New Melones Reservoir's current lake level is 1050.50 and 37.50 ft. from full. Currently temps are 54d. Water clarity is excellent. Angels Cove launch ramp is closed, and the fish cleaning station remains closed at Angels Cove with water line breaks interfering with operations.
Typically this time of year Melones water temperatures are low enough to have the lake turn over, inducing a flurry of action on the bass and trout bite,  however possibly due to the historic water level for this time of year, we believe its slowing down how quickly the water temperature is dropping, delaying the lake from turning over.

A word of caution when traveling from the rangers station towards Glory Hole Point. If your hauling any trailer over 10 ft. in height, be aware the Bureau of Reclamation has many oak trees that need to be trimmed to meet Federal Highway Administrations minimum vertical clearance on local roadways which is 14'. The trees overhang the road are creating hazardous driving conditions for you and your trailer/boat/rv having to often drive in the opposite lane of traffic to avoid these trees and prevent damage to your property.

Anglers FYI: For anyone with a potential lake record please call us at the store and hopefully we can send someone to weigh, photograph and measure the catch at the lake. GHS is the unofficial recorder of lake records for New Melones, and we understand there is sometimes conflicting interest in the welfare of the catch, whether or not to release the potential record, sacrificing your place as a record holder for the lake.

We do promote catch and release. For potential lake records, record the statistics of the fish... length, girth, weight and photographed at the lake before releasing her. If indeed we can verify the information that is provided, such as a witness, comparing the scale used with ours, a photograph with the fish hanging from the scale and can see the scale weight, etc...then we can accept this as proof. If your catch has expired than indeed bring it in to GHS so we can record it here, and you can have it mounted!
 
TROUT
Trout are moving up in the water column and are being seen on the surface, but still a sluggish bite. Ted Overton of Vallelcito brought in a 4.5 lb rainbow to Glory Hole Sports. Ted was fishing the spillway trolling and using a speedy shiner in a cop car pattern at 45 ft. depth.

KOKANEE
Done for the season.

BASS
The bass bite on Melones has improved from the last couple months with the water temps creeping slowly down. On these cold mornings, tie on a River2Sea Swaver Glide bait to get your body warmed up and get the action started. Anglers using jigs, and worms on a number of different setups are landing bass, along with spoons. Bryson Hooper was fishing up river 12/31, landing 5 spotted bass all 2-3.5 lb range using a Roboworm in "Morning Dawn".  Bryson was near the log jam, fishing at a depth of 35 ft.

CATFISH
No reports of Catfish
 
CRAPPIE
No reports of Crappie

NEW MELONES GUIDE REPORTS:
No reports