New Melones Reservoir - New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,595,000 acre-feet of water, and is at 66 percent capacity. The lake elevation rose four feet this week, and is now at 1,013 feet above sea level and 75 feet from full capacity. Surface water temperature is approximately 57-59 degrees, and water is stained. Caution - due to rising water levels, there is a lot of floating debris such as partially submerged logs in the water, as well as island tops and trees that are just under the water surface. Please be careful out there!
There is another trout plant scheduled for the week of April 10. Trout are moving out to deeper water, but are still relatively shallow - 15-25 feet deep. Trollers continue to pick up limits of 14-16" trout/kokanee, when the weather cooperates, in the main lake and under the 49 Stevenot Bridge. Uncle Larry's Spinners or Wedding Rings tipped with a crawler, trolled behind a dodger or small flashers, have been the number one producer. Richard Kowski and Joe Hallett had nice mixed limits of trout/kokanee that they caught on a spinner/crawler combo trolled 18' deep behind a chrome dodger near the dam. Many anglers are reporting luck trolling with small or medium minnows, either behind a lure such as a Needlefish, Vance's Sockeye Slammer, or Excel, or alone. Bank anglers should target Glory Hole Point, or under the 49 Stevenot Bridge, using rainbow or chartreuse Select Power Bait, or a nightcrawler/marshmallow combination. Minnows under a bobber are another good way to target trout from the bank this time of year. Brown trout continue to make a few lucky anglers happy. Guide Martin Goni of Goni Guide Service won Glory Hole Sports' Big Fish of the Week Contest this week. He trolled a pink Hootchie on the surface upriver to land a beautiful 5.7-pound brown trout. Rolling shad or shad-patterned lures are the best choice for browns, although they are caught on small, bright kokanee lures like a Hootchie from time-to-time. Browns tend to stay closer to structure that has deeper water accessible nearby, so anywhere there is a steep drop-off with trees is a good place to troll for them.
We are seeing kokanee show up more. Anglers are picking up mixed limits of trout/kokanee on a regular basis in the main lake. Most are in the 13-14" range. Small Sockeye Slammers, Uncle Larry Spinners or Murphy's Bugs are all a good choice. Use a Sep's Sidekick or a new Pro-Chip 4 E-Flasher dodger to add extra action and attraction to your lure. Tipping your lure with a small piece of nightcrawler instead of corn seems to work better in early spring.
Big bass continue to show up in the main lake, as well as major creek arms and coves. Look for areas with structure at varying depths, so that the bass can move up and down while hiding in the structure. Most bass have been caught in 5-20 feet of water. The spinnerbait bite has been hot - throw into very shallow water and bounce your bait into deeper water. Yamamoto Senkos are also big producers. There are still plenty of swimbait fish being caught - the new River-2-Sea Bottom Walker is the hot new swimbait. Carolina rigged 6" crawdad-colored worms will catch numbers of bass in the 1-3 pound range. Shane Weakley of Sonora landed a big 6.5-pound largemouth that he caught on a black worm while bank fishing near Tuttletown. As the big bass move into the shallows to spawn, we want to remind you to practice catch-and-release during this time of year, so that the bass can reproduce successfully.
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.
For crappie, areas with heavy structure at 10-20 feet deep near gravel would be a good choice. Try fishing live minnows or trying to entice them with jigs in red/white or purple/white.
Glory Hole Sports, 736-4333
Lake Don Pedro - Best spots to try are around partially submerged trees, near the marina and rocky points.
The trout and king salmon fishing at Don Pedro is astounding. Guide Monte Smith was out on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2, with great results both days. On Friday's outing, we boated seven king salmon to three pounds, lost three others and boated one trout that was released. The kings were caught while trolling frozen shad at a depth of 45-56 feet. We fished Mexican Gulch and on out past the buoy line, toward the houseboats on into the Jenkins Hill area.
On Saturday, we fished from the buoy line by the dam on out to Jenkins Hill, and the action was much better out there. We kept only two kings while releasing three and the rainbows were on a good bite, kept four of the 'bows while releasing many others. The rainbows are still active on the surface while using sideplaners, but they are also down to 25 and 30 feet now. We had good luck with a watermelon dodger and a double-bladed spinner tipped with corn, and also using a Sambo spoon tipped with corn that the 'bows fell for.
The bite on trout, kings and kokanee continues to improve with the stable weather recently at Lake Don Pedro. The lake is currently 83 percent of full capacity and the surface temp is around 60 degrees. Bows can be found throughout the lake near the surface. Top-lining or off sideplaners in the top 10' will produce bows to 16". Nightcrawlers, spinners, Ex-Cel lures or scented grubs trolled behind a set of flashers or a 4/0 dodger will produce plenty of action. Work your favorite koke setup at depths of 20-25' for kokes to 15". Kings are still holding 45-55' down and biting rolled shad or pearl Ex-cel lures. Flemming Bay off Big Island and Jenkins Hill was a hot area this past weekend, as was off the buoy line in front of the dam.
852-2369, 989-2206, 848-2746.
Tulloch Reservoir - Fish the main part of the lake for the best action.
There is a solid bass bite going. Fish are in the middle of the spawn and are very aggressive off the points. Most anglers are using plastics and some regulars are sticking with crickets, but throw anything down to agitate the fish and they're likely to bite. For trout, shore anglers are using marshmallows and Power Bait. Trollers are using silver Needlefish eight feet deep with flashers.
881-0107, 847-3447.
McClure Reservoir - Fish in Barrett Cove, Horseshoe Bend, Cotton Creek and Temperance Creek for the best luck.
Bass fishing has fluctuated with the rising water but it seemed to be taking of recently, said Diana Mello of A-1 Bait. Senkos in watermelon and red flake, or stud-colored dropshot plastics fished in 5-25 feet of water throughout the lake were kicking out lots of slot bass 13-17 inches and a 6.1-pound spot that was taken with a Senko. Early morning top-water action and shallow crankbaits in baby-bass patterns have been productive. Dwayne King in Manteca reported a good oxblood-color darthead bite, along with some ripbait fish providing a reaction bite. Trollers using flashers and crawlers near the buoyline to the dam are doing well. There's good night bite on trout fishing under the lights in the marina using crawlers, minnows or Power Bait. Crappie fishing is good at night under the lights in Horseshoe Bend area and rocks by the dam. Once you find them, minnows and red-and-white jigs can produce 15-25 fish per rod, some to 2 pounds.
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.
John Kemper at McSwain Marina said fishing had picked up after Priday's plant by Calaveras Trout Farm. The quality fish are running from 1 pound to almost 2 pounds on rainbow Power Bait or inflated crawlers fished near the brush pile. Fishing should pick up with the onset of warmer weather. The DFG was scheduled to plant around 1,000 pounds of trout last week.
There is another trout plant scheduled for the week of April 10. Trout are moving out to deeper water, but are still relatively shallow - 15-25 feet deep. Trollers continue to pick up limits of 14-16" trout/kokanee, when the weather cooperates, in the main lake and under the 49 Stevenot Bridge. Uncle Larry's Spinners or Wedding Rings tipped with a crawler, trolled behind a dodger or small flashers, have been the number one producer. Richard Kowski and Joe Hallett had nice mixed limits of trout/kokanee that they caught on a spinner/crawler combo trolled 18' deep behind a chrome dodger near the dam. Many anglers are reporting luck trolling with small or medium minnows, either behind a lure such as a Needlefish, Vance's Sockeye Slammer, or Excel, or alone. Bank anglers should target Glory Hole Point, or under the 49 Stevenot Bridge, using rainbow or chartreuse Select Power Bait, or a nightcrawler/marshmallow combination. Minnows under a bobber are another good way to target trout from the bank this time of year. Brown trout continue to make a few lucky anglers happy. Guide Martin Goni of Goni Guide Service won Glory Hole Sports' Big Fish of the Week Contest this week. He trolled a pink Hootchie on the surface upriver to land a beautiful 5.7-pound brown trout. Rolling shad or shad-patterned lures are the best choice for browns, although they are caught on small, bright kokanee lures like a Hootchie from time-to-time. Browns tend to stay closer to structure that has deeper water accessible nearby, so anywhere there is a steep drop-off with trees is a good place to troll for them.
We are seeing kokanee show up more. Anglers are picking up mixed limits of trout/kokanee on a regular basis in the main lake. Most are in the 13-14" range. Small Sockeye Slammers, Uncle Larry Spinners or Murphy's Bugs are all a good choice. Use a Sep's Sidekick or a new Pro-Chip 4 E-Flasher dodger to add extra action and attraction to your lure. Tipping your lure with a small piece of nightcrawler instead of corn seems to work better in early spring.
Big bass continue to show up in the main lake, as well as major creek arms and coves. Look for areas with structure at varying depths, so that the bass can move up and down while hiding in the structure. Most bass have been caught in 5-20 feet of water. The spinnerbait bite has been hot - throw into very shallow water and bounce your bait into deeper water. Yamamoto Senkos are also big producers. There are still plenty of swimbait fish being caught - the new River-2-Sea Bottom Walker is the hot new swimbait. Carolina rigged 6" crawdad-colored worms will catch numbers of bass in the 1-3 pound range. Shane Weakley of Sonora landed a big 6.5-pound largemouth that he caught on a black worm while bank fishing near Tuttletown. As the big bass move into the shallows to spawn, we want to remind you to practice catch-and-release during this time of year, so that the bass can reproduce successfully.
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.
For crappie, areas with heavy structure at 10-20 feet deep near gravel would be a good choice. Try fishing live minnows or trying to entice them with jigs in red/white or purple/white.
Glory Hole Sports, 736-4333
Lake Don Pedro - Best spots to try are around partially submerged trees, near the marina and rocky points.
The trout and king salmon fishing at Don Pedro is astounding. Guide Monte Smith was out on Friday, April 1 and Saturday, April 2, with great results both days. On Friday's outing, we boated seven king salmon to three pounds, lost three others and boated one trout that was released. The kings were caught while trolling frozen shad at a depth of 45-56 feet. We fished Mexican Gulch and on out past the buoy line, toward the houseboats on into the Jenkins Hill area.
On Saturday, we fished from the buoy line by the dam on out to Jenkins Hill, and the action was much better out there. We kept only two kings while releasing three and the rainbows were on a good bite, kept four of the 'bows while releasing many others. The rainbows are still active on the surface while using sideplaners, but they are also down to 25 and 30 feet now. We had good luck with a watermelon dodger and a double-bladed spinner tipped with corn, and also using a Sambo spoon tipped with corn that the 'bows fell for.
The bite on trout, kings and kokanee continues to improve with the stable weather recently at Lake Don Pedro. The lake is currently 83 percent of full capacity and the surface temp is around 60 degrees. Bows can be found throughout the lake near the surface. Top-lining or off sideplaners in the top 10' will produce bows to 16". Nightcrawlers, spinners, Ex-Cel lures or scented grubs trolled behind a set of flashers or a 4/0 dodger will produce plenty of action. Work your favorite koke setup at depths of 20-25' for kokes to 15". Kings are still holding 45-55' down and biting rolled shad or pearl Ex-cel lures. Flemming Bay off Big Island and Jenkins Hill was a hot area this past weekend, as was off the buoy line in front of the dam.
852-2369, 989-2206, 848-2746.
Tulloch Reservoir - Fish the main part of the lake for the best action.
There is a solid bass bite going. Fish are in the middle of the spawn and are very aggressive off the points. Most anglers are using plastics and some regulars are sticking with crickets, but throw anything down to agitate the fish and they're likely to bite. For trout, shore anglers are using marshmallows and Power Bait. Trollers are using silver Needlefish eight feet deep with flashers.
881-0107, 847-3447.
McClure Reservoir - Fish in Barrett Cove, Horseshoe Bend, Cotton Creek and Temperance Creek for the best luck.
Bass fishing has fluctuated with the rising water but it seemed to be taking of recently, said Diana Mello of A-1 Bait. Senkos in watermelon and red flake, or stud-colored dropshot plastics fished in 5-25 feet of water throughout the lake were kicking out lots of slot bass 13-17 inches and a 6.1-pound spot that was taken with a Senko. Early morning top-water action and shallow crankbaits in baby-bass patterns have been productive. Dwayne King in Manteca reported a good oxblood-color darthead bite, along with some ripbait fish providing a reaction bite. Trollers using flashers and crawlers near the buoyline to the dam are doing well. There's good night bite on trout fishing under the lights in the marina using crawlers, minnows or Power Bait. Crappie fishing is good at night under the lights in Horseshoe Bend area and rocks by the dam. Once you find them, minnows and red-and-white jigs can produce 15-25 fish per rod, some to 2 pounds.
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.
John Kemper at McSwain Marina said fishing had picked up after Priday's plant by Calaveras Trout Farm. The quality fish are running from 1 pound to almost 2 pounds on rainbow Power Bait or inflated crawlers fished near the brush pile. Fishing should pick up with the onset of warmer weather. The DFG was scheduled to plant around 1,000 pounds of trout last week.
