• LAKE DON PEDRO — Guide Monte Smith said the kokanee bite is still going strong with boaters catching quick limits in Middle Bay at 90 to 110 feet on larger Vance's hootchies behind the 8-inch Shasta Tackle's Sling Blades. He says larger lures and dodgers attract larger fish in deeper water. Smith said females are developing larger eggs, but the males "are still bright with their scales intact. This is a good sign since the kokanee are Don Pedro are generally among the first to turn." Guide Dan Layne confirmed the good kokanee bite, saying the fish are schooling and going deeper to find cooler water. He has been scoring off Hatch Creek, in Middle Bay and off Six Bit Gulch in Upper Bay using silver Apex lures tipped with corn scented with garlic or vanilla behind a Shasta Tackle Sling Blade. Layne said king salmon to 4 pounds are sitting 100 feet down and will bite rolled shad or anchovies, glow hootchies or a 4-inch pearl Apex behind a 6-inch Sling Blade. He said they are "not very aggressive" and they will steal bait unless anglers are attentive. Mike Gomez at the Bait Barn in Waterford said the bass bite is "tough" with the best action on the bottom with Berserk or TNT jigs in brown/purple on a football head trailed by a Zoom or Yamamoto twin-tail in green pumpkin. The early morning top-water window is very small. Call: Monte Smith (209) 581-4734; Danny Layne (209) 586-2383; Gary Vella (209) 652-7550; The Bait Barn (209) 874-3011.

FISHING REPORT

VALLEY

• BEST BETS