Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,573,275 acre-feet of water. The lake level rose a couple feet this week, and is currently at 1011 ft. above sea level and 77 ft. from full. Water temperature has cooled a bit and is 53-55 degrees. The lake is clear, to slightly stained. There is debris floating on the surface, which is a good sign the lake has turned over. Good news- the middle ramp on Glory Hole Point is open, which makes for an easy walk.

Trout: Good. Department of Fish and Game is now planting rainbow trout weekly at New Melones. Trolling anglers should try fishing near the surface with large shad patterned plugs. Top-lining plugs is a great way to locate fish. Try using Rapalas, Speed Traps, and Rattle Traps. Spoons are working well also. Try using Needlefish (003 size), Excels, Kastmasters, and Speedy Shiners. Also shad patterned (natural) colored baits work best on clear days, and fire tiger (bright) colored baits work best on cloudy/rainy days. Bank fishing should be great this next week. The water temperature has dropped and the big bows will be moving in shallow and swimming the shore line. There has been a lot of surface activity in the calm wind protected coves. A great way to catch these fish that are feeding on the surface is with a bubble and a fly. Fill the bubble half full of water, tie on a swivel, a three foot leader, and a bugger or a wet fly. For bait fishing, try using garlic scented Power Bait (rainbow or chartreuse). Or put on a Gulp Egg or a Marshmallow and float a nightcrawler. A lot of the holdover trout have been feeding on shad. A great way to catch these larger holdover fish is by using shad patterned lure. Try fishing down the shore line and making repeated cast with a Kastmaster. Then switch to a Countdown Rapala and fish your way back. Sometimes while doing this there will be certain area where you catch a few or get a few bites. There is most likely a school of fish and once they stop biting your lure. You can slow down a use bait to catch a few more. To get a few more bites add some scent to your set-up. Garlic, shad, anise, and garlic crawler are good flavors of Pro Cure gel.

Kokanee: Done for the season.

Bass: Fair. For most anglers the bite slowed down a bit this last week. The bait has been hard to locate making the bass seem to spread out more. Focus on primary and secondary points leading to and from the back of the major creek arms. Try using baits that cover water, and resemble shad. Spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and lip-less cranks, should do the trick. There is also a good drop-shot bite. Roboworm Alive Shad, Gulp Minnows, and Zoom Tiny Flukes are all fish catchers on Melones. Also, crawdads are a more consistent and predictable food source. Try using a jig around wood and rock on main lake points and secondary points. We carry a large selection of jigs made by California Reservoir Lures. The nice thing about these jigs is they are designed for our Mother Lode lakes. To cover more water use a heavy 1/2 oz. or 3/4 oz. football head jig. The heavier jig sinks faster and you can keep contact with the bottom while moving the bait fairly quickly. Try using a Zoom Baby Brush Hog or a Yamamoto Fat Baby Craw as trailer. The swim bait bite should be getting better. Try using smaller swim baits to catch spots and nice largemouth. If you want to catch a huge fish throw a 8" rainbow trout. Remember to practice catch and release! 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: Fair. The water is still fairly warm, and the catfish are very active. This is usually the best time of the year to catch big cats. 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.