Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 610,979 acre-feet of water. The lake level dropped one foot this past week and is rising again. It is currently at 882 ft. above sea level and 203 ft. from full. There is plenty of snow to melt in the high country, hopefully the runoff will help fill the lake and offset releases. The water clarity is clear in most of the lake. The water temperature is gradually rising, with the average being 66-74 degrees. The dam area is still buoyed off. Glory Hole Point boat launch is a two lane concrete ramp with a courtesy dock in place.

Trout: Good. The last couple weeks many anglers have been catching some rather large rainbows and browns. The fish are feeding heavily on shad. We have been seeing 2 to 3-pound rainbows and brown trout up to 5-pounds being caught. The shad, trout and kokanee will hold over the deep/cool areas of the lake. Trolling anglers have been doing well trolling with shad patterned spoons in the main lake. Large Needlefish and Speedy Shiners are both good choices. Try trolling down to 20-30' over the main lake and old river channel. Also, a few anglers have reported having luck with a flasher/crawler combo. When fishing areas with slightly stained water it is a good idea to use brightly painted baits and flashers that have gold or copper blades.

Scott Clark headed to the mountains to do a little fly fishing. He caught this beautiful trout out of the Owens River.

Bank anglers will have better luck heading to the high sierra lakes in search of trout.

Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the week goes to Steve Olsen of Vallecito. He caught three chunky trout while trolling a brightly painted Rapala over the main river channel. His biggest fish weighed 2-pounds, 5-ounces.

Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the week also goes to John Marshall who caught a fat 2-pound, 5-ounce trout while trolling Rocky Mountain Tackle kokanee gear.

This gentleman brought in a brown trout that weighed over 5-pounds. Unfortunately we were unable to get his name and information on how and where he caught this fish.

We do encourage catch and release for the brown trout as The Department of Fish and Game will no longer be planting them. Carefully measure, weigh and photograph trophy fish and send us pictures and information.

Bob James of Murphys caught a big kokanee while trolling Apex and Glitterbug's near the spillway.

Kokanee: Good. The kokanee bite is getting better and we are seeing some extremely impressive fish coming out of New Melones. This week we saw fish that were in excess of 16" and very fat. When the kokanee get to be this size they are a blast to catch and put up and exciting fight. Anglers reported catching their fish down 20-35' over deep water. The bite is not fast and furious, but when you hook into one of these chunks it will be well worth your efforts. Most anglers are using small lures and slingblades to find success. Try using a Glitterbug's Micro Hoochie trailed behind a teardrop blade or use a kokanee spinner trailed behind a full sized slingblade. Another productive lure that produces fish each year is an Apex. It has a side-to-side wobble that will trigger strikes. Father Murphy's has come out with a micro version of an Apex that is sure to put some nice limits in the boat this season. Pink, blue and purple have been the colors of choice. Also, gold dodgers and gold bladed spinners have been drawing some additional bites. Be sure to add scent to your presentations and add dyed and scented corn to each hook. Garlic, bloody tuna and anise are a few scents that work each and every year.

David Ingraham caught a very impressive limit of kokanee. His biggest fish was over 16" and was an absolute chunk. He reported using pink tubes and spinners trailed behind Sep's and Rocky Mountain dodgers.

Bass: Fair. The bass bite has been changing daily with the water rising and dropping each week. It looks like we will be having a rather hot week coming up. This will encourage the fish to go into a summer pattern where they will pull of the shoreline and start to move to some of their deep water haunts. Right now the lake has an abundance of shad and the fish are using them as their primary food source. Shad patterned baits fished near deep water will work well and catch some nice fish. Try using a dropshot rig with a 4-6" shad patterned worm. It is best to nose hook your bait when fishing near rock and rigging it weedless when fishing near brush and timber. Some fish will be aggressive and willing to chase baits throughout the day. Try using ripbaits, crankbaits and small swimbaits to catch these fish. Also there are a few topwater fish to be caught in the early mornings and late evenings. PLEASE PRACTICE CATCH AND RELEASE. Take photos and carefully release the fish back into to the lake to maintain a healthy fish population for generations to come.

The Big Cat Daddy Crew caught a few more cat's and some crappie this past week.

Catfish: Fair. The summer months are a great time to target large catfish on New Melones. They will bite during the day, but are more likely to feed in the mornings, evenings and at night. Catfish have very poor eyesight and use their sense of smell to locate prey. It is best to use bait that has soaked in additional scent to help attract fish. Frozen shad, anchovies and mackerel are all good choices. Also many anglers will use a mallow/crawler combo to catch catfish.

Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week goes to Colton Camara and Ken Van Boven of Escalon. They caught two nice catfish and their biggest weighed 7-pounds, 2-ounces.

Crappie: Okay. The crappie bite has slowed a bit, but there is a large population of fish and we can expect the bite to be good throughout the summer. With the weather starting to heat up it is a good time to drop a light and do some night fishing. Live minnows and mini jigs work best for crappie.