Awesome, nice chunks!

I'd really like to give this area a try, particularly with Black Salty baitfish, which seem to be taking a bunch of nice reds out of Fairfield in recent months. Is Calaveras redfishing like this a seasonal deal, better in winter than summer, due to heated water? Also, does anyone have directions, or a site to get them, as to how to reach the area?

Many thanks, and good fishing. If I can help you with fishing report info, especially on the upper coast, drop me a line and I'll do what I can to help.

Best,

Boz

Calaveras is near San Antonio and is an awesome lake. Get u some tilapia and perch and launch them on the calm side as ptoon said. There are mornings that u can go out and see the reds or bass schooling on the shorelines of the powerplant side of the wall. About 7 years ago, I thought I saw a bunch of reds schooling and I tossed a topwater and ended up catching a giant Corvina. I havent seen any in a while but I bet there are still a few around. They are pretty cool too and have big teeth. Traps and spoons also work well, u can either cast them on the calm side and I will occasionally just jig them up and down along the side of the wall. Nice pics and thanks for the response.

Hey anytime PiePuncher, well getting ready for an all Thurs. night and Fri. mornin' at the wall for some good ol' summertime fishing. Any reports out there on how fishing has been lately on the Cally wall. Open to any advice and night fishing tips.

Thanks

Great looking fish. So can you catch redfish from the bank on Calaveras? If so where? Thanks Fellas.

Nice fish bet they were fun to catch

Near San Antonio I think.

The reds are easiest to catch with a boat or kaykak and the crappie wall has always been where I have had my best luck and it seems to be where ptoon has been catching them. If you take kayak, u can just pull it up on the shoreline but dont get caught walking on the shoreline! My grandfather and I also caught quite a few near the dam on some occasions. I have heard of people catching them from the shore but not that often. When the water was rough, my grandfather and I would just kind of anchor near the boat ramp, toss out shad and catch tons of cats and I mean tons(for shore fisherman). Shrimp and shad seemed to work best for the cats. I have never caught a red there from the shore and I have fished that lake litterally hundreds of times. I use to fish the lake 3 times a week every summer for about 15 years. My grandfather has since passed, his name was Dick Stevens and he was one heck of a guide and fisherman...

Buzz.. The picks say it all as far as to where they were fishing. I think you can see the wall in the back ground and also see the shoreline! Calaveras is one heck of a good lake and i have always had better luck there than at braunig. For some odd reason, I use to fish Braunig often but we never had as good of luck on that lake. Both lakes are very close to eachother and both have reds. Once again ptoon, Nice fish. Post some more pics next time you get out. You obviously know what you are doing. I have used spoons but later found that I had better luck using 3/4 oz traps and 1oz traps in chrome/chart or chrome/blue. In the evenings, we would use the regular old balloon rigs and also fish tilapia on the bottom. We also did real well with Black Traps in the evening. RatLTrap didnt make black traps at the time, so I wrote them and sure enough, they sent me quite a few black traps. I use to just buy chrome ones and paint them black. Anyways, keep up the good work. I love the pics and miss the crappie wall. I still have family in San Antonio, so I might have to pay a visit sometime soon. Headed to Port A next weekend so maybe in three or four weeks. Awesome. I wish Calaveras was closer to me, I guess I will stick with good old fairfield and an occasional vist to old faithful calaveras. Memories!!!! Thanks man

One more thing, Sorry for the long post but Like I said, I have tons of memmories there and I even spread my grandfathers ashes out on the lake after he died. I give my grandfather credit for just about everything I know about fishing and I get teary eyed everytime I think about it or i pass through san antonio or goto Calaveras. Once again, thanks!!! Its funny that a simple pic can bring back so much.

Awesome !

Bozka,

The "crappie wall" is an inverted concrete weir that essentially spans the lake surface at the mouth of the coldwater intake on Calavaras. When I say coldwater, it's a misnomer, because this time of year the water being drawn in to cool the two power plants is above 90 degrees.

It's only accessible by boat. The hotter the weather, the more the plants generate, and thus there's more current through the intake system being pulled under the weir.

Anglers stand on the surface of the weir and throw practically everything (spoons and live bait being popular) into the intake area. If the reds are close to the weir, they'll hit spoons and topwaters.

Reds are often seen breaking the surface at the dog leg, an area inside the intake where the shoreline curves. The dogleg it too far to cast to, but enterprising anglers float live shad, perch, or tilapia, with tilapia being a favorite, under balloons. Under a SE breeze, coupled with the current, the balloons will reach the dogleg with ease.

A SE breeze will also cause waves to smack up against the outside of the concret weir, where crappie wall anglers secure their boats. Several good quality fenders are a must in order to keep a boat from being heavily damaged.

Calaveras is ripe with forage. Usually, a few casts with a castnet near the boat ramps yield enough bait for an outing.

Because it's so close to a metro area with a million folks, prime spots (such as the wall) get crowded quickly. Catch and release is not a popularly practiced concept at Calaveras and Braunig lakes.

Buzz,
Shore bound anglers catch their fair share of reds at Calaveras. One of the most productive methods is to wade out from a point, heave a live crawdad on a bottom rig as far as possible, then walk the rod back to the bank and set it in a holder.