Fish report for Nov. 16, 2016

Lake Don Pedro

Minimal change at the lake with spotted or largemouth bass dominating action. There is an early morning topwater bite, but the most consistent action is with dark color patterns of plastics on a three-sixteenths to quarter-ounce drop-shot weight to work depths from 25 to 50 feet. Trout and king salmon action has yet to emerge with the relatively warm surface temperatures for this time of year. The lake may be turning over later than late November due to the warm fall. Monte Smith of Gold County Sport Fishing has been focusing upon the Sacramento River for salmon, but he will return to Don Pedro once the salmon have completed their run. The lake remains the top bass lake in the Mother Lode due to good launch ramp conditions and high water. The lake rose close to a foot to 66 percent of capacity and 768.03 feet in elevation. Call: Monte Smith, 209-581-4734; Danny Layne-Fish’n Dan, 209-586-2383; Gary Vella, 209-652-7550; Bait Barn, 209-874-3011.

McClure Reservoir

The first gold-tagged rainbow out of five planted last spring was landed this week by Hank Van Vuren of Escalon, measuring 21 inches and weighing 3.5 pounds while targeting bass with his brother. The fish was worth $500 from the Merced Irrigation District Parks and Recreation, and there are four others still in the lake. The water is starting to clear with minimal inflow this past week. The only issue to taking the abundant spotted and largemouth bass is access, as the launch ramp requires a long back-down at Barrett’s Cove South. The lake held at 38 percent of capacity and 742.2 feet in elevation. Call: A-1 Bait, 209-563-6505.

McSwain Reservoir

At the end of October, 1,800 pounds of rainbow trout were planted in the lake, and with the slightly cooling temperatures, the action has improved from the normal shoreline locations of the Brush Pile, Handicapped Docks and Marina with various colors of Power Bait along with inflated nightcrawlers or silver/blue Kastmasters. The holdovers from the previous plant in early October are migrating toward the colder water up the river arm near the Fence Line. Call: McSwain Marina, 209-378-2534.

New Melones Reservoir/Tulloch

Rainbow trout continue to reign supreme at New Melones with a number of quality bows to 5 pounds being taken by the few trollers working the lake. The bass bite is starting to improve, and this is the best time to target catfish with the combination of inflow into the lake’s creeks and relatively warm weather conditions. John Liechty of Glory Hole Sports in Angels Camp reported, “The rainbow trout coming out of New Melones are extremely healthy and are weighing from 3 to 5 pounds. They have been holding in deep water and feeding on shad, but some are starting to move into shallower water and feeding on the surface. The best action is coming at depths from 80 to 100 feet in the main river channel, and spoons and Rapalas in bright color patterns are the top setups. A faster troll is advised since this seems to be attracting more strikes. The time for running lead-core line near the surface is coming soon, and this will pick up some of the fish moving toward the surface. Bank fishing is also starting to improve with trout dough baits, inflated nightcrawlers or crawler/marshmallow combinations.” Scott Heliotes and Frank Curcuro landed three large rainbows to 4.65 pounds along with a kokanee using a Rapala in 80 feet of water. The bass bite has been picking up each week as fall progresses, and the cooling weather and dropping water temperatures have the fish feeding more aggressively and more often. The majority of bass are holding in deep water and feeding on schools of shad, but some fish have moved up into shallower water and are hanging around standing timber or brush. A vertical presentation is necessary for the deep fish with either a drop-shot or jigging spoon, but plastics in shad or crawdad patterns on a shaky head are working for the shallower fish. A Texas rig with a brass’n glass setup is also an effective technique. The Glory Hole Sports Catfish Derby started at the beginning of the month, and Jim Mellinger claimed the $25 gasoline gift card for the first whiskerfish over 8 pounds, weighing in a catfish at 8.37 pounds on chicken livers. This wasn’t the largest catfish of the week, however, with Matt Meek producing a 9.19-pounder on frozen shad. Glory Hole is giving away more than $300 in raffle prizes plus a 100 percent payback to the top three anglers. Leichty said, “This is a great time to target the largest catfish in the lake, as they will move shallow and feed heavily in preparation for the colder winter months. Frozen fish is always a good choice and some big fish are caught on it each year. A weight-less approach often works best when fishing with frozen fish bait, and use enough bait to make a cast and let it fall slowly to the bottom. Many anglers will soak their bait with Mike’s Lunker Lotion, Berkley Catfish Attractant or Pro Cure. The whiskerfish are found near standing timber, large rock piles, points, humps and creek channels, and you should try many different areas and depths until you locate a catfish hangout.” The crappie bite has slowed. The Glory Hole launch ramp will remain on the dirt until the lake rises in the winter months. A courtesy dock will be available throughout the coming months. The recent rains brought the lake up nearly a foot to 860.31 feet in elevation and 21 percent of capacity. Call: Glory Hole Sports, 209-736-4333; Monte Smith, 209-581-4734; Danny Layne-Fish’n Dan, 209-586-2383; Sierra Sport Fishing, 209-599-2023.

Delta/Stockton

Salmon continue to move through the Delta, as the latest school of bright fish has arrived through the Golden Gate. The Benicia shoreline has been producing an average of four to five salmon per day for those throwing Vee-Zee or Flying C spinners. The Freeport area in the north Delta has been the other location for salmon, and although the numbers have dropped since early in the season, the fish continue to move through the Delta. The series of larger tides has created a slowdown for sturgeon, as the majority of diamondbacks are holding in deep water in the Pittsburg area. Small stripers remain the rule, but there have been larger linesides in the northern section of the Delta. A disturbing trend is the saltwater species of leopard shark and bat rays being landed at the Mothball Fleet in Suisun Bay. Jay Lopes of Right Hook Sport Fishing concentrated on striped bass with live mudsuckers around Liberty Island over the weekend, with the larger tides affecting the sturgeon bite. He said, “We took seven limits on Saturday to 14 pounds drifting mudsuckers, and we hooked a few larger fish that came unbuttoned. We are going through eight to 10 shaker stripers for every keeper, and I am coming prepared with a dozen mudsuckers for each angler on board.” Mark Wilson, striper trolling expert, has also been focusing around the Liberty Island area with the new P-Line Predator Minnow, and the action has been more of the same with small stripers the rule. Wilson also snagged two sturgeon while trolling, and after a struggle for man and fish, he was able to retrieve his lures while releasing the snagged fish. Clyde Wands, shallow trolling expert, had an excellent day in the Collinsville area Monday with most action on the deep troll with red head/white P-Line Predator Minnows for 17 legal striped bass to 12 pounds. He said, “We turned loose the big fish, but this was the best trip for size over the past few months with all quality stripers in the 6-pound range. Most everything came on the deep troll, but we did pick up stripers on the red head Savage Gear lure on a shallow troll. This sure beat the 21-, 22-inch fish we have been catching.” Lopes, of Right Hook, had been throwing haymakers at the sturgeon in the Delta with a legal sturgeon Thursday along with two slot-limit fish last Wednesday, but the bite slowed in the deep water with the big tides. Gotcha Bait in Antioch reported decent sturgeon fishing of Sherman Island and Chain Island with ghost shrimp or lamprey eel. The small grade of striped bass continue to flood into the San Joaquin River, and scoring a limit of keeper-sized fish is a challenge. There have been some larger striped bass in the San Joaquin Delta, but the vast majority of linesides are miniscule, although plentiful. Christian Lauritzen of Lauritzen’s Yacht Harbor in Oakley said, “The striper bite has been off the hook for the past several weeks out of our harbor, but the stripers are almost all small.” Alan Fong, manager of the Fisherman’s Warehouse in Sacramento, reported small striped bass remain the rule in the San Joaquin. Steve Santucci of Steve Santucci’s Fly Fishing Guide Service reported good action for schoolie stripers in the 2- to 5-pound range with intermediate-type three lines. He said, “Fish deep with your T-14 fast-sinking line at depths from 8 to 15 feet using a fast strip to entice a strike. It is helpful to vary your strip with long and short strips, as the fish are very aggressive with the water temperatures in the mid 60-degree range.” Call: Randy Pringle, 209-543-6260; Intimidator Sport Fishing, 916-806-3030; Captain Steve Mitchell – Hook’d Up Sport Fishing, 707-655-6736.

San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay

San Luis Reservoir is now at 36 percent with heavy pumping of water out of the south Delta. Striped bass to 26 inches have been the rule out of the main lake with smaller keepers taken in the O’Neill Forebay. Paul Jolley of Coyote Bait and Tackle in Morgan Hill reported trollers are pulling Alabama rigs loaded with shad-patterned swimbaits without the benefit of downriggers up and down the shoreline near the Basalt Recreation Area, as the fish are relatively shallow. Jumbo minnows are the top bait, and limits in the 4- to 6-pound range are the rule for those drifting minnows around the corner off Goosehead Point out of the Basalt Area. There are a number of smaller fish around, but limits of schoolies are happening. There are also fishermen throwing lures from the Basalt shoreline, but this action has been much slower than drifting live bait. The O’Neill Forebay remains solid for numbers of small striped bass, but limits to 23 inches are consistent. Merritt Gilbert of Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis said, “Most of our customers are heading to the forebay with flukes, River2Sea Whopper Ploppers, Duo Realis jerkbaits or Lucky Craft Pointers for stripers ranging from undersized to small, legal fish.” Jolley added, “Kayakers are drifting jumbo minnows in the forebay, but they have been culling through a number of small fish to locate limits of keepers. Small swimbaits, jerkbaits and ripbaits are working, and the fish seem to have moved off of the weedlines.” The long period of low water in July and August may have contributed to the toxic algae bloom in the main lake, and the California Department of Water Resources has issued a warning to observe the Voluntary Statewide Guidance for Blue-Green Algae Blooms recommending no swimming, and for fish caught in the reservoir, throw away guts and clean fillets with tap or bottled water before cooking. Call: Coyote Bait and Tackle, 408-463-0711, Roger George of rogergeorgeguideservice.com, 559-905-2954; San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay wind conditions: 800-805-4805.

Half Moon Bay

Captains Tom Mattusch and Michael Cabanas of the Huli Cat ran crab-only or crab/rockfish combination trips over the weekend. The Coastside Fishing Club sponsored a Veterans Day trip, and they found great action in deep water to 165 feet for their passengers. The Huli Cat went to the Farallons for 27 limits of rockfish and two large lings with Kelvin Woon of San Mateo scoring an 18-pounder on a shrimp fly and squid while Mel Springs picked up a 16-pounder on a sand dab. Further north in Pacifica, Sheryl Jimno of Rusty Hook Bait and Tackle reported heavy interest in crabbing from the pier, as they have sold more than 400 custom crab snares since the opener. The surf has been rough due to the huge coastal swell, and snares are far more effective in the heavy surf than crab nets. Call: Happy Hooker, 510-223-5388; Captain Roger Thomas, Salty Lady, 415-760-9362; Emeryville Sport Fishing, 510-654-6040.

Monterey/Santa Cruz

Chris Arcoleo of Chris’ Landing in Monterey reported continued slow crabbing with the counts possibly due to the big swell. The Check Mate did put in 75 crab for 16 anglers along with rockfish limits and five ling cod while the Caroline only ended up with 12 Dungeness along with half limits of rockfish and two ling cod Sunday. He said, “Crabbing has been tough, as the swell has something to do with it, but it seems like there is a lack of crab out there.” They are busy throughout the week on the combination trips, but there are a few openings this coming Wednesday and Thursday. Allen Bushnell of Santa Cruz Kayak Fishing and Surfcasting Guide Service reported, “Ocean swells went from big to huge this week before dropping down to merely big again. Other conditions were pleasant, but fishing slowed markedly for most Monterey Bay anglers. This was especially true for anglers pulling pots for Dungeness crab. Todd Fraser of Bayside Marine reported, “The anglers who did quick soaks on the crab did not get many crabs.” Fraser noted crabbing got better as the week progressed, especially for those working pots in 200 feet of water near the Soquel Hole. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife informed us of proposed changes to the recreational groundfish regulations for the 2017-18 fishing season. The regulations are becoming more liberal in terms of legal fishing depth but more constricted in terms of take. For the Central Management Area from Pigeon Point to Point Conception, the changes include opening rockfish, cabezon and greenling fishing (RCG Complex) out to 300 feet of water. Current regs allow RCG fishing only to 240 feet. The bag limit on black rockfish drops from five fish to three per day, and ling cod drops from three fish to two. Bocaccio, currently limited to three per day, will be opened wide. We can keep up to 10 per day, as opposed to the current limit of three. Perhaps most significant is possibly lifting the eight-year ban on canary rockfish. We can now keep one canary per day, “since it has now been declared rebuilt,” according to the DFW. These are proposed changes only, but the DFW typically adheres to their projections. Call: Chris’ Landing, 831-375-5951; Bayside Marine, 831-475-2173.

San Francisco Bay

The rockfish bite became better and better through the weekend as the swell backed off daily. Crab are definitely holding in deep water, as shallow strings are not producing. The swell backed off by Sunday, and the rockfish bite was much better as Captain Jim Smith of the Happy Hooker out of Berkeley put his 34 anglers onto limits of rockfish along with four lings to 15 pounds at the Farallons on Sunday. Captain Trent Slate of Shelter Cove Sport Fishing had 60 rockfish and 6 lings Saturday along with 46 Dungeness crab. He said, “The fishing was much better on Saturday than it was on Friday, as we had to work hard for limits on Friday. The crabbing in deep water is best, and I am concerned about the number of crab out there.” He is running crab-only trips for $100 and rockfish/crab combination trips for $200. Inside the bay, Keith Fraser of Loch Lomond Bait and Tackle reported a number of shark and bat rays have moved into San Pablo Bay, but the tiny Dungeness crab seem to be absent, which is at least one good sign. A Calico bass, yes the Southern California species, was reported to Fraser by a reliable source from the area around the Whaling Station in San Pablo Bay. The small striped bass are still around, but they are not as numerous as in the past few months. Bass can be taken on the anchor, drifting or trolling, but most of the fish are in the 14- to 16-inch range. A 57-inch sturgeon was landed from the shoreline off China Camp, and Fraser really likes the minus tides over the next few days for sturgeon.

This story was originally published November 15, 2016 at 8:02 PM with the headline "Fish report for Nov. 16, 2016."