The trout have been biting really well recently for people that are trolling but the majority of the bank anglers are having a tough time catching fish. This is due to the warmer weather pushing the fish away from the shallow banks and the amount of bank fishing traffic that has been coming through recently. Many of the people having success trolling for trout are using small shad imitations such as, Rapalas, Speedy Shiners, Kastmasters and Needlefish. Many of the fish are being caught in 20-30 feet of water but the larger fish are slightly deeper.

The kokanee are beginning to bite although most of them are relatively small. There has been a few pretty good sized fish being reported but the average size being caught right now is 8-9 inches. The bigger ones should start to come up and bite more sometime in mid to late May. The people that are having success in catching kokanee have been trolling out in front of the damn in around 30 ft of water. Good lures to use would be hoochies or apex's with kokanee corn on the back. Local guide Kyle Wise has been consistent on targeting limits of trout, crappie, and will be guiding for kokanee in just a few weeks. Book a trip today, schedule fills up fast on the kokanee bite. Headhunter Sportsfishing 209-531-3966

The bass bite is wide opened right now for both bank and boat fisherman. The majority of the fish are no deeper than 20 ft and are extremely aggressive right now. Most of the fish are starting to move off of their beds and guard their fry although there are still a few largemouth still on beds. A good way to catch some of the larger fish at the moment (although they will be skinny from spawn) would be to throw large Huddleston style swimbaits or S-wavers. Their are plenty of different baits that will work to catch fish this time of year, a few of them would be,California Reservoir Lure jigs, Lucky Craft crankbaits, Bass Arts Creations spinnerbaits, Frenzy a-rigs, River2Sea jerkbaits or soft plastics. Josh Parris Guide Service has been putting clients on chunky 10+ lb. bass for his clients the last few weeks. Below is Stan on a 10.87 lb. beauty. To set up a great guide trip on New Melones, you can contact Josh @ 209-217-7368.