Fishing season opens Friday

The largest trout plant at a Bay Area lake in years occurs this week at San Pablo Reservoir, just in time for Friday's opening of the fishing season.

This lucky break comes our way because the fish hatchery supplier is so full of big trout that managers need to make space in the raceways for this spring's crop of hatchlings. So several tanker-truck loads of rainbow trout totaling 18,000 pounds have been heading to San Pablo.

"Normally we do 2,500 pounds" for the opener, said Elizabeth Prussia, a ranger adviser for the East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), which operates San Pablo. "These are really beautiful looking fish. Most are between 1 and 2 pounds. With that large fish plant and the lake being in good condition, we're hopeful it will be a good start to the year."

San Pablo Reservoir, in El Sobrante off San Pablo Dam Road, opens to fishing at 6:30 a.m. Friday. The boat ramp will open at 7 a.m. Conditions are the best in years, with water clarity 4 to 6 feet, the water temperature 50 degrees and the lake 78 percent full.

In an aquatic survey of the lake, biologists for EBMUD reported that with recent higher and climbing water levels, the crappie population is experiencing a major rebirth.

"We did some sampling and found a lot of small crappie," Prussia said. "The crappie population declined for a while, but the biologists think it's back. It should be good for the next few years."

A key to San Pablo's rejuvenation is that the work to earthquake-proof the dam is finally done. With a wet spring, water managers for EBMUD could fill the lake for the first time in seven years.

Lake managers dropped water levels while crews reworked the dam. With the lake low, fewer anglers showed up and bought the daily fishing permit. That meant fewer dollars to pay for trout plants, and with it, tepid catch rates. San Pablo, long rated the No. 1 fishing lake in the Bay Area, dropped below Del Valle, Los Vaqueros and several others.

"We're back to regular operating parameters," Prussia said. "If it rains a lot this spring, they (water managers) could fill it up. They've been releasing water, they don't want it to get too full right now, no higher than about 80 percent full, to keep space for water coming in this spring. All the conditions are in place for a good year."

Cold, muddy water and low lake levels have often plagued recent openers at San Pablo. When conditions have been good, opening weekends have been sensational.

The present conditions were virtually duplicated for my best opener at San Pablo, a 17-pound, five-trout limit in four hours. When the water clarity is good, 4 feet or better, and the water temperature is 50 to 56 degrees, we troll a J-9 Rapala (clown or gold/black), roughly 5 to 10 feet deep (I use a downrigger to control depth) along the far corner of the dam and along the shore to the mouth of Scow Canyon.

If heavy rain reduces the clarity, bait fishing is often better than trolling. Use a two-hook rig, often best with a night crawler on the bottom hook and a Power Bait Nugget on the top hook. Use as little weight as possible, or no weight, so fish do not detect anything is amiss. The best spot is often Main Rec, where anglers lined up along the shore can simulate a chum line to bring the fish in close. When using bait, a personal favorite spot is the leeward side of points on the far side of the lake, south of Scow Canyon.