Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/07/2011 05:51 PM
Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 02/21/2011 01:25 PM
Expires: 01/01/2016 12:00 AM
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Latest News From New Melones With Fishing Report Too~by Glory Hole Sports
New Melones, CA...Dan and I at the mouth of the South Fork Stanislaus, after a long, cold boat ride! Dan and I had a visitor from out of town this week. Terry lives part-time in Hawaii, and part time in Northern California near Sonoma. He wanted to catch some trout (I guess he gets bored with all those big mahi and ono in Hawaii!). We took him out for trout, and managed to catch dinner three days in a row. By the way, does anyone have fish recipes they want to share?....
TROOPS UPDATE
Thanks to all of the great donations and participation, we collected over $4,500 in cash for the troops last year, which was spent on food, postage, and the safety netting we sent. In addition, we had thousands of dollars worth of food and supplies donated by customers, which we sent over. Isn't that amazing? I am so proud of my customers- what an effort! We are still taking donations, and are gearing up to send to another troop now that the 101st Airborne Monti Division is coming home. One local soldier will be deploying to Afghanistan in March. And if anyone knows of a soldier still over there, please contact me.
We are going to go ahead and send another load of goodies to the 101st Airborne- they will not be coming home quite as soon as anticipated (probably due to the unrest in Egypt and the Middle East). The donations keep coming in- thank you all!
The Vietnam Veterans Chapter of Tuolumne County (the largest in California, I believe), is having a great event on March 24-27. There will be a movie preview, and the traveling Vietnam Memorial Wall. Look at the info at www.VietnamVeterans391.org/avtt
SPRING SALE
We always clean house in the winter, marking down older items to make way for the new stuff. So be sure you keep an eye on our 50% off clearance area- there are new items being put in there all the time. In addition, we are having a RED DOT sale. Look around the store. Items marked with a red dot are buy two get one free. So keep your eyes peeled for good deals!
Melanie
Melones Report
Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,1,616,506 acre-feet of water. The water level rose another two feet this week and is now 1015 ft. above sea level and 73 ft. from full capacity. Water temperature is about 52-54 degrees at the surface- warmer in the south side of the lake. Water is really clearing up- gin clear in the main lake with about 15-foot visibility. There is some staining in the creek arms. With the rising water, there is about 20 feet of grass line underwater- this will be very beneficial for the spring spawn.
Trout: Trout are suspended at about 15-20 feet deep and really stacked up in creek arms with running water. If bank fishing or still fishing from your boat, be sure to use a longer leader and bait that floats such as Berkley Select scented Power Bait, Power Eggs, or a crawler/marshmallow combo, to get your bait above the flooded grass. Using a worm inflator helps too. Check your bait in shallow water to be sure it is buoyant before you toss it out. Or you can use a slip-float bobber and a bobber stop at 15-20 deep - a small or medium minnow under this rig is a sure-fire way to catch fish right now. With the amazingly clear water, be sure to use a light (4-pound) leader- fluorocarbon is best to fool those wary fish. Good spots to bank fish from are under the Highway 49 Stevenot Bridge and Glory Hole Point. If you are still-fishing from your boat, nose up into creek channels. Trollers should tie on lures in colors such as shad or rainbow trout patterns. Broken-back or Countdown Rapalas seem to be producing the most fish for trollers. Arctic Fox flies behind a wiggle disc are also working well. Rolling shad in a shad harness has been working for both rainbows and browns. Trollers should target creek arms in the top 15 feet of water over deeper water for rainbows, and 15-25 feet deep for big brown trout.
brown
Some anglers are having luck trolling the main lake, too, like 10-year-old Nathan Shelton from Lodi, who trolled a piece of crawler behind a blue Copper Pop Uncle Larry's Spinner 11 feet deep by the dam, to catch a couple of rainbows and a beautiful brown trout.
nathan
Remember- it is very important at this time of year to have plenty of line out when trout are right at the surface, so your lure is away from your boat's chop. 80-100 feet is optimal. It's time to target trophy brown trout- this is the time of year that brown trout are caught regularly. January and February are the hottest months for browns, and most are caught while in the mouths of major creek arms. Remember that browns are not pelagic like rainbows, but hold tight to structure, especially near steep drop-offs, where they lie in wait, ready to ambush prey (or your lure!). Most anglers who target big browns troll right next to submerged trees and rocky outcroppings, and are willing to lose some tackle. Use large rainbow trout, shad or firetiger patterned Rapala, Lucky Craft, or Trophy Stick Lures, or roll shad.
Kokanee: Done for the season, although we are seeing the occasional small kokanee caught.
Bass: Really tough fishing. The water is gin clear and there is no wind- it is tough to fool a bass into biting right now. Bite is soft, so pay attention, or you will miss the fish. Target submerged islands and points in the main lake, 40-60 feet deep. California Bass Federation held a tournament last Sunday, and participants really had a tough time, although there were some fair-sized spots caught. Anglers cited drop-shotting small crawdad colored worms as the most productive, but a variety of lures caught fish, from rip-baits to jigs. Bruce Harris took 1st place with a 5-fish limit weighing 8.82 pounds. His biggest fish was 2.98. Steve Marino weighed in the biggest fish of the tournament- a 5.57-pound spotted bass, but he only had two keeper-sized fish to weigh in at the end of the day. Spotted bass will move towards shallow water and get ready to spawn when the water warms up a couple more degrees- this will really improve the bass bite. Remember to practice catch and release. The Department of Fish and Game does not plant bass, so it is up to us to maintain our bass fishery. If you do decide to keep bass, please keep smaller spotted bass and turn the big largemouth loose.
Catfish: The catfish action seems to have finally slowed. For best success, fish the creek arms where big cats are actively feeding on anything that washes into the lake.
Crappie and bluegill: fair to slow. Target water running into the lake, such as waterfalls and other run-off areas, especially near structure. Bear Cove and Coyote Creek are usually great spots this time of year. Use red and white crappie jigs or small or medium minnows.
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