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You know that fishing at a reservoir is really worthwhile when the manager of the facility spends his day off fishing there. Jeff Lenore, who last November became manager of That Dam Company, the concessionaire at San Pablo Reservoir, heads back to the lake on his day off to experience some of the superb fishing that he and the marina staff witness all week.
On a recent day off, Lenore and his fishing buddy spent a couple of hours fishing the lake. They didn't catch limits, but bagged 6 quality rainbow trout ranging from 3 to 6.5 pounds. "My buddy landed four trout, topped with 6.5 and 5.2 pounders," said Lenore, "while I landed two fish in the 3 pound range."
The angling pair fished white and yellow Power Eggs and chartreuse and rainbow glitter Power Bait from a rental boat in Scow Canyon, one of the hot spots for boaters on the lake.
To kick off the season, the concessionaire stocked 3,200 lbs. of rainbows in the EBMUD (East Bay Municipal Utility District) reservoir on February 14. They planted another 3,200 lbs. of rainbows in the 2 -5 lbs. range on February 16 and another 3,200 lbs. trout in the 2 -5 lb. range on February 23. Lenore plans to keep these heavy plants, financed entirely by fishing permits, coming this winter and spring.
"We started this season with an audacious trout planting schedule," said Lenore. "When an angler comes here and catches a 5 pounder, he'll tell his friends and get out the word that lots of big fish are being caught at San Pablo."
Last year the lake was plagued with big rains and muddy conditions on opening week. By contrast, this year the water was clear and ideal for fishing on the opener.
"We're really using the planting schedule to our advantage with the relatively dry winter and clear water conditions," noted Lenore. "We will plant strong and heavy this year."
"We want to turn San Pablo around to again become the premier fishing lake that it was once known as. You used to have cars lined up down the road waiting for the park to open on opening weekend and other weekends," he stated.
The lake received some bad publicity when EBMUD began a retrofitting project at the reservoir to protect El Sobrante from an earthquake, giving rise to fears that the lake would be closed to recreation during the retrofitting process.
However, the lake's recreational facilities will in fact remain in full operation during the retrofitting. The district has lowered the water level, but there is still lots of water for fishing. The lake level is currently 88 feet above seal, several feet from what it was last year at this time.
Since the opener, the aggressive trout planting scheduled has definitely paid off in big stringers of hefty rainbows. "I have never seen so many whoppers - fish over 5 pounds -pulled in on one day!" reported one marina staffer on opening weekend.
Both shore fishing and fishing from a boat are productive at San Pablo. Power Bait in chartreuse and Rainbow Glitter colors and Power Eggs in yellow and white are the top tempters, along with nightcrawlers.
Trolling from private and rental boats has also been good since the opener. Rapalas, Needlefish, Cripplures, Hum Dingers or other imitation lures, as well as worms behind dodgers are flashers, are all effective.
However, on some days, bait fishing from a boat is most productive. That was definitely the case on February 24 when Williams of Antioch, Paco Danzy of Oakland and Nader Sherif of Petaluma experienced a superb day of fishing while using Power Bait from a rental boat. The trio bagged 10 fish total, including 6 rainbows over 4 pounds, topped by a 4.88 lb. trophy.
"The three of us started shore fishing at the lake around 6:30 am," said Paco Danzy. "The fishing was very slow; we didn't catch anything, so I convinced the others to rent a boat. One of the rental boats came in around 1:30 pm., so rented it and sped over to the Pink Lady Cove and set the anchor. For the next two hours, we found excellent fishing while using Power Bait."
Another group of five anglers, Brandon Vaughn, Michael Warren, Rick Vaughn, Gary Smith, and Richard Young, brought in an impressive stringer of 11 trout the same day while bait fishing from a rental boat.
Five of their fish were over 5 pounds and they had only one "small" fish, a 2 pound rainbow. Michael Warren of Sonoma took big fish honors with a 7 lb. trout, while Brandon Vaughn of San Pablo captured a 5 lb. 7 oz. beauty.
Another group caught a mixture of trout and one largemouth bass while fishing Senkos from a rental boat. Alan Arrendondo bagged a 4 lb. largemouth, while Barry Boudinot of Pacifica landed two large trout. Larry Lee of San Francisco nailed a 4.7 lb. rainbow, while Dalibar Josipovic of San landed three hefty rainbows.
When the lake water becomes too warm to continue planting trout in the summer, the lake management switches over to weekly plants of channel catfish. The focus of most anglers changes from trout to catfish as anglers use chicken liver, anchovies, mackerel and other baits.
The lake is known for the huge catfish that lurk in its clear waters. Dave Edwards of Vallejo set the lake channel cat record when he nailed a 31 lb. 4.8 oz. monster using an anchovy off Oak Point on March 23, 1995.
In addition to trout and catfish, black bass are a very popular fish to pursue at this East Bay gem. Victor Barfield landed an 18 lb. 11.2 oz., largemouth, one of the biggest bass ever caught in northern California, while fishing a nightcrawler and Power Bait for trout in Scow Canyon on March 22., 2001. Already this year several trophy bass over 7 ponds have been caught, topped by a 10.5 lb. largemouth taken on a plastic worm by Daniel Young on February 16.
Crappie, redear sunfish and even sturgeon are found in San Pablo. You might get lucky like Nai Saephan of San Pablo, who caught a 105 lb. sturgeon on frozen shrimp on June 13, 2003, setting a new lake sturgeon record.
San Pablo Lake Facts
General Information: San Pablo Dam has 866 surface acres and 14 miles of shoreline that offers anglers their choice of fishing from boats, both private or rentals, or from shore. This EBMUD reservoir is a drinking water supply and therefore no swimming or wading is allowed.
Recreation Area Facilities: Amenities at San Pablo include a well stocked bait & tackle shop, fish cleaning stations, a handicap fishing dock, a variety of boat rentals, picnic grounds, a children's play area and the San Pablo Grill. Serving cooked to order breakfast and lunch with a lake view.
Boating Regulations: There is a $4.00 Monday- Friday daily boat launch fee and a $6.50 Saturday & Sunday daily boat launch fee for use of the three-lane ramp. There is a $4.00 daily float tube launch fee. No 2-cycle engines, dry stack jet boats, water skies, personal watercraft (jet skis) or windsurfers are allowed. There is a 25 MPH speed limit. Electric motors only are allowed in the preserve area. All motor boats must be registered. The minimum width is 23-1/2 inches on all types of boats. The minimum length for sailboats, skiffs and inflatables is 7 feet 10 inches, while minimum length for kayaks and canoes is 10 feet
MTBE Concerns: EBMUD's Board of Directors has voted to amend Section V of the Watershed Rules and Regulations to continue to allow the use of low emission (4-cycle) motorboat engines at San Pablo Reservoir so long as the MTBE level in treated drinking water from San Pablo Reservoir remains below the District Water Quality Goal of 0.5 parts per billion (ppb).
Hours: Open annually mid February through October. Main recreation building and marina open from sunrise to one half-hour before sunset.
2007 Fees and Permits: Park entry fee $6.00. Park entry fee; van 10-20 passengers $15.00, daily fishing access permit $4.00, pet charge $2.00
Picnicking: Many first-come first-serve picnic sites are available with tables and barbecues. There is a hildren's play area. One reservable group picnic site called The Oaks accommodates 50 to 200 people. The reservation fee is $200.00. For reservations, call (510) 223-1661
Information: That Dam Company, San Pablo Reservoir, 7301 San Pablo Dam Road, El Sobrante, CA 94803, Phone: (510) 223-1661, Email: gofish@norcalfishing.com. For a brochure, call Urban Park Concessionaires at (925) 426-3060 or reach them on the web at www.norcalfishing.com.
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The size of fish landed by Lenore and his friend - remarkable fish for just about any other lake in northern California - is typical of those being caught at San Pablo Lake now because of the new, aggressive trout stocking program that Lenore has begun at the popular lake located in the hills of El Sobrante.
"The launch ramp is open and there is plenty of shoreline for fishing access," said Lenore. "The district has gone ahead with the retro-fitting project in a way that won't affect recreation at the reservoir."
Although the lake has produced a lot of large rainbows lately, it's going to be hard to break the lake rainbow record of 22 pounds, 12.8 ounces. Stephen Dwy caught that huge fish on April 18, 2001 while soaking chartreuse Power Bait off Oak Point.