Mother Lode fishing report

By William Heinselman

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Posted: Friday, June 27, 2008 10:32 AM CDT

We have some nice kokanee being caught in our lakes right now. Talk about good eating; fried, baked or smoked kokanee are delicious.

Reports from Melones show that limits are available of fish to 18.5 inches and 2.5 pounds. Pinks are the producing color at Melones followed with a piece of corn that has scent added to keep the fish biting.

Lake Pardee also has a kokanee population of fat fish to 14 inches. Believe me, a five-fish limit of filets makes a beautiful large meal.

Recently, I fished Pardee for kokanee. The bite was not as fast as last year, but I did get my limit. All five fish were nice and came from the river channel. The first fish hit a pink HumDinger at 40 feet. The second fish came in after striking a green Wedding Ring at 50 feet. Then another fish struck the pink HumDinger at 40 feet, but I lost him halfway to the boat. A couple hours went by, trolling across the main lake and back again with no luck.

I returned to the mouth and headed upriver. Bam! Fish on! Nos. three, four and five all hit an orange Wedding Ring at 60 feet between 10-11 a.m. All my lures were tipped with white shoe-peg scented corn. Kokanee instruction: See Web site blog at oldschoolbasicfishing.com.

New Melones

By Melanie Lewis, Glory Hole Sports

Trout: Bank fishing is pretty much over. Still fishing at night from a boat using a submersible light is a popular summertime method for rainbows. Trollers tie on a pink Hootchie, Apex lure or an Uncle Larry’s spinner tipped with a crawler and drop them to 40-60 feet. Try Glory Hole Point, Rose Island or the spillway areas.

Kokanee: There are some small 8-10 inch kokanee hitting. Gently shake these smaller fish back in the water to grow larger please and troll deeper to get the bigger kokanee. Pink Hootchies, Glitterbugs and Rocky Mountain tackle are all hot right now. Include Uncle Larry’s Spinners and Radical Glow spinners, too. Choose pink, firetiger and green colors. Use a dodger, Wild-Thing or Sling Blade and tip with shoepeg corn scented with ProCure.

Bass: The topwater bite is good. Zara Spooks are working great at dawn and dusk. Spinnerbaits, Baby Brush Hogs and Senkos are another good choice. Use deep-diving crankbaits in the heat of the day.

Catfish: Getting better with the warm weather. Anchovies, mackerel, sardines and nightcrawlers are good baits to try.

Crappie: No report. Fish the submerged trees up the creek arms. Night fish for best action. Use live small minnows as your bait.

Lake Camanche

By Eldon Porray

Trout: Boaters that are still fishing are getting results. Six trout to 3 pounds were reported from Dike 3. Anchored in 35 feet of water and using orange and white Power Eggs on the bottom was their method. A group caught six trout with a total weight of 15.2 pounds fishing at the dam. They fished at 30 feet with PowerBait. Another report spoke of the Narrows near Arkansas bend. Trout to 2.5 pounds have been coming from deep holes on Power Bait and nightcrawlers.

Bass: The Oro Madre Bass Club had a tournament on Saturday. Brian Payne won with a five-fish weight of 21.46 pounds. Brian also had the big fish at 9.47 pounds on a swimbait. Lures mentioned were Zara Spooks and Flukes.

Catfish: Nine catfish were reported with weights to 7 pounds. Rocky areas in a cove in the upper lake gave five cats on chicken liver. Rocky areas in the Narrows produced four fish from 12 feet using mackerel.

Lake Pardee

By Kerry Cooper

Boaters are doing well anchored in the coves fishing for rainbows and channel cats. Use PowerBait and nightcrawlers for the trout and chicken liver for the cats. Trollers are working the dam, barrel line, main lake and the river mouth past the Rock Wall to Indian Rock. Try Uncle Larry’s, Sep’s and Midge Warblers in reds, tiger and greens. Pink and green Hootchies also are good lures. Trout are hitting in 15-25 feet of water. Nice rainbow limits reported plus a good-size brown trout. Bank fishing is active behind the EBMUD boathouse, Rainbow Point and Stoney Creek Landing. Use white and rainbow PowerBait, maggots and nightcrawlers for your bait. Look for catfish in the coves behind the Marina. Try chicken liver bait for the cats.

New Hogan Reservoir

By William Heinselman, 772-3822

Striper: The hot bite has slowed to inconsistent with the full moon. A buddy of mine with his two guests reported zero hits while trolling anchovie during midweek. Others got a couple in the net, but this has been an off-bite week here. This week’s end has things getting better. Striper boils are picking up. Many striper reported by bankers fishing the deeper areas. The method is long casting anchovie on a sliding sinker setup.

Bass: Top water action here is great. Anglers are throwing small swimbaits, poppers, Zara Spooks, plastics and rebels on and near the surface with success. Some smallmouth reported this week as well as a 4-pound largemouth on a crankbait. Most fish are near the top for longer periods of time. I believe this is due to the striper boils, which stimulate the bass to feed.

Catfish: Nine catfish to 5 pounds reported while night fishing. With the warm weather plus all the feeding action, the bite will be good at most locations. Chicken liver/garlic and anchovie are the best baits most commonly used.

Crappie: No reports.

Highway 4 corridor

By Bill Reynolds, Ebbetts Pass Sporting Goods

Lake Alpine: The dock is in the water and the fishing is excellent. The lake is producing some big rainbows. Trollers use Apex, Needlefish, Rapalas or a nightcrawler behind a small dodger. Bank fishermen can try nightcrawlers, PowerBait products, salmon eggs or cast lures such as Kastmasters, Panther Martins and Rooster Tails.

Spicer: The road to Spicer is open. The lake level is up and the ramp is in the water. Bank fishing has success with Gulp bait products, salmon eggs, and nightcrawlers. Fly fishing works using a woolly bugger and sparrow nymphs. Lures to troll and cast are Kastmasters, Panther Martins, Apex, Rapalas or Needlefish. Hobart Creek is not open until July 1.

Mosquito Lake: Thawed, but no reports of fish yet.

North Fork of the Stanislaus River: The river has been fishing great. Use split shot and salmon eggs, PowerBait, crickets or inflated worms with a 15-20 inch leader. Fly casters try bead head nymphs, ants, bead head woolly buggers with a sink tip line. Lure fish with Kastmasters, Panther Martins, Rooster Tails and Rapalas.

White Pines Lake: Excellent fishing with recent trout plants. Bankers use PowerBait or Gulp baits on a 30-36 inch leader. Lure casters try Kastmasters, Panther Martins, and Rooster Tails. Fly fishermen or doing well using woolly buggers, ants and sparrow nymphs.

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