Basshole33

Been fishing Almaden lake for a few years since it’s so close to home. I can stop after work for a few hours. It’s my go to even though as mentioned it’s tough and overfished. I do manage to catch a bass there I’d say every 3rd trip. Great for carp though.

Del Valle will have boats but it gets super windy in the afternoon. I personally like San Pablo, never been crowded and more protected from wind since it actually has trees on the shores instead of dead grass.

The perk ponds off 17 are in Campbell and are city run, live bait and barbed hooks allowed. Right next to it is the Los Gatos creek that has lots of bass but it is county run so no live bait or barbed hooks. I’ve been scouting all the lakes and reservoirs in the area over the last couple months. Here is what I’ve found so far. All of these are within a hour form San Jose. Calero- decent water level but tons of speed boats. Good shore fishing for bass or carp Uvas res.- only tried it for a couple hours. No hits but saw some big jumpers. Chesbro- only saw one other person there so that’s a plus. There’s bluegill and bass. Almaden lake off Coleman and Almaden expressway- my go to spot since it’s close to home. Under the bridge is a shady place to catch bass and carp are hanging around the shallows. Guadalupe res.- really low water level but if you’re willing to hike I get bass out of there. Coyote ponds (Olger ponds) right off Monterey hwy- you can see these from 101 heading south. There are several ponds in this system but hard to get to unless you are willing to hike through thick vegetation and most of the shore has reeds that make it hard to find a place to cast from. Lake Del Valle - about an hour drive to Livermore. Large lake with good trails that take you all around the lake. Plenty of water but it’s gotten warm. There’s still a few trout getting caught but bass are there in the cooler spots. San Pablo res.- beautiful lake surrounded by trees instead of dead grass like most other reservoirs. They rent small boats and pontoons. I haven’t tried the shore but take my little boat. No luck there yet but only tried it twice. Loch Lomond- up 17 then into the hills. Another beautiful place to shore fish. They also rent boats but are usually gone quick. Great trail system, some hiking through the jungle to get to out of the way spots. They have trout, bass, blue gill and crappie. Coyote res.- just past the closed Anderson res. down 101 south. Really low level but very accessible. I didn’t have any luck there either but again i’m mostly doing recon missions so more of a couple hours then move on. Pinto Lake Watsonville- I’ll be trying this one tomorrow… Others I have visited but not fished yet; Horseshoe lake, Lake Cabot. I recommend getting the FishBrain App. It shows you all the locations and catches in their map. Great tool for finding spots. Hope some of this was useful to someone, Drew