Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,586,516 acre-feet of water. The lake level dropped close to one foot this week, and is currently at 1012 ft. above sea level and 75 ft. from full. Water temperature warmed a little, average is 52-54 degrees with some parts of the lake warming to 58-60 degrees in the afternoon. The lake is clear, to slightly stained with some debris floating on the surface. The lake has turned over.

Trout: Fair. The bite seems to be getting better. Most anglers are catching a few fish with the occasional limit coming in. Trolling anglers are catching fish at various depths, from the surface to 25 feet. To locate the fish try running a dodger/crawler combo from 15-25 deep on one rod, and large floating Rapala on the other. Also, a number of brown trout are being caught. This is a great time to troll for trophy size browns. Try using large plugs such as a J11 Rapala in firetiger or shad pattern. Another good way to catch the big ones is by rolling shad.

Reminder: The Department of Fish and Game will no longer be planting brown trout. So, we do encourage catch and release a will not recognize them for our weekly big fish contest.

Bank fishing has picked up a little due to the small amount of rainfall. There are trout cruising the shoreline and the surface early morning and late afternoon. Try using Berkley Mice Tails, or a Pinched Crawler/egg combo. The water and air temperature has warmed and will continue to warm this week. Toward the afternoon look for insects hatching. To catch the trout that will be feeding on them. Try using the bubble and a fly technique. Wooly buggers, pheasant tail, and bead headed prince nymphs will catch them.

Kokanee: Coming soon. Generally the first kokanee start showing up in April.

Bass: Good. Not a lot of fish being caught but some giants are showing up. These giant fish are being caught on mainly jigs, worms, and swim baits. We have been seeing a lot of big spotted bass being caught and we possibly have a world record swimming around out there. The current state record and world record was caught May 3, 2001 out of Pine Flat Lake. It weighed 10-pounds, 4-ounces. If you catch a fish that is larger, and want it to be recognized as a state record, it must be weighed on a certified scale. The post office or the grocery store meat department has a certified scale. Spring is right around the corner and the fish will be moving shallow to spawn. To catch some fish, and maybe that record, try fishing from 10-25' with various soft plastics. Some great springtime baits include Brush Hogs, Senkos, and lizards. It is very important to practice catch and release during the spring months! 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: Melones catfish tend to be fish-eaters rather than bottom foragers, so use live minnows, frozen shad, mackerel, or anchovies for best success. Move/drag your bait slowly across the bottom to cover more water and target fish that are aggressively feeding. Generally cats will feed in shallow flats or areas with large chunk rock near deep water.

Crappie: Good. Spring is here and the crappie bite is starting. There are fish in 15-40 foot of water, in the backs of creek channels near submerged timber. Live minnows or red worms fished under a slip-float, with a bobber stop is a good way to target these fish. Also, try using Beetle Spins and mini jigs on light spinning tackle.

Photos:
Pictured Above: John Leyva went out with guide Gary Burns and caught a nice 3-pound, 10-ounce brown trout.

Photo #1: Donny Lemos is The Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest. He caught 4 nice trout with the biggest weighing 2-pounds, 4-ounces. He caught his fish on a nightcrawler, bank fishing the Glory Hole side of the lake.