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New Melones Lake Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Sep 4, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

The Mother Lode’s deep blue vault: New Melones stacks bass on submerged mine country and kokanee over 300-foot water.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Water temp
~73 F est.
Air / High
73 / 77 F
Wind
SW 8 mph

Sources: Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
4
September 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

New Melones Lake lines up a genuinely fishable day across the board. Today brings cloud cover, wind SW around 8 mph, rising pressure near 1014 hPa and a high of 77. Water sits around 73 F for the season (estimated). With the last quarter, the solunar majors run 5:39 AM-7:39 AM and 5:39 PM-7:39 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Smallmouth bassExcellent

Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Rainbow troutExcellent

Prime dry-fly and hopper season. Match the hatch morning and evening; nymph the seams midday.

Largemouth bassGood

Prime chasing season. Work moving baits on points and pockets: spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and squarebills, with a stick worm behind for followers.

CrappieFair

Spawning shallow around cover in spring; jigs under a float near buck brush and laydowns.

Tomorrow: Similar at 80 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Sep 5, 6:30 AMHow this report is made →

Water and weather

Live readings.

No live gauge on this water

Conditions here are modeled from weather, season and the nearest stations. Water readings appear when a USGS gauge is available.

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~73 F now

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp73 F
High / Low77 / 60 F
WindSW 8-13 mph
Pressure1013.8 hPa, rising
Sky / Rain96% cloud, 7%
Sunrise / Sunset06:34 / 19:26
MoonLast Quarter, 50%
Water temp (seasonal)~73 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Next 7 days

Tap a day for the detailed outlook.

Fri Sep 4 · Overcast, 77/60 F, wind 10 mph, rain 7%

Fair or better. A 10 mph breeze puts a working chop on the banks it hits: fish the wind-blown side.

Species guide

The species that matter on New Melones Lake: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Largemouth bass illustration

Largemouth bass

Best: spring and fall

The headline act on most American reservoirs. Relates to cover: docks, brush, grass edges and points. Prime chasing season. Work moving baits on points and pockets: spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and squarebills, with a stick worm behind for followers.

Smallmouth bass illustration

Smallmouth bass

Best: May-Oct

Current and rock. Finds gravel flats, boulders and drop-offs, and fights far above its weight. Peak season. Tubes, jerkbaits and swimbaits around gravel points, boulders and current seams.

Rainbow trout illustration

Rainbow trout

Best: Apr-Jun, Sep-Oct

The workhorse of western rivers: riffles, seams and dry-fly eats. Prime dry-fly and hopper season. Match the hatch morning and evening; nymph the seams midday.

Crappie illustration

Crappie

Best: Nov-Mar

Brush piles, bridge pilings and standing timber. The fish fry favorite. Spawning shallow around cover in spring; jigs under a float near buck brush and laydowns.

When to come: the New Melones Lake calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Largemouth bass
Smallmouth bass
Rainbow trout
Crappie
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 73 F (estimated, not a reading).

4050607080JanMarMayJulSepNovSep, ~73 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks New Melones Lake today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Sep 3

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 80 F, wind to 9 mph.

Wed, Sep 2

5/5 Excellent. Go now. Everything lines up: pressure, wind and light are in your favor. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 79 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Sep 1

4/5 Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up. Smallmouth bass led the card at excellent. High of 75 F, wind to 10 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used to send you this water's report each week. No spam, ever.

Before you go

License

California requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

California license. Standard black bass limits, kokanee counted within trout limits: check current CDFW rules.

Access

Glory Hole and Tuttletown ramps (Bureau of Reclamation recreation areas), New Melones Marina rentals.

About this water

A 12,500-acre Reclamation reservoir on the Stanislaus River, Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, California, in Gold Rush country.

Fishing New Melones Lake: the full guide

Gold-country reservoir

New Melones floods the Stanislaus River canyon with 12,500 acres of clear Sierra-foothill water: one of California’s largest and, quietly, one of its best all-around fisheries. The flooded oaks, mine tailings and river channel of the old canyon hold largemouth and spotted bass in numbers, the cold depths carry a serious kokanee program plus holdover rainbows and browns, and the crappie schools around the submerged timber produce the slabs that fill Angels Camp freezer bags each spring.

Bass on the drop

Spring pushes bass shallow onto the flats and flooded brush of the Carson and Angels arms: jigs, spinnerbaits and wacky rigs do standard work. The rest of the year is a graph game: spots and largemouth suspend off the steep main-lake points and follow shad balls: drop-shot and spoon them at 25-60 feet. Night fishing in summer around the marinas and rocky banks beats the heat and the wakeboats. Ten-pound largemouth show every season.

Kokanee and the cold story

Kokanee troll the thermocline from April (25-40 feet) into August (60-plus): dodgers with pink hoochies at 1.2 mph, and the fish run bigger than most California lakes in good cycles. Rainbows and browns hang the river arms in winter: trolled minnow plugs near the surface when the water cools. The reservoir yo-yos dramatically between wet and dry years: the shoreline moves, the fish just follow the channel.

Two-county logistics

Glory Hole (Angels Camp side) and Tuttletown recreation areas hold the main ramps, campgrounds and the marina: low-water ramps extend at both. Houseboating is big: anglers do well renting slips midweek. Summer heat tops 100: fish dawn, dusk and dark. Angels Camp, Sonora and Columbia State Historic Park frame the trip in Gold Rush scenery.

Common questions

What makes New Melones special for bass?

Depth plus cover: flooded timber and mine-era structure over a clear, food-rich lake grows both numbers and true trophies, with far less pressure than the Delta or Clear Lake.

When is kokanee season?

April through August, deepening with the thermocline: mid-summer fish are the fattest. Cycles vary: check recent reports for size expectations.

How does the water level affect fishing?

Swings of 100-plus feet between years relocate the banks, not the fish: follow the old river channel and the bite stays consistent.

Is fishing good at New Melones Lake right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Don Pedro Reservoir18 miNew Hogan Lake21 miMokelumne River27 miLake McClure29 miLake Camanche31 miLake Amador37 mi
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