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 New Melones in Great Shape for Fat Trout
Big Trout lead the way
Angels Camp-Excellent trout action awaits , with big 3-to-5 pound fish being caught by trollers and bank anglers alike. Bite is best in the morning. Trout are moving to the surface, and most trollers are having luck 10-25 feet deep. It is important when trout are near the surface to have plenty of line out while trolling (your lure should be 100 ft. behind your boat). Your boat chop will spook the fish from the water’s surface, and you want to give them time to come back up and see your lure. Many trollers had luck in the dam/spillway area or in the mouths of major creek arms and coves. Coves and creeks will be the hot spots for most of the cold winter months. Shad-patterned lures continue to produce the most fish. Try a broken-back or Countdown Rapala, a Cop Car or threadfin shad Needlefish, or an Excel lure. Most trollers are not using dodgers or flashers.
Several quality rainbows were caught by anglers rolling shad, including The Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest (salmonid) winner Scott McGowan of Merced. He trolled frozen shad approximately 12 ft. deep at the mouth of Mormon Creek to catch a 5.7-pound rainbow. Other anglers who had luck while trolling include Richard Kowski, Gary Gellerman, Larry Gross, Coogie Sierra, Kenny Layne, Phillip Bruckon, Erik Momyer, and Kristopher Momyer. Anglers who are bank fishing are having best luck in Angels Cove and Glory Hole Point. Some are throwing spoons and others are using rainbow or chartreuse Power Bait or nightcrawler/marshmallow combinations. Anglers who caught nice bank fish (almost all were in excess of 4 pounds!) include Michael Kiernan, Mark Tipton, Don Long, Richard Kowski, Lucky Slayton, Mike Carpenter, Butch Joyner, and Al Judnich.
Bass action not so good, Most bass being caught are in the 1-2 pound range. Fish are holding in 22-30 feet of water. Target the mouths of creek arms and submerged islands. Wind the wind comes up, fish the banks and points that the wind blows into- the fish will move shallow to chase the bait that the wind is blowing into the shore. Drop-shot rigs with shad-patterned or crawdad-colored worms are going to produce the most fish, but bigger fish will be caught with brown jigs or swim baits, such as Huddlestons. Jigging a spoon over submerged islands, 30-40 feet deep, is another good choice for winter bass fishing. Dennis and Dustin Tarap won the Anglers Choice Semi-Pro Tournament on Melones last weekend, with a 5-fish limit weighing 10.04-pounds. Father-daughter team of Steve and Alexandria Sepulveda took second place with a 9.04-pound limit that included the big fish of the tournament- a 2.6-pounder.
New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,967,300 acre-feet of water, and is at 81% capacity. The lake is full and beautiful. The lake elevation rose slightly last week, and is at 1,049 ft. above sea level and only 39 ft. from full capacity. Surface water temperatures are approximately 58-60 degrees. The lake has turned over. Water is fairly clear.
Lake Pardee
Dropping Like a rock and Closes Sunday October 30th
Camanche Fog brings the trout to the top
Wallace-With the arrival of some early morning fog and clouds this past week, top lining for trout proved to be the best bet for trollers here at Lake Camanche. Anytime the light levels are low (early, cloudy, foggy) is a great time to start trolling right on the surface with Rapalas in black/gold, black/silver, Fire Tiger; or Needlefish in Fire Tiger, Cop Car, or Shad colors. Trolling with a dodger/night crawler combination has also been very successful. The area from Hat Island to Little Hat Island to the dam has been the best area for most of the trollers, although a few reports of fish being caught up the river from the highway bridge to Arkansas Bend have been received.
The action at the South Shore Pond continues to improve with the dropping water temperatures. The trout are now moving toward the shoreline and away from the middle of the pond. The best results are with Power Bait, Power Eggs, and nightcrawlers. Shore fishing at Chevron Point at South Shore, and the day use point at North Shore has been productive for folks using Power Bait, Power Eggs, and inflated night crawlers tipped with Power Bait. Kastmasters and Magic Bullets can be very effective when fished before 7 a.m.
This week’s trout plant of 1,200 pounds will be at North Shore.
BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH SHORE STORES ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR INVENTORY AND RENOVATIONS. BOAT RENTALS ARE AVAILABLE DURING THE STORE CLOSURE, (EXCEPT December 24-26), BY TELEPHONE RESERVATION ONLY. PLEASE CALL NORTH SHORE (209-763-5166) OR SOUTH SHORE (209-763-5915) FOR DETAILS. BOTH STORES WILL RE-OPEN Dec. 30th.
Pennies
on the dollar for fishing rods, reels, baits, lures, and more? You
be the judge!
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A bit about Captain Steve, Captain Steve fished the San Francisco Bay since 1970, when his grandfather would take him out to the old Berkeley pier. He bought his first boat in 1980 and got his Captain's license in 1997. He enjoys small groups (no more than 6) and gives personal attention to all. Having 2 young daughters himself, he is especially patient with children on the boat. Bring your own equipment or use Steve's top of the line equipment. Steve has impressive state of the art commercial electronics on the boat to optimize your fishing experience! And yes, we went to the same High School, Welcome Capt. Steve!
