Jenkinson Lake "Sly Park" Fishing Report

[Nate13]

Sly Park, CA
Jenkinson Lake
June 1, 2017
Water temp 67-70
Air temp 72
Water visibility 5-8 feet
Wind 5-8 mph
Lake level 100%

I decided to take a two-day trip up to Sly Park to fish Jenkinson Lake for the first time.
My first day fishing the lake was June 1st. I launched out of the narrows around 3 p.m. The water was 69.5°, which was warmer than I anticipated for a lake at 3,400' elevation, so I started off fishing some top water with an IMA Skimmer walking bait. I was fishing parallel to the banks in about 4-8 feet of water. I had two blowups on the bait, but they were not committed strikes, they were swiping strikes.

I decided to slow down a bit and started finesse fishing. I began to target the submerged trees and bushes with 4.5" Robomorm on a drop shot rigged weedless. With my very first cast with the drop shot I got the first spotted bass in the boat. I continued to fish the submerged trees and bushes and got a few more fish on the drop shot. I decided to go to the opposite side of the bank and throw some reaction lures like a jerkbait and medium diving crankbait. I got no action, so I decided to slow it down again and I tied on a 1/8 oz ball head jig with a 3.3 inch Keitech Impact fat swimbait. Before I knew it, I was putting fish in the boat almost every other cast.

All the fish that I caught were in 1 to 8 feet of water in or around submerged bushes or trees. I worked my way close to the back of the lake and hooked a good size largemouth on the Keitech, unfortunately he jumped out of the water and shook my hook. That’s fishing!!!

After losing the fish I decided to look for some spawning beds off the peninsula. I saw a lot of beds but there were no fish on them. I continued to search for about another half hour but the sun started to drop and temperatures got cooler, so I decided to run to the main body of the lake to fish the submerged trees that were along the north bank.

Still fishing with the Keitech, I got a few more fish in the boat. I came across a rocky bank in between the submerged trees and decided to throw my drop shot again targeting a little bit deeper water and got my first Smallmouth of the day. What a fight! After getting a few more spots in the boat before the sun dropped, I had to call it a day. For the first time fishing Jenkinson Lake, I was very impressed with how good the fishing was, especially during the hottest part of the day.

Written by Nate Boomhower

[philip garcia]

How did your boat look after driving through the dirt road ? I remember it being a long way in. I use to camp there over 25 years ago and hated the dirt road.

[Nate13]

There is not dirt road anymore. Once you go thru the park entry it's all pavement. So the boat stayed clean the entire trip