Don Pedro Reservoir - 2008

Don Pedro Reservoir is located in the Modesto/Turlock area of Central California. To celebrate our birthday (yes Amy and I have the same birthday, April 14th!), we organized a camping trip to beautiful Don Pedro Reservoir. Attending was Scott/Sheelagh, our friend Lori and her bf and two sons and Lori's daughter Jazmyne. What a great time we had! Our campsite was right on the lake and we were able to pull the boat up to the campsite.

The fishing was decent, we caught a couple of trout and a couple of bass, but mostly it was just a great time with good friends.

A bit more about Don Pedro Reservoir:

Lake Don Pedro, nourished by the cold, clear waters of the Tuolumne River, is a lake of surprising contrasts. During the summer, it becomes a virtual maelstrom of activity as thousands of water skiers, jet skiers, swimmers and anglers descend on the lake's launch ramps and marinas. However, during the winter and spring, this lake is a totally different place, a tranquil location where a fishermen can troll for trout or salmon with few other anglers to compete with.

"It's amazing how little fishing pressure Don Pedro receives this time of year in spite of being such a good trout and salmon fishery," said Mike Graf of Sparklefish Lures as we trolled the Moccasin Point area in his Gregor boat on March 24. We did not see another boat fishing for trout all day long, although we saw two bass boats speeding around the reservoir to try their luck.

Don Pedro features one of the most diverse arrays of salmonids, including rainbow, brown and brook trout and king and kokanee salmon, found in any California lake. However, it is the reservoir's large rainbow trout and kokanee that offer the most consistent action throughout the season. The lake, situated at 880 feet in elevation in the Mother Lode foothills near La Grange, has apparently recovered from the copepod infestation of trout and salmon that took place here earlier this decade. The DFG stocked only brook and brown trout during the infestation, since these fish aren't susceptible to these parasites like rainbow trout and king salmon are.