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Lake Berryessa Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Wine-country bass and kokanee: the two-story lake an hour from the Bay.

2/5
Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.
Water temp
~84 F est.
Air / High
74 / 78 F
Wind
E 4 mph

Sources: USGS gauge 11453590, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

2/5Slow. Work for them.Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Lake Berryessa stays in its summer rhythm: early magic, midday siesta, evening reprieve. Today brings clear skies, wind E around 4 mph, rising pressure near 1013 hPa and a high of 78. Water sits around 84 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: plan around them and beat the heat.

The plan, species by species

Catfish (blue, channel)Good

Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

Largemouth bassFair

Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

White bassFair

Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

CrappieSlow

Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Tomorrow: Similar at 81 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings from POPE C A WALTER SPRINGS CA.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp74 F
High / Low78 / 53 F
WindE 4-4 mph
Pressure1012.9 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain2% cloud, 0%
Sunrise / Sunset06:41 / 19:34
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~84 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunset

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Partly cloudy, 78/53 F, wind 12 mph, rain 0%

Fair or better. A 12 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on Lake Berryessa: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Topwater at first light on points and seawalls, then slide out to 12-25 ft brush and points with a Carolina rig, deep crank or drop shot. The bite is dawn, dusk or deep.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Straight down on bridge pilings and deep brush at 15-25 ft. Minnows outfish jigs in hot water; move until the graph shows them stacked.

Catfish (blue, channel) illustration

Catfish (blue, channel)

Good year-round

The most reliable bite on most southern waters. Blues run big; channels fill the cooler. Anchor on 20-30 ft baited holes with punch bait or cut shad. They keep biting through the heat when everything else quits.

White bass illustration

White bass

Best: Mar-May run

River-run spawners and open-water schoolers. Fast limits when you find them. Early schooling action over humps; slabs and small spinners under the birds.

When to come: the Lake Berryessa calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Crappie
Catfish (blue, channel)
White bass
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 84 F (estimated, not a reading).

5060708090JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~84 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Lake Berryessa today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at excellent. High of 70 F, wind to 12 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at excellent. High of 76 F, wind to 11 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

3/5 Fair. Fish early or late. Heat pins the bite to the dawn and dusk windows. Catfish (blue, channel) led the card at good. High of 76 F, wind to 15 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

California requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

Bass 5/day, 12-inch minimum. Kokanee/trout 5 combined: check CDFW.

Access

Markley Cove, Steele Canyon, Capell Cove ramps.

About this water

20,700 acres on Putah Creek, Napa County, CA. Monticello Dam (1957): the Glory Hole spillway lake.

Fishing Lake Berryessa: the full guide

Napa's fishing side

Berryessa pairs a serious black-bass fishery (spots and largemouth on deep structure, big swimbait followers by the dam) with kokanee and trout trolling in the cool layer: a true two-story lake. Spring finds bass herding shad in the arms; fall turns the main body into a bait-ball chase.

Wine-country spots

Berryessa steadily grows some of NorCal's best spotted bass: main-lake points and rock slides at 15-40 ft, drop shots and underspins around bait schools. Winter spoon bites under the birds run all comers: a 100-fish day is a real number here.

Kokanee and king depths

The cold band below 40 ft holds a two-tier salmonid program: kokanee at 30-70 ft for the dodger-and-corn fleet, planted king salmon deeper still. Both peak mid-summer out of Markley Cove: downriggers earn wine-country fish fries.

Common questions

Is the Glory Hole worth seeing?

In wet winters, absolutely: the 72-ft morning-glory spillway swallowing the lake is unforgettable. Fishing near it is prohibited and patrolled: photograph from distance.

The bank angler's Berryessa

No boat still buys real fishing here: the Putah Creek arm's shoreline (Capell Cove and the north-end pullouts) serves bank casters spotted bass on Neds, trout on inflated crawlers in the cold months, and springtime crappie around the flooded willows. The interior coves grow bluegill rafts all summer for the family program. Watch the poison oak and the afternoon canyon wind: both are reliable.

When is trout trolling best at Berryessa?

November-April on top (the lake's rainbows ride the surface band in cold water), then progressively deeper: by July the fleet pulls leadcore or downriggers at 30-60 ft along the Big Island and Skiers Cove lines.

Is fishing good at Lake Berryessa right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Slow. Work for them. Conditions favor short windows and patient fishing.

Nearby waters

Putah Creek11 miSacramento River36 miLake Sonoma43 miClear Lake44 miAmerican River46 miSan Pablo Reservoir46 mi
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