Paul Clouse, Ted Cribari, and Al Hurwitz trolled Lake Del Valle extensively on 8/14/25, looking for Bass. We were rewarded with three Smallmouth Bass and one Striped Bass all pictured below. The biggest was caught by Paul (red jacket), a beautiful 2.74 pound Smallie that gave a terrific fight. All of the fish fought very well and were released in excellent condition. One other good-sized Smallie hooked up in Swallow Bay and then made a prodigious leap and spit the hook. There were several other bites that didn’t stay pinned. The fish were caught in various sections of the lake using 1/4 oz feathered in-line spinners (with scent applied) trolled 16-21 feet below the surface at a trolling speed of 2.0-2.4 mph. The lake is loaded with Threadfin Shad, and we made every effort to “match the hatch” with our lures. However, one reason we had fewer hookups today may have been due to an over abundance of Shad forage, providing plenty of natural food for the fish in preference to our artificial lures. As a side note, the Smallmouth bite tended to increase with the afternoon winds, a pattern that we have observed repeatedly with Smallies.

The weather was great today, with a nice morning cloud cover that eventually burned off. The water clarity was excellent, with a surface temperature of 76-78 degrees.

We again thank all of the Del Valle staff for making getting on and off the lake so efficient and enjoyable.

With best regards,
Paul Clouse, Lafayette 
Ted Cribari, Los Gatos 
Dr. Al Hurwitz, Saratoga