Fishing report for week of Dec. 19-25 | Modesto Bee

The northern section of the aqueduct remains slow overall despite the moving water. A security guard has attempted to limit access to sections of the aqueduct, and anglers need to be aware of accessible locations for fishing. The southern section of the California Aqueduct has been outstanding for both striped bass and catfish with Pete Cormier of Bob’s Bait in Bakersfield saying, “The aqueduct continues to be excellent, and with the lack of trout plants in our area, many fishermen are heading to the aqueduct near the Buena Vista golf course along with the other access areas. Tube baits and live jumbo minnows are working for the linesides, and we just sold several dozen jumbo minnows for the aqueduct. One fisherman reported catching and releasing 70 undersized stripers on nightcrawlers, and this reminds me of the way it used to be years ago when 100 fish days were not uncommon. Catfishing is also good with Triple S dip bait, sardines, or anchovies.”

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Call: Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis 292-3474; Bob’s Bait Bucket 661-833-8657

Sunday was a different day at Don Pedro as the solid trout bite slowed down considerably while the bass bite was also a grind in deeper water.

Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing said, “Trout action is good for those running shad-patterned spoons on leadcore line near the surface. The shad schools are forming, and the trout and king salmon action is just gearing up for an excellent long line bite.

For largemouth and spotted bass, Ryan Cook of Ryan Cook’s Guide Service said, “I went out this week with Robert Mansour, and he threw big lures all day long for only a few followers with no takers. I worked a tube bait or a jig and landed plenty of bass to 3 pounds, but the fish are still very deep at 50 to 80 feet. The bait is everywhere at both lakes, and the shad schools are finally starting to school up. I expect that both Don Pedro and McClure will break wide open for big fish within the next two weeks.”

Don Pedro held at 70 percent.

Call: Monte Smith 209-581-4734; Gary Vella 209-652-7550

Lake McClure is known as a number’s lake for spotted bass, but there were some huge largemouth bass taken during Saturday’s Merced Bass Club event on big swimbaits. The spotted bass are moving up shallower, and the bite has slowed down a bit for size, but the numbers of spots to 3 pounds remain a possibility.

Ryan Cook of Ryan Cook’s Guide Service fished the Merced Club event for fourth place, and he said, “It has gotten a bit tougher as the numbers are still good, but the overall size is down. There are plenty of quality fish, and they are moving up from between 5 to 35 feet on either jigs or plastics on the drop-shot along with the occasional spinnerbait fish. The bass are finally switching over to crawdads, and I am tying custom jigs to match the crawdad patterns.”

The winning team of Alex Niapas and Jason Remmers put in a big fish at 10.10 pounds, but their other 4 fish averaged around 1.5 pounds. Nick Sanches of Fresno posted the 2nd big fish at 9.78 pounds as part of a 2nd place limit with his brother Ron at 15.78. There were 26 teams, and 20 weighed in limits. Big swimbaits were reported to be used for the big fish.

The lake dropped to 55 percent.

The trout bite is best within days of the plants, and the lake is scheduled to be planted around two times per month. Roostertails, Kastmasters, green trout dough bait, or Mice Tails are working from the peninsula near the Marina, the Brush Pile, or the Handicapped Docks shortly after the plants. After a few days, the bite slows down. Trollers are working in the clearer water in the river arm above the 2nd Fence Line.

Call: McSwain Marina 209-378-2534

Bass action is set to explode in the coming months, and there is optimism for an improved rainbow trout bite starting in the spring with the reloading of the Kokanee Power net pens at the New Melones Marina.

Gene Hildebrand of Glory Hole Sports in Angels Camp said, “With the turn of the weather bass angling went to a slow bite with anglers reporting challenging outings, and tournament anglers were coming in with small bags. However, in between our first couple storms Michael Alaga was on Melones and had this 12.6- lb. largemouth bass smash his bait. With the cooler water temperatures, bass are becoming lethargic and looking for an opportunity for a meal with minimum effort on their part. Look for bass opportunity using finesse techniques over deeper submerged trees and rocky cover in 30 to 50 feet in depth. Vertical jigging with P-Line Laser Minnows are effective as well as hitting the bottom with plastics on a Texas-rig, Ned-rig, or wacky rig with a VMC Neko Skirted Nail weight. The trout bite has been slow as the lake is still in a transition stage with trollers running their gear between 20 and 40 feet. with reports of lots of marks on the fish finder with just mild results. Ken and Barbara Capitlavich landed a 6-pound rainbow on an Excel Lure.”

This past weekend’s rain should improve things ,John Liechty of Xperience Fishing Guide Service said, “The best times of the year are coming up, and once we have some rain, wind, and inclement weather, the reaction bite should start to improve. Every year the months of January and February bring out the big spots and largemouth bass.”

For rainbow trout, the Kokanee Power New Melones pen was planted this last week with rainbow trout with help from a number of volunteers. The Department of Fish and Wildlife supplied the fish and a bucket brigade was put into place to haul the fish down to the pen at the Marina. These trout will fatten up over winter and get released in the spring.”

The lake held at 74 percent.

Call: Glory Hole Sports 209-736-4333; Monte Smith 209-581-4734; John Liechty Xperience Fishing Guide Service 209-743-9932

Shad boils are forming in the coves at the main San Luis Reservoir, and bank fishermen are finding active linesides near Dinosaur Point and in Portuguese Cove. Trolling is up and down while drifting jumbo minnows or frozen shad remains a good option.

Steve Newman of Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis said, “Trolling has been OK, and we have been selling a number of Urigs as it seems that some of the stripers are coming up from the 40- to 60-foot range where they have been for some time. There have been boils, and anglers are chasing them from the shoreline. One of our customers who is just getting back into fishing found boils near the shore by Dinosaur Point, and he landed between 8 and 10 stripers with half being legal. The fish are moving around chasing bait, and ripbaits, big poppers, or flukes are all working when they are close to the surface.”

Roger George of Roger George Guide Service said that he took out guests Joel Chase of Oakdale and his sons Mason, 16, and Nolan, 12, on Wednesday. “The fishing was tough most of the day as we tried several different lures and areas for a few school fish in the 40- to 60-foot range. I decided to go to a run-and-gun strategy and we finally got going when I found some active schools willing to bite. You’re either on the fish or you’re not since they are in tight schools now. We ended up with 28 solid sized fish – all released – to 24 inches. Nolan got his new personal best of 24 inches.”

George said the water is coming up fast and clear with high temperatures (62 degrees) for this time of year and that has created a different pattern than has been seen in the last few years.

In the forebay, Clements said, “The striped bass are more active in the warmer forebay than in the main San Luis Reservoir, and ripbaits, jerkbaits, or flukes are all working. Soaking jumbo minnows, anchovies, or pile worms are working at Check 13 or the Highway 152 Bridge near the moving water.” The majority of striped bass are undersized, but a limit of legal fish is possible.

The main lake rose to 66 percent due to increased pumping out of the south Delta.

Call: Coyote Bait and Tackle 408-463-0711, Roger George of rogergeorgeguideservice.com, 905-2954

The Sacramento-Delta sturgeon and striped bass went on hiatus for around a week within the first arrival of cold water from upstream sources as well as colder evening temperatures, but the fish went back on the bite after a period of adjustment. The river salmon season ended on December 16, and there are three proposed options for the 2019 river salmon season.

The San Joaquin-Delta is in need of fresh water flow, and Sunday’s rainstorm may bring enough precipitation to stir up the pot. The stripers are migrating into Suisun Bay and San Pablo Bay, but within the Delta, they are moving south towards and below Discovery Bay in their normal December migration. are changing due to fresh water inflow from the recent storms.

Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor, said, “The Delta needs another stirring up as we had a good bite going on the San Joaquin River, but the fish have moved with the weather change of bright sunshine and cold temperatures. The birds have gone and left the San Joaquin side, and this river system is limited to what I call ‘ghosts.’ This is where you see a few birds working the surface and you start to get excited, but these are only in response to 12-inch stripers working 2-inch shad. There is really nothing of size there. The stripers have either moved up and out to the north Delta or they have gone into the interior such as Discovery Bay, Mildred Island, Old River, and Disappointment Slough. The shad normally head into Discovery Bay as the water is warmer at this time of year, and the stripers go in there are get confused, taking a few weeks to find their way out of the maze that is Discovery Bay. Under these conditions, I would focus on the Sacramento River side as the quality and quantity of striped bass are much better right now. ”

Dan Mathisen of Dan’s Delta Outdoors in Oakley said, “Bait fishing has been much better for striped bass with mudsuckers or shad, but there are those casting topwater plugs or Bad Bubba Shad swimbaits from Lost Isle south into the Old River Flats, Middle River, Tracy area, and south of Discovery Bay. The water is clear everywhere. Largemouth bass fishing has been slow overall, but there are still fish taken on ripbaits or by punching the weeds.”

Call: Randy Pringle 209-543-6260; Captain Mike Gravert, Intimidator Sport Fishing 916-806-3030; Vince Borges, Vince Borges Outdoors 209-918-0828; J.D. Richey, Richey’s Sport Fishing 916-952-1554