Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,605,921 acre-feet of water. The lake level dropped one foot this week, and is currently at 1014 ft. above sea level and 73 ft. from full. Water temperature warmed a little and is 50-54 degrees. The lake is clear, to slightly stained with some debris floating on the surface. The lake has turned over.
Joey Ray caught a nice 2-pound, 6-ounce rainbow while bank fishing with a crawler/mallow combo.
Trout: Slow.
Department of Fish and Game is now planting rainbow trout weekly at New
Melones. The lake has turned over. The trout are still scattered
throughout the lake from 0-30' deep. Trolling anglers
caught a few fish trolling the main lake and upriver. The fish are hard
to find. The anglers that are catching them are spending the entire day
on the water to get them. A crawler trolled behind a flasher our sling
blade continues to be the most productive setup. Generally in past years
this is a great time to target brown trout. We have had reports of
brown trout being caught this week. The DFG is no longer planting brown trout so we will no longer be recognizing them for the weekly big fish contest.
Try using large plugs or rolling shad to catch these big fish. It looks
like we will be getting a bit of warm weather. Hopefully this will help
the overall bite. Bank fishing was a little slow this
week with only a few fish being caught per angler. The standard bait rig
with a long leader seems to be your best bet. Use a sliding sinker with
a 3-4' leader and a light wire hook. A crawler/mallow combo is a
proven fish catcher. Another good setup is a Berkley Pinched Crawler
with a pink or white Gulp, or Power Egg. Also, try using a shad
patterned casting spoon on main lake points. Kastmasters and Krocodiles
are great baits because you can cast them a long distance. Fan cast from
deep to shallow to locate were the fish are feeding. Don't forget to
add scent to your bait. Garlic, shad, and anise are all good scents for
trout.
Jeff
Mikkelson of Escalon is this weeks winner of The Glory Hole Sports Big
Fish of the Week Contest. He caught a beautiful 4-pound holdover rainbow
while bank fishing on the Glory Hole side of the lake.
Kokanee: Done for the season.
Bass:
Fairly tough. Most anglers are having trouble locating quality fish.
The water temperature drastically dropped over the last few weeks. The
fish seemed to have moved into deep water for the winter. They are
feeding on main lake points throughout the day. But, with such cold
water they will feed a lot less than normal due to a slower metabolism.
Now is a good time to fish finesse style presentations, such as a
drop-shot rig. Small, slow moving baits will trigger more bites.
Anglers should try using 3-4" hand poured worms in natural shad and
crawfish hues. Bass will feed heavily on crawfish at this time of the
year. Try using a heavy 1/2oz. or 3/4oz. football head jig fished in
deep water 40-60'. Try using darker colors in deep water such as,
black/blue, and brown/purple. California Reservoir Lures' jigs are
designed for Mother Lode lakes. A great color is "Cash Call." It is
green pumpkin, purple, with gold flake, and matches Yamamoto color
(331). The swim bait bite is getting better. Try using smaller swim
baits to catch spots and nice largemouth. If you want to catch a huge
fish throw an 8" rainbow trout swim bait. We have been seeing a lot of
big spotted bass being caught and we possibly have a world record
swimming around out there. The current state record and world record
was caught May 3, 2001 out of Pine Flat Lake. It weighed 10-pounds,
4-ounces. If you catch a fish that is larger, and want it to be
recognized as a state record, it must be weighed on a certified scale.
The post office or the grocery store meat department has a certified
scale. 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:
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.
Winner
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.