Paul Clouse, Ted Cribari, and Al Hurwitz trolled all sections of Lake Del Valle on 5/30/24. An extremely slow start with only one morning bite around 11AM, with Ted catching a decent sized Largemouth Bass by the dam (see photo attached). After that no bites until around 1 PM, when we ran into a concentration of Rainbow Trout along the western shoreline opposite the shore between Heron and Swallow Bays. At that point we had six more bites, catching four beautiful Trout (two Mt. Lassen and two Lightning Trout totaling 14 pounds). Ted caught the largest Mt. Lassen Trout, pictured below, weighing five pounds. We had switched from streamer flies and spinners (unsuccessful) to Size 08 Jointed Husky Jerk Rapalas (very successful). We lost two other fish, presumably Rainbows, one that didn’t stay pinned, and one Lightning Trout that spit the hook just as it entered the net. While we think changing the lures to the Rapalas may have been the secret, the other strong possibility is that the fish simply were not feeding until the early afternoon.

A hot day with the surface water temperature rising to 75 degrees by mid-afternoon. The water clarity in the upper half of the lake is excellent, making trolling a lot easier.

Hope to be back in the very near future. Glad the Trout are still biting!

All the best,
Paul Clouse, Lafayette 
Ted Cribari, Los Gatos
Dr. Al Hurwitz, Saratoga