South Bay Reservoirs (Uvas · Chesbro · Coyote · Calero)
Morgan Hill / Gilroy (Santa Clara Co.) · near Morgan Hill · SF Bay Area
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Bass spring–fall; crappie spring; catfish summer
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+). Santa Clara County reservoirs. A New Almaden mercury legacy means health advisories apply (Calero worst — 'Do Not Eat' for many species; Uvas/Chesbro/Coyote limited-consumption) — fish largely catch-and-release. Boating rules vary by reservoir.
What is here
- Features
- South Bay bass & crappie reservoirs · Catch-and-release ethos (mercury advisories) · Boat or bank · Oak-foothill scenery
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- No
Fishing detail
- Water type
- lake
- Water
- fresh
- Methods
- Casting · Bait
- Boat
- both
- Target species
- Largemouth bass · Crappie · Channel catfish · Bluegill
- Intl tip
- Bass, crappie, and catfish around the tules and structure. Heed the mercury advisories — fish catch-and-release, especially at Calero. Boating rules differ per lake.
The guide
The reservoirs ringing the Santa Clara Valley — Uvas and Chesbro near Morgan Hill, Coyote Lake above Gilroy, and Calero south o…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to South Bay Reservoirs (Uvas · Chesbro · Coyote · Calero) — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.093, -121.793