12-31-12
Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,591,907 acre-feet
of water. The lake level rose a couple feet this week, and is currently
at 1013 ft. above sea level and 75 ft. from full. Water temperature
has cooled and is 52-55 degrees. The lake is clear, to slightly
stained. There is debris floating on the surface, which is a good sign
the lake has turned over. Good news, the middle ramp on Glory Hole Point
is open, which makes for an easy walk.
Spencer Morin hauled in a hefty rainbow on a Kastmaster.
Trout: Good. Department of Fish and Game is now planting rainbow trout weekly at New Melones. Trolling anglers
should try fishing near the surface with large shad patterned plugs.
Top-lining plugs, is a great way to locate fish. Try using Rapalas,
Speed Traps, and Rattle Traps. Spoons are working well also. Try using
Needlefish (003 size), Excels, Kastmasters, and Speedy Shiners. Also,
shad patterned (natural) colored baits work best on clear days, and fire
tiger (bright) colored baits work best on cloudy/rainy days.
Brad Foppiano trolled the main river arm with a Rapala and caught a nice 3-pound, 11-ounce brown trout.
Bank fishing
really picked up this week. The water temperature has dropped and the
big bows are moving in shallow and swimming the shore line. There has
been a lot of surface activity in the calm wind protected coves. A great
way to catch these fish that are feeding on the surface is with a
bubble and a fly, or a bubble and a crawler. Fill the bubble half full
of water, tie on a swivel, a three foot leader, and a bugger, wet fly or
a crawler. For bait fishing, try using garlic scented Power Bait
(rainbow or chartreuse). Or put on a Gulp Egg or a Marshmallow and float
a nightcrawler. A lot of the holdover trout have been feeding on shad. A
great way to catch these larger holdover fish is by using shad
patterned lure. Try fishing down the shore line and making repeated cast
with a Kastmaster. Then switch to a Countdown Rapala and fish your way
back. Sometimes while doing this there will be certain area where you
catch a few or get a few bites. There is most likely a school of fish
and once they stop biting your lure. You can slow down a use bait to
catch a few more. To get a few more bites add some scent to your set-up.
Garlic, shad, anise, and garlic crawler are good flavors of Pro Cure
gel.
Winner
of the Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest goes to Steve
Berg. Steve caught a beautiful 3-pound, 13-ounce rainbow while fishing
from the shore with a nightcrawler under a bobber.
Brain Campfield landed a pretty rainbow while fishing with a nightcrawler near Glory Hole Point.
Matt Seldon brought in a chunky rainbow he caught using pink Power Bait.
Mike Alborn, Jim Vickers, and Brian Heapes caught their limits using Power Bait and nightcrawlers. 
Peter York landed a 3-pound, 10-ounce rainbow while fishing in Angels Cove. 
Garland Mar and Genesis Mar caught two limits on Power Bait. 
Joey Ray pulled in a beautiful rainbow while fishing with a nightcrawler from the shore.
Kokanee: Done for the season.
Bass:
Fair. For most anglers the bite slowed down a bit this last week. The
bait has been hard to locate making the bass seem to spread out more.
Focus on primary and secondary points leading to and from the back of
the major creek arms. Try using baits that cover water, and resemble
shad. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and lip-less cranks, should do the
trick. There is also a good drop-shot bite. Roboworm Alive Shad, Gulp
Minnows, and Zoom Tiny Flukes are all fish catchers on Melones. Also,
crawdads are a more consistent and predictable food source. Try using a
jig around wood and rock on main lake points and secondary points. We
carry a large selection of jigs made by California Reservoir Lures. The
nice thing about these jigs is they are design for our Mother Lode
lakes. To cover more water use a heavy 1/2oz. or 3/4oz. football head
jig. The heavier jig sinks faster and you can keep contact with the
bottom while moving the bait fairly quickly. Try using a Zoom Baby Brush
Hog or a Yamamoto Fat Baby Craw as trailer. The swim bait bite should
be getting better. Try using smaller swim baits to catch spots and nice
largemouth. If you want to catch a huge fish throw a 8" rainbow trout
swim bait. 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:
Fair. The water is still fairly warm, and the catfish are very
active. This is usually the best time of the year to catch big cats.
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.
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.
