Boats are banned from Coyote Reservoir this season, due to
paltry rains that have kept waters low and presenting a danger to
boaters.
Gilroy – Boats are banned from Coyote Reservoir this season, due to paltry rains that have kept waters low and presenting a danger to boaters.
The launch ramp will likely remain closed all summer, pushing anglers and boaters onto neighboring Anderson and Calero reservoirs. Boating typically stops in August, when water levels have fallen; keeping the ramp closed all season is all-but-unheard-of, said Gilroy fisherman Jim Reid.
“It’s never happened this early,” said Reid, president of the Gilroy Bassmasters Club, which has 35 active members. “I’ve fished the lake for 10 years now, and this is the first time.”
County parks officials opted to keep the ramp closed, fearing that plummeting waters could prove dangerous to boaters. By mid-April, Coyote Reservoir was less than 32 percent full; Anderson Reservoir was nearly 75 percent full. Anderson will likely remain open to boaters, said parks spokesperson Tamara Clark-Shear. Surprisingly, park reservations haven’t dropped significantly at Coyote Reservoir, she added.
“It’s a boating park, and typically everyone comes in with a boat, so the camping experience will be quite different,” Clark-Shear said. Parks officials have notified visitors through signs and flyers that the ramp is closed, and the news has spread rapidly among veteran boaters. “But we still have people making reservations. We’ve got 16 miles of trails, mountain bike riding, horseback riding – lots of other activities.”
Fishers grouse about the closure at the Coyote Bait and Tackle shop on Monterey Road, said co-owner Denise Bradford. Rumors that the county is actually against water sports have rippled through area fishing clubs, whose members are frustrated by crowded conditions at nearby lakes. At a recent bass tournament held at Anderson Reservoir, the lake was at capacity and closed to additional boats by 2pm, said Bradford. On weekends, it’s often full by noon.
“Coyote Reservoir produces some of the biggest bass in Northern California right now – it’s one of our biggest draws,” said Bradford. “Closing it is going to be bad for everybody.”
But dry conditions give the parks little choice, said Susan Siravo, spokesperson for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
“Our total rainfall is about half what it’s supposed to be at this time of year,” Siravo said. With little additional rainfall expected over the summer, she said, it’s highly unlikely that boats will be able to cruise the reservoir this year.
Though reservations haven’t dropped, park ranger Drew Enright says far fewer visitors are stopping into the park.
Signs posted along New Avenue tell would-be boaters that the launch ramp is closed. Fishers such as Reid said they’re taking their business elsewhere, including entry fees that support the parks.
“Most of us don’t shorefish,” he said, “so if you can’t get your boat in the water, what’s the point?”
