Coho Salmon, A.K.A. “Sliver Salmon,” are essentially illegal to catch and keep anywhere in California EXCEPT Lake Oroville. So when Bill emailed me, week before last and said,  “Hey Read, I’m doing an exploratory ‘for-fun’ (i.e., not chartered) trip this Sunday at Lake Oroville with a friend or two. You’ve been such a great repeat customer and referral-source over the years, why don’t you join us as my guest if you can?”

My reply was instantaneous and by 7AM that Sunday, we were 2 miles north of the Oroville Dam, setting our Coho rigs at incremental depths, and I was thinking that if I’d known about the conveniently-placed, clean-looking floating toilets we’d passed on the way out, I would have brought my wife!

After “hunting” for the next 30 minutes, we remained uncharacteristically bite-less; but Bill’s Lowrance was beginning to spot fish close to the bottom. So after 3 uneventful passes over his newly marked (and now doomed) targets, Bill’s bulbous black lead downrigger balls came up; and his shiny stainless steel—snag-free—downrigger cylinders went down: taking our dodger/hoochie rigs right to the bottom and, as we’d soon see, right to the fish.

Jason Tidwell—Bill’s fishing buddy and Oroville expert—did the excellent “back-of-the-boat” work for the day. And as Jason seamlessly switched us from mid-depth trolling to bottom-bouncing, he told us that due to this season’s high water, the lake floor where we are fishing had, up until recently, been dry land; and so was cluttered with submerged, but still solid, brush-clumps and bushes...which both held bait-fish attractive to Coho AND would tangle and trap (until the next drought!) traditional fat downrigger balls. ...Which is annoying when it interrupts fishing, expensive when it loses weights, and REALLY expensive when it loses weights, AND breaks downrigger-equipment up top.

Switching to those industrial-looking, snag-free downrigger weights—and quickly figuring out what THE dodger “color-of-the-day” would be—were just the first of several tactical moves made by Bill and Jason that soon resulted in multiple hook-ups, multiple limits, and a small but envious (and pleasing!) crowd, hovering around us at the fish-cleaning station by early afternoon.

...Most of the other boats were still on the water.

Thanks again Bill from me and my friends you let me bring long!!,

08/08/10

I’d been fishing Lake Berryessa on and off for about 5 years with essentially no luck catching kokanee or king salmon. I’d caught “kokes” regularly in Lake Tahoe previously and wondered why the same gear and techniques didn’t work on “Berry,” at least for me. So I decided to hire a guide as a birthday present to myself, in hopes of picking up some tips and techniques to turn my luck around. After searching the web, I found Bill Dunn’s Guide Service AND his unique side-offering of a   “4 Hour One-on-One Fishing Lesson with Bill.”  I thought  “Hey, at age 64, I don’t want to spend another 5 years stubbornly trying to figure things out on my own…so I decided to shorten my time in apprenticeship by buying Bill’s on-the-water lesson.  It was GREAT! He encouraged me to bring along note taking materials, which I was glad to have done because we covered EVERYTHING: including why my current fish finder would never locate kokanee very well and which ones would, and why; making my own attractants at home; critical distances between downrigger balls, dodgers, and lures; trolling speeds under different conditions; what lure and dodger/flasher colors and combinations to use under which conditions;  rods, reels, and fighting technique (Yep, kokes can be tricky little buggers to land because of their flimsy mouths and blinding speed); locations to fish at Berryessa and other lakes, and lots more. The learning—AND accompanying limit of nice salmon—was so well worth the money and time, I took out a friend for the same program 3 months later and got even more out of it myself, the second time.  I now regularly come home, from my own trips in a canoe, with salmon.

Thanks Bill!,

06/22/10

     For the longest time I have been wanting to charter a professional fishing guide. My Dad and I have a boat that we fish with every year during the summer months on into late fall. We would fish Alpine lakes with decent success, and for the most part my Dad was happy, but I was not. I told him I wanted to get better, catch more fish, and try something new.
     In the beginning of April this year I saw Bill Dunn in line in front of me at a Grocery store by my house. I saw his fishing charter shirt and I had to ask, ”Are you Bill Dunn?”  He said, “I sure am”. Then I told him about my plan to take my Dad out and try something new. Needless to say we were booked for April 10th, and my Dad and I were going fishing, and I couldn’t even sleep the night before!
    We arrived at the lake just before the sun was coming up. Bill was already there with his boat in the water and a friendly deckhand to help out. We left immediately and sped across the lake to Bill’s spot. His knowledge of the targeted species was incredible and in less than five minutes we had all the rods in the water. It did not take long after that to hook up and land my first Kokanee. Then seconds later my Dad was pulling his in the boat. I knew we were going to have a great day. I was so excited. Bill also explained how there was a good population of King Salmon in the lake. I had never caught one of those before, and seconds later that changed. My Dad and I were doubled up and the fish were screamin’ line from the reels. What a thrill! The fishing got a little rough when the wind picked, but Bill did everything it took to stay on the fish and we did! We caught  11 fish  that day and landed  9 for a phenomenal day on the water.
     My Dad and I came to the agreement that we had never caught fish like that before. It was a First rate experience that I would recommend to any one from a Novice to a Pro. A lot of people can have a hard time fishing on other peoples boats, I have once felt the same way.  However I have chartered Bill Dunn’s Fishing Charters 3 times in the last 3 months. Thanks for the great times!

All the Best
Dart Welsh
Citrus heights, CA   

6/2/09

I hired Bill to take out my grand kids, son and myself fishing and what a great trip it was! Bill’s knowledge of the lake and fish we were after is awesome. Bill was waiting boat in water when we showed up a little before 6 am. The day started out good and just proceeded to get better. We were into the fish from the moment the downriggers went in up until we pulled out. Bill’s ability to adjust and change his lures and downriggers was very professional. When we would hook up Bill would set the hook and hand off to one of the kids which just made their day. Bill’s never had a problem with how long it took (grandson is only 3, granddaughter 7) to get them in or if we lost them. This is the second time I have hired Bill and could think of no one better. Bill’s professionalism along with his gear and boat are a tough act to follow. Anyone looking for a great trip with kids or without could do no better in my opinion.

Warren Rhodes
Lund Construction

06/01/09

I went out on a trip to Lake Berryessa close to a month ago with Bill Dunn. He gave us a time and a place to meet. He was the first one in line to put his boat in the water. I was impressed on how fast he got it into the water. Bill, Denny and a couple of friends of mine sped off to the spot. He had everything set up for us, he explained in great detail how the trip would go, how to use the tackle, when and when not to set the hook and so on... He was very informative, knowledgeable about the fish we were targeting and how we could target fish in other bodies of water. It was an incredible day, the water was calm, not to warm for the month of May, and it didn't really matter if we caught fish. He did put us on the fish, we hooked fish after fish, after we got our limits we headed back in, we were back on shore and back at out cars at a decent time to beat the traffic home. It was the best trip I have ever had, I have fished with many boat captains, out of many different landings, for many types of species of fish. And this trip by far was the best. The captain was easy going, the deckhand was knowledgeable and the buddies I fished with made the trip even more enjoyable. He is worth every penny of his fees and more, Thank you for a great experience, it was so enjoyable he makes it easy for even the novice fisherman.

John C. Turner
Sacramento, Ca

05/30/09

I wanted to fish Kokanee. It takes special tackle and a boat equipped with down riggers. I wanted an opportunity to fish with quality gear. I wanted to fish with someone who really had a passion for fishing. How do you find a guide that specializes in this fishery? I went to the internet and typed in Kokanee fishing guides. Selected the Sep's Guides & Pro staff. Found Bill Dunn Fishing Charters and liked what I saw on Bill’s website. His pricing was reasonable so I gave him a call. Since we were several months from the trip date he did not want to commit now on a destination as he wanted to move the boat to where the bite was going on. Another good sign he wanted to maximize our chances.

So how did it all turn out? Bill’s boat is awesome. Professionally laid out, stable, comfortable and fast. I loved it when he pulled the graphite rods from the rod storage and I saw Shimano Calcutta 100B reels. Bill loves to fish and works hard to put them in the boat. He is a wealth of information if you want to talk tackle. This is a well run operation. My wife and I had a great day on the water. The Kokanee cooperated and we boated out limits. Hope you enjoy yourself as much as my wife and I did. See you next year Bill. Let’s get them again.

Dale
Valencia, Ca.