Water Conditions:
New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,635,447 acre-feet of water. The lake level remained stable this week, and is currently at 1017 ft. above sea level and 72 ft. from full. Water temperature has cooled and is 48-52 degrees. The lake is clear, to slightly stained with some debris floating on the surface. The lake has turned over.

Trout:
Slow. Department of Fish and Game is now planting rainbow trout weekly at New Melones. The lake has turned over. The trout are still scatter throughout the lake from 0-30' deep. Trolling anglers should target major coves and creek arms, with baits trolled near the surface. While top-lining 150-200' behind the boat, try using plugs that dive to different depths to locate the fish. A Rapala Shad Rap and a Rapala Jointed Minnow are to great bait to use. The Shad Rap has a larger bill and will dive deeper than the Jointed Minnow. The fish are feeding on large shad. This would be a good time to try rolling frozen shad for brown trout and large rainbows. Another technique that has been producing limits is a crawler fished behind a teardrop shaped flasher.

Bank fishing was a little slow this week with only a few fish being caught per angler. The standard bait rig with a long leader seems to be your best bet. Use a sliding sinker with a 3-4' leader and a light wire hook. Pink and white Gulp Eggs and Berkley Power Eggs are working well. Also, try using a shad patterned casting spoon on main lake points. Kastmasters and Krocodiles are great baits because you can cast them a long distance. Fan cast from deep to shallow to locate were the fish are feeding. Don't forget to add scent to your bait. Garlic, shad, and anise are a few proven fish catchers.

Kokanee:
Done for the season.

Bass:
Fairly tough. Most anglers are having trouble locating quality fish. The water temperature drastically dropped over the last few weeks. The fish seemed to have moved into deep water for the winter. They are feeding on main lake points throughout the day. But, with such cold water they will feed a lot less than normal due to a slower metabolism. Now is a good time to fish finesse style presentations, such as a drop-shot rig. Small, slow moving baits will trigger more bites. Anglers should try using 3-4" hand poured worms in natural shad and crawfish hues. Another way to catch them is by "dead-sticking" your bait. Try using a 5" Senko on the bottom, motionless, and moving it a little at a time every 2-3 minutes. Bass will feed heavily on crawfish at this time of the year. Try using a heavy 1/2oz. or 3/4oz. football head jig fished in deep water 40-60'. Try using darker colors in deep water such as, black/blue, and brown/purple. California Reservoir Lures' jigs are designed for Mother Lode lakes. A great color is "Cash Call." It is green pumpkin, purple, with gold flake, and matches Yamamoto color (331). The swim bait bite is getting better. Try using smaller swim baits to catch spots and nice largemouth. If you want to catch a huge fish throw an 8" rainbow trout swim bait. Remember to practice catch and release! If you do keep a bass, please keep the small 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.

Photos:
Main Photo Above: 9-year old Andrew Bender caught these nice trout while trolling near Coyote Creek.
Photo #1: Jon Segale caught this 2-pound, 11-ounce rainbow on a nightcrawler while bank fishing.
Photo #2: Winner of the Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest goes to Tim Washington of Jamestown. Tim caught a beautiful 4-pound 10-ounce rainbow on a nightcrawler while bank fishing upriver.
Photo #3: Winner Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week goes to Cliff Larrew and Johnny Roberts of Ripon. They caught a 8-pound, 5-ounce catfish while bank fishing with nightcrawlers. They also caught a few nice trout.