Lots of fishermen braved the elements despite the cold and wet conditions for the opener last weekend. Drove in over the spillway and Dam this morning, the water level looks to be 3 to 4 feet below spill presently. Strong winds and driving ran have kept boats off the lake today and the forecast predicts much of the same until some sun and clearing Sunday (much like opener). Look for low temps and rain again next week. Water temps 40' to 50's with surface temps 30's to 40's. Bank anglers have been doing well all around the Recreation area, the bank opposite the EBMUD boathouse, Launch Ramp and Rainbow Point. The weather has kept most at home today but those hardy souls that braved the elements are doing ok from what I saw. Power bait on sliding sinkers cast 30 feet out still the set up of choice. Every color of power bait has been working so rainbow covers all the bases.

Trollers usually work the River Arm, Rock Wall and the Face of the Dam but the strong winds and driving rain has kept most boats on their trailers so there is no first hand info to share this report. Trout are usually very close to the surface at 5 to 15 feet. Any of three methods are used, lead core (3-4 colors) with small flashers and a night crawler, flat lining or drift fishing are all effective. Lots of Large German Browns are caught early in the season; try a mid-size broken back Rapala trout minnow behind a silver/green dodger at 50 feet near the Rock Wall, some beautiful fish come out of there every year. Success stories-Stephanie Davis of Elverta flanked by her security detail got this 12.1 lb limit on Blue Heron Pt using power bait (color undisclosed). Brad Hunkins of Sutter Creek got this nice stringer working Porcupine Point using that mystery power bait also. To date Pardee Lake Recreation has planted 10,400 lbs in combination with The California Dept of Fish and Game plants of 5,200 lb for a grand total of 15,600 lbs of Rainbow Trout.