Monday, November 19, 2012

New Melones Fishing Report from Glory Hole Sports

11-19-20
New Melones Report

 Water Conditions:  New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,485,541 acre-feet of water. The lake level actually rose a little this week, and is currently at 1001ft. above sea level and 87ft. from full.  Water temperature has cooled a bit and is 58-61 degrees.  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: Department of Fish and Game is now planting rainbow trout weekly at New Melones. Trolling anglers had some luck this week fishing in main lake creek arms and over the main river channel. The trout seem to be in transition from deep to shallow water. We have had reports of fish being caught from 5-35 feet of water. With the water temperature dropping we should start seeing more fish being caught toward the surface. With the fish coming to the surface, try top lining 100-150 feet behind the boat with a modified Jointed Rapala. To modify a Jointed Rapala replace the rear hook with a Sockeye Slammer tipped with a chunk of nightcrawler.  Shad patterned trolling spoons will also catch some quality fish. Try using a tandem spoon rig. The two spoons swinging back and forth represent a small ball of fleeing shad. Be sure to and some shad scent to your baits. Bank fishing has been slowly picking up. There are fish feeding on the surface near the shore line, in the early morning.  For bait, garlic scented Power Bait is hard to beat. 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. 
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Dale Knight of Angels Camp caught a 4-pound 4-ounce rainbow on a nightcrawler and is this weeks winner of The Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest.  

River and stream season ended on November 15th.

Kokanee: Done for the season. The schools are heading in the back of creek arms, and upriver for their annual spawn and die.

Bass: Good. There are large schools of spotted bass chasing balls of bait. To catch a bunch of these keeper size spotted bass, try using a spoon in the major creek channels. 1/2oz and 3/4oz are both good choices. Stick with a shad pattern black/silver or blue/silver. Another good way to target these fish is with a drop shot rig. Try using small hand poured worms, leaches and leafs. There is always a jig bite and right now it is a good way to catch better than average fish. Brown/purple, brown/brown, and green pumpkin are all good choices. This time of the year can be good for cranking. Crawdad and shad patterned baits fished from 5-15 foot of water can be a great way to locate fish. 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.

Catfish:  Good.  The catfish are 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. 
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Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week contest goes to Matt Seldon and Dennis Kavie of Sonora. They caught four fat cats, with their biggest one weighing 9-pounds, 8-ounces. They caught all four of these fish on chicken liver, while bank fishing near the 49 bridge.

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.