GENERAL CONDITIONS
With summer starting to come to an end in roughly 46 days, the weather has been a pretty steady heat in the high 70's to low 80's while cat fishing has been picking up and becoming steadier as well. Catfish have been caught more and more over by the island, dam and Half Moon Bay. Water clarity has been great this last week with about a 6 foot visibility. However, the wind has been a problem in the later afternoon. Water level is about 10 feet from spillway, but we are losing water daily due to construction on the west trail here at the marina. Regardless, we will still be renting boats. The west shore trail will be closed for a short amount of time due to the construction on the ADA pathway; the project is set to be completed by October 31, 2012. Sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause.Since the beginning of summer we have planted a little over 3,000 lbs of catfish.

When you bring in your big fish, we will take your picture and give you a "Lake Chabot Whopper Club" button. If you catch a whopper over 8 lbs, you will also receive a Lake Chabot Whopper Mug.

For beginning anglers, if you have any questions on what to use please come down to the Marina and one of our friendly staff will be more than happy to help get you set up for your fishing adventure. Boating has been picking up more and more during this summer, if you're looking to take out a boat the best time is to come out in the morning and early afternoon, although wind has been picking up later in the afternoons causing us to give out warnings for kayaks, rows and electric boats or not send them out at all.

TROUT
Trout fishing is extremely slow right now. The lake has warmed up and all the trout are moving deeper into the water. With some luck, you might be able to pull a few out, but it's definitely the season for catfish now. If fishing for trout, it's best to go to the clearest parts of the lake which are the dam and Half Moon Bay area. Make sure to troll about 15+ feet down from the surface. The best bait to use a jointed Rapala (J-7) Firetiger Rainbow Trout pattern and Pink Mira Shad with some weights in front of the lure. Drift fishing is another way to pull out trout in front of the island and Half Moon Bay, using Powerbait/Power Eggs or night crawlers. When trolling for trout, be careful with the anglers fishing on the shoreline.Our last trout plant was Tuesday, June 14th, we will not be getting any more trout plants until fall and for the rest of the summer we will be planting catfish.

BASS
Attention all anglers! Bass fishing has been on the rise! Bass are currently in post-spawn mode, so they are near the shoreline, about 10-15 feet deep. If you are fishing for bass, they are hitting mostly in the early mornings and evenings mostly on plastics, jigs and hula grubs. Near the island or the tulles by Raccoon Point are always a good spot to fish for bass. Most of the anglers are throwing Senkos, drop shots and Brush hogs to get the fish to come out from their deep, off-shoreline structure. Livewells can be provided upon request thanks to Walton's Pond. Please practice catch and release for bass, as they are not stocked into the lake and their population depends on you! Within the past few weeks or so, Lake Chabot Marina employee Erich Coulter caught a 7 lb and a 5 lb bass between Coot's Landing and Alder Point. Another Lake Chabot Marina employee, Joey Coelho (see photo #1) caught a 9.5 lbs bass over in Half Moon Bay using crank bait.

CATFISH
It's catfish season! The water temperature has been steadily increasing as well as the amount of catfish being caught. So far this year, we have planted about 3,000 lbs of catfish into Lake Chabot, though they have been planting over by Coot's Landing and not in our view. We are not sure when the last official catfish plant was but it is done weekly. Typically around this time, catfish are going to be located by Raccoon Point and anglers are using mackerel, anchovies and chicken liver for bait.

For beginners, if you have any questions on what to use please come down to the Marina and one of our friendly staff will be more than happy to help get you set up for your fishing adventure.

WHOPPERS On August 1st, Ken Kruse, pictured above caught a catfish weighing 9.25 lbs over in Bass Cove using mackerel.