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View Full Version : Berryessa Labor Day Weekend



S.S. Fireball
09-12-2009, 11:51 PM
Made it to Berryessa Saturday by 7:30am and trolled for about 5 hours. I picked up two kings using Pro Cure pink dyed/cured corn (pink white and blue dodger blue hootchie with pink corn). The one pictured below went about 18" and 1lb 14oz. Great fish. Did land one liced up trout that put up a great fight, a skinny 14 incher I'd guess. Camped out overnight so I could hit the water at first light before the jet skis and tubes made life rough.

Sunday I started trolling from the east and north of the big island and worked the area south of there too. Then spent the rest of the day in the deep water outside skiers cove and to the west. At about 10am two other boats & I found a school just north of the cove along the channel. Bite was off almost as fast as it was on. If I had any jigging equipment I would have given it a go...

I somehow managed to land an 18.5" 2# plus hen by pulling her in on the wrong rod. I cannot explain it other than by saying I was checking scent on rod 1 and all of a sudden the dodger was pulling back in a big way and taking line. She stayed straight down for a while but after about 10 minutes I was able to coax her up to the surface. I was shocked when I netted her and realized that she was undisputably hooked on the other rod! Lines were in a minor tangle but I made quick work of it and was fishing again in 5 minutes after re-tipping and adding fresh scent.

After about another hour I was pulling in, content with four fatties. Popped rod 2 off the DR to finish the day and to my surprise the fight was on with fish number five. Great way to get my first solo limit at Berryessa!

No real pattern, but the big producer was the seps watermelon dodger (my go to now) and pro troll in orange. Scents were all over the board but the common thread seemed to be anise (koke special, carp spit and predator gels). I used the corn cure and dye I picked up at the pro cure shop with mixed results.

All were 55 feet and deeper. A couple at 65 and at least one koke at 75' and one king at 88'. I did have a hook up Sat evening but he got off about half way in. That's about all I can remember.

Thumbnails: Pic 1: 5 kokes, 14" to 18.5" on the hen. Pic 2: Saturday's prize king.

HiTechKoke
09-13-2009, 12:28 AM
Good stuff Fireball.... Glad you got into them on your own.