Calero Reservoir
 

Description: Calero was constructed in 1934, and is located on Calero Creek. This small body of water gets plenty of attention from anglers for one simple reason... it holds big fish. Located near the old Almaden Quicksilver mines, Calero has a high level of Mercury in the water and the fish. This is not the lake you want to go to if you are looking for fish to put on the grill, and their a signs posted around the lake advising anglers to catch and release, and not to eat the fish. Most anglers do practice catch and release here, and as a result the fish have a chance of reaching trophy size.

Located south of San Jose, Calero is easy to get to and has a reasonably well maintained boat ramp and picnic areas. During the warmer months Calero can be packed with water skiers, but the coves at both ends of the lake are protected slow zones so it is still possible to fish. Venture out into the open water on a weekend and your likely to get rocked however.

When full the lake is full it is actually quite pretty but the water levels tend to fluctuate a great deal at Calero. Even when the water is low fishing can be quite good on both ends, as there is plenty of shoreline structure to fish. While most anglers come to Calero for the largemouth bass the lake does have plenty of resident carp as well. If you fish Calero enough it is inevitable that you will eventually foul hook one of these monsters. A number of times we have set into what we thought was a lunker bass only to find ourselves hauling in a giant carp.

TT Tip: Calero was one of the first lakes that a number of our editors actually learned to fish on. The fishing here is generally consistent to excellent depending on the time of the year. While Calero doesn't get the same recognition for huge largemouth as nearby Coyote Lake, it does offer anglers an opportunity to work a wide range of lures with great success. There are deep and shallow areas throughout the lake, and on warm days the topwater bite can really turn on here. Large fish can be caught on spooks and buzzbaits near the weed mats in the south end. In the north end near the coves drop shotting is very effective, and is our go to method in the wintertime. Calero never really seems to shut down, and while you may have slow days it is certainly possible to catch fish every single day of the year here....just remember not to eat them.