New Melones

We're camping at New Melones this weekend (Acorn Campground) and will probably bring the 'yak. Any tips or tricks? I've only driven by. Most reports I've seen say to go up the arms, stay away from the main lake unless you want to become a speed bump for the wake boarders...

 

Boats have been hammering the kokanee recently with reports of early, easy and fast limits for much of the past few weeks. All of the reports I've seen indicated that action to be near the spillway 30 - 40' down. Good luck!

+1 My pops limited at the spillway last week. Launch Glory Hole point and cross the main body to the spillway area.

The tuttle town launch will give you access to Rose Island and/or the dam.

There is a hand launch with a long hill between water and parking at the highway forty nine bridge, this would be a good launch if you have wheels, are fit, and wanted to try upriver.

Good luck!

+1 My pops limited at the spillway last week. Launch Glory Hole point and cross the main body to the spillway area.

So, do this?

We have a campsite on the water in Acorn/Glory Hole, so launching is easy (assuming there is water to launch into, not a 50 ft drop off...)--bigger issue will be convincing Paddler #2 that the spillway is beautiful and worth the trip 

I will take the wheeled cart, just in case.

Edit: just checked water levels. I think whatever I looked at last week was outdated. Definitely taking the cart...

 

Nope, that’s the dam, go from t town if you head for the dam. Spillway is further north on the same shoreline.

Another thought. There are multiple schools of konanee and they aren’t always in the same part of the lake simultaneously.

If your paddle partner balks at the paddle out to the spillway, try looking for your own school to target. Black Bart cove, Carson cove, the glory hole saddle, rose island, and other areas not correlated with landmarks hold fish too. Many of these are closer to launch facilities than the spillway.

May be an easier sell, and a fun day of exploring to try out another option. The folks at glory hole sports can help you locate some of these spots and others on the map, and may turn you on to a good bite in a better locale

To get you started..
Yellow circle is black Bart cove, the open water between g hole point and bb cove holds a few submerged islands, these have held fish in the past. Same with the saddle over glory hole point also near the yellow circle.

Blue circle is Carson Cove, this area will hold large trout as well, speedy shiners, hootchies and spinners, rolled shad will all catch trout.
Kokanee can be found here as well sometimes

Black circle is rose island, typically the southeast side and west side get the action.

I’ve always tried to orient my fishing lanes over structure at NM. Islands, submerged points, anything that transitions from deep cool water to shallower warmer stuff. Also, listen for boat chatter on the radio, you’ll overhear a few helpful details if you listen or ask what’s working.

I just want to say that the map you see is not really valid anymore. I went to NM last month searching for crappie in the arms. The lake level was down between around 100' from last year it seems. The old crappie spots are now on dry land. I guess it won't matter if you're chasing koke in the deep.

Awesome. Thanks everybody!

No fish reports from me, especially at New Melones. Turns out Paddler #2 actually reserved us a campsite at New Hogan, which we discovered just before sunset while driving around New Melones, looking for a campground that did not seem to exist. 

So, I threw some plugs and plastics at New Hogan and didn't catch anything. I saw one little bass look vaguely interested in a Rapala that was about two inches shorter than he was, but that was it. Guys in the big glittery bass boats said fishing had been slow--plenty of baitfish and nobody up the food chain was hungry enough to make a mistake. Water level was waaaaay down. We drove up to the Pardee dam, and that was full up.

All of it was still better than going to work.

That sounds like a trip that will not soon be forgotten! Thanks for the report.