"I hooked up a 10-1/2 pounder a month ago," he added, "so the 15. 6 pounder was my third fish over 10 pounds this fall. Up to that time, all of my larger fish have been in the 4 to 5 pound range; I've never caught any fish in sizes between the 4 to 5 pounders and my three big lunkers."

The young angler used 12 pound P-Line Fluorocarbon Clear on a Loomis GLX rod with a Shimano Curado reel to successfully battle the fish. What is really amazing is that while many veterans have never caught fish like these, Mello has just started fishing seriously for bass over the past year. Mello released both big bass back into the reservoir.

Coyote Lake is three miles long and has a capacity for 635 surface acres, much smaller than many other lakes, such as Clear Lake, Folsom, Oroville, Berryessa, that have produced huge bass in recent years. However, this lake has apparently kicked out more largemouth over 10 pounds than any other body of water in California in 2001.

"I know of at least 3 dozen fish over 10 pounds that have been caught at the lake this year to date," said Hall.

Zach Mello experienced two phenomenal days of fishing when he caught his back-to back lunkers, but Chris Castello had an even more amazing experience in the spring of 2001 when he caught and released three largemouths over 10 pounds while fishing big jigs one day at Coyote. Castello's five biggest largemouths weighed 14, 11, 10, 9 and 8 pounds, a 52 pound limit, according to Hall. This has to be one of the largest limits of bass - with the average fish over 10 pounds - ever caught in a northern California lake.

Other notable catches over the past year were the following:

• On March 14, Allen Teem caught and released a 14 pound bass using a 9 inch Zipper Worm.
• Dave Smith landed a 13 pound, 9 ounce largemouth while fishing at Coyote in April.
• Jared Franzich, an employee at Coyote Bait and Tackle, took an 11 pound, 11 ounce bass from the reservoir in late October.

The big fish catches didn't stop with the cold weather snap starting Thanksgiving weekend. On November 29, one local angler caught two largemouth weighing 11.6 and 10.3 pounds while fishing an M.S. Slammer trout bait at 11:00 p.m.

The reservoir, situated on Coyote Creek at 770 feet above sea level, drains a part of the rugged Mt. Hamilton watershed of Santa Clara County. It looks like many foothill lakes located in the oak-studded hills of northern and central California. Why is such as big fish producer? Hall says the lake's status as a huge bass producer is attributable to the following factors:

• First, Coyote has Florida strain largemouth bass, the largest bass strain, in it.
• Second, the lake is stocked by the DFG regularly with catchable rainbow trout. The bass get big and fat feeding on these "tasty morsels."
• Third, the lake features a lot of forage, such as bluegill and threadfin shad, for the fish to feed on.
• Fourth, the lake has plenty of habitat, including large weedbeds, for bass.

Another possible factor for the lake's role as a big largemouth factory is that although close to San Jose, it is not fished as intensively as some of the larger lakes, such as Clear Lake, where major tournaments are held many weekends.

Spring is the best time to fish this lake, according to Hall, but as Mello's catch demonstrates, just about any time of year is a good time to catch a lunker largemouth out of Coyote Lake.

Although the fish have been caught on jigs, prime baits during cold water conditions, Hall noted that Coyote is also an excellent fishery to use frogs. Anglers can have a ball tossing out Snag Proof and other plastic frogs on the weed mats in the warm weather months.

Note: Coyote Reservoir is now closed to boating because of the lake's low water level.

For fishing information about Coyote Reservoir, call Coyote Bait and Tackle (408) 463-0711; Fisherman's Warehouse, San Jose (408) 873-0113; Cope & McPhetres, Santa Clara (408) 345-2640; Mel Cotton's Sporting Goods, San Jose (408) 287-5994; Reed's Sports Shop, San Jose (408) 926-3020; Ly's Sporting Goods, San Jose (408) 629-9644; and Sportsmen's Supply, Campbell (408) 377-0647.