Craig,

I grew up fishing at Lake Los Carneros. During the 80's I probably fished there at least two or three times a week. If you want to fish with any success you need to get out on the water. Float tubes are by far the best way to fish since you can move (or keep your position) and fish at the same time. Another good alternative is a small inflatable raft. I have a younger brother who was 9 years old when I started bringing him to Los Carneros. We would fish from a small inflatable. The picture below is him at 10 years old with his first buzzbait fish. I've been float tubing the lake since 1984.

Los Carneros is a difficult place to fish. One day it will be wide open and the next day you'll think everything died.

I wouldn't eat anything out of Los Carneros for many reasons. First being I don't kill bass. It is a small un-stocked lake so killing fish depletes the population. The primary source for water in the lake is run-off from the agriculture fields and neighborhoods above. I do not believe it is safe to eat anything out of there. Although it is not official (yet - I'm working on it) it is widely viewed as a catch and release only lake by anglers who use it and even by the parks department. It's better to teach children the importance of catch and release.

From the shoreline your best bet would be to fish the dam with spinnerbaits or crankbaits. Rebel Wee-crawfish or any brown/orange or firetiger colored crankbaits will work. I haven't had much success with shad or chrome colored baits but who knows. White, chartruese, or black would be the colors for spinnerbaits or spinners. I got a 24 inch largemouth in 1984 off the dam. Plastic worms are great also but they take some learning (I'm focusing on your desire to teach your child). At certain times buzzbaits can be great and it's always fun to have a bass smash the lure off the surface. My largest L.C. bass (25 inches) came on a buzzbait in 1990.

If you would like more information and are willing to not kill any fish out of Los Carneros e-mail me at leapinbass@yahoo.com. I have a 7 month old son and I look forward to the day I can introduce him to Los Carneros.

Pete

http://www.leapinbass.com/photo/photos/1990-1993/910904.jpg