Fishing Report for 10/28

Lake Don Pedro

Bass fishing is starting to heat up with plastics on the drop-shot near Jacksonville Bridge. Bass are suspending on shad, which are starting to school. Trout and king salmon action will not improve until the water cools. As a result, there are few trout fishermen heading to the lake. The boat launch has a slight curve, but once you get around it, launching two boats at the same time is possible. A grant for the improvement of the Fleming Meadows ramp has been approved, and construction to create a two-lane ramp should start shortly. The lake rose slightly to 672.85 feet in elevation and 31 percent capacity. 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

Because of severe drought conditions, lake recreation is extremely limited at Lake McClure. The North Ramp at Barrett Cove may be used at the boater’s risk for hand-launched craft such as kayaks and canoes. The Barrett Cove South Ramp and Lake McClure ramps at Bagby, Horseshoe Bend and McClure Point remain closed. The Barrett Cove Camp Store, Barrett Cove and McClure Point marinas are closed until further notice. Watercraft not requiring a trailer – such as a canoe or kayak – may still be launched from dawn until dusk at the user’s risk. Bass fishing from the banks remains good, with shad-patterned plastics such as Robo Worm’s Hologram Shad. The lake continues to release water, and it has dropped 6 vertical feet in the past week to 595.01 and 7 percent capacity. Call: A-1 Bait, 209-563-6505; Bub Tosh, 209-404-0053.

McSwain Reservoir

Lake McSwain Marina and launch ramp remain open Thursday through Sunday. Campfires are again allowed at McSwain campgrounds. The annual Merced Irrigation Derby Fall Trout Derby has been postponed until April 9-10, given the warm water conditions amid the drought. Few fishermen have been heading to the lake with the lack of trout plants since April. The Merced River is closed to fishing until Jan. 1 from the Crocker-Huffman Bridge to G Street in Snelling because of warm water conditions. Call: McSwain Marina, 209-378-2534.

New Melones

Reservoir/Tulloch

New Melones steadily gained in elevation during the past week for the first rise in months, from 11 percent to 12 percent capacity. The stable water is contributing to an excellent bass and rainbow trout bite. John Lietchy of Glory Hole Sporting Goods and Xperience Bass Guide Service went out on a half-day trip with Nate Monroe with the goal of catching and releasing suspended fish. Lietchy said, “With this goal in mind, we had multiple rods rigged with soft plastics and reactions, ideal for fishing in the middle water column. We fished in the main lake in the early morning before heading upriver, and we landed fish at every stop with a few locations loaded with both fish and bait. The bass were spitting small shad out along the surface as we fought them to the boat. We had a feeling we would catch a bunch of fish, so we kept track and ended up with over 100 fish with the largest bass close to 4 pounds on a small swimbait over deep water for one of my personal-best days for numbers.” In addition to numbers, there have been huge largemouth bass at 11.5 and 9.5 pounds caught and released within the past week. Glory Hole Sporting Goods advises releasing all largemouth bass to keep the population in the lake growing. Trout fishing has been slow, but the rainbows are starting to move up in the water column and holding at a more catchable depth. Spoons or plugs similar to small shad are working best with the thick schools of bait fish roaming the lake and starting to ball up. Catfishing remains good with banks anglers finding the best action off Glory Hole Point down to the Highway 49 Bridge with frozen shad, sardines, anchovies or mackerel. Whiskerfish are found in the flats with deep-water access, as they are keying on shad left over from the bass and trout chasing them into the shore. Crappie fishing is fair, but a few fishermen are finding quality slabsides under lights at night with live minnows. The lake rose to 801.9 feet in elevation this week. Tulloch dropped a foot to 499.18 in elevation and 81 percent 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.

San Luis Reservoir

and O’Neill Forebay

The striped bass bite at San Luis Reservoir is starting to show signs of life with a number of large linesides landed within the past few weeks. The lake level is low at 17 percent capacity, making for difficult launch conditions. Dinosaur Point is on the third ramp, way out on the point, but it is concrete and in good shape. The Basalt ramp is problematic since the rangers put a 6-foot-long concrete block next to the south side of the dock. The soft dirt is torn up by so many vehicles spinning their wheels launching in that small area. The small paved ramp strip just south of the concrete block makes for tough launching, especially if you’re alone. This a very bad choice in north and westerly wind conditions. A four-wheel-drive tow vehicle is advised at both ramps. Roger George of Roger’s Guide Service said, “Falling water temperatures in the 66- to 67-degree range and some cloudy, overcast days have improved the striper bite overall for trollers in the big lake ... but the bite can still be very fickle.” George guided Gene, 81, and daughter Debbie Root of Coalinga on Friday in tough frontal conditions for eight fish to 24 inches; then on Saturday, Nikki Hamilton and her son Alex, 12, of Fresno landed and released 18 stripers to 23 inches. “The frontal system Friday made it hard, but Saturday the more stable conditions brought on a morning bite,” George added. “However they shut off hard after 4 p.m.” He trolls plugs in purple, green, chartreuse or shad patterns on a downrigger at depths from 50-80 feet. George uses a Seaqualizer release tool to release his big fish. For those who are going to keep some, George suggests practicing selective harvesting of smaller or injured stripers on a limited basis as a sustainable method to keep the fishery healthy. George added, “There have been a few big stripers taken again this week, but the fishermen are pretty experienced. The bite windows seem to be small for the big fish, too. The big lake seems to be fairly stable with them putting in some water, then releasing it.” In the O’Neill Forebay, Mickey Clements of Coyote Bait and Tackle in Morgan Hill reported numbers of striped bass to legal size are taken on shallow-running jerkbaits such as Lucky Craft Pointer 100’s near the rockwall or along the adjacent buoys. Kayakers are drifting minnows in the forebay for solid action, as there are fewer weeds in the lake after the spraying operations. Blood worms from the shore are another option. The lake dropped to 17 percent capacity, but 5,507 acre-feet was pumped in Monday. Call: Coyote Bait and Tackle, 408-463-0711; Roger George of rogergeorgeguideservice.com, 559-905-2954.

Delta/Stockton

Road closures are the big story in the Delta, with a weekend shutdown on Highway 12 from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday because of work on the Mokelumne River Bridge. The highway will be closed during those hours to all but local traffic from Interstate 5 on the east and Highway 160 on the west from Oct. 30 through Nov. 2, Nov. 6-9 and Nov. 13-16. Motorists are being advised to use I-5, I-80 and Highway 4. Traffic north on 160 from Highway 12 to Walnut Grove has been very high, as vehicles are rerouted to this road during the weekends. To further complicate matters, maintenance at the Three Mile Slough Bridge on Highway 160 has the bridge down to one lane until July, and there are traffic backups of up to five miles to the base of the Antioch Bridge. The construction is going on 24 hours per day, so visitors to the Delta need to plan for the delay. Mark Wilson, striper trolling expert, said, “Traffic jams, road closures, water hyacinth and low water flows are all contributing to making for difficult conditions on the Delta right now.” Wilson found difficult conditions for trolling in the central Delta during the week with heavy hyacinth presence near the Old Dairy and Decker Island. Clyde Wands, shallow trolling expert, found similar results earlier in the week. Don Paganelli of Paganelli’s Bass Fishing Experience did find good action at Liberty Island on Saturday with clients Bud and Cole Cook of Placerville catching and releasing 20 linesides to 10 pounds using River2Sea SWavers or Fish Traps in the shallows. Alan Fong of Fisherman’s Warehouse in Sacramento found difficult conditions on his last trip to Liberty, but his nephew, Michael “Bub” Fong, released four stripers from 10-18 pounds with custom glide baits in the shallows. Salmon continue to be taken from the banks from Suisun Bay upriver to below the Freeport Bridge. The Dillon Point State Park is producing 15-20 salmon per day, and the parking lot remains filled on weekday mornings given the number of fishermen along the shore. The majority of salmon at the state park have been fewer than 10 pounds. Rio Vista Bait and Tackle reported little change since last week with salmon still found upriver near Liberty and Hastings Island with Flying C’s or similar heavy spinners. Jim Pickens of the Fishermen’s Friend in Lodi said, “The salmon bite continues on the Sacramento from Vieira’s up the Old Sacramento towards Sacramento. Some of the more popular locations along the way are Vieira’s, Ko-Ket’s, Walnut Grove, Clarksburg and Freeport. Most anglers are trolling Silvertrons, Kwikfish or Blue Fox spinners. Jigging for salmon becomes more popular the farther up the river you fish. Shore anglers continue to have success with Flying C’s and Blue Foxes in the Walnut Grove area.” Sturgeon fishing is heating up in the Pittsburg area with Captain Steve Mitchell of Hook’d Up Sport Fishing finding two keepers Saturday at 58 and 52 inches along with two oversized to 64 inches and a 40-inch keeper Sunday. Mitchell said, “Everything came on the incoming tide, and the fish bit both salmon roe and eel with the highlight being the double hookup of the two oversized fish.” He has found them with salmon roe, eel, or ghost shrimp in an average depth of 30-plus feet of water in the Cuts, Middle Grounds or around the Pittsburg PG&E Plant. With the lack of fresh water flow and heavy imports into the southland, sharks are showing up off the Benicia shore. Despite the hyacinth, striped bass action remains excellent for numbers. Alan Fong confirmed the solid bass action, and he has been flipping Missle D Bombs or Brush Hogs in the clear sections of the sloughs. Said Pickens: “The largemouth bite continues to be solid on the San Joaquin side, as usually at this time of the year the bass would be in transition to deeper water, but with the warm water and air temps, they’re still hanging in the shallows from 4-6 feet in depth. Senkos and jerkbaits rule the day, but an occasional topwater Spook will get one to boil.” Pulse flows have begun in the Mokelumne River, and there are three additional flows to be released from Lake Camanche in the effort to draw salmon up toward the hatchery. The Delta Cross Channel Gates may be closed up to 45 days through Jan. 31, and the gates may be closed on short notice for fishery protection during this period. Information on the current status of the gates is available at the Army Corps of Engineers Central Valley Operations office at 916-979-2194 or 916-979-2683. Call: Randy Pringle, 209-543-6260; Captain Stan Koenigsberger – Quetzal Adventures, 925-570-5303; Intimidator Sport Fishing, 916-806-3030.

This story was originally published October 27, 2015 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Fishing Report for 10/28."