Kirk Hill of Bassbros. Guide Service, who I fished with at Calero Lake last year and at Coyote on February 4 this year, fished the lake virtually every day from January 5 to March 31, 2002. During that period, he reported catching and releasing 15 fish over 10 pounds, an awesome feat on any lake.

"All of the fish weighed 10 to 12 pounds except my largest fish, a 13-1/2 pounder," he explained. "I caught my largest fish on a Zipper football head in line jig, but the rest I fooled with lizards. The lizards are effective baits at Coyote, since the bass will chase the salamanders when they are mating in the winter and early spring."

More recently, Darcy Caldwell of Modesto had a great big fish day while using Senkos at Coyote in late January. "He caught three bass weighing 14, 12 and 6 pounds in just two hours of fishing," reported Ryan Calamia at Coyote Bait and Tackle.

However, Hill, a cancer survivor who at age 38 has had a colorful life running a variety of businesses, racing motorcycles and now guiding professionally, emphasized that Coyote Lake is a real "hit and miss" lake, with plenty of skunk days mixed in with the good ones.

We fished the lake for several hours in the afternoon after Hill launched his Stratos bass boat from the ramp at 1 p.m. It was a beautiful, warm afternoon on the lake, with only three other boats. We tried a variety of locations, including the rocky north end near the dam and the brushy, habitat-rich south end where Coyote Creek flows in from Henry Coe State Park and the Mount Hamilton watershed.

We first started tossing out 6 inch chameleon Zoom Lizards on quarter ounce football heads off rocky banks and flats in 10 to 20 feet of water. "Work the lure very slowly - just crawl it along the bottom," said Hill. "You have to make sure that you're hitting the jighead on the bottom because that's what gets the attention of the bass."

After over 1 hour without hooking any fish, Hill and I changed over to 6 inch Zoom lizards in pumpkin with black flake. Hill hooked the first fish of the day, a 1-1/2 pound scrapper, off a long flat. About 10 minutes later, I set the hook on a larger fish about 2-1/2 pounds.

We went to the creek channel in the south end of the lake, a place that regularly produces quality bass during the winter and spring. We didn't hook any fish there, though we saw some big bass jump out the water. Hill switched over to a Lucky Craft ripbait, but didn't hook any fish on it.

"Let's go back to where we caught those bass earlier and see if we can get a big one," said Hill. and we went back to the flat. Hill hooked the third fish of the day, another small one about 1-1/2 pounds. It was getting near dark and we had to get off the lake, since park regulations require that you get off before dark. Although we didn't nail any big fish, at least we didn't get skunked, which is always a strong possibility when you fish Coyote this time of year.

Why has Coyote produced such big bass in recent years? Hill attributes the large size of the bass found here to the abundant food of the reservoir. "In my opinion, it's the richest of the Santa Clara Valley lakes," said Hill. "The fish have a variety of shad, crawdads, salamanders and big hitch minnows to feed upon."

Other factors why the lake is such a big bass producer include:

• the introduction of Florida-strain largemouths, the largest bass strain, to the lake.
• the lake's extensive fishery habitat, including weedbeds, submerged brush, tules, creek channels, flats and rockpiles.
• the regular stocking of rainbow trout, a "forage" fish for trophy bass, by the DFG in the spring.

Hill noted that the lake can be great for fishing frogs in the weedbeds of the flats in the summer and late spring.

Black bass aren't the only species that anglers pursue here. Although known more as a bluegill lake than a crappie fishery, Coyote can be a sleeper for big crappie. Hill cited a day where he and two other anglers landed 8 crappie, ranging from 2 to 2-1/2 pounds, while fishing ripbaits for bass.

If you want to target crappie, Ryan Calamia recommended fishing red and white mini jigs early and late in the day around trees and rocks in the spring. The crappie here average a solid 1 pound each.

The reservoir is also a good rainbow trout fishery for bank anglers and boaters in the spring and early summer. The Department of Fish and Game will stock the lake this season with 3,500 pounds of rainbows each month from March through June, a total of 14,000 pounds, according to Sid Poe, manager of the DFG's Yountville Silverado Fisheries Base.

Facilities include a boat ramp, shoreline picnic areas on the west shore, and barbecue facilities in the park's south end. Over 75 first-come, first-serve picnic tables are available year round.

The Lakeview Campground provides 74 campsites with two restroom facilities and fresh taper and firepit barbecues. One campsite is dedicated to wheelchair access. The Santa Clara County Park District leases the facilities from the Santa Clara Valley Water District. For information on park facilities, call the Visitor Center at (408) 842-7800.

For guided trips on Coyote and other Santa Clara Valley lakes, call Kirk Hill of Bassbros. Guide Service, (209) 483-0049. For fishing information, call Coyote Bait and Tackle (408) 463-0711; Fisherman's Warehouse, San Jose (408) 873-0113; Cope & McPhetre's, Santa Clara (408) 345-2640; Reed's Sports Shop, San Jose (408) 926-3020 and Sportsmen's Supply, Campbell (408) 377-0647.