10 June 24 , 2022 MAP FEATURE
VOL . 41 • ISS . 10
Don Pedro Lake features great fishing for rainbow trout , king salmon and kokanee salmon , as well as largemouth , spotted and smallmouth bass , crappie , bluegill and channel catfish .
Photo courtesy of Don Pedro Recreation Agency
Stockton Grandfather and Grandson Experience Epic Salmon and Trout Fishing at Don Pedro
SLA GRANGE - Henry Sanchez of Stockton and his grandson , Christian Valencia , experienced a fastpaced day of salmon and trout fishing at Lake Don Pedro on the Tuolumne River on Saturday , June 4 , that they will remember for many years to come . They were fishing with Monte Smith of Gold Country Sportfishing on the Mother Lode reservoir when they landed 9 kokanee and one 2-pound king salmon , along with three rainbows , by 8:45 a . m . “ We haven ’ t caught as many as kokanee that quickly this season as we did on that trip ,” said Smith . “ We trolled Pro Troll Apex lures in watermelon and purple colors , tipped with white corn , behind Mack ’ s and RMT dodgers in silver and pink .” “ The fish were scattered at 50 to 70 feet deep ,” he noted . “ They were not in the usual places like Middle Bay and Fleming Bay where they normally hold this year . We trolled at 1-1 / 2 mph .” After that , the anglers switched off to finish off their limits while using custom homemade spoons in silver and orange , silver and blue and silver and green at 40 to 60 feet deep . “ The fish were scattered out there in open water on the windward side of the bank ,” said Smith . “ In addition to landing limits of salmon , we also caught two more kings , one weighing 3 pounds and the other weighing 5.2 pounds , our biggest Don Pedro king to date this year .” The two anglers and captain landed a total of 3 kings , 9 kokanee in the
13 to 15-inch range and 10 rainbows by 12:30 p . m . Two of the rainbows weighed 2.5 pounds each . “ It was a cloudy , overcast day and I think that helped ,” added Smith .
“ The salmon were up at 40 to 50 feet deep , which is relatively shallow when the surface water temperature is 73 degrees .” The trip by the Stockton grandfather and grandson team wasn ’ t the only trip by Smith that has produced top-notch action lately for three species – kokanee salmon , king salmon and rainbow trout . On June 1 , four people fishing aboard the boat with Simith caught 12 kokanee , 16 rainbows , and one king weighing 2 pounds , while targeting kokanee . “ The lake is stuffed with threadfin shad ,” observed Smith . “ The rainbows and kings we are catching are filled with shad . Trout fishing is consistently outstanding .” “ The kokanee are hard to pinpoint , so fishing for them has been a bit of a challenge . Fishing will get better when the weather stabilizes . The fish are just starting to school up . The rising lake level and the wind has put fish in way different areas than they are normally ,” he advised . Despite the solid kokanee fishing reported by anglers at Don Pedro in the weeks before the Kokanee
Christian Valencia landed this gorgeous rainbow trout while trolling with Captain Monte Smith at Don Pedro Lake .
Photo courtesy of Gold Country Sportfishing
Power Derby , the fishing proved pretty challenging for most everyone as the anglers endured the hot weather . “ Those that managed to find and get the fish to bite caught some impressive kokanee with the top fish and team turning in a 17.13 ” 1.76 lb . fish in their 3-fish bag ,” according to Kokanee Power . “ There were a lot of trout turned in and a few kings up to 4.45 lbs .” Dale Gibbons and Jason Tidwell won first place in the adult kokanee division with a weight of 4.49 pounds . Doug Philpott and Naz placed second with 4.28 pounds , while Will Moore and Parker Moore placed third with 3.87 pounds . On most reservoirs in the state , anglers usually target one species of trout or salmon when they go fishing . Unlike many waters , Lake Don Pedro ,, is renowned around the state for variety catches of rainbow trout , , kokanee salmon king salmon and occasional brown trout that anglers can catch on the same trip . The kokanee being caught now are a mixture of naturally spawned fish and those planted by the CDFW as fingerlings . Don Pedro features naturally spawning king salmon and kokanee populations , but the CDFW plants juveniles of both species in the lake to supplement the wild populations . The CDFW stocked 20,034 kokanee in Don Pedro in 2021 and 49,997 in 2022 . Less fish are planted in Don Pedro than many other lakes because the plants are regarded as supplemental with such good natural spawning conditions for kokaee found in the Tuolumne River .