• New Melones still kicking out trout limits. … Delta sturgeon are on the prowl. … McClure trout action is “very good,” according to Manny Basi. … Don Pedro trout are on a heavy feeding binge.

VALLEY

• NEW MELONES RESERVOIR/TULLOCH — Melanie Lewis of Glory Hole Sporting Goods in Angels Camp said the trout bite has slowed down and most anglers are having a little trouble getting limits. Bank anglers are scoring with Power Bait, marshmallows, or night crawlers. The trout prefer bait that floats with small hooks. She suggested plenty of Power Bait, or a worm inflator. Trolling is good for planters with small flashers or dodgers followed by a night crawler at 3 to 5 feet. Dodgers such as Sep’s Sidekick or Micro Mini’s work well and don’t spook the fish. Lewis recommended light line and a fluorocarbon leader for more strikes in the clear water. Planters are hitting the surface with the bigger fish down at 15 to 25 feet. There have been reports of kokanee to 15 inches landed near the surface. It’s “not common” for this time of the year, “but neither is the weather” said Lewis. Bass fishing is decent with most of the fish taken off main lake structure at 25 to 65 feet. The fish are fat, healthy and still gorging on threadfin shad. Try shad-patterned plastics on the drop shot or jigs. Few anglers are targeting catfish, but Lewis said they’re out there at about 35 to 70 feet along deep ledges. Call: (209) 736-4333; Monte Smith (209) 581-4734; Danny Layne (209) 586-2383; Sierra Sport Fishing (209) 599-2023

• SAN LUIS RESERVOIR / O’NEILL FOREBAY — Modesto’s Jeff Boyle of Bass Pro Shops decided to try the big lake instead of of his usual favorite spots on the Delta, and was rewarded with a limit of 6 to 8 pounders on shad-patterned swimbaits. Jason Chin of Coyote Bait and Tackle in Morgan Hill said the striper bite is up and down, but Paul Jolley caught and released stripers over 10 pounds on consecutive casts with 6-inch Lunker Punkers. The key is to look for the schools of bait with electronics or watching for active birds. Pile worms, anchovies, frozen shad or jumbo minnows are all working from the banks. In the Forebay, fishermen are catching freshwater mudsuckers with red worms and using the live bait for good action for striped bass near Check 12 or the 33 bridge. Call: Ly’s Fishing Goods (408) 629-9644

• McSWAIN RESERVOIR — Trout plants have stopped until mid-January, and the action has slowed. A few limits have been taken up the river arm with Power Bait in rainbow or rainbow/garlic. Best trolling action is from the floating restrooms to Gilligan’s Island with Wedding Rings tipped with a piece of crawler behind a dodger, blade/crawler combinations or small spoons. The river near the Hornitos Bridge has produced limits on salmon eggs or chartreuse Power Bait, and rainbows to 2 pounds have been taken at Merced Falls with orange Power Bait. Call: (209) 378-2534

• McCLURE RESERVOIR — After heavy plants the last month, the trout are biting off the banks near McClure Point or Barretts Cove. Manny Basi of the Bait Barn in Waterford said action is very good on blue/chrome or gold Kastmasters, rainbow glitter Power Bait or medium minnows. Trollers have been pulling blade/crawler combinations, Wedding Rings tipped with a crawler behind a flasher, or small spoons up the river arm. Bass fishing has slowed as the fish hold deep in the water column. The best action has been with 4-inch shad patterned plastics such as Pro Worms Pro Gold, Robo Worms Hologram Shad, or Reaction Innovation’s Bad Shad Green at 40 feet. Basi also recommended brown jigs with a green pumpkin trailer or half-inch green pumpkin tubes on a very slow presentation in the deep water. Live bait is best for spotted bass with limits of keepers over 15 inches taken on minnows in Temperance Cove, according to Diana Mello of A-1 Bait in Snelling. Call: A-1 Bait (209) 563-6505; Bub Tosh (209) 404-0053

• LAKE DON PEDRO — Guide Monte Smith said trout fishing is “pretty darn good” as his clients have caught and released 21 trout in addition to two limits on a mid-week trip. Smith is fast trolling heavy spoons on lead-core line and caught three holdovers to 2¼ pounds. The majority of trout are planters in the 12 to 14-inch range, but the action was fast and furious. Smith advised looking for active birds or bait schools. Bank trout fishing remains good for planters in Fleming Meadows and around the Blue Oaks launch ramp with gold or blue/chrome Kastmasters, rainbow glitter Power Bait, or inflated night crawlers. The bass bite has slowed with the fish holding deep in the water column. Best action has been on 4-inch shad patterned plastics such as Pro Worms Pro Gold, Robo Worms Hologram Shad, or Reaction Innovation’s Bad Shad Green to 40 feet. Basi recommended using brown jigs with a green pumpkin trailer or ½-inch green pumpkin tubes on a very slow and methodical presentation in the deep water. Call: Monte Smith (209) 581-4734; Danny Layne-Fishn’ Dan (209) 586-2383; Gary Vella (209) 652-7550; Bait Barn (209) 874-3011

• DELTA/STOCKTON — Sturgeon are biting in the shallows with the best bite at night in Grizzly Bay on the outgoing tide, according to Tony Lopez of Benicia Bait. He recommends a combination of eel and pile worms. A number of sturgeon are also stacked in the Big Cut at 40 feet. Striper fishing has slowed to a crawl with almost everyone targeting sturgeon, but the few stripers being caught are big. The waters off Liberty Island were muddy from Saturday’s big winds, so the best action has been in moving water with 1-ounce spoons. Several anglers have pulled in stripers to 10 pounds with a couple of fish estimated at 20. For largemouth bass, guide Randy Pringle said the rapidly warming water is making conditions better with the fish moving into the shallows. He predicts an early spawn with the spring-like temperatures. He has been flipping, pitching, tossing the Berkley Chigger Craw, and « Persuader E-Chip jigs in black/blue on 17 to 20-pound fluorocarbon ling. Pringle said it will be a great year with the weeds dying from the previously cold temperatures making for exposed areas along the shorelines. He has been using larger baits and bouncing along the weeds or rocks using a faster presentation. Call: Randy Pringle (209) 543-6260; Stan Koenigsberger (925) 570-5303, Mark Wilson Sport Fishing (916) 682-1630; Jolly Jay’s Guide Service (209) 478-6645

OCEAN

• SAN FRANCISCO BAY — Anglers are focusing on sturgeon in San Pablo Bay and the south bay. There was a large herring spawn off Paradise Cove near San Rafael, and the commercial herring boats have been working the area. This is within the closed zone for green and white sturgeon. In the south bay, John Akina at Oyster Point Bait, Tackle and Deli went fishing Sunday near Coyote Point, and nearly landed three limits of sturgeon with keepers at 57 and 53 inches taken on ghost shrimp. Akina added that the fish were loaded with ghost shrimp.

• HALF MOON BAY — Sand dab/crab combinations are still going strong for Capt. Tom Mattusch on the Huli Cat. Sunday he came back to the harbor with early limits of crab and plenty of sand dabs. He said crab action was “simply marvelous with jumbo, jumbo crab.” He reported that some anglers are picking up a dab on every hook. Mattusch said there was a media boat out to film surfers working the 60-foot waves at Mavericks, and a number of the passengers “contributed to the ocean’s biomass” due to the huge swells. Call: Happy Hooker (510) 223-5388; Huck Finn Sport Fishing Center (650) 726-7133, Emeryville Sport Fishing (510) 654-6040; Don Franklin, Soleman (510) 703-4148

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