Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,971,373 acre-feet of water. The lake level has been steady and slowly rising for the last few weeks. It is currently at 1050 ft. above sea level and 38 ft. from full. Water temperature is really dropping now, and is currently 53-55 degrees. The lake seems to have turned over, by the great trout fishing we have seen this week.
Trout: Very good! There are a lot of anglers targeting trout and most of them are catching some pretty nice ones. The Department of Fish and Game continues to plant fish weekly.
Bank anglers have really been doing well using Powerbait, and night crawlers to catch their limits. A good tip for fishing from the shore, is to move up and down the shoreline until you locate a school of fish. Trout tend to swim in pattern. Once you find an area that they like, fish it for a while. If you don't catch a fish in one spot move down the bank. 50 yards could be the difference between zero fish and a limit. Another great way to really catch them is to put a hootchie skirt on a Kastmaster. This will enhance the action of the bait and give the fish something new to look at. Bank anglers who brought in trout this week include: Kaylee, Taylor, Matthew Cooper, Todd Cooper, Joey Ray, Duane and Dusty Newman, Rich Masey, Tyler Nierhake, Glenn Smith, Spencer Morin, Paul Madsen, Brenna and Karrie Smith, Ernie Green, Julian Sabir, Jenelle Sabir, Shane Weakley, Chad Carr, Steve Voisinet, Dave Johnson, and Chloe and Benjamin Miller.
Trolling anglers have been having luck top lining and using side planners. A single night crawler threaded onto the hook is hard to beat. Needlefish, Excel, and Vance spoons are also catching a lot of fish. Shad patterns such as, natural shad, chrome, and cop car will resemble what fish are feeding on. But sometimes bright colors such as chartreuse, flame orange, copper, and gold, will catch their attention better than natural colors. This time of year is when we start seeing some large brown trout being caught. Try using a Rapala J9, Sebile magic swimmer, or an S-waver to coax these large aggressive fish. Trolling anglers who caught fish this week include: Ken Wosnak, Kyle Wise, and Ian Torres.
Winner of the Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week contest goes to Kyle Wise. He was trolling a fire tiger colored Rapala at 20 feet and caught a 4-pound 7-ounce brown trout.
Kokanee: Done for the season.
Bass: Pretty good. The fish are extremely healthy this year. They are gorging themselves on the abundance of shad. There are a lot of 2 pound plus spotted bass. They are schooling and aggressively feeding on shad. Larger fish tend to feed on crawdads, and small planted trout. Try using a drop shot rig with a natural crawdad color 6" off of your weight and a shad pattern 24" above that. This way you will be targeting fish that are feeding on crawdads and shad. If the wind kicks up a little, try using a trout patterned swim bait. Remember to practice catch and release, especially largemouth bass as we are seeing fewer each year.
Catfish: We have had very few reports, but there aren't many people targeting catfish.Some of the biggest fish on our wall of fame were caught in November, December, and January. Catfish are in deeper water on ledges and main lake points. They will feed at any time during the day you just have to be patient. It is best to use two rods with two different baits. This way if the fish don't go for one offering they might go for the other. A good choice of baits would be shad, liver, or crawlers. Soaking your bait in Pro Cure scent will make it even more appealing to those lunker cats. Leave your bail open so the cats can't feel the line if still-fishing. Another way to catch them is to fish a weightless rig. Put enough bait on your hook to where you can make a long cast. This rig will sink slowly and drift and roll along the bottom. There were no fish weighed in for the Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest.
Crappie and bluegill: Slow. Try using small minnows, red worms, and meal worms on a slip-float rig fished 15-25 feet deep will work. Generally 4-6 pound test line will get you more bites and fishing light tackle can be a fun way to catch them.
No comments:
Post a Comment