ESPN Freshwater

ANGELS CAMP, Calif. — For a change, New Melones' kokanee aren't the little dinkers that we've always known them to be.

For a change, New Melones is being touted as one of the top kokanee waters in California.

For a change, New Melones has lots of water.

All cylinders are clicking this year at New Melones Reservoir, where kokanee fishing is being dubbed the best it's ever been, water levels are high and launching conditions are excellent.

"I'm impressed every outing. I keep thinking that every outing since April I'm putting fish in the boat that I won the invitational with last year in July. July is still a few months away and these fish are that big already," said guide Danny Layne of Fish 'N Dan's Guide Service (209-586-2382).

In fact, this year, you won't have to bother with the typical ho-hum 14-inch kokanee. Kokanee go-getters are already bagging 17-inch fish.

"I don't know if we've had 17-inch fish since the first year they were in the lake," Layne said.

"The kokanee aren't even hook-nosed and they have no teeth. They are just big, heavy kokanee. I have to believe that, by August, we are going to be looking at some 18- to 19-inch fish."

Where to go

In mid-June and through mid-July you will find concentrations of kokanee in several areas. For the most part, you aren't going to have to hunt down schools of kokanee, though.

Christina Dennis holds a koke she caught in mid-May with guide Danny Layne.

With fishing pressure still fairly low there are dozens of spots on the lake that harbor extensive populations of kokanee, but are overlooked by anglers because there are groups of fish close to the boat launch that fulfill their needs.

"I haven't even looked at the south of the end lake where the plankton bloom usually starts," Layne said.

"I haven't had a chance. There's just a lot of healthy fish near the dam. We don't need to go to the south end. There's a good pod of fish under the 49 Bridge and no one fishes over there. There's nobody there. If you drive by, you won't see any boats fishing, but we know there's a ton of kokanee over there."

Timing the fishery

Kokanee have yet to bunch up in pods, but they are very active and willing to grab lures on most occasions. Keep in mind, when you catch a kokanee it doesn't hurt the fishery to bring them home and eat them.

These larger three-year fish are going to die when they spawn anyway. They were stocked for your fishing enjoyment and your dinner table.

"They won't start to school up until mid-July. They'll be schools right now, but they aren't into the spawning phase where they start gathering up," Layne said.

"I think that by mid-August they'll be clustered." This means you have from now through early August to load up on kokanee. It's a rare occasion to catch a New Melones fish that you can actually feel fight.

"We have 60 days of prime-time nice Melones kokanee," Layne said.

How to

The most important thing when fishing kokanee is finding the depth they are concentrated in. They will move down in the water column throughout the season, but this year Layne doesn't expect them to dive deeper than 100 feet.

At press time kokanee were located in 45 to 55 feet of water. On the other hand, they'll surely be deeper by the time this hits the stands.

"I'd be targeting 45 to 70 feet. There's so much water coming in I don't see the water heating up," Layne said. "I don't think we are going to see them at 120 feet this year."

Unfortunately, kokanee can't be targeted without a pair of downriggers.

You have to have a boat to break into this bite during late spring and summer when kokanee are deeper as well.

Kokanee can be specific with what colors they grab, and according to Layne scent is important too. It's best to come prepared with various colors of spoons to cater to any mood the fish are in.

"This year it's been about pink," Layne said. "The kokanee really like pink."

While this may change, pink hoochies and a pink Apex have been Layne's mainstay, try running them with a 4/0 watermelon dodger or sidekick and a 12-inch leader.

"Jerking that hoochie around will get you a lot of action," Layne said. "I always try and run dodgers when fishing for kokanee. The dodgers get their attention."

Other offerings work well too. You just have to experiment. Small lightweight spoons such as an Ex-Cel or Needlefish work great.

Scent

"I generally always tip a kokanee set-up with corn, but I may not tip a spoon with corn if I'm looking for rainbows or browns," Layne said.

"If you are going to use a spoon may sure to put Gel Krill on it. You don't need corn if you have the Krill scent."

If you are going to use corn, know-hows always soak it in Nectar, according to Layne. The scent plays a big part.

Other tips

Finding the optimal trolling speed is another important factor. If you are running too fast — or too slow — you'll have trouble hooking up. Try trolling between .8 and 1.2 mph.

While kokanee will be easy to find, many anglers make the mistake of leaving a school after they catch a fish from it. Don't do that!

You may need to run through the school several times before you hook up with kokanee, but they will bite if you are persistent.

If they don't bite after running through them several times, change the colors of your lures or add more scent.

"The biggest mistake anglers make is that they get on to fish and they drive right away from them," Layne said. "You don't want to leave fish."

To mark them, have a GPS onboard. Otherwise try marking the area with a floatation device.

You can also follow other boats that are fishing nearby. When the bite is hot, there should be several groups of anglers targeting the kokanee.

"Get a Pepsi bottle or some marking device. If you go through a kokanee and see them on the screen, throw it out so you know where the school is. It's what I call a poor man's GPS. Those kokanee haven't moved. They are feeding in there. Criss-cross it until you are sure those fish aren't going to hit anymore," Layne said.

"I may change dodgers, I may change lures. I may change scent, but I'm not leaving until I'm sure I'm not going to be catching any fish anymore."

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