Try this site:

[url=http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/parks/:aae46]http://www.sccgov.org/portal/site/parks/[/url:aae46] and click on "Activities", then "Water Recreation", then "Fishing".

That will tell you which county parks out here can be fished and what's in them (like Uvas, Coyote, Stevens Creek, Lexington, Anderson, etc).

Read carefully if you plan to keep/eat anything. Some of our waters are polluted with mercury left over in part from the gold mining of long ago (mercury was mined in our area to use by gold miners elsewhere).

My favorite for blue gills (and clean water) is in the Santa Cruz mountains:

[url=http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/wt/llra/llra.html:aae46]http://www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/wt/llra/llra.html[/url:aae46]

There's another Loch Lomond north of San Francisco...that's not the one you want. Use the link above. They only rent rowboats though so getting out on the water can be a workout.

You can get info on fishing license requirements for visitors on our state fish game page:

[url=http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fishing/:aae46]http://www.dfg.ca.gov/fishing/[/url:aae46]

You can also find more info on fishing around the area by using the "Fishing Guide" on the DFG's site (it's a fancy Java applet with some useful info).

You might be able to find some more info on the waters you're interested in by looking here for a map:

[url=http://www.fishsniffer.com/maps/:aae46]http://www.fishsniffer.com/maps/[/url:aae46]

Local fishing reports can be found at:

[url=http://www.coyotebait.com/pages/3/index.htm:aae46]http://www.coyotebait.com/pages/3/index.htm[/url:aae46]

and

[url=http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/outdoors/:aae46]http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/sports/outdoors/[/url:aae46]

The most recent fishing report from the Mercury News site should be readily available. Older ones require (or used) free regestration.

If you search the archives here for bay area fishing info, you can find other info I've posted in the past year or so for other folks headed this way.

The ParkHere.org page should tell you which parks rent boats or if you need to provide your own.

If you need more info, just post. There are several members here on FAOL that live in/around the area you mentioned.



[This message has been edited by Thwack (edited 19 April 2006).]