•  2,027,840 Acre Feet
• 65 Miles of Shorline
• Surface Area 12,250 acres
• 270 feet deep
• Oneill Forebay Water Heights full=222.60 ft  (<219ft is too shallow to boat)   Water data
  
• San Luis Reservoir full=543 ft   Water data

San Luis Reservoir is one of California’s largest reservoirs and a critical component of the state’s water supply system. In fact, with a capacity of more than 2 million acre-feet (AF), it is the largest off-stream storage facility in the world.

I always dreamed of knowing a body of water so well that I could catch fish in it at will, in any weather, in any conditions.  I thought that might happen later in my life  when I retire to some small lakefront or riverfront cabin–like ” On Walden’s Pond” .   The one thing I have realized fishing all over the world is sometimes, you overlook the best fishing of all and its right under your nose.   Sometimes those moments come by accident and luck.  Weather it’s catching and enormous bass in my backyard lake– Calero Resevoir, or casting to 20lb mudding carp in the flats of the Perc Pond near my office,  or catching a 12 inch trout in the creek behind Leland High School on an indicator and nymph.   I forgot that the main reason I started fishing for fun is that is was easy and cheap.   It is time for me to understand San Luis Reservoir–really understand it.  It’s the best world class piece of fishing water within and hour of my house.

These pages are dedicated to that goal–to crack the mystery of  San Luis Reservoir Stripers.   I started fishing SLR sometime around 1970 when I was 13 years old. I remember when my dad would bring me to the lake where he taught me to catch fish with anchovies from the shoreline. He also taught me to clean and dress stripers so that my mother would not complain about the fish we brought home. My dad was a meat fisherman and I learned how to use a scalpel (a fillet knife) at age 13 because of his obsession with bringing home the fish.

 

History and Biology

Captain John Smith, wrote in his journal in 1614  ”that Striped Bass was a most sweet and wholesome fish as ever I did eat”   And In 1634: William Wood, in his New England’s Prospect, called the Striped Bass “one of the best fishes in the Country . . . a delicate, fine, fat, fish.”  Striped Bass were also served at the nations  first Thanksgiving.

The Striped Bass, scientifically referred to as Morone saxatilis is endemic to the East Coast.  The striped bass has been a prized fish since the Plymouth Colonies in 1670 where they were commercially fished. In 1607, Captain John Smith found the Chesapeake Bay waters clean and clear, free of the phytoplankton clouds that followed in later years. He wrote in 1614 that the fish seemed so plentiful that one might walk “dryshod” across their backs over the river.  Striped bass can live up to forty years and reach weights greater than 100 pounds at nearly five feet in length, although individuals larger than 50 pounds are considered an absolute trophy fish and a possibly once-in-a-lifetime.

The entire California Striper fishery is the result of 435 fish planted on two occasions–135 fingerlings in 1879 and  300 in 1882.  Fingerling Stripers were first introduced into San Francisco bay in 1879 and were place in the Carquinez Straits.     Transported by train from New Jersey’s Navesink River,  the fish prospered in Delta and San Francisco Bay.  Only 4 years later on October of 1883 a fisherman reported catching a 16 lb striper in the Sacramento River!  Imagine what the DGF would have said today about dumping a bunch of foreign fish into the Bay!  The striper population in the Bay exploded–between 1889 and 1892 the yield of stipers by commercial fishermen increased 250 percent.   There is a record of a party boat in SF bay that landed 1500 fish in one boat in 1894.   The stripers were fished commercially until 1935 when the local sports fishermen managed to lobby against the commercial fishery to improve their sport!   Times have certainly changed.  Stripers have established themselves as far north as the Umpqua River in Oregon and as far south as Redondo Beach in Los Angeles.  What a scary thought that a couple hundred fish dumped into the bay could change the entire dynamic of a coastal fishery forever!    A 36 Inch, 20lb Striper is about 12 years old.  You can count the rings on the scales to determine age.  Stripers migrate into rivers and estuaries with current or tidal oscillations to spawn in the spring.  March and April are good striper fishing months in the river.   The eggs need to drift and suspend in current to develop into fry which takes 2 days.   Female stripers start annual spawning at 18 inches and  a 5 pound fish can produce over a million eggs.  Yearly surveys taken since 1946 of the distribution  abundance of striper fry indicate the the fishery is healthy.  And, as many species in the Delta decline due to water fluctuations,  stripers are the least effected.   As one Biologist recently put it

Striped bass are extremely prolific and attempts to propagate them  artificially are unwarranted. So many fry are produced through natural  propagation that almost any contribution from artificial sources would be  superfluous. Once established in an area any decline in the population is most  likely the result of environmental factors rather than insufficient natural  propagation.

Current Stripe Bass Controversies

There has been a hot debate these last years (2010-12)  about the effects of Striper predation on other species in the California Delta Population that led to the DFG proposing to increase the kill limits and decrease  minimum size for California  Stripers.  Some feel this is an attempt to eradicate striped bass. There exist a lobby to eradicate the Stripers in order to give the salmon a chance to recover.  The effects of eradication of Stripers would be financially huge to the sportsfishing industry.  Wether this is truly a consensus amongst scientist, or a smoke screen by special interest is debatable.   Most sportfishing industry representatives  believe 40% to 100% of their business is striper related.     The ecology of the  delta fishery is complex and possibly beyond understanding.  Compelling peer reviewed research supports both sides of the Delta ecology controversy however one thing is certain,  Southern California’s thirst for northern California water via the peripheral canal is killing an estimated 100 million fish a year.     For one hundred and thirty years,  the salmon and stripers have co-existed,  but at not time in the last 130 years has so much of the delta watershed been diverted to southern California.      In a meeting on Feb 2, 2012,  organized sportfisherman including fly fisherman from the Bay Area presented opinions and arguments along with academics, and lobbyist  on both sides of this controversy.   The proposed regulation changes  were made with the interpretation of current  scientific research that Stripers were eating Salmoinds in the delta.  The contention that the entire delta fishery was on the decline and that only looking to stripers as the cause of delta native fish poplulation decreases is narrow minded and inaccurate and the commission unanimously voted to leave the regulations alone.  Heading the scientific support for the eradication of stripers was Dr Chuck Hanson who believes, based on research, that there is solid evidence that Stripers do feed significantly on the Salmonid population and are causing declines or impeding recovery of the salmon and steelhead.   The main contention of sportsfishermen is that the water user and lobbyist are, in a calculated and undermining way, trying to divert blame for the cause of declining fish populations away from themselves and toward Stripers.   Another controversial subject is to give native species–the salmon–the  best chance for recovery at the expense of non native species like striped bass.

As a lifelong avid fishermen with a biology background,  I support the preservation of endangered species and the preservation of ecosystems,  however I also believe that as hard as we try to understand the effects of only one factor on an ecosystem–there is no wisdom unless we address all the factors at once and that seems impossible to achieve with our political system.    Thus, fighting over one thing like striper predation is a waste of effort .   Unfortunately,  the politics of water–the need for irrigation and drinking water –overshadows the concerns of a relatively few fishermen.    We sports fishermen are not as big a lobby as we think and we are not as large a harvester of fish, even with no limits,  as the commercial fishermen or the “the pumps”.    We need to use tools like “saving endangered species”  to leverage our power against the majority who don’t care about fish or eco systems.   We fishermen are the idealists and the  witness to the changes.  We are intimate with the ecosystem and we must try like Spartans to fight the great powers that would suck the delta dry.   Catch and release is the first step especially since studies have shown so much mercury to exist in delta stripers.  Current consumption recomendations  seem in line with current limits and the healthiest of people can only eat one Striped Bass meal a week safely according to the OEHHA.  I like to eat Stripers and l follow the guidlines and eat at most only one meal a week .

In my opinion, because both sides of the controversy only agree that stripers do eat salmon and both sides are uncertain as to the real effect of decreasing that predation.     Let us all remember that the entire Stripe Bass Fishery is the result of only 400 fish and that they are a very prolific non native species.     When they dumped those 400 fish into the bay in 1879,  they let the genie out of the bottle and there is no putting it back in my opinion.  Erradication of Stripers even with a full on effort to do so seems unlikely based on the 130 year history of stripers in california.  So much emotion about the regulations wiping out the striper population without a real idea of fishery management is evident. The water diversions are key for sure and as a united front we should fight those lobbies as hard as we can.  Sound judgement by Bioligists  (my professor at UC Davis when I was a Fisheries Biology Major–Peter Moyle) is what is needed and often science does not support that which seems obvious.  We could have possibly hurt our cause by not allowing the regulations recommendations to pass.  By saying no to the DFG biologist , we are saying no to more research.  Research that would eventually  point to the need for more water in the delta and NOT the erradication of striped bass.

Quagga Mussel Inspection

Does it  make sense that if you dont inspect boats in waterways that feed a specific lake,  then the inspections are meaningless?  What a waste of time and effort when minnow buckets are not inspected or float tubes launch almost anywhere on the lake.

To pass the inspection follow these simple steps:

• Inspect all exposed surfaces - mussels feel like sandpaper.
• Wash the hull thoroughly, removing all visible mud, plants and animal material.
• Drain all water from your hull, pull drain plugs and motor water lines and tip outboard down to drain.and dry all areas.
• Wash and dry everything that came in contact with water including trailer.
• Keep watercraft dry between launches into different fresh water areas.

If a boat moved from an infested area will be launched in waters that are not infested with zebra or quagga mussels, the general recommendation is to keep the boat out of water and let it dry for a minimum of 30 days after cleaning all equipment and draining all possible sources of standing water. However, such “quarantine” times may be reduced depending on local temperatures and relative humidity’s.

It also sucks that you cant fish other inspected lakes and skip the return inspection .  A little trick  for the return trip   Email me for the password.  msyn@carabelli.com  https://vimeo.com/61403204

Striper Records

There are some guides and old fishermen who believe that sportsfishing has killed the San Luis Fishery .    In reading the diary of my mentor,  and comparing them to my fish counts and observations,  Ive noticed that maybe the fishery in San Luis is better!    Stripers grow fast–five inches long in the first year, 11 inches at the  second, 16 inches at the third, and 20 inches at the end of the fourth year.  According to Dan Blanton,  A striper weighing 108 lbs was verified by the DFG in San Luis Reservoir.  Since 1982 the all-tackle angling record fish, taken in New Jersey, in the salt and weighed 78.81 lbs.  In August of 2011, an 81.88 striper was taken in Connecticut and is the current world record. These are as big as a Striper gets in the salt.  The Stripers caught in San Luis are classified as freshwater Landlock Stripers and San Luis held the world record for that in 1992 with a 67 1/2 lb striper. In 2008, a  baitfisherman caught a 71.5  lb striper out of the forebay on a pile worm and ate it before it was recorded as the states largest striper.  The current world record for a landlock Striper was caught on Feb 28, 2013 by James Bramlett on the Black Warrior River in Alabama weighing 70lbs (45 inches long with a girth of 37.75 lbs)

Seems to me like the fish being caught are bigger and as abundant as they were in the 70s with sportsfishing being the only real stressor other than drought.  But perhaps Ive just  become better at catching them and it’s an illusion.  Some fisherman believe that San Luis today  has radically changed for the worse  from 30 years ago from overfishing.

Migration and Stocking

The migratory behaviors of coastal striped bass are more complex than those of most other anadromous fish, which spend most of their adult lives in the ocean but migrate up rivers and streams to spawn. Striped Bass seasonal movements depend upon the age, sex, degree of maturity and the river in which they were born.  Even though Strippers are anadromous, scientist believe that the damming of rivers has led to some species becoming landlocked .  There are very few successful spawning populations of freshwater striped bass that retained a landlocked breeding population .   I have talked to some biologist who believe that the San Luis Stripper polulation is one of those  freshwater sustained systems with the fish moving to and from the San Joquine river watershed and in and out of the lakes through the aqueducts that connect many of those reservoirs. .  San Luis Reservoir has never had a formal stocking program in its history.  Although some talk about an attempt to stock stripers in the Lake and Forebay in the 80′s that resulted in an orgy of feeding by the large stripers in the lake resulting in no net gain in the fishery.

An entry in Len Bearden’s Diary states on 6-26-1992:

“Had a call from Al that they had stocked 4-6 inch stripers at San Luis Creek Launch ramp.  The fishing had been hot Wed. and Thurs..  Big fish had moved in to feed on them.  He had caught many fish last night from 5-18 lbs.  The fish were still there but not in the same quantity.  I took one good fish 30.5 inches about 10 lbs.  Dave hooked three and lost all of them.  One seemed to be a really good fish.  He almost got spooled before it came off.  Al took 3 from 6-11 lbs.  There was a 5 lb and one about 21 lbs also taken by other anglers.”

I believe that the populations in San Luis parallel those in the delta  reaching equilibrium populations with its Delta  San Joaquin water source.   Save the delta and you save San Luis. Although  some people believe that the good old days of San Luis are over,  I have the feeling that the lake is as good as it has every been.  Maybe that is  just wishfull thinking, but then I am an optimist.

What Can You Eat from the Delta and the Lake

The Organization that is in charge of determining safe levels of fish to consume is the Office of Environmental Helath Hazard Assessment California Environmental Protection Agency or OEHHA.   The conclusion of the last three studies have shown eleveated levels of Mercury, PCBs and heavy metals  in Stripers especially those over 27 inches.  The last guidlines was was updated on 02/08/12 and the results are as follows

Women ages 18-45 and childred 1-17

EAT NO STRIPED BASS AT ALL!

Men over 17 and Women over 45

Eat no more than 1 serving per week and do not eat Striped Bass over 35 inches.

A Serving is defined as the size and thickness of your hand.

Pretty Scary!  Release the really big fish (over 10 lbs)  and eat only the little ones (less than 10lbs-aprox 27 inches)  to be health safe and fish conservative.  A Ten lb fish is aprox 5 years old.

The Good Old Days

My Dad in 1964  (I was 8)

My first anchovy caught  Striped Bass in 1970.   I was 13 years old .

 

 

 

Back in 1972, when I started  working at the Millpond Fly Shop, I started flyfishing San Luis off the shoreline primarily for American Shad.   The Shad in those days would swim in large schools around the lake .  Some were as large as 6 lbs.  I have seen dead stripers in San Luis with foot long Shads sticking out of their mouths choking them to death.  The American Shad if a forage food for giants and thus the large size of San Luis Strippers.  I remember when Kay Mitsioshi (who worked at the millpond back then)   showed me how to prepare and eat the roe of large female Shad–it was a japaneese delicasy and he encouraged me to bring him back some hens.     It was also in the 70s when my boss, Len Bearden, started to seriously fly fish San Luis for large stripers. He made San Luis his home water. By 1975 Len had accomplished the Grand Slam of Saltwater Sailfish Flyfishing–having caught every species of sailfish on a fly when salt water flyfishing was in its infancy. Len approached fishing San Luis like a scientist. He started keeping detailed records of the wind weather conditions. He kept detailed records of fishing days on the water and recorded all of Al’s observations when they spoke. Fishing it almost twice weekly for over 5 years,  Len knew every nuance of the Lake. When we fished with him, it was not unusual for him to be the only guy in a line of float tubes consistantly  hooking fish.  Everyone who fished with him accept Al, was at a disadvantage because he knew things that other did not.  I watched him fish next to Dave Whitlock, and other famous fishermen and embarrass them on that lake.  He use to tell me I was holding my lip wrong which back then meant I was not smoking a cigar. Len’s friend Al Whitehurst lived in the bay area and would come into the store and buy materials for all sorts of odd flies to fish the lake. He too was enamored with the stripers of San Luis Reservoir.   They would communicate weekly about the fishing on the lake and between the two of them their knowledge of the lake compounded. In the next thirty years, the two of them would own all the IGFA Fly Caught  line class World Records for Landlock Stripers. Al eventually moved to Los Banos and remains there to this day–in my opinion, he is the worlds authority on San Luis  fly fishing.   The fly of choice back then for Len was yellow clouser minnow

Its all about the weather!  If you read the diary carefully,  some of the best days Len had were in some of the worst weather–storms, wind and fog.

Len Beardend Striper Fly Fishing Diaries 1991-1992 Bearden Striper Diaries 91-92

Recent Landmark Catches

We were on the water by 7:45 and heading across the lake to the rocks of the dam. I hooked into the first fish within 5 minutes and the bloody thing was into my backing 100 yards in 30 seconds or less. We knew it was a good one.
When we saw color, Ed says to me that it’s over 30 and I say don’t know about that but it’s a damned good one. Turns out it was 32 pounds – yes, I weighed it on the boga; we took a few photos and I took plenty of time to be sure she was properly revived. She swam away in good shape heading downward for deep water. Needless to say that I was stoked. It’s the best one for me in quiet awhile. I managed two other nice fish, an 8- and 9-pounder and a few smaller fish. Ed ended up with 18 fish from 18 to 20 inches; and we both dropped a few. Only a few days ago Ed hooked a monster that got into his backing more than a hundred yards before rocking him off.