Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge - Recommendations for Santa Fe Dam/Reservoir

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Recommendations for Santa Fe Dam/Reservoir

I'm planning to wet my lines at Santa Fe Dam/Reservoir this weekend, while my in-laws attend the Renaissance Faire.

Anyone in the area familiar with the water and have some suggestions to share?

I saw on the DFG site they just stocked the lake on 3/31 with Rainbows, so I'm probably going to target Trout & Bass.

Should I bring my Yak? Do they allow personal watercraft?

They allow all nonmotorized watercraft. Kayaks included. I see people catch quite a few catfish there in the summertime. Haven't really seen a trout caught.

That's where I first learned to fish about 30 years ago. Totally different lake now. Best bet is a Kastmaster on 6 lb for trout, crappie or bass. Best location is the north side of the lake walking through the bushes. There's a "point" where the lake narrows. Fron that point west to the end of the lake would be your best bet fer bass. Drop shot would probably be the most prductive. Good luck!

Thanks guys!

How deep is the water?

I'll ride my bike there tomorrow and give some of your suggestions a try.

Thought I'd follow this up with a report... of absolutely nothing!

There was a 7-10mph breeze coming from the West, so there was a lot of surface chop. My friend and I hiked along the northern shore and the southern shore that wasn't blocked off by the Renaissance Fair. We tried drop shots, crank baits, worms, grubs, power bait, even some stinky anchovies. Nothing... not even any missing baits coming back.

I talked to everyone that I came across, and none reported success of any kind, not even Bluegills or Crappies.

There was a guy with a PA12/14 fishing around the island in the middle, but we didn't see him hook up on anything either.

As for the depth, some of the locals said it was up to 50 feet deep in some places, while others said the Reservoir is like a giant shallow rice bowl, with a maximum depth of about 10 feet. Based on how long the drop shots would take line after hitting the water, I would guess the latter. At least as far as we could cast from the shore, it was no more than 6-8 feet deep.

There was a decent flock of scuba chickens there. Watching them dive, I would guess the water was not that deep because they would come back up after about 5-10 seconds.

There are also rocks or something down there that snag a lot of drop shot weights and lead heads.

Boat rentals are absolutely ridiculous - $25.00 per hour rowboat.

For better or worse, it was a quiet day. At least I saved the $25.00 entry fee at the Renaissance Faire.

Quote:

Originally Posted by addicted2sp33d (Post 152929)

Those arent rocks down there its probably a body.

I fished from about 9-12pm on saturday following Charle's advice. Caught two small LMB about the size of my hand. Lost maybe three lures in the trees. Need to refine my flip casting. After losing the one that was catching me fish I left. I'll give it another go after after work today. I work down the street from the dam.

http://imageshack.us/scaled/large/81...0406094843.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by guamboas (Post 153018)

Those arent rocks down there its probably a body.

I would not be surprised at all if I pulled up a body.

When I was using a crankbait, I pulled out a lot of rags, sandwich bags, and grocery bags.

I even pulled out one T-Shirt that looked like someone just took it off and threw it into the water! :eek: It was covered in mud, but it was an otherwise intact T-Shirt!

Yeah, that place sucks! It was once a really productive lake with big fish. Still the biggest bass I've seen in person was in that lake. I know a guy who caught an 8 pounder there last year on a buzzbait of all things though. If I remember right the deepest part of that dump is 13 feet.

By the late 80's there were fish with lesions all over em swimming close to shore dying from fungal infections. They would shut the lake down for weeks at a time and treat it with all kinds of chemials.Turns out it was from excess fecal matter from people swimming and shitting in the lake.There was a death nearly every weekend there from people who would get drunk and go swimming then get their legs wrapped up in all the weeds and couldn't get free. I stopped fishing there around that time. The whole fungal thing was just nasty.

There's still fish in there, but not like there once was. I've fished it a few times since it's less thn a mile from me, but I haven't caught a decent bass there since 2001.