The Mother Lode's Lake Don Pedro hosts one of the most diverse arrays of salmonids of any California reservoir. On one trip, anglers can bag rainbow trout, brown trout, king salmon and kokanee salmon, as well as black bass, channel catfish and crappie.

The lake has a surprisingly large amount of natural reproduction by kokanee and king salmon. The late Phil Johnson, the founder of Kokanee Power, discovered the existence of a healthy, self-reproducing population of kokanee in 1992. The fish were the progeny of a plant by the Department of Fish and Game in 1981.

In 1992, Johnson landed seven kokanee over 4 pounds, although fish that size haven't been reported on the lake since. The fish continue to be some of the heftiest, fattest kokanee found in California, with fish in the 17 to 18 inch class common most years.

A remarkable king salmon fishery also thrives in Don Pedro. DFG biologists originally thought that the fish couldn't reproduce naturally in the lake, but the fish did indeed spawn in the Tuolumne River during the mid-nineties after rainbow trout and king salmon plants were discontinued by Moccasin Creek Fish Hatchery to combat a copepod infestation.

Plants of kokanee and king salmon by the DFG supplement the natural stocks. Since 2002, the DFG has stocked approximately 10,000 kokanee in the reservoir each year, since anglers and biologists were worried that larger plants would overwhelm the lake's naturally produced population.

The DFG stocked Don Pedro with 100,000 king salmon in 2004 and will stock another 100,000 fish in the lake this year, according to Rod Browning, chairman of the California Inland Fisheries Foundation, Inc. (CIFFI).

Bruce Hamby of Sierra Sportfishing and I targeted the lake's king salmon on Saturday, March 26. Fishing on the previous day was tough, probably due to a vacillating barometer caused by weather fronts moving through the area "A friend reported catching just one salmon - a 4 pounder - all day," he stated.

We got on the water at 6:30 a.m. and planned to stop fishing early because I had to attend barbecue in Modesto in the afternoon. Hamby began setting up the rods, putting a "rolled" threadfin shad, double hooked with a treble hook in the head and a single hook in the tail, on the end of each leader. Above the leader, he put a plastic rudder to prevent line twist.

"I got a new St. Croix Rod and I would like to see you catch a fish on that," he stated.

After we put the lines in the water in the main body near the dam, it wasn't long until we hooked up a fish near a line of buoys. As luck would have it, the St. Croix rod started bouncing as a king took the bait. I popped the line off the downrigger and began fighting a good-sized fish.

After the fish made several runs, I got the fish near the boat and Hamby netted it. I pulled out the measuring stick and the chinook measured 20-1/2 inches long. "That's a good fish to start the day with," Hamby said.

For the next several hours, we trolled the lake around the dam, School House Point and Fleming Meadows launch ramp. We experienced a slow but steady bite, hooking a total of seven fish and landing six salmon ranging from 12 to 14 inches and one beautifully colored 17 inch holdover rainbow. We hooked four of the fish during a brief flurry around 11 a.m.

Although we fished a variety of depths, we landed all of the fish while trolling at 59 to 60 feet deep. Although Hamby also likes to use Apex lures and Pro-Troll E-chip lures for kings, rolled shad provide the most consistent action here.

King salmon offer good action year round - James Pagani of Sparklefish Lures has caught good numbers of them in December and January - but the spring and summer are the top times.

On the same day, Dan and Christina Kistler from Oakdale limited out on rainbows while fishing off Jenkins Hill with Danny Lane of Fish'n Dan's Guide Service. They worked the top 15' with Uncle Larry's Mad Cow and Green Tiger spinners, tipped with pieces of crawlers.

Kokanee salmon at Lake Don Pedro are more seasonal than the kings, providing the top action from April through early August. "The kokanee show up earlier than in other lakes, but they stop biting earlier than any other lake and nobody quite knows why," said Hamby.

Sometime in August, the mature kokanee will suddenly disappear from the lake's main body and apparently move towards the river to spawn. Once they leave the main body, they are generally no longer caught anywhere else in the lake or the river inlet.

"One day the fish will be concentrated and you'll catch limits," said Hamby. "Then the next day you can't find any kokanee at all."

When the bite shuts off, anglers don't catch any of the smaller kokanee - the two year olds - either. This disappearing act is one Don Pedro's unsolved mysteries.

Early in the season, you can nail the kokanee at 30 to 35 feet deep, according to Hamby. Then the fish will move down to 90 to 110 feet deep by the beginning of August. A variety of lures, including Wee Tads, Sockeye Slammers, Goldeneyes, Wedding Rings, Koke-A-Nuts and kokanee bugs behind dodgers, work here.

Kokanee fishing can sizzle during the heat of the summer at Don Pedro. "We caught limits of kokanee before 8 a.m. on some trips last year," Hamby noted.

Rainbow and brown trout fishing is also very good. The Moccasin Creek Fish Hatchery stocks approximately 52,000 catchable rainbows weighing 26,000 pounds and 20,000 browns each year. Trollers use a variety of lures such as Sparklefish, Hum Dingers, Cripplures, Apexes, Pro-Troll E-chip lures and Rebels.

Fishing pressure for trout and salmon was very light on the day we fished, although we saw dozens of boats trying for bass. Hal Karam of Denair and Matt Fresh caught nine bass, including eight largemouths and one smallmouth, while fishing plastic worms. The top fish, a largemouth, went 3 pounds.

Don Pedro is a very popular lake for bass tournaments, with over 80 tournaments held there each year. The DFG stocked Florida-strain largemouth in Don Pedro in 1980. The bass grow big and chunky, due to the abundance of forage including threadfin shad and kokanee and king salmon.

Other fish found in Don Pedro include crappie, bluegill and channel catfish. During the spring, the lake provides some of the top crappie action in the Mother Lode.

The present shoreline of Don Pedro was created in 1971 when New Don Pedro Dam was completed. Prior to then, a concrete dam built in 1923 backed the Tuolumne River some 1.5 miles upstream from the new dam's location, creating a much smaller lake than the present one.

Lake Don Pedro Facts

Location and size: the City of San Francisco, the Turlock Irrigation District and the Modesto Irrigation District built New Don Pedro Dam, an earth and rock fill dam. The lake, filled in 1971, rises 585 feet above the old streambed of the Tuolumne River, creating a maximum lake level/elevation of 830 feet above sea level. Don Pedro has 13,000 surface acres of water and when full.

Management: The Lake Don Pedro Recreation Agency manages the recreational facilities and collects a $6.00 per vehicle per day Park Entrance Fee. This fee is for each Boat, each personal watercraft and each vehicle at the rate of $6.00 per day.

Marinas: There are two marinas on the lake, Lake Don Pedro and Moccasin Point. The Lake Don Pedro Marina facilities include houseboat, ski boat and wave runner rentals, a boat launch ramp, restrooms with showers, a swimming lagoon, an amphitheater, softball & volleyball facilities, group picnic areas, bank fishing and a Trading Post for ice, snacks, groceries and propane.

Camping: There are a total of 550 campsites among the three recration areas, Blue Oaks and Fleming Meadows on the West Shore and Moccasin Point ton the West Shore. The Blue Oaks Campground is located on the west shore, near Lake Don Pedro Marina. There are 87 trailer pads with a dump station and 172 campsites (50 are walk-in). The RV Campsites are located in the Fleming Meadows and Moccasin Point Campgrounds. Facilities include water; sewer and electricity hookups, a paved parking pad, table, and barbeque grill at each site, plus access to hot showers in developed restrooms. For camping information, rates and reservations, please visit: www.donpedrolake.com. Lake Don Pedro Recreation Agency: 209-852-2396

Boat ramp: Boat ramps are available at the Blue Oaks Campground, Fleming Meadows and Moccasin Point Marina.

Fishing and facilities information, call Lake Don Pedro Marina, (209) 852-2369, Moccasin Point Marina, (209) 989-2206, or access the Don Pedro Recreation Agency on the web: http://www.donpedrolake.com/marinas.html.

Fishing Guides: Several fishing guides offer trout and salmon trips at Lake Don Pedro. Call Bruce Hamby of Sierra Sportfishing, (209) 599-2023, www.sierrasportfishing.com; Monte Smith of Gold Country Sportfishing, (209) 848-2746, www.goldcountrysportfishing.com; and Danny Layne of Fish'n Dan's Guide Service, Twain Harte, (209) 586-2383.