It’s no secret that New Melones lake has been kicking out giant bass. Iv been fishing it a lot in the last month and picking up my share of big bass. Most of the 5-10 lb. fish are coming on big swim baits in the 8″ to 10″ range. River2sea S wavers and Huddleston deluxes are what have been producing for me.
Water temps have been fairly stable with the warm days and cold nights but 54-57 is a good average. Iv been focusing on main lake points as well as prominent points up river. Any trees are also a great target, I have had a number of good sized followers and hook ups fishing them.
No time of day has been better than another, Iv been averaging one to five bites on the big baits throughout the day. Not all bites are fish in the net, there are more lost and missed than put in the boat. The ones that make it in the net are worth the wait and heart ache of the one that got off of just miss the hook. I like putting a trailer hooks on my hudds. There are a few fish in the three to five lb. range as well as spotted bass that will take a swing at it and miss the main hook. It’s also a bit of insurance on the bigger fish.
The weather is warming and the bite is only going to get better as the larger females begin to move up for the spawn. There is also an abundance of 1-3 pound fish that will fall for jigs and worms in the 20-30 ft range but for big bites patience is the game.