San Pablo Reservoir Fishing Report

Since San Pablo reopened for the season in early February, the fishing has been excellent. Trout stockings have been consistent, with close to 10,000 lbs of Lassen rainbows reportedly planted already this year and more coming all spring. Big trout up to 6 pounds are being caught on everything from PowerBait and trout worms to floating nightcrawlers.

Now that water temps have hit the low 60s, the bass bite is really starting to pick up. Fish are moving shallow and keying hard on crawfish imitations. Jigs have been hot for the bigger fish... a 7.5-pounder reported on one a couple weeks back. Crappie are holding on deep structure and the bite is good. Bright-colored mini-jigs are doing well.

San Pablo Reservoir is officially open for the season after its three-month winter break. With it has come a fresh 4000 lb stock of Lassen trout. Folks are already pulling in quick limits from boat and shore... some reporting only after an hour or two.

The boat launch opens February 8, but private, trailered boats have to be inspected and must sit through a mandatory 30-day quarantine with a tamper-proof band before they’ll be allowed to launch at San Pablo.

Hand-launch kayaks and car-top boats are inspected and cleared to launch without the 30-day quarantine, but they still must arrive completely clean, dry and drained to pass inspection.

Unsurprisingly, there’s a lot of frustration among boaters over these invasive golden mussel banding and quarantine rules. With the 30-day lockdown on private boats, renting a boat at the reservoir is looking a lot easier than dealing with the quarantine headaches if you fish multiple lakes.