Glory Hole Sports, ake Melones report 2-7

[Fishing Report]

Dan and I went fishing for trout on Sunday. What a gorgeous day! It was so warm, and the water was like glass- no wind at all. Pretty day on the lake, but tough fishing conditions.

We went up into the Angels Creek arm. We had a hard time deciding where we were- everything looks so different with the water up so high! We are pretty sure we ended up near where Thompson Creek comes in- there was a beautiful waterfall.

The graph showed a ton of fish, but we didn't need the graph to see them, because the water was so clear! The rainbows were stacked up- that is what the lines on the graph are.


We started off throwing rip baits. Big trout were following our lures up to the boat, but they wouldn't bite- they could see us as easily as we could see them. Being the lazy fisher-person that I am, I tied on a bobber with a live minnow, and picked up my magazine. I wasn't really paying attention to my pole, and Dan was cussing up a storm at the big rainbows that he could see, but couldn't catch. I was soon surprised with a tug on my line. I was so surprised that I yanked the bait right out of the fish' mouth! Dan reminded me that we were fishing for trout, not bass, that I don't need to power-set.

Since the minnow seemed to work, we switched our set-up to a drop-shot rig with about an 8' drop. Then the action started! We had too small of hooks with us, so we lost a few. But we managed to catch a few before we had to head back to the store to help with the bass tournament crowd coming off the lake.


Ignore my bad hair- we had to open the store at 430 for the bass tournament sign-up- no time for personal grooming!

We can't wait to get back out there, but this time we are going to try a slip bobber and a bobber stop to target those suspended fish.

Good drop-shot stuff- # 8 Kahle hooks (we sere using a smaller size) and Finesse Drop shot weights- they don't get snagged on the bottom as easily.

Slip bobber tackle. The same #8 Kahle hooks, slip floats, and a couple different kinds of bobber stops. Bobber stops are little knots or bead that go on your fishing line. They are small enough that they reel up into your reel, but big enough to stop the bobber. You can put them way on your line (10-15 feet would be good right now), and then attach the slip bobber and your hook with a small split shot to pull the bait down. You reel the bobber stop up into your reel. When you cast, the bobber hits the water and the bait can sink all the way down deep until the bobber stop hits the bobber. Gary, John or I can show you how to set this up if you have never fished this way.


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.

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.



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.



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.



Craig Mahoney of Oakdale with a spotted bass weighing just shy of 5-pounds.



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.

Guide Report

Lake Tulloch and Don Pedro



By Danny Layne

Fish'n Dan's Guide Service





John Lawrence shows off a limit of Tulloch rainbows caught while fishing with Danny on February 3rd. Book a trip!

Hello,

Unbelievably nice weather here in the Mother Lode for the first week of February which along with the weather has put the trout and king salmon on a nice bite.

LAKE TULLOCH, a great bite here on rainbow trout, I found willing fish off the buoy line off the South Shore Marina, lots of biters at the mouth of Black Creek and good numbers off the resort into the Green Springs arm. Surface temp at 49 degrees with some stained water, visibility six feet. effective lures, Needlefish, Ex-Cel Lures and Vance's Slim Fins trolled at 1.5mph. Trout are a solid 14" with some hold-overs to three
pounds.

LAKE DON PEDRO, good news, the king salmon are on a bite. Surface temp 52 degrees with good visibility at 10'. Kings are active in Mexican Gulch, off Buzzard Point and in Fleming Bay off Jenkins Hill and Big Oak Island. Now here is the hard part, the kings are holding at 100 plus feet. Working presentations include Needlefish, Slim-Fin, RGT Hoochies and rolled Shad scented with Pautzke's Krill, kings are a solid 17" with some bigger fish to four pounds.


Good Luck
Danny Layne
Fish'n Dan's Guide Service
Twain Harte,
209 586 2383
www.fishndans.com





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Sincerely,


Melanie Lewis
Glory Hole Sports