Man Nico, quit giving away all the secrets :) Really though, Nico routinely schools me from the back of the boat with a 5" senko on 6lb. It's hard to beat.

My experience at Del Valle in the summer time has been that it's not an easy lake during that time of year. Like Nico mentioned, fishing in 15 to 25' with finesse approach will usually get bites (1 to 3lbers). A drop shot 6" robo on a rebarb hook for weedlessness would be a good start. From shore you might look for the steeper sections like near the ramp and more toward heron bay (before it).

Del Valle is pretty good in the fall. In my opinion it's one of the better bay area lakes in October (one of the toughest times anywhere else). You can start fishing jigs that time of year and actually get bit. Swimbaits of course are our preferred offering :)

Right now let's face it, it's August. The Delta, even in it's bad-fishing mode the last few years, is still probably the most interesting place to go daytime fishing in the summer time around here. Grab a float tube and fish middle river or white's slough. Talk to the guys on the b-n-t forum, they'll get you out there.