The stockings have been coming fast and furious at Vaqueros since late October, with 4,000 pounds dropped in November and another 3,000 so far in December… including a fresh plant this week. November was oddly quiet given the volume of trout, but over the last couple weeks the bite has finally blown wide open.

Shore anglers have been throwing everything from spinners and spoons to tube jigs and PowerBait, nailing fish in the 1–5 pound range. A 9-pounder was reported last week as well! Smaller limits are mostly coming on PowerBait, while the bigger fish are showing up on spoons and jigs. The south cove has been a hot zone, but reports have fish getting caught all over the lake.

Water temps are sitting in the mid-50s, and the catfish bite has stayed productive as well. If you’ve got a two-rod stamp, it’s not a bad play to soak one for trout and one for cats right now. Bass reports are quiet, although a few smaller ones are being caught accidentally by trout anglers throwing spoons near structure.