Lake Berryessa
Napa County · near Napa / Winters · SF Bay Area
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Bass spring–fall · trout/kokanee trolling spring–summer
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+) required. Berryessa, the Bay Area's big backyard reservoir in the hills east of Napa, offers year-round bass plus trolled trout and kokanee. Several launches; a boat opens the whole lake.
What is here
- Features
- Bay Area's big backyard reservoir · Year-round bass fishery · Trolled trout & kokanee · Napa-hills scenery
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Fishing detail
- Water type
- lake
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Casting · Trolling · Bait
- Boat
- both
- Target species
- Spotted & largemouth bass · Rainbow trout · Kokanee salmon · Catfish & crappie
- Intl tip
- License required. Bass year-round (winter is good for numbers); troll for trout and spring/summer kokanee. A boat opens the lake, but shore access produces too. Combine with Napa wine country over the hill. Versatile and close to the Bay Area. Kokanee are a tasty prize.
The guide
Lake Berryessa, tucked in the oak-and-vineyard hills east of Napa, is the Bay Area's big backyard reservoir — a year-round fish…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to Lake Berryessa — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.59, -122.23