VALLEY
• LAKE DON PEDRO — Manny Basi of the Bait Barn in Waterford said, "The word got out over the weekend, and we sold a ridiculous amount of live minnows." Live bait has been working for bass and trout with the smaller minnows catching crappie around submerged structure. For artificial lures, Basi touted brown/purple jigs on the bottom at 40 feet. Early in the mornings there is a top-water bite with PopR's or similar smaller lures. You can troll for trout if you're good at locating a school. Check the Woods Creek arm because the water is slightly warmer there. The prime time for king salmon fishing is just around the corner, from April through early June. Trout plants are scheduled this week for Turlock and Modesto Reservoirs with a plant at Don Pedro next week. Call: Monte Smith (209) 581-4734; Danny Layne (209) 586-2383; Gary Vella (209) 652-7550; Bait Barn (209) 874-3011
• McCLURE RESERVOIR — Live bait is working really well, according to Jason Mello of A-1 Bait in Snelling. "We sold out of large minnows Friday and medium minnows on Saturday," he said. "We were really busy, and we could have sold tons more minnows." Live crawdads are also effective, and A-I sold out a shipment within a few hours. One bass angler caught 11 in 4 hours on crawdads. Mello used plastic worms in a Green Weenie pattern in Temperature Cove, and they landed 10 bass — totalling 12 pounds. He said the bite was slow in the morning, "so we trolled for trout," and he caught two in 20 minutes on blue/silver ExCels at 3 colors of lead core. King salmon are showing up at 25 feet near the dam, and there have been reports of small kokanee near the surface. The bass size limit drops to 12-inches at McClure on March 18. Call: A-1 Bait (209) 563-6505; Bub Tosh (209) 404-0053
• McSWAIN RESERVOIR — Jason Mello of A-1 Bait in Snelling said trollers have been scoring quality rainbows to 18 inches from Gilligan's Island to the floating restrooms on Mack's Wedding Rings in purple/gold behind a Shasta Tackle Sling Blade. Night crawlers behind a baby hammered cowbell flasher are also working. Bank fishing with marshmallow/night crawler combos from the brush pile or handicapped docks are working for quality planters. The McSwain Marina said there was a plant Sunday with another DFW plant next week. Call: McSwain Marina (209) 378-2534
• NEW MELONES RESERVOIR / TULLOCH — Bass fishing is slow overall, but the occasional huge spotted or largemouth bass is still being pulled in. The latest lake record to fall was for a spotted bass caught by Oakdale's Randy Pierson. It weighted 10 pounds, 1-ounce — just 3 ounces below the current state record set at Pine Flat Reservoir. Pierson declined to indicate the lure or location. Melanie Lewis at Glory Hole Sporting Goods figures with spring right around the corner, that record is in jeopardy. She recommends fishing at 10 to 25 feet with soft plastics including Brush Hogs, Senkos, or lizards. Meanwhile, trout are still scattered throughout the lake; when you find them, they're at the surface or down to 30 feet. It makes it tough on trollers. Anglers are spending the entire day on the water to put in limits with blade/crawler combinations being the top set up. With the DFW no longer planting brown trout, Glory Hole will no longer recognize a brown trout as the Big Fish of the Week, and anglers are encouraged to release brown trout. Bank fishing has also been slow, with the best action taking place with a sliding sinker with a 3- to 4-foot leader and a light wire hook loaded with either a crawler/mallow combo, or a Berkley Pinched Crawler with a pink, or white Gulp or Power Egg. Call: Glory Hole Sports (209) 736-4333; Monte Smith (209) 581-4734; Danny Layne (209) 586-2383; Sierra Sport Fishing(209) 599-2023
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