Paul Clouse and Al Hurwitz trolled all sections of Lake Del Valle on November 6, 2025. We were looking for Bass as well as recently planted Rainbow Trout. We used mainly inline spinners (Panther Martins and RoxStars) trolled 10-23 feet below the surface. Scent was applied to the lures. After an initial unsuccessful troll for Trout in the Marina area, we moved up lake. At that point, Paul caught two Smallmouth Bass, weighing 1 pound and a beauty (pictured here) weighing 2.4 pounds. The Bass were caught in the narrows and north of Swallow Bay along the eastern shore. Then around noon and early afternoon, Al caught two large Black Crappies along the western shore near the avalanche area and the lower Narrows. The larger Crappie weighed 1.9 pounds (pictured here), while the smaller weighed 1.25 pounds. Lake Del Valle produces some very large Crappies (for reference purposes, the average weight of a Black Crappie is around 1/4-1/2 pound). While the trolling was a bit slow at times, we were gratified to catch some nice-sized fish.

All of the fish were released in excellent condition.

It  was a beautiful day, with a mild breeze, clear skies, and good water clarity with a surface water temperature of 64-65 degrees.

We thank the Del Valle staff for their courtesy and outstanding assistance.

Paul Clouse, Lafayette 
Dr. Al Hurwitz, Saratoga