Looking for places to fish in the bay area. San Jose area to be more exact. Willing to travel 1 hr give or take. Any help?

[Oscarreds]

Recently moved to San Jose and was looking to see if anyone knew any good spots to fish around the bay area. Don't have a boat so mostly shore fishing. Been to a few of the reservoirs and some of the lakes but haven't had much luck. 

[th365thli]

What areas have you tried so far?

[Caliyak]

Go to Tracy and hit the South Delta area. Places like Tracy Oasis resort. 

[bma3]

If you are willing to drive to Marin County I'd definitely give Kent Lake a shot, I've never been skunked there. Hike in to the Dam and fish the dam in the morning. If you are willing to hike some more then you can. 

[J._Bricker]

Oscarreds, welcome to Bass Resource and the Forums and congratulations on your move the San Jose. I know there are some ponds that can be seen traveling S/B on Hwy 17 towards Saratoga. I’ve never fished there but they do look inviting and might be worth a try. Maybe some of the South Bay members can fill in the blanks on these ponds. Also Lexington might be worth a try. Not sure how far you’re willing to drive, but there are good places to fish within an hours drive from San Jose. I’d also suggest checking into one of the local bass clubs as a way expanding your fishing opportunities and abilities, which will lead to lasting relationship with the bait monkey.

 

I hope this was helpful and by the way, the Delta is in a fall pattern... Good luck and good fishing, JB 

[WRB]

Lexington lake is off hwy 17, Anderson and Coyote reservior off 101 before Morgan Hill.

Tom

[J._Bricker]

On 11/10/2017 at 11:12 AM, WRB said:

Lexington lake is off hwy 17, Anderson and Coyote reservior off 101 before Morgan Hill.

Tom

What are those ponds off Hwy 17?

[WRB]

1 hour ago, J._Bricker said:

What are those ponds off Hwy 17?

My daughter works near there and never stopped to check them out?

Tom

[BASS302]

5 hours ago, J._Bricker said:

What are those ponds off Hwy 17?

 

3 hours ago, WRB said:

My daughter works near there and never stopped to check them out?

Tom

 

Those are percolation ponds where the water goes back into the water table.  There's one large one where fishing is allowed.  Another one is (or was) reserved for radio-controlled model boats.  I'm not sure about the other ones. 

The summer before the big rains we had, the large pond was nearly empty.  This summer I stopped to look around and saw a lot of baby bass swimming around (so there must be some bigger ones in there).

[J._Bricker]

Thanks BASS302 and WRB, for filling in some of the blanks as I don’t get down to the South bay much any more. I’ve got that affliction where I see a stream, river, lake, or coastline and start to think what fish are there and where and how I’d fish it. Those ponds always looked inviting, with easy access and what appears to be an area to walk the shore with a couple of rods and minimal tackle. Continued good fishing, JB 

[Basshole33]

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

[schplurg]

FishBrain is a great app for killing spots. I'm not talking on this forum about the waters around me ever again, private message or not.