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By Dan Bacher

Lake Don Pedro, nourished by the cold, clear waters of the Tuolumne River, is a lake of surprising contrasts. During the summer, it becomes a virtual maelstrom of activity as thousands of water skiers, jet skiers, swimmers and anglers descend on the lake's launch ramps and marinas. However, during the winter and spring, this lake is a totally different place, a tranquil location where a fishermen can troll for trout or salmon with few other anglers to compete with.

"It's amazing how little fishing pressure Don Pedro receives this time of year in spite of being such a good trout and salmon fishery," said Mike Graf of Sparklefish Lures as we trolled the Moccasin Point area in his Gregor boat on March 24. We did not see another boat fishing for trout all day long, although we saw two bass boats speeding around the reservoir to try their luck.

Don Pedro features one of the most diverse arrays of salmonids, including rainbow, brown and brook trout and king and kokanee salmon, found in any California lake. However, it is the reservoir's large rainbow trout and kokanee that offer the most consistent action throughout the season. The lake, situated at 880 feet in elevation in the Mother Lode foothills near La Grange, has apparently recovered from the copepod infestation of trout and salmon that took place here earlier this decade. The DFG stocked only brook and brown trout during the infestation, since these fish aren't susceptible to these parasites like rainbow trout and king salmon are.

Rainbow plants resumed two years ago, resulting in a big rebound in the trout fishery, while the kokanee population has continued its reputation as the best self-self sustaining fishery of its kind in California. The San Joaquin Fish Hatchery is planting the lake with 25,000 to 30,000 pounds of brook trout this year, while Moccasin Creek Fish Hatchery is stocking 40,000 pounds of rainbows. The DFG also planted 20,000 subcatchable browns and 60,000 fingerling rainbows in the lake last fall, according to Jim Groh at Moccasin Creek Fish Hatchery.

After hearing of the reports of good fishing at Don Pedro by Graf and his partner, James Pagani, I finally made a trolling adventure to the lake. On his previous trip, Graf and a friend caught 15 rainbows in two hours while trolling with Goldeneye and Sparklefish Lures.

Unfortunately, we picked a day when a storm front was moving in. Before I got to Moccasin Point Marina at 9 a.m., Graf had already caught a 20 inch rainbow on a Goldeneye lure and a 13 incher on a blue Sparklefish while trolling at 50 feet deep.

After I got in the boat, we went into the Tuolumne River arm past the marina.The action was tough, but we managed to nail some quality fish on silver Goldeneyes. I caught an 18 inch rainbow with a girth of 12 inches, at a depth of 60 feet, and a 13 inch rainbow at 50 feet. Graf landed a 17 inch rainbow, as well as losing three fish, including a large kokanee that came off right by the boat.

Although we didn't get limits, our day's total was five fat, chunky trout ranging from 13 to 20 inches. "It's strange to find the fish this deep this time of year, but it must have something to do with the weather," he commented.

The trout fishing is mainly a spring, winter and fall affair at Don Pedro. During the late spring and summer, the kokanee begin hitting in good numbers. Graf found top-notch kokanee action on the Goldeneye lure last summer.

The DFG last planted kokanee in the reservoir in 1981. The fish now spawn in the Tuolumne River every fall, maintaining a naturally-reproducing population of some of the largest kokanee in California. Phil Johnson of Merced, who specialized in guided kokanee trips at Don Pedro, caught an amazing seven kokanee over 4 pounds here in 1992.

Kokanee fishing starts to improve at the end of April and lasts through late August or early September. When it slows down, it completely shuts down for the season.

"It'll blow your mind how fast the bite ends," he said. "For example, we caught our first limit of kokanee last year on April 26 and limited out every day through August 28. On the following day, we caught four kokanee and saw just a few fish on the graph. On the next day, we didn't catch a single fish or see any on the screen, even though we trolled all over the lake."

He usually starts trolling in April at 25 to 35 feet deep and goes down to 125 feet deep by August, fishing in the productive kokanee "holes" at Middle Bay and Jenkins Hill. Good lures to use include Sockeye Slammers, #1 Needlefish, Apex Lures, Koke-A-Nuts, Cripplures , Wedding Rings, Wee Tads and Kokanee Bugs in a variety of colors. Johnson tips the hooks with white corn soaked in Pro-Cure oils. Don Pedro produces kokanee averaging 1.5 to 2.5 pounds by August.

Black bass are another mainstay of the fishery. Although fishing has been tough the last few months because of low water temperatures, the action is expected to bust loose this spring.

You have a chance of catching a monster bass at Don Pedro, since the reservoir was planted with Florida-strain largemouth in 1980. For example, anglers caught three lunker largemouths weighing 10-1/2, 12 and 15 pounds this March. Largemouth bass predominate in the fishery, but smallmouth bass can also be productive at times.

Channel catfish, black crappie and bluegill also thrive in the lake's relatively rich waters, which feature good populations of plankton and threadfin shad. Fishing for all three species picks up in the spring and summer months.

The City of San Francisco and the Turlock and Modesto Irrigation districts completed construction of New Don Pedro Dam in 1971. The lake, when full, features 13,000 surface acres and 160 miles of shoreline.

Don Pedro has three recreation areas - Fleming Meadows and Blue Oaks on the west shore and Moccasin Point on the east shore. All three areas have launch ramps, picnic facilities and camping. A total of 550 campsites are available. The lake offers two full service marinas, one at Fleming Meadows and the other at Moccasin Point.

For general information, call the Lake Don Pedro Recreation Agency (209) 852-2396, Lake Don Pedro Marina (209) 852-2369 and Moccasin Point Marina (209) 989-2206. Black bass fishing information on the lake is available by calling Totem's Bait and Tackle in Oakdale (209) 847-6505.

September 13, 1999

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