Tag Archives: boat launch

East Park reservoir–Half Full and Fishing Crappie

Conditions: Air temperature 60 – 80 degrees, light wind in the afternoon. Water Temperature 62 degrees, with water clarity of about 36”.

With the fuel moisture levels in valley brush already at June levels, I recently switched gears and moved from “deep and narrow” lakes to exploiting the “shallow and bowl-like” lakes before they warm to bathtub temperatures.

The rationale is simple, the deep lakes will remain cool at depth no matter how warm the summer gets – but the shallow lakes are already half empty, are warming quickly,  and will be unfishable come July.

East Park Reservoir is a little known impoundment off of I-5 that most fishermen pass while headed North into the blue water of the Cascades. It is a agricultural reservoir just above Williams, and services much of Colusa county. Last year (drought year One) I visited it in May and July – and while the May trip was good fishing, the July trip was a warm off-color mess.

East Park isn’t well known, hosts few services, including no boat launch, and doesn’t get the pressure of the popular lakes like Clear Lake or Berryessa. This lack of humans means no trash at the water’s edge, no floating debris, and no overflowing garbage dumpsters to draw wildlife and the curious.

As the lake is accessible only via a Colusa county controlled gate, it is accessible only from April till October, after which the gates are closed and locked for the Winter.

Being about the only person on the lake the prior year, I assumed the opening of the lake would be a quiet affair, so I made the trip jsut to see what the lake offered for the April 9th Opener …

crowdedLaunch450

… and while it appears that most of the locals had the same idea, there was plenty of room for everyone due to the low lake levels and the expanded parking and launch facilities that created. Parking is plentiful on the sandy lake bed, and launching a bass boat simply needs an outcropping of hard pan near the water’s edge for success (see above).

The lower portion of the lake was already dry and reminiscent of late summer of last year, so I expect this year will be critical to lake levels, as its current 50% fill will be drawn down quickly by the local rice, almond, and tomato crop.

East Park hosts numerous bass species, carp, and an aggressive Crappie population that shows itself with regularity. With about a dozen boats on the lake – and at least eight fishing kayaks, the fish were plentiful and most succumbed to an assortment of “rip” baits, spinnerbaits, and a few even blew up on top water lures.

The Crappie preferred a weighted Grey Wooly Bugger (size 6), which I use for a standard “minnow” or Shad imitation, and the Largemouth Bass preferred the larger, Crawdad colored, variant. (Use Orange and Brown speckled chenille, brown marabou tail, furnace hackle tied Palmer)

BlackCrappie450

The bite was pretty good considering all the extra traffic on the lake, which killed the the daylong serenade of Coyotes singing from Coyote Point, but the trip was an unqualified success on all other measures.

The kayak allows full access to the lake, if your legs are in good enough shape to pedal the distance. East Park is shaped like an inverted “V” – and at half full the round trip distance between southern launch and northern dam is about three miles, with a similar length for the far “leg” of the lake.

Ample campsites exist, but they are Spartan and lack water. The fluctuations of the lake level alter the camping area drastically as most follow the receding waterline and camp on the lake bed proper.

Colusa county operates the camping concession, and you can reserve campsites (and pay for day use) on their website. Day use is about $8, for a single vehicle, and camping is $15 per night, which is cheap considering.

I did not see any evidence of Bass spawn yet, and the 62 degree water is still a bit chill for full mating debauchery. It will be soon, but will be difficult to spot based on the rocky shale bottom of the lake. Largemouth beds are more obvious scars on  muddy bottoms than on a rocky surface, and are less easy to spot.

The few fish that broke the surface for top water action suggests the activity level is consistent with a warming lake, so the best bite will be soon.

Why April is Really August

This weekend was the first evidence of balmy Spring temperatures, and the tingle of my “Spidey-sense” warned me about fishing – as my beloved sleepy little Central Valley bass lakes were liable to be the focus of millions of Pandemic fatigued neo-outdoorsmen – and the tinkle of discarded beer bottles would be accompanied by the heady roar of bass boats and party barges.

I was so right.

… but I don’t begrudge my fellow man some much needed recreation, all of us have been penned up for several months, and a bit of beach, a scrap of blanket, and a dab of sunshine is welcome tonic.

What raised my eyebrows was the condition of the lakes and the low water levels.

Most of the lakes I visited this weekend are at August water levels, consistent with the lack of any measurable rainfall we’ve received this year. What remains of these impoundments will be drawn down further to feed the agricultural industry, and we’re likely to see many of these reservoirs at critical levels this year.

Fish don’t bite when water warms to bathtub temperatures, you need to get your lake fishing done early.

Assume the bass are in mid spawn already, assume any hatch or bug activity will be considerably earlier than normal (both for the year and for the day), and plan on unseasonably warm temperatures and lethargic fish.

The snowpack number is misleading. While the official level is 50-60% of normal, the water level received by the Central Valley and surrounding foothills is considerably less.

Many of the Central Valley impoundments store water for agriculture, and will be drawn down over the next several months to water crops. What remains will warm quickly as there is less breadth and depth and as warm water holds less oxygen than cold, the fish will be averse to getting off the sofa and chasing prey …

I visited the Oak Shores area of Berryessa and three of the five underwater “islands” between the park and Round Island were already visible above the water. I visited both ends of Indian Valley Reservoir and what’s normally a six mile long lake is only four miles long, so it’s lost about a third of its capacity.

Those of us carrying or pulling a kayak can assume any concrete ramp is mostly out of the water already, as was the case at Berryessa,  and you’ll have to find your own way to the water. At Oak Shores I had to roll my kayak an additional 50 yards past the concrete launch path – and coming back uphill required at least one pause to catch breath. I’d assume May will add an additional 50 yards to the journey, and the slope will soon be none too gentle ..

In short, start your lake fishing immediately. This is one of those years where the “schedule” will be thrown to the winds – and only the fellow that was here last week will have good intel on conditions.