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Posted by: Kim_Hamilton on 12/04/2012 10:06 AM Updated by: Kim_Hamilton on 12/04/2012 10:07 AM
Expires: 01/01/2017 12:00 AM
:

New Melones Lake Fishing Report for December 3rd~by Melanie of Glory Hole Sports

New Melones, CA...Come in and buy your 1013 fishing licenses or gift vouchers now! Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,520,527 acre-feet of water. The lake level rose 3ft. this week, and is currently at 1005ft. above sea level and 83ft. from full. Water temperature has cooled a bit and is 56-59 degrees. The lake is clear, to slightly stained. The lake will "turn over" when surface water cools to the same temperature as the deeper water- around 53-54 degrees. This usually happens around Thanksgiving, few weeks late this year. Soon the trout bite should really turns on for bank-anglers and trollers alike. Good news, the middle ramp on Glory Hole Point is open, which makes for an easy walk....



Trout: Department of Fish and Game is now planting rainbow trout weekly at New Melones. Trolling has been slow. Most of the fish that are being caught while trolling- are near the surface. A good place to target shallow fish is up river on vertical canyon bluffs. The fish will feed were the water has flushed insect of off the hill side and into the water. Try top lining 100-150 feet behind the boat with a F5 Rapala, Rebel Crickhopper, or a nightcrawler. Shad patterned trolling spoons will also catch some quality fish. Try using a tandem spoon rig. The two spoons swinging back and forth represent a small ball of fleeing shad. Be sure to and some shad scent to your baits. It looks like we will be getting some more rain this week. On cloudy/rainy days, try using lures that have bold colors. Such as, fire tiger, orange, and chartreuse. Also, if you are fishing with flashers or sling blades try using gold or copper. These colors stand out best in low light conditions and will draw more strikes. Bank fishing has been slowly picking up. There are fish feeding on the surface near the shore line, in the early morning. Try using to rods, (make sure to get a second rod stamp on your fishing license) fan cast a Kastmaster while your bait is soaking. For bait, garlic scented Power Bait or a Mallow/crawler combo will catch them. Also, try fishing small feeder creeks and inlets whenever we get some rainfall. Cooler running water attracts fish, and also washes nutrients and insects into the lake.



Kokanee: Done for the season. The schools are heading in the back of creek arms, and upriver for their annual spawn and die.



Bass: Good. There are a lot of fair to nice fish being caught. The spotted bass are gorging themselves on shad. This is a good time to fish a vertical presentation. Try locating these balls of shad suspended over the main creek channels (Morman, Angels, Coyote, etc.) and target the fish feeding above and below these shad. 1/2oz. and 3/4oz. spoons in shad patterned colors are good choices. The nice thing about a spoon is you can draw a reaction strike from the fish. Another great and more subtle approach would be a drop shot rig. Again, shad patterned baits are hard to beat. There continues to be a good jig bite 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 design for our Mother Lode lakes. Like the color Melones craw. It has a perfect blend of crawdad colors. Try using a Zoom Baby Brush Hog or a Yamamoto Fat Baby Craw as trailer. 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: Good. 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. The catfish are moving shallow and feeding on cloudy/rainy days. The weather forecast for the next couple weeks shows we might be seeing some of these kinds of days. This would be a good time to get out your umbrellas and rain gear. Hit the water and soak some bait for a chance at a lunker cat. 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.



Crappie: Slow. There are fish in 15-40 foot of water, in the backs of creek channels near submerged timber. Live minnows or red worms fished under a slip-float, with a bobber stop is a good way to target these fish. Also, try using red/white mini jigs, small grubs, and 4" soft plastic worms. Crappie too, will gorge themselves on shad. Try to locate the bait in shallow areas and the fish shouldn't be far.




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