A lot of anglers make fishing too complicated. To me, this explains how someone with limited experience and skill can catch fish on days where others are struggling to get a bite. The longer I’ve been fishing, the more I’m starting to realize that I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to outthink a fish. The first mistake I’ve made was eliminating areas that didn’t look good to me. The major flaw in that type of thinking was that everything that I’m looking at above the water line, the fish don’t even see. Another mistake I’ve made was leaving an area immediately after catching a fish. It only makes sense to stay in an area that you have success. If you’re fishing off the bank for example, do you leave after catching a fish? Granted, there are times when having a basic understanding of what the fish are feeding on and having the right tackle for the job can increase your chances. The longer that I’ve been fishing, the more I’m starting to realize that the answers have been in front of me the whole time.
Delta:
Water temperatures are now in the low to mid eighties making fishing tough for a lot of fishermen. Bass have been biting lately for those fishing top water and flipping shade pockets. Some smaller bass can be found feeding on schools of bait in Mildred Island. No reports of any Striper action lately but many anglers are reporting good Catfishing bite while using clams and anchovies. Plenty of Bluegill have made their way shallow and can be caught easily on small worms.
New Melones Lake:
Kokanee are primarily being caught on the lake by anglers trolling as deep as 80 feet as the sun gets higher in the day. For Kokanee anglers are trolling Apex Lures and tipping their lures with shoe peg corn. Bass fishing is good for numbers, there is an excellent top water bite early in the morning and late in the day. A lot of small fish are being caught despite the receding water levels. Anglers are targeting main lake points with small jigs and plastics as well as isolated islands. Fishing the deeper side of the islands seems to be the best right now as the fish can be found bunched up. Bluegill and Crappie continue to bite once found. Many anglers are choosing to target them at night under submersible lights. For Crappie anglers are using live minnows or crappie jigs, for bluegill anglers are using small worms like red worms or wax worms.
Lake Don Pedro:
Kokanee are providing steady action, they are currently holding in some very big schools off Copper Mountain, Oat Hill and Hatch Creek between 70 and 80 feet deep and hitting Pee Wee hootchies, Sockeye Slammers and Glow Marni Bugs in tandem with Vance's Gold Dodger or U.V. Slingblade. Bass fishing has been fair in the early morning hours on top water baits and during the day anglers are catching Bass while fishing deeper with either deep diving crank baits or soft plastics.
Lake Pardee:
Limits of Kokanee have been the norm lately for anglers trolling early in the morning between 30 and 50 feet deep. Bass fishing remains good for anglers fishing top water baits in the morning and switching over to their favorite small jig or plastic bait during the day. Catfishing has also improved for anglers fishing at night along the bank while using traditional catfish baits.
New Hogan:
Fishing is good right now on the lake for anglers targeting bass. Recently while visiting the lake I saw schools of striped bass exploding on the surface around the launch ram cove during the evening hours. Reports are that anglers are catching their fair share of striped bass while trolling rolled shad or sardines. A secret of many of the locals has been trolling an umbrella rig through schools of striped bass.
Tip of the Week:
Having a cold drink of water while out fishing on a hot day definitely makes it a lot more comfortable. I’ve recently gone away from buying bags of ice for my cooler. What I do now is freeze bottles of water. Not only do they keep my cooler and all its contents cool during the day, they don’t leak water all over the place and I can drink them at the end of the day.
