Tuesday, October 30, 2012

New Melones Fishing report from Glory Hole Sports


10-30-12
Water Conditions:  New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,479,725 acre-feet of water. The lake level dropped a foot this week, and is currently at 1001 ft. above sea level and 87ft. from full.  Water temperature has cooled a bit and is in the 60's.  The lake is clear, to slightly stained. The lake will "turn over" when surface water cools to the same temperature as the deeper water- around 53-54 degrees. This usually happens around Thanksgiving, and then the trout bite really turns on for bank-anglers and trollers alike. Good news, the middle ramp on Glory Hole Point is open, which makes for an easy walk.

Trout: Fair! Trolling anglers had very little luck this week fishing the main lake. The trout seem to be in transition from deep to shallow water. We have had reports of fish being caught from 5-65 feet of water. With the water temperature dropping we should start seeing more fish being caught toward the surface. Try using shad patterned trolling spoons such as, Needlefish, Excels, Slimfins, and Speedy Shiners. The fish are feeding heavily on 3-5" shad. Large plug baits like Countdown Rapalas, Rattle traps, and Speed traps might coax a few fish into biting. At this time of the year we will start to see more days of rain and cloud cover. These can be great day for fishing. Try using bright colored baits, like fire tiger, and hot steel Rapalas. Also, gold and copper blades seem to work better than silver during low light conditions. Bank fishing has been slow, but should start to pick up as the water temperature cools down.  We have had a few reports of fish being caught from the shore. Also, try fishing small feeder creeks and inlets whenever we get some rainfall. Cooler running water attracts fish, and also washes nutrients and insects into the lake. River and stream season ends on November 15th.

Kokanee: Slow. The schools are heading to the back of creek arms, and upriver for their annual spawn and die. Most of the kokanee being caught are dark with hooked mouths. Some clean silver fish are showing up in the dam/spillway area, but are fairly small. They are taking standard kokanee setups, sling blades and hoochies in pink, orange, and green. Be sure to add plenty of Pro Cure Scent to your dodger and your bait. Garlic, anise, carp spit, and kokanee special have all been producing.  Don't forget to bring corn soaked in these same scents.

Bass: Good. The shad are staging in 15-30 feet of water on main lake points and at the mouths of major creek arms. There are small little clusters of shad, and there are huge schools. A lot of the fish are targeting shad as their primary food source. Try using shad patterned deep diving crank-baits and deep rip-baits to get to the depth they are feeding at. A good trick to get a little more depth out of your baits is to add some suspend dots or suspend strips. These adhesive pieces of lead are easy to apply to any bait and you can make a suspending bait slowly sink, or make a floating bait suspend. When you locate fish that are too deep to target with plugs, try using a ½-ounce spoon or a drop-shot rig. Remember to practice catch and release!  If you do keep a bass, please keep the spotted bass and release the big female (largemouth) black bass.  Glory Hole Sports can teach you the difference, so you can practice good conservation of the species.
1  4- year old Matthew Lee landed a pretty little spotted bass. He caught this fish on a chartreuse Speed Trap.

Catfish:  Good.  The catfish seem to be moving shallow and feeding on cloudy/rainy days. The weather forecast for the next couple weeks shows we might be seeing some of these kinds of days. This would be a good time to get out your umbrellas and rain gear. Hit the water and soak some bait for a chance at a lunker cat.  Melones catfish tend to be fish-eaters rather than bottom foragers, so use live minnows, frozen shad, mackerel, or anchovies for best success.  Move/drag your bait slowly across the bottom to cover more water and target fish that are aggressively feeding. Generally cats will feed in shallow flats or areas with large chunk rock near deep water. 
1Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week contest goes to Matthew Repko of Sonora. He caught a massive 18-pound, 12-ounce lunker using anchovies, on a double-hook rig.  
1  Kao and Maicoua Vang caught two hefty cats weighing 8-pounds, 6-ounces and 7-pounds. They fished near Tuttletown with anchovies, in 20-30 foot of water.
1  Cliff Goddard of Sonora caught this chunky 11-pound cat using nightcrawlers. 

Crappie: Slow.  There are fish in 15-40 foot of water, in the backs of creek channels near submerged timber.  Live minnows or red worms fished under a slip-float, with a bobber stop is a good way to target these fish.  Also, try using red/white mini jigs, small grubs, and 4" soft plastic worms. Crappie too, will gorge themselves on shad. Try to locate the bait in shallow areas and the fish shouldn't be far.