Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,629,867 acre-feet of water. The lake level remained stable, and actually dropped a little 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 have been catching a few limits of 13-16" fish. Try fishing major coves and creek arms, with baits trolled near the surface. We have had reports of angler catching and releasing some large brown trout. While trolling for rainbows it would be a good idea to troll a larger size bait to target the browns. Such as, a S-Waver, Magic Swimmer, or a F18 Rapala. Also, the fish are feeding on large shad. This would be a good time to try rolling frozen shad. Try using Pautzke Fire Brine to add to the presentation of your shad. Often times when trolling through a ball of shad the fish will target the one shad that looks a little different. Another technique that has been producing limits is a crawler fished behind a teardrop shaped flasher, or a sling blade. Remember that prism tape reflects light, so on sunny days use blades that will reflect light and attract fish from a distance. 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. A crawler/mallow combo is a proven fish catcher. Another good setup is a Berkley Pinched Crawler with a pink or white Gulp, or Power Egg. 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 all good scents for trout.

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. The New Lake Record Spotted Bass was caught this week. Mike Sanders of Hughson caught a massive 8-pound, 3-ounce lunker on Thursday. He caught this record fish in the early morning on a Huddleston R.O.F. 12, rainbow trout patterned swim bait. This is the second spotted bass caught this month that weighed over 8-pounds. The lake record fish that we keep track of are unofficial weights because we do not have a certified scale. The current state 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. 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: 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.

Annual Glory Hole Sports fishing seminar will be held in our parking lot on Saturday April 6th, 2013.