New Melones Reservoir - New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,671,000 acre-feet of water, and is at 69 percent capacity. The lake elevation rose two feet this week, and is now at 1,021 feet above sea level and 67 feet from full capacity. Surface water temperature is approximately 60-65 degrees. Water is fairly clear, with visibility to 10-15 feet. Due to the rising waters, beware of unmarked islands and partially submerged but still-floating logs.
Ramp update: We are now using the uppermost ramp at Glory Hole.
Full moon and changes in the barometer slowed fishing somewhat, but trollers are still catching limits of kokanee with a few 12-15" trout thrown in. Fish have been 10-25 feet deep in the main lake, particularly the waters just off of Glory Hole Point, the spillway/dam area, and near the 49 Stevenot Bridge. Red, fluorescent orange, chartreuse or firetiger Apex, Uncle Larry's Spinners, and Wedding Rings, all trolled behind dodgers, are the biggest producing lures. Brown trout are still being caught, mostly by anglers targeting kokanee. Lucky Scott McGowan was trolling a purple/blue Hootchie behind a dodger 30 feet deep near the spillway, looking for kokanee. He caught a 3.9-pound brown trout, and wins the Glory Hole Sports' Big Fish of the Week Contest and free deli lunch - congratulations, Scott! If you want to target the big browns, the best way is to troll with frozen shad. We have the Spro Sliding Shad Rig back in, and that is the easiest way to rig up a shad (they are also excellent for striper fishing). Fishing is slow for bank anglers, who are catching a few fish off of Glory Hole Point, or under the 49 Stevenot Bridge, using rainbow or chartreuse Select Power Bait, or a nightcrawler/marshmallow combination. Trout season opened on April 30 above Highway 49. Angels Creek, Shaads Reservoir and White Pines Lane were all planted.
While weather changes and the full moon slowed the kokanee bite somewhat, kokanee limits have still been easy to come by. Fish are 14-16 1/2 inches and weighing 1 to 1 1/2 pounds. Troll slowly (1.2 mph) 10-30 feet deep, in the waters off of Glory Hole Point, the mouth of Angels Creek, the spillway/dam area, and under the 49 Stevenot Bridge. In other words, all over! Troll hot pink, red, chartreuse or firetiger Apex, Hootchies, Shasta Scorpions, Wedding Rings or Uncle Larry's Spinners, all tipped with shoepeg corn and trolled behind a dodger or Sling Blade. Danny Layne of Fish'n'Dan's Guide Service said he can't remember Melones kokanee fishing ever being this good, this early in the season. He took Tom Harrison out and they boated two limits of 16" kokanee by 10 a.m. Doug Poor went out with Fred Thomasen of Last Cast Guide Service. They also found easy limits. Joe Hallett used Needlefish and Kastmasters to find a limit, and Jay Winchester and a friend had good luck with red Apex - they picked up two limits by the dam.
There has been good bass fishing! Major coves and cuts with structure, such as fall-down wood, are holding big bass. Look for the biggest fish to be deeper in the early morning, and then move as shallow as 5 feet during the day. Senkos, Spinnerbaits, 6" Roboworms and green pumpkin Zoom Baby Brush Hogs have been the best producers. Lucky Slayon of Sonora caught and released a big 5.5-pound spotted bass on an oxblood worm while bank fishing near the Black Bart Day Use Area. Bass are spawning now, so please practice catch-and-release of largemouth bass.
For catfish, try Tuttletown, or under the 49 Stevenot Bridge. Use chicken livers or crawlers, a sliding sinker, leave your bait open, and make sure your hooks are sharp. Night fishing is always best for catfish, but we see plenty caught during the day, too.
Crappie anglers tell us the bite has been the best it's been in the last few years. Try fishing live minnows or trying to entice them with jigs in red/white or purple/white. Best spots on the lake are the south side of the lake near Bear Cove, the back of Coyote Creek, Black Bart Cove, and especially cuts upriver near the Parrotts Ferry Bridge that have a lot of stand-up trees in them. As always, fish tight to structure.
Glory Hole Sports, 736-4333
Lake Don Pedro - Best spots to try are around partially submerged trees, near the marina and rocky points.
Kokanee and trout fishing continues to be good for trollers using Needlefish and Apexes 30-40 feet deep. Limits have been common. Bass fishing has dropped off somewhat because of the lack of stable conditions, Dwayne King of Fisherman's Warehouse in Manteca said. Senkos are a good choice for the bass.
852-2369, 989-2206, 848-2746.
Tulloch Reservoir - Fish the main part of the lake for the best action.
Jane Watson at Lake Tulloch Campground and Marina said the bass bite is still holding, as is the trout fishing at the south end of the reservoir. She said crankbaits are working with the bass, which went to 7 pounds recently. A good spot has been Black Creek. Meanwhile, Watson said she saw a bank fisherman using a night crawler pull in a 5-pound rainbow. A few crappie have also been hitting. She expects things will pick up when the lake turns, probably in a few weeks when everything warms up.
McClure Reservoir - Fish in Barrett Cove, Horseshoe Bend, Cotton Creek and Temperance Creek for the best luck.
Bass are rebounding from the storm and are on a good early topwater bite on Zara Spooks. Jerkbaits and topwater lures fished in the back of coves are producing lots of slot-sized bass. As the sun comes up, the fish are taking minnows and crawdads, wacky-rigged Senkos or plastics fished in 20 feet of water, Diana Mello of A-1 Bait said. Crappie fishing at night under lights with minnows in the Temperance, Cottonwood Creek and houseboat area of Barrett's Cove are the best areas. Anglers are scoring 10-15 fish per rod. Downriggers pulling flasher/crawler combos or blue/chrome Kastmasters 40 feet deep from the spillway area to the dam have kicked out about two fish per angler.
563-6505, 378-2441
McSwain Reservoir - Try your luck at the brushpile, in front of the campgrounds and marina, and at Gilligan's Island and the handicap dock.
Trout fishing has been slow because of the heavy flows of water being dumped out of McClure into McSwain for flood purposes, along with the full moon, John Kemper of McSwain Marina said. Every time they get a plant, the fishing remains good for a few days, but the majority of fish are being affected by the colder temperatures.
378-2534
Ramp update: We are now using the uppermost ramp at Glory Hole.
Full moon and changes in the barometer slowed fishing somewhat, but trollers are still catching limits of kokanee with a few 12-15" trout thrown in. Fish have been 10-25 feet deep in the main lake, particularly the waters just off of Glory Hole Point, the spillway/dam area, and near the 49 Stevenot Bridge. Red, fluorescent orange, chartreuse or firetiger Apex, Uncle Larry's Spinners, and Wedding Rings, all trolled behind dodgers, are the biggest producing lures. Brown trout are still being caught, mostly by anglers targeting kokanee. Lucky Scott McGowan was trolling a purple/blue Hootchie behind a dodger 30 feet deep near the spillway, looking for kokanee. He caught a 3.9-pound brown trout, and wins the Glory Hole Sports' Big Fish of the Week Contest and free deli lunch - congratulations, Scott! If you want to target the big browns, the best way is to troll with frozen shad. We have the Spro Sliding Shad Rig back in, and that is the easiest way to rig up a shad (they are also excellent for striper fishing). Fishing is slow for bank anglers, who are catching a few fish off of Glory Hole Point, or under the 49 Stevenot Bridge, using rainbow or chartreuse Select Power Bait, or a nightcrawler/marshmallow combination. Trout season opened on April 30 above Highway 49. Angels Creek, Shaads Reservoir and White Pines Lane were all planted.
While weather changes and the full moon slowed the kokanee bite somewhat, kokanee limits have still been easy to come by. Fish are 14-16 1/2 inches and weighing 1 to 1 1/2 pounds. Troll slowly (1.2 mph) 10-30 feet deep, in the waters off of Glory Hole Point, the mouth of Angels Creek, the spillway/dam area, and under the 49 Stevenot Bridge. In other words, all over! Troll hot pink, red, chartreuse or firetiger Apex, Hootchies, Shasta Scorpions, Wedding Rings or Uncle Larry's Spinners, all tipped with shoepeg corn and trolled behind a dodger or Sling Blade. Danny Layne of Fish'n'Dan's Guide Service said he can't remember Melones kokanee fishing ever being this good, this early in the season. He took Tom Harrison out and they boated two limits of 16" kokanee by 10 a.m. Doug Poor went out with Fred Thomasen of Last Cast Guide Service. They also found easy limits. Joe Hallett used Needlefish and Kastmasters to find a limit, and Jay Winchester and a friend had good luck with red Apex - they picked up two limits by the dam.
There has been good bass fishing! Major coves and cuts with structure, such as fall-down wood, are holding big bass. Look for the biggest fish to be deeper in the early morning, and then move as shallow as 5 feet during the day. Senkos, Spinnerbaits, 6" Roboworms and green pumpkin Zoom Baby Brush Hogs have been the best producers. Lucky Slayon of Sonora caught and released a big 5.5-pound spotted bass on an oxblood worm while bank fishing near the Black Bart Day Use Area. Bass are spawning now, so please practice catch-and-release of largemouth bass.
For catfish, try Tuttletown, or under the 49 Stevenot Bridge. Use chicken livers or crawlers, a sliding sinker, leave your bait open, and make sure your hooks are sharp. Night fishing is always best for catfish, but we see plenty caught during the day, too.
Crappie anglers tell us the bite has been the best it's been in the last few years. Try fishing live minnows or trying to entice them with jigs in red/white or purple/white. Best spots on the lake are the south side of the lake near Bear Cove, the back of Coyote Creek, Black Bart Cove, and especially cuts upriver near the Parrotts Ferry Bridge that have a lot of stand-up trees in them. As always, fish tight to structure.
Glory Hole Sports, 736-4333
Lake Don Pedro - Best spots to try are around partially submerged trees, near the marina and rocky points.
Kokanee and trout fishing continues to be good for trollers using Needlefish and Apexes 30-40 feet deep. Limits have been common. Bass fishing has dropped off somewhat because of the lack of stable conditions, Dwayne King of Fisherman's Warehouse in Manteca said. Senkos are a good choice for the bass.
852-2369, 989-2206, 848-2746.
Tulloch Reservoir - Fish the main part of the lake for the best action.
Jane Watson at Lake Tulloch Campground and Marina said the bass bite is still holding, as is the trout fishing at the south end of the reservoir. She said crankbaits are working with the bass, which went to 7 pounds recently. A good spot has been Black Creek. Meanwhile, Watson said she saw a bank fisherman using a night crawler pull in a 5-pound rainbow. A few crappie have also been hitting. She expects things will pick up when the lake turns, probably in a few weeks when everything warms up.
McClure Reservoir - Fish in Barrett Cove, Horseshoe Bend, Cotton Creek and Temperance Creek for the best luck.
Bass are rebounding from the storm and are on a good early topwater bite on Zara Spooks. Jerkbaits and topwater lures fished in the back of coves are producing lots of slot-sized bass. As the sun comes up, the fish are taking minnows and crawdads, wacky-rigged Senkos or plastics fished in 20 feet of water, Diana Mello of A-1 Bait said. Crappie fishing at night under lights with minnows in the Temperance, Cottonwood Creek and houseboat area of Barrett's Cove are the best areas. Anglers are scoring 10-15 fish per rod. Downriggers pulling flasher/crawler combos or blue/chrome Kastmasters 40 feet deep from the spillway area to the dam have kicked out about two fish per angler.
563-6505, 378-2441
McSwain Reservoir - Try your luck at the brushpile, in front of the campgrounds and marina, and at Gilligan's Island and the handicap dock.
Trout fishing has been slow because of the heavy flows of water being dumped out of McClure into McSwain for flood purposes, along with the full moon, John Kemper of McSwain Marina said. Every time they get a plant, the fishing remains good for a few days, but the majority of fish are being affected by the colder temperatures.
378-2534
