New Melones Reservoir - It's time for our Seventh Annual Glory Hole Sports Free Fishing Seminar and Customer Appreciation Days on April 9 and 10! On Saturday, April 9, there will be a free seminar at the Calaveras County Fairgrounds. Well-known fishing guides will share their knowledge about fishing New Melones and other Mother Lode Lakes. Breakfast and lunch will be provided, and lots of prizes will be given away. In addition, many fishing guides and tackle manufacturers will be on hand to answer all your questions, and there will be great deals on fishing equipment and accessories. On Sunday, April 10, on-the-water lessons will be offered. For $20, you will spend two hours on New Melones Lake with a fishing guide or tournament bass angler, in their boat, for some hands-on learning. If you are a boat owner who wants to target kokanee or trout, sign up for the downrigger lesson, where you will learn how to rig up and operate downriggers to target these fish. Boat owners and bank anglers alike will benefit from the bass fishing lessons, where you will learn where to find black bass, and what lures work best. You can use this information while fishing from the bank as easily as you can from a boat.
New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,503,000 acre-feet of water, and is at 61 percent capacity. The lake elevation rose one foot this week, and is now at 1,003 feet above sea level and 85 feet from full capacity. Surface water temperature is approximately 55-57 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!
Angels Cove Ramp will remain closed for the winter, as it does every year, until March 30.
Trout are moving out to deeper water, but are still relatively shallow. Ttrollers continue to pick up limits of planter-sized trout, when the weather cooperates, in the main lake. 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. With the stormy weather this week, most fish were caught 15-25 feet deep. Uncle Larry's Power Spin Spinner with Power Bait, or a Wedding Ring/crawler combination, both behind a dodger or small flashers, are a good choice. 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. Joe Hallett had luck trolling minnows 15-20 feet deep in the main body. He caught four trout and a bass. Frank Treadway of Sacramento wins the Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week contest with a 7.5-pound brown trout that he caught while trolling a brown trout-patterned Rebel 40 feet deep under the 49 Stevenot Bridge. If you want to try your luck for browns, try trolling frozen shad, or shad or trout-patterned Rapalas or Rebels. 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.
Although kokanee have not schooled up yet, we are seeing a few kokanee being caught right now in the 13-14" range. Small Sockeye Slammers, Uncle Larry Spinners or Murphy's Bugs are all a good choice. 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 coves such as Glory Hole and Angels Coves. Fluctuating water temperatures and weather conditions have bass on the move. The warm weather we were having had them moving into the shallows, thinking about spawning, especially the Floridas and Spots. Cooling weather and water temps have caused them to move out into slightly deeper water, although many anglers still report catching big bass in 5 feet of water. Despite the cooling weather, expect big bass activity during the next full moon around the 24th. Val Garringer had a great day on the lake for his birthday - he caught a 9-pounder and two 4-pounders in the shallows, while throwing spinnerbaits and Senkos. The spinnerbait bite has been hot - throw into very shallow water and bounce your bait into deeper water. 6" crawdad-colored worms and Yamamoto Senkos are also big producers. There are still plenty of swimbait fish being caught. Throwing rip baits such as a ghost minnow Lucky Craft Pointer or silver/black or silver/blue Rapala Husky Jerk in early morning and at dusk is also a good bet.
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.
Crappie should be thinking about spawning right now, and moving into shallow areas with gravelly bottoms. 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 fishing remained very solid at Don Pedro this past week before this latest round of showers and unstable weather pattern that came through the region this past week. The trout are still catchable on the surface, but at the same time they are starting to move out into the open and deeper water as the water temperature is starting to warm up. You should start dropping your offerings down a little deeper, from 15 to 20 feet.
A good choice for lure selection would be shad imitation spoons, such as Excel lures or Apex lures, or Uncle Larry's spinners, tipped with either a grub or a nightcrawler. Keep plenty of line out while you are close to the surface, until you start to reach the depth of about 30 feet.
The King Salmon continue to thrill anglers in the Jenkins hill area, with fish being caught up to three pounds, while trolling frozen shad behind ball trolls (ball trolls are a series of flashers that are attached to your downrigger ball), at a depth of 40 to 55 feet deep.
The kokanee salmon are starting to get very active. They are also showing up in the Jenkins Hill area and in the Rogers Creek area, at a depth of 22 to 33 feet deep. Small kokanee Bugs and Sockeye Slammers are a good choice of lures now, although the fish are only in the 10-13" range. Remember that this is still very early in the season and these fish will grow to 15-17" and some even larger by late summer, depending on their food supply of plankton, which should be very good this year.
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.
Diana Mello of A-1 Bait said there isn't much to report because most anglers stayed home during the storm. Night crawlers were working well and crappie were still hitting, but there wasn't a lot of information circulating. The bass bite was excellent before the storm. They were hitting just about everything. Crawdads are the best live bait, and minnows are second. There was a decent trout bite in the river narrows from Barret Cove Marina to the Highway 49 bridge. Flasher/crawler combos and flashers with small minnow imitations will work.
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 not many anglers were braving the recent rain. Fishing had been super, and the lake is back on the weekly planting schedule. The brush pile was the best spot from the bank, but anglers were also having luck in front of the campgrounds at D Loop and E Loop. Trollers were catching limits in the slot area, and around the first fence line has been the best area. Flashers and crawlers or dodgers and crawlers are the most popular combinations, but silver/blue Kastmasters are the hot lure. There was a 1,000-pound plant from Calaveras last week.
378-2534
New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,503,000 acre-feet of water, and is at 61 percent capacity. The lake elevation rose one foot this week, and is now at 1,003 feet above sea level and 85 feet from full capacity. Surface water temperature is approximately 55-57 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!
Angels Cove Ramp will remain closed for the winter, as it does every year, until March 30.
Trout are moving out to deeper water, but are still relatively shallow. Ttrollers continue to pick up limits of planter-sized trout, when the weather cooperates, in the main lake. 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. With the stormy weather this week, most fish were caught 15-25 feet deep. Uncle Larry's Power Spin Spinner with Power Bait, or a Wedding Ring/crawler combination, both behind a dodger or small flashers, are a good choice. 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. Joe Hallett had luck trolling minnows 15-20 feet deep in the main body. He caught four trout and a bass. Frank Treadway of Sacramento wins the Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week contest with a 7.5-pound brown trout that he caught while trolling a brown trout-patterned Rebel 40 feet deep under the 49 Stevenot Bridge. If you want to try your luck for browns, try trolling frozen shad, or shad or trout-patterned Rapalas or Rebels. 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.
Although kokanee have not schooled up yet, we are seeing a few kokanee being caught right now in the 13-14" range. Small Sockeye Slammers, Uncle Larry Spinners or Murphy's Bugs are all a good choice. 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 coves such as Glory Hole and Angels Coves. Fluctuating water temperatures and weather conditions have bass on the move. The warm weather we were having had them moving into the shallows, thinking about spawning, especially the Floridas and Spots. Cooling weather and water temps have caused them to move out into slightly deeper water, although many anglers still report catching big bass in 5 feet of water. Despite the cooling weather, expect big bass activity during the next full moon around the 24th. Val Garringer had a great day on the lake for his birthday - he caught a 9-pounder and two 4-pounders in the shallows, while throwing spinnerbaits and Senkos. The spinnerbait bite has been hot - throw into very shallow water and bounce your bait into deeper water. 6" crawdad-colored worms and Yamamoto Senkos are also big producers. There are still plenty of swimbait fish being caught. Throwing rip baits such as a ghost minnow Lucky Craft Pointer or silver/black or silver/blue Rapala Husky Jerk in early morning and at dusk is also a good bet.
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.
Crappie should be thinking about spawning right now, and moving into shallow areas with gravelly bottoms. 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 fishing remained very solid at Don Pedro this past week before this latest round of showers and unstable weather pattern that came through the region this past week. The trout are still catchable on the surface, but at the same time they are starting to move out into the open and deeper water as the water temperature is starting to warm up. You should start dropping your offerings down a little deeper, from 15 to 20 feet.
A good choice for lure selection would be shad imitation spoons, such as Excel lures or Apex lures, or Uncle Larry's spinners, tipped with either a grub or a nightcrawler. Keep plenty of line out while you are close to the surface, until you start to reach the depth of about 30 feet.
The King Salmon continue to thrill anglers in the Jenkins hill area, with fish being caught up to three pounds, while trolling frozen shad behind ball trolls (ball trolls are a series of flashers that are attached to your downrigger ball), at a depth of 40 to 55 feet deep.
The kokanee salmon are starting to get very active. They are also showing up in the Jenkins Hill area and in the Rogers Creek area, at a depth of 22 to 33 feet deep. Small kokanee Bugs and Sockeye Slammers are a good choice of lures now, although the fish are only in the 10-13" range. Remember that this is still very early in the season and these fish will grow to 15-17" and some even larger by late summer, depending on their food supply of plankton, which should be very good this year.
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.
Diana Mello of A-1 Bait said there isn't much to report because most anglers stayed home during the storm. Night crawlers were working well and crappie were still hitting, but there wasn't a lot of information circulating. The bass bite was excellent before the storm. They were hitting just about everything. Crawdads are the best live bait, and minnows are second. There was a decent trout bite in the river narrows from Barret Cove Marina to the Highway 49 bridge. Flasher/crawler combos and flashers with small minnow imitations will work.
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 not many anglers were braving the recent rain. Fishing had been super, and the lake is back on the weekly planting schedule. The brush pile was the best spot from the bank, but anglers were also having luck in front of the campgrounds at D Loop and E Loop. Trollers were catching limits in the slot area, and around the first fence line has been the best area. Flashers and crawlers or dodgers and crawlers are the most popular combinations, but silver/blue Kastmasters are the hot lure. There was a 1,000-pound plant from Calaveras last week.
378-2534
