few then they just adjusted and now spawn. I haven't seen any real big ones in years but they still may be in there.

I live right below lake Texoma here in Texas and it too has a great population of stripers. the limits are generous. You can keep 2 over 20" then 8 under that. Hard part about limiting is the large ones won't quit so you have to cull a lot of them to get the small ones. 50 fish days are common and will bring pain.

It's crazy how stripers will boil just below the surface, and will occasionally hit topwater plugs...but they NEVER jump once hooked. Usually I'll point my tip down to prevent bass from jumping & throwing the lure, if they run horizontally or roll near the surface but it isn't necessary with stripers. In fact, I did an experiment a few weeks ago...after catching 20+ fish in about an hour & half, I was trying to make them jump hahaha! No dice.
My friend's uncle got an 18lber from DV back in November, so there's still some decent ones in there. Maybe no monster 40lbers but I bet there's still some nice 20-30lb bass.

I have not fished DV in my boat since they started doing inspections a few years ago.  What does it cost to launch a yak there and are they inspecting the yaks? 

$3 for any non motorized. $40 for a annual.

Yes they inspect and yes they charge to inspect.

Vehicle Entry Fee: $6
Launch Fee (car top): $3
Daily Fishing Permit: $5
Inspection Fee: $4

Information for everything but the fishing permit is here.

Fishing permit info found here.