Where am I that's this Cold?

Placerville, CA

Storm Valley RV Resort

 

 

 

 Where am I that's this Cold?

 

Lake Berryessa.  Even though the temperature is supposed to hit the upper 70s later in the day, when you're driving across the lake in the early morning it is COLD.  The weather in the area has been warming and the fish are busy building nests.  This means good fishing!  It's not so much that they are hungry as much as they get very irritated when something gets near their nest.  They are territorial that way.  So when you drag that lure across it, you almost always get a fish!

Everything is so green and pretty!  I'm so glad to be back on this lake.  This was always our second home growing up.  We spent almost every weekend and some weeks up here camping, fishing and saterskiing.  Lot's of good memories.  I have only been back a couple times after moving out and it's been about 25 years since I've been back at all.

The wind was calm and the water perfect!

It was a slow morning and the fish were few and small.  The Brush Hog was the lure of the day, dragged slowly across the bottom.  As they say, The worst day fishing is better than the best day working.  So true!  We were having a great time.

 Always convenient to have a floating bathroom when you need it.

A view of the Marina from the lake.

Back in the 60s/70s, we camped at what was called The Marina. It had about 10 spots right on the lake, a small grocery store, laundry, gas dock and live minnow well. And lots of lizards to catch.

A bit of history on the lake:
Lake Berryessa lies in Napa County and is formed by the Monticello Dam, which provides water and hydroelectricity to the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. It is 15 miles long and 3 across. Before the dam was built there was a small town in the valley. Monticello residents and ranchers abandoned their homes and the cemetery had to be relocated.  Initially the lake was fenced off and not intended for public and recreational use. With no federal or state agencies wanting to manage affairs at the lake, seven concessionaires opened for recreational activities on federal land in the late 1950s. After 50 years those contracts came to an end in 2009. During that time they leased the land to RV homes for long term housing. When the contracts ended, all the recreational facilities and mobile homes were forced to move from federal property. The new reclamation has yet to seriously start any new development and most of the campgrounds have been emptied of everything except pavement which nature is slowly reclaiming.

One interesting fact:  The Zodiac Killer was here.  He drew a cross-circle symbol on a car door with a black felt-tip pen, and wrote beneath it: "Vallejo/12-20-68/7-4-69/Sept 27–69–6:30/by knife", the dates of the killer's first two crimes and the date and time of the crime he had just committed. Upon hearing screams for help, a man and his son who were fishing in a nearby cove discovered the victims and summoned help by contacting park rangers. Cecelia Shepard was conscious when police arrived, but lapsed into a coma during transport to the hospital and never regained consciousness. She died two days later, but the boyfriend survived to recount his tale to the press.  After the murder he called the Napa County Sheriff's office from a pay telephone to report his latest crime. The phone was found, still off the hook, minutes later at the Napa Car Wash on Main Street in Napa, only a few blocks from the sheriff's office, yet 27 miles from the crime scene. Detectives were able to lift a still-wet palm print from the telephone but were never able to match it to any suspect. The case was never solved.  They say he killed 37 people.

We brought the boat onshore and walked up the old boat launch.  Funny how small the entire area looks now compared to when we were little.  The grassy area that was in front of the campsites is now overgrown and covered with weeds and wildflowers.

 

This path used to take you to the picnic area and docks.  The live minnow well was located on the left.  I can still hear the sound it used to make.  To the right was a small dance patio with lights and 2 old pinball machines that used to cost a dime to play.

Behind the picnic area, up the "hill" was the store.  We used to roll down the grass hill under the huge oak tree.  That tree is now dead and doesn't look so huge anymore.

The old Oak.

No one around but this large Garter snake.

The old parking lot where all the fishing and race boats used to park. The laundry and bathrooms were in back behind those trees.

 

Every telephone pole had an Osprey nest on it.

 

Down the lake a bit past the Marina is the old campground of Monticello.  Nothing here but the palm trees.

We moved across the lake to where we used to catch a lot of catfish.  The lake level was so high that there were lots of trees and bushes in the water.  We weaved in and out and followed the boils of chad.  Bam!  The fish were hitting like crazy!

I tried to get  pictures of the eagle that was flying above us but he was hard to follow.

The Largemouth Bass were hitting the most, followed by the Smallmouth.

The cute ranch on the other side of the lake.  It's all grazing land on this side and we've had to dodge the cows many times over the years while fishing.

Nice one Steve!

Good one Bro!

A really nice sized Crappie for this lake!

Can you believe the size of this Sunfish?

 

And how about my bass?! 4.1 lbs baby!  Biggest catch of the day!  As a matter of fact, for a while I had the first fish, the biggest and the most caught.  Of course, my brother had to pass me up and catch the most before the day was done.

 

Having fun!

 This one swallowed it good but got the hook out and it happily swam away.

Well, it's getting dark and much cooler so we head back to the truck for the 2 hour drive back to Placerville.  What a great day on the lake fishing with the two Steves!