Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,425,154 acre-feet of water. The lake level dropped five feet this week, and is currently at 995 ft. above sea level and 92 ft. from full. Water temperature is warming daily with the average being 62-64 degrees and some parts of the lake 68-70 degrees in the afternoon. The lake is clear, to slightly stained with some debris floating on the surface.

Pictured Above: Bruce Oppenheim and Mike Marshall caught some kokanee and some rainbows while trolling near the spillway.

Trout: Fair. The trout are starting to show up in main lake pockets and over the river channel. The trout are targeting large balls of shad in deep and shallow water. The trout will feed heavily on these bait balls during the late spring and summer months. Watch for surface activity, once you locate feeding fish try casting a shad patterned lure toward them. Trolling anglers try using your electronics to find these large balls of shad. The trout will be near them waiting for a few to stray away from the school. Use shad patterned Needlefish, Excel spoons, and Rapalas, to target these fish. The brown trout bite has been good for a few weeks now.

The Department of Fish and Game is no longer going to plant brown trout in New Melones, so catch and release is very important to sustain our amazing fishery. Please practice catch and release on brown trout.

We do enjoy sharing great catches with everyone. If you want a mount, take photos of both sides of the fish, measure length and girth, and take measurements for a reproduction of your fish- taxidermists can make a beautiful reproduction of your fish that will be much sturdier than a fragile skin mount.

Bank anglers have been catching a few trout using a Power Egg/crawler combo. Try using a few different color eggs and a chunk of crawler on a light wire Kahle hook. Also, to locate feeding fish, try fan casting a shad patterned Kastmaster.


Kokanee: Good. We are getting a lot of reports of anglers catching limits of kokanee. They seem to be in many different areas all over the lake. The dam, spillway, Glory Hole Point, Rose Island, and the 49 bridge are a few places to go to get a limit. A very important thing to remember is the kokanee feed on plankton. Pay close attention to the direction of the wind, it will blow the plankton from one side of the lake to the other. The fish will follow the food. Small baits will get more bites. Try using Glitterbugs Micro Hoochies, Mag Tackle Mini Mags, or Anglers Market Kokanee Bites. When choosing colors it is a good idea to use multi-colored baits, because certain colors will be prominent in different light conditions. Attach these fish producing lures to a small tear drop dodger and your ready to catch fish. Don't forget to tip your lures with scented shoe peg corn.

Bass: Good. The fish are finishing up with the spawn and are in a post spawn mode. There are a lot of fish being caught shallow in the early morning and evening. The larger fish will be in deeper water, recovering from the spawn. Early morning top water bite is on. Try using a walk the dog type bait such as a Spook, Rover, or Sammy. Or, twitch a popper near the shoreline. Add a feather tail to your bait to improve the action and get a few more blow-ups. Once the top water bite dies, switch to a soft plastic presentation. A Carolina rig with a brush hog is a great way to cover water and fish at various depths. 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. 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: Good. The larger catfish are moving to shallow water to spawn a feed. Melones catfish tend to be fish-eaters rather than bottom foragers, so use live minnows, frozen shad, mackerel, or anchovies for best success. Also while bait fishing, it is a good idea to drag your bait across the bottom every few minutes to attract nearby fish. Use a sliding sinker with a bead to create a ticking noise as your bait is moving.

Crappie: Good. Try using a crappie jig with live minnow, fished under a slip-float. The crappie will suspend in standing timber and brush. Try casting past the cover and fishing your presentation into it. The night fishing bite has started to pick up. Anglers using a drop light in the backs of coves have been catching some nice crappie, bass, and trout.

Photos:
Photo #1: Dan Williams of Las Vegas landed a nice 7-pound brown trout trolling at 50' between the two bridges.
Photo #2: Elijah Thomas caught two nice rainbows while bank fishing with nightcrawlers.
Photo #3: Dan and Melanie's close friend Jin Hayashihira from Japan, spent a day fishing with Glory Hole Sports employee John Liechty. They caught a handful of fish, including this nice 4-pound largemouth..
Photo #4: 11-year old Mark McCall caught a chunky 7-pound, 3-ounce cat on a red crappie jig
Photo #5: Scott Schlegel, Chris Limas and his daughter Brooke, and Anthony Limas caught a few massive cats. The Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest goes to Scott Schegel. He landed the biggest fish, a hefty 10-pound, 2-ounce cat.