Posted by: John_Hamilton on 07/23/2012 10:34 PM
Updated by: John_Hamilton on 07/23/2012 10:39 PM
Expires: 01/01/2017 12:00 AM
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New Melones Lake Fishing Report from Glory Hole Sports
Angels Camp, CA...Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding1,666,490 acre-feet of water. The lake level has dropped three feet this week and is currently at 1020 ft. above sea level and 68 ft. from full. Water temperature is in the upper 70's to low 80's. Lake is stained, with mud lines forming around the shore on windy days, and days with a lot of boat traffic.
The Barrington crew went out and caught a whole mess of trout while night fishing with crawlers near the spillway.
Trout: Good. Night fishing has been producing some nice limits of healthy rainbows. Try fishing the main lake by the dam or spillway. Anchor your boat in 35-50ft of water and drop the light 15-25ft down. Power Bait, Gulp Eggs, and nightcrawlers have been working well. It is a good idea to add extra scent to the bait while fishing at night. Try using Pro Cure garlic, anise, of garlic/night crawler. Remember to be patient, it takes time for the light to draw plankton, baitfish, and trout to it. Bank anglers should head to the high country lakes and rivers. Try using a bubble and a fly, floating a crawler or fly fishing. Trolling anglers have been catching a few trout with along with the kokanee. There are schools of trout in deeper/cooler water, and feeding on shad. Try fishing upriver near the steep canyon walls. To target trout, try trolling 2-3 mph with a shad patterned Rapala, Needlefish, or speedy shiner. It is a good idea to tip the bait with a crawler or a trolling grub to enhance the action of the bait.
Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest goes to Lorh Randall who caught a nice 3-pound 4-ounce rainbow on a chartreuse Pro Troll lure.
Ray Brewer, Dave Payne, Aaron Colldeweih, and Dave Gilbert caught their limits of kokanee on Rocky Mountain Assasin's.
Kokanee: Good, with most anglers getting easy limits of fat 13-14" fish. The fish are growing quickly now. Troll 40-65 feet deep in the spillway/dam area or near the 49 Bridge. Try using a hootchie or a spinner behind a sling blade or dodger. The water is stained, so it is a good idea to use bright colors such as, pink, orange, and chartreuse. Also, try using scented dye pens to mix and match different color. You can add a chartreuse tail to a purple hootchie, or a blue back to a pink hootchie. To target larger fish try trolling in deep waters with big dodgers, and larger baits, like an Apex or a Rocky Mountain Super Squid. Remember when trolling deeper water, use darker colors. Be sure to add plenty of Pro Cure Scent to your dodger and your bait. Garlic, carp spit, and kokanee special have all been producing. Don't forget to bring corn soaked in these same scents.
Bass: Good. The fish are a little harder to find on these hotter days but they are still biting. Most fish are 12-15 inches with a few 3-pound plus fish caught. Bass are feeding shallow on top water baits early and late, and move out to main lake structure as the sun warms the water. To catch them when they move out try using a brown football head jig with a matching trailer. There is also a pretty good crank bait bite. Try using shad and crawdad colored crank baits that dive to different depths. 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: Wide open. Melones cats tend to be fish-eaters rather than bottom foragers, so use frozen shad, mackerel, chicken liver, or anchovies for best success. Larger cats will also feed on natural bait like crawlers, so to target large cats try using a big ball of crawlers. Target shallow flats or areas with large chunk rock, these are prime locations for big cats to hang out. Larger fish are smarter, so use a fluorocarbon leader to entice more bites. Generally these fish will feed a night, but anglers have been hooking them at all hours, day and night. There were no fish brought to the scales for The Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest.
Crappie: Good, especially for those fishing at night under a submersible light. This is prime time to target the crappie. Use Beetle Spins, Mini Jigs, and minnows in. Try a live minnow in tandem with a mini jig. The color of the jig will draw fish to it, and the live minnow triggers the bite. With the water warming up the fish will suspend in the middle of main lake creek channels. Try to find trees and flooded timber in 25-40 feet of water.
Don Pedro fishing report by Monte Smith
209-581-4734
The kokanee fishing at Don Pedro is still going strong.
We had four trips this week from Monday to Sunday producing limits for all.
The fish have been holding out in middle bay and we have been catching them at depths of 50 to 80 feet deep until Thursday when the fish took a nose dive for deeper waters, where we caught fish no shallower than 80 feet and caught them down to 120 feet deep and they seemed to have moved onto structure and we found some huge schools of fish while fishing, so when we find these large schools we have been working them hard for our bites , we are also picking up a few trout and small kings while trolling for the kokanee.
I have been using Shasta tackle sling blade dodgers in the 8" size as they create more flash and action on my lures along with the larger Vance's hoochies and Uncle Larry's spinners all tipped with shoe peg corn soaked in pro-cure bait scents.
The water temps were around the 76 to 80 degree mark.
Sundays mornings trip started out with a bang as we got the skunk off the boat with a triple hook up and they landed them all.
We are cathing some larger kokanee now, the biggest kokanee this week did measure 15 inches and was caught while trolling an Anchovy at 100 feet deep.
Here are my clients of the week:
 Monday Yuriy Tarasov of Santa Clara
Tuesday was Doug Mutoza of Newman, Frank, Joann and Nicholsa Freitas of Gustine
Thursday was Stan and George Otsuki of San Francisco and Paul Wyatt of Pleasonton
Sunday was Jill Denton and Dave Holleyman both of Stockton
Thank you
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing
Team Mag Tackle took Glory Hole Sports employee Gary Powell out on the water for some kokanee catching.
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