Out With The Old, In With The New (Melones) For Multispecies Mother Lode Fun

The following appears in the July issue of California Sportsman:

By Cal Kellogg

New Melones Reservoir is the crown jewel of the Mother Lode region, a sprawling aquatic playground steeped in history, surrounded by natural beauty and

offering anglers some of the most diverse fishing opportunities in the state. Whether you’re casting from a kayak, trolling from a deep-V trout and salmon sled or walking the shoreline with rod in hand, New Melones delivers.

Spanning more than 12,500 surface acres at full pool and boasting over 100 miles of shoreline, New Melones is the fourth-largest reservoir in California. It sits at the confluence of two storied waterways: the Stanislaus River and Angels Creek. The lake was created by the construction of New Melones Dam, a towering rockfill structure completed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1979 and later transferred to the Bureau of Reclamation. The dam was built primarily for flood control, irrigation storage and hydroelectric power generation, replacing the original Melones Dam, which was built in 1926.

At 625 feet tall, New Melones Dam is one of the tallest in the state, holding back up to 2.4 million acre-feet of water when the lake is full. That massive volume provides a stable environment for a thriving aquatic ecosystem and supports a wide array of gamefish.

YEAR-ROUND OPS, PLETHORA OF SPECIES

New Melones is best known for its prolific populations of rainbow trout, kokanee salmon and black bass, but that’s just scratching the surface. Along with spotted, smallmouth and largemouth bass, the reservoir also holds brown trout, channel catfish, crappie and bluegill, making it a legitimate multispecies fishery.

Spring marks one of the most exciting times to be on the water. As the surface temperature begins to rise, rainbow trout move shallow to feed on baitfish, aquatic insects and terrestrial offerings washed in by spring runoff. Trollers score with spoons, spinners and small plugs fished in the top 20 feet of the water column, while shore anglers do well casting Kastmasters or soaking PowerBait off points and coves near the Tuttletown and Glory Hole Recreation Areas.

FIRST-CLASS KOKES

New Melones is known as one of California’s top kokanee fisheries – and for good reason. The lake’s depth, clarity, stable thermocline and robust zooplankton base make it a perfect habitat for kokanee to grow fast, fight hard and feed consistently. With depths exceeding 300 feet and cool, oxygen-rich water through summer, New Melones gives kokanee everything they need to thrive.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife stocks kokanee annually, and most fish reach 12 to 16 inches by midsummer thanks to those ideal conditions, with some pushing 18 inches in strong years. These landlocked sockeye are a schooling fish, so once you find one, you’ve likely found many.

In spring, target kokanee 15 to 30 feet down with small spoons, spinners or hoochies behind dodgers. Pink, orange and chartreuse are staple colors. As summer progresses and surface temps climb, kokanee drop deeper – often 50 to 80 feet – and that’s when downriggers become essential.

Troll at 1.1 to 1.5 mph and always tip your lures with dyed and scented white shoepeg corn. Garlic, anise or krill scents are proven additives, which can make the difference when the bite gets tough.

Use your sonar to find schools of kokanee, which are marked as tight, suspended clusters in open water, often near the dam, Rose Island or the spillway. Adjust your depth and lure color until you crack the pattern.

Kokanee at New Melones are known for their ferocious fights and delicious orange-red meat. They’re not always easy to figure out, but when you dial in the depth, color and speed, few fisheries are as fast or rewarding. For precision anglers who love tinkering with gear and dialing in details, New Melones offers one of California’s best kokanee challenges.

BASS, CATFISH BONANZA

Summer is also prime time for bass anglers. Largemouth cruise the shallows early and late in the day, hammering topwater frogs and buzzbaits, while spotted bass – the dominant black bass species in the lake – roam in open water and around submerged structure. Drop- shot rigs, finesse jigs and swimbaits all produce consistent action. Because of its depth and clarity, New Melones supports an excellent spottie fishery, with 2- to 3-pounders common and 5-pound fish caught every season.

New Melones is also one of California’s most underrated catfish destinations. With its vast size, warm summer water temps and abundant forage, the lake grows quality channel catfish that are available year-round, with peak action from late spring through early fall.

Catfish in New Melones often hold along mudflats, creek channels and rocky shorelines – especially near the Glory Hole and Tuttletown Recreation Areas. Night fishing is particularly productive, as cats become more active in low light, cruising shallows for crawdads, minnows and dead bait.

Top baits include cut anchovies, chicken liver, sardines, mackerel and dough baits, fished on sliding sinker rigs with 1/0 to 3/0 hooks. For trophy-class cats, try soaking large chunks of oily bait after dark near submerged trees or dropoffs.

While most fish run 2 to 8 pounds, double-digit channel cats are caught every season. Anglers looking for simple, consistent action will find New Melones catfish both accessible and rewarding, fishing from either the bank or a boat.

SMALL FISH, GREAT TASTE

New Melones Reservoir offers some of the best crappie fishing in the Sierra foothills, especially during the spring spawn. As water temperatures climb into the 60s, crappie move into shallow coves, brush piles and submerged timber to spawn, creating fast-paced action for anglers in the know. Most fish average 10 to 12 inches, but slabs over 14 inches are caught each season. Light spinning tackle and 2- to 4-pound-test line are ideal for presenting small jigs, tubes or curl-tail grubs in white, chartreuse

and pink. Live minnows under a slip bobber also can be highly effective, especially around structure. Look for fish around Glory Hole Cove, Angels Creek and upriver arms with submerged wood. As summer progresses, crappie transition to deeper brush and ledges, where verticaljiggingorslowtrollingpays off. Whether fishing from a boat or kayak, New Melones is a top destination for tasty, hard-fighting crappie.

STICK AROUND FOR TROUT

Fall ushers in some of the year’s best trout fishing, as cooling water temperatures bring fish back to the shallows and trigger a prewinter feeding frenzy. October through December is a top window for anglers looking to hook into chunky holdover rainbows or intercept a trophy brown trout – particularly near the dam and upriver arms. Slow trolling with Rapalas, Needlefish or nightcrawler/Wedding Ring combos can be deadly during this period.

Winter doesn’t put a stop to the action. In fact, serious trout anglers know that New Melones can produce someofitslargestfishduringthe colder months. With less boat traffic and stable lake levels, targeting the main river channels with leadcore or downriggers can put anglers on quality trout all the way through February.

HOT KOKANEE FISHING NOW

My most recent New Melones fishing adventure took place in June, when R.J. Sanchez and I joined up with Brian Thomas of Three Sons Guide Service (916-230- 5324). We hoped to hammer some landlocked sockeye, and hammer them we did!
By 11 a.m. we had three full

limits of kokanee on ice. The 15- to 16-inch battlers were chrome bright and sported bright-red flesh. Our top offerings were small orange and pink hoochies teamed with 6-inch, 24k gold Catch America dodgers trolled from 1.2 to 1.4 mph.

The fish were scattered in terms of depth, and we hooked them anywhere from 40 to 65 feet deep. Thomas tipped our lures with shoepeg corn dyed and scented with products from Northwest Bait & Scent. The hot scent of the day was tuna belly.

When I asked Thomas how 2025 was shaping up in terms of kokanee fishing at New Melones, this is what he had to say: “Cal, it doesn’t get any better than this. We’ve already seen a few fish just short of 18 inches, and we are just getting into the good part of the season. We’ve been getting limits every day. We will certainly see 20-plus-inch fish this season,” he told me.

“As good as the action is now, it’s going to get even better as the surface temperature climbs and the thermocline gets more defined. This will cause the kokanee to lock into a narrower depth range, and they will begin forming tight schools. When that happens, the challenge won’t be hooking fish; it will be keeping rods in the water because the bites will come as fast as you can drop the gear,” Thomas added.

MORE THAN A FISHERY

Beyond the epic fishing, New Melones offers a scenic and peaceful escape. Located near the historic gold rush towns of Sonora and Angels Camp, the reservoir is surrounded by rolling hills, oak woodlands and chaparral slopes that are home to wild turkeys, deer and golden eagles. Campgrounds, boat ramps and day- use areas managed by the Bureau of Reclamation provide easy access to the water, while interpretive trails and historic sites tell the story of the region’s mining past.

FINAL CAST

Whether you’re chasing kokanee at sunrise, pitching jigs to rocky points for bass, night fishing for channel cats or trolling for a slab rainbow on a misty winter morning, New Melones Reservoir stands as one of Northern California’s most consistent and rewarding fisheries. Its size, structure and seasonal variation ensure there’s always something biting and always a reason to come back.

If you’re planning a trip to the Sierra foothills with a rod in hand, put New Melones at the top of your list. It’s a reservoir built on history and sustained by angling passion. CS

Sidebar: WHAT NEW MELONES’ BROWNS CAN DO FOR YOU

For coldwater anglers visiting New Melones, rainbows and kokanee provide lots of excitement, but it’s the prospect of hooking one of the lake’s trophy brown trout that kicks the imagination of trollers into high gear. Browns in the 6- to 8-pound class, while difficult to catch, are relatively common and the lake’s biggest appear to top out at around 13 pounds.
Since 2010, three New Melones browns in excess of 13 pounds have been recorded. Jim Harlan set the then lake record with a massive 13.1-pound brown back on February 11, 2010. Harlan’s standard held the top spot until 2011, when Michael Oliveria nailed a 13.4-pound brown that December.
Then in January 2022, Bobby Aperoch matched Oliveria’s mark with a 13.4-pound brown of his own.
Brown trout at New Melones are opportunistic feeders, preying heavily on planted rainbows, kokanee and schools of threadfin shad. They’re most active in low-light conditions – early mornings, late evenings or overcast days – and are commonly caught near the dam, Angels Creek and upriver channels, especially in colder months.

Your best shot at a trophy brown comes during winter and early spring, when surface temperatures are cool and the big fish move into the shallows. Trolling large plugs such as Rapalas, J-Plugs or custom-painted minnow baits that mimic rainbows or kokanee is the go-to technique. Focus on points, contour breaks and deep-water transitions. Leadcore line, downriggers or flatlining long distances behind the boat all have their place depending on the season and conditions.

Casting big swimbaits and soft jerkbaits from the bank or a kayak in the predawn hours can also pay off. Browns love ambush zones – shadow lines, submerged trees and current edges – and prefer structure-rich environments.

Patience is critical when pursuing browns. You might troll for hours or days without a bite, but when a New Melones brown hits, it hits with the kind of force that turns heads and snaps gear. Many anglers go years between big browns, but the reward of landing a double-digit trout makes it all worthwhile. Targeting browns at New Melones is not about numbers; it’s about hunting one big, smart and heavy fish. For those willing to put in the time, it’s one of the lake’s most satisfying challenges. -CK