Following a giant stocking of trophy 5 lb average Alpers with some fish pushing the double digit weight mark, anglers found conditions at South Lake excellent for both quantity and quality - some of the best May fishing in a long time. To accommodate avid anglers South Lake Boat Landing launched their docks and boats on 5/12, the earliest we've had boats available in the seven seasons since the Smith family has operated the resort. The weather has been uncharacteristically summer-like with warm days and mild winds making for great fishing days.

DFG and holdover rainbows are biting just about anything right but the hot colors are orange and pink and the big fish seem to prefer mini-jigs and olive wooly buggers. The dam and rock slide are the best producing spots on the lake at present. The back of the lake is finally becoming ice free but it is only about 5ft deep back there so the fish haven't moved into the flat yet.

Biggest of the week went 7lbs 14oz by Artin Minassi from Southern California who also managed a 6lb 10oz fish tossing Thomas Bouyants on Thursday. Andre Neresian of Sun Valley, CA managed fish weighing 2.5, 3 and 5lbs 5oz fishing jigs at the lake this week. His group fished from a pontoon on Saturday and managed to fool 65 fish in the afternoon on jigs, powerbait and crawlers.

The launch ramp is still not accessible for private boaters and the lake level is stable right now so we do not have an estimate as to if/when it will be available.