Hi Everyone!
I have been fishing just not posting anything I guess its the cold weather making me lazy.
We have been fishing Tulloch and the fishing has not been that great, we are catching fish just not that many to take photos of and some of the clients have been camera shy so not a big deal.
They did plant the lake with some Brood stock fish, that means there are some huge fish swimming around the lake, I mean Rainbows and Browns in the Six to Ten pound Range, now we have caught browns out of Melones, Pedro and McClure, but Tulloch has just not given up one for us YET!.
We have been to Pedro and caught some nice trout there and I have heard that the shore fishing at Melones has been producing some very nice fish for shore anglers, so i will be heading over there very soon.
I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
I will be having a booth at the Sacramento I.S.E. show in January from the 21st Thru the 24Th so stop by and say hi and book a trip as I will probably be having some sort of special running on fishing trips.
Thanks Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishng

Okay how about an update on the fishing!
We have been fishing Tulloch with good results, some small planters and some good sized fish up to three pounds have been hitting our offerings on our last trips here.
Everyday at this lake is not the same as the day before, so you can not get stuck in a rut and expect the fish to always cooperate as we experienced on Tuesday we did catch fish , however the fish were small planters as we tried many different setups and speeds and locations, this lake can be a tough lake to fish sometimes.
The water temps are around 56 degrees and warming to only about 59 degrees at the warmest part of the day, the water is very clear so that means the fish will be spooky and alot of line out is a must.
Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi All,
Okay I know its been awhile since I posted any fishing news.
I went back to Don Pedro on October the 30th, I just had to try some differant things, we did not get skunked, but boy was it close.
The first indication a lake is dead is when you pull into the parking lot on a friday Morning and there is only two other boats in the lot, so I will not be going back here anytime soon, or until we get some cold and wet weather to turn this lake over!
Now for some better news. A trip with two great guys that have been reading my reports for years and has been wanting to fish with for sometime, so the best place to go was Tulloch on
Tuesday the 3Rd of November, I picked up my clients at the north shore dock and instantly started fishing and it was not long before a side plainer rod that got hit really hard, but ended up not sticking!then it went quiet for sometime as I was changing many things and depths and finally we put fish number one in the boat and then another and then quiet again!,I could not take this excitement any longer and changed all the rods to completely different setups and a new location and depths and we instantly we started getting bit and we stuck to the one spot and changing lures and the next thing I know is we have 8 fish in the boat and we lost a couple of fish and missed one or two, so a grim looking day turned into a good day after all.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hello.
Well we took a trip to Don Pedro on the 8TH of October, and the fishing was pretty good we boated six nice trout to Four pounds and the smallest was well over two pounds.
Then on Monday the 12Th of October we had a trip with clients and the fishing was ugly, we only boated one trout, yes just one!!!!!!, thought maybe it was the pressure change from the upcoming storm that was coming in Monday night, so then we had another trip back to Pedro on Thursday the 15TH of October, again it was very ugly we had two fish on and lost them both, so that's a big fat zero!at least for the trout we were after, however we did catch a few small salmon, so technically it was not a zero,
I think this lake has been hit pretty hard and the fish have seen alot of different things, and their has been alot of fish taken from the lake.
I think it time to give this lake a rest for awhile.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi All.
I know its been awhile since the last post, so here it goes.
Don Pedro is still producing trout, HOWEVER it has gotten alittle tougher, and if any of you have been there lately you have probably noticed the increase in anglers,well that is to be expected.
I mean who wouldn't like to the chance to catch trout from Two to Four pounds, I certainly do and so do my clients!, but if you are not planning on eating them, then just take some photos and release them, one can only eat so many trout and they are not as plentiful as the kokanee.
Okay enough about that, and sorry if I Offended anyone that's what the fish are their for and we have not seen fish like this an years at Don Pedro.
I was their on Saturday with clients and Oh Dan bacher from the Fish Sniffer tagged along for the ride and to do a story on the Trout fishing and the King Salmon and Kokanee in the lake.
So look for the story soon.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

We made atrip to Don Pedro with client Tommy Farr on Monday the 14Th,
The fishing again started out somewhat slow, but not as slow as last trip.
The day was filled with lots of rain and the wind was not to bad.
The first fish to hit the deck was a King just under two pounds, then we caught a small king and when I mean small it was about six inches long, I am thinking fish and game might have planted the lake with kings because we caught Seven of these small fish.
Then we finally caught what we were fishing for, a very fat Three pound Rainbow, as the day progressed we would boat a trout here and there.
We ended the day with nine trout and one king as I also got to real my limit in also.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Okay, are you ready for the Don Pedro fishing report?
Well we went to Don Pedro today Thursday the the 10Th day of September.
The fishing started out reallllly slow with no bites for at least one and a half hours until finally we had a great take down on shad, the fish was Stripping line like crazy turned out to be a three pound Small mouth Bass, so back in the pond it went, what a great fight!
Then it finally happened we were hooked up again, again the fish was stripping line, making long runs thought it was another Bass, boy was we wrong it turned out to be a Three and Half pound Rainbow, what a awesome fish, it put up a great fight!
Then we had a double and only got one of them, we boated a small King and we lost a very nice Trout.
We caught a King that went over three pounds, the biggest Trout weighed Four pounds, these are so fat that they have been gorging themselves on shad for several months.
Then we had a trout hit and it came straight up to the surface and kept going it came out of the water at least two feet, boy sure would have been nice to have a video of that!
This should be a great fall and winter fishery, if you are interested in catching some very nice Trout give me a call.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

I will be hitting Don Pedro this week as I have received some great news on the Trout.
From what I am getting Trout from Two to Four pounds are being caught and some very nice Salmon are also being caught.
Remember back this winter and Spring those nice fat Rainbows that we caught around the two pound class! guess what they have been eating very well and gaining weight.
So check back soon!
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

We made the trip to McClure after that great day of fishing with my kids and we started putting fish in the boat in just a short while with Kings and then the bite we had going turned off like someone hit the light switch.
I worked my tail off for the fish we caught, we missed several hits on shad that we out for the Kings, and had a few short strikes on the koke gear.
We boated Six Kings on this day, if every bite would have produced fish we would have had at least 12 fish or so.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

I took my two girls to McClure one day to prefish for a trip I had coming up, we got started around the 7:00 o'clock hour and we instantly started catching fish, we had Four rods out with dropper lines on three of the rods we caught salmon from 85 to 110 feet deep, I had kokanee gear out, but they would not hit the gear.
We did catch kokanee on the dropper lines from 35 to 50 feet deep and nice fish they were.
I mean the biggest koke was a solid 17 inch fish and the other two were 16 inch fish and very fat!
We ended the day with around noon with 12 fish a mix bag of Kokes, bows and Kings a great day of fishing.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Okay since I have some time Lets see if we can get caught up on some posts.

Since the kokanee are pretty much done for the season we have been chasing Stripers at Hogan and we have been doing Okay it has not been great for some reason the fishing is way off from last year.
We have caught some Six pounders this year and we have also caught many smaller fish and I mean fish around the 17 inch class, remember you can keep these smaller fish at Hogan.
The lake is pretty low, but you can still launch a boat.
Lets hope its a very wet Winter
We have also been to Rio Vista a few times chasing the Stripers with pretty good luck.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi All,

Well I know its been some time since I have posted anything, so here it goes!

The last trip we made for Kokanee at Melones was on the 4Th of August with Three clients and things were pretty tuff, the fish were there but not in the biting mood.

I was telling my clients about having Banana's on a boat were bad luck and at this point we had not caught a fish yet.They assured me that know one had any Banana's with them and then one of the guys open his lunch box and guess what was laying on top, you guessed it two Banana's! so without even missing a beat he threw them over board, now you can probably guess what happened next, it was not even Three minutes and we started catching fish although the fishing was not that great by any means we fished from 80 to 130 feet deep and it took us until 1:30 to catch Thirteen fish.

I know the fishing has gotten really tough, but you can probably catch a few fish but it it would take more than alot of work to catch just a few kokes, People have called and wanted to go, but I tell them that the fishing is not very good for the kokes, but we will go if they want too and they really appreciate the honesty and will be back.
This was one of the best kokanee seasons we have had in some time although the fish were not very big like last years fish, but the bite was incredible, we could not keep the rods in the water most of the time, and everyone got spoiled on how fast and furious the fishing was.
Looking forward to a much bigger and better season next year!!!!
Thanks for a great season!
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

I was back at Hogan again chasing Stripers on Friday the 25Th of July with client Tommy Farr.
Action was somewhat slower on this day but we still managed seven Stripers to the boat, however we let four of the seven go back as they were small fish around 17 inches.
The Three fish that we kept were Three, Four and just under Five pounds, very nice fish and we lost two other good fish also on this day, oh and we did catch a small mouth bass that went back in the pond.
Lots of boat traffic around the noon hour so we called it a day.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi all,
We fished Melones on Tuesday the 21St with W.O.N. Writer Bill Karr.
We Started out south of Rose Island and quickly found the fish have moved North, as we got closer to ship wreck Island we stared putting fish in the boat as it did not take long to fill our limits and a story for Western Outdoor News!
So look for the story soon in your copy of W.ON.
We had many fish come off half way to the boat.
I also have to say it was not me who caught the 19 pound brown trout out of Huntington lake,
I sure would love to catch a brown that big, as I would probably have to buy it from my clients to have mounted on my wall.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Okay, so how about another report on Stripers at Hogan.
We made another trip to Hogan for Stripers again on Tuesday the 14Th of July, I did not even get the third rod out and it was fish on! okay so we got that fish in the boat a Three pounder and then it was fish on again only this time it was a Six pound Striper very nice fish that put up a great fight.
Then we lost one fish and then another and it was not long and we boated one around Four pounds.
We ended the day with six Stripers in the boat, we did let one go as it was only about 14 inches, and we lost a total of four fish, a good day of fishing for Stripers.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Okay, I am back with an update on Stripers at Hogan!
Went on July the 9th in search of Stripers and it did not take long to get our first hook up and first fish in the boat, a nice Four pounder, then only about ten minutes went by and another solid hook up and fish on, but only to come undone a few seconds later.
This is the way the day was going, we had plenty of hook ups, but we only landed two fish today, we should have boated eight fish! but hey thats fish'n, the biggest fish weighed in at five pounds two ounces.
Did not really see any boils today, only a couple that did not last long.
So I think its time to start fishing the lake for Stripers.
If you are interested give me a call and lets go.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

The kokanee fishing at New Melones continues be great!
The fish are starting to get into a pattern as they will bite like crazy for the first few hours of the early morning and then shut down for an hour or so and start up again.
Limits were no problem for clients this week!
I will be heading to Hogan this next week to see if I can catch some Stripers as I have several people wanting to fish for these hard fighting fish, so stay tuned for updates!
Have a happy fourth of July!
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi everyone,,
We had an amazing week this week at Melones!
This week we had four trips to the lake with great results that produced limits for everyone.
On Thursday we finally caught a kokanee that measured 16 1/2 inches long and I measured it three times, just to make sure, so there is some larger fish in the lake just not very many, what a nice fish.
Kokanee power hosted a two day derby at the lake this weekend, and i got word that a 17 1/4 inch kokanee was brought in.
The action remains Hot! for cacthing these fiesty and very tasty kokanee
See ya on the water.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi Everyone.
We were out again Today Friday the 19Th of June with six people, so it took two boats for all these guys.
I had Joe Aksamit of Joe fish Guide Service help me out he had Three Clients and I had Three clients on board we were fishing by 6:30 and the fun started immediately our boat could not loose fish and Joe's boat could not land a fish, as the time went by everyone was having a great time we missed several hits lost a few here and there and when we get to the last fish we need you think that would be easy WRONG!
We lost six fish in a row (but hey that's fishing) before we land number 15 and Joe's boat finished at the same time.
Lots of fun and laughs for all today.
What a great time to be on the water, as there is plenty of fish for all.
Check out the photos of 30 fish caught in just four hours!!!!!
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Well we were out again today with clients the 17Th day of June and the action was non stop again!
Today we had a several doubles and one Triple.
I am not even having to change lures or dodgers through out the morning, what ever I have on the rods first thing in the morning has been working out great!
Lots of people fishing and plenty of fish for everyone.
See ya on the water and good Luck and be safe out their
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

What an awesome fishery New Melones is this year!
We had clients Kenny Dickens and Tommy Farr out today the 16Th of June and the fishing is just awesome!!!!
I know it may seem like a broken record, but the fish are still 40 to 60 feet deep for the most part and I am starting to see fish around the 80 foot mark on the sonar and some schools as shallow as 35 feet.
The usual spots are still producing fish, and we tried some different locations today that also produced fish, so it is a good idea to keep moving to keep the fish interested in your presentations!
Again if you are interested in booking a trip especially with the kids now is a great time to get them out fishing and getting in on some great action!
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

We had a great turn out at The Seminar at Glory Hole sports this past Sunday.
Now lets get to the latest fishing trip we had, it was on Saturday the 13Th at Melones.
Met the clients at a little before 6:00, got the boat ready and had the lines in the water about 6:20 and it was game on!!!!!
By 7:00 we had 10 fish in the boat and had missed several and lost a few, and by 7:30 We had 14 and guess what! we have a double hook up.
So we had to be very careful and was able to let it go.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Man can you windy!!!!!!
That's what it was today at Melones the 10Th of June.
Decided to take my kids and the dog! out fishing for the day and when we arrived at the lake the wind was really blowing, so we got the boat ready in hopes of the wind calming down, but that was not going to happen!
We put the boat in the water and headed out to ship wreck Island and Oh did I say the wind was blowing!!!!It was challenging to keep the boat in a straight line, on the first pass we boat Five and missed several hits, then headed back down wind to the tip of Rose Island and got it turned around headed up for another pass and the next thing you know we have twelve in the boat and you know what happens next, go figure we only need three more and the wind finally decides to lay down, so we put Three more kokes in the boat and headed for the cleaning station and by this time it was 9:50.sure would have been a great day without the wind.
If you have not fished this lake yet, you need to. The fish are in great shape and growing rapidly
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi Everyone!
Glory Hole sports has been having seminars on Sundays at 3:00 O'Clock.
This next Sunday the 14 th of June I will be giving a seminar on summer kokanee fishing techniques.
Hope everyone can make it as I will be talking about how to catch kokanee in the summer months patterns and Melanie at Glory hole sports has a great selection of not only kokanee gear but everything that has to do with catching fish in New Melones and the Mother Lode lakes.
and as always thers is a raffle at the end of the seminar!
So Come and check it out!!!!!!
Monte Smith
Gold Counry Sportfishing

Hi everyone!
We changed gears today and went to Melones on the 4th day of June with three clients.
The fish are really getting fatter than what they was and very nice looking clean fish, and full of fight!
We launched the boat about 6:30 and had lines in the water in about 10 minuates and I did not even get the Third rod out and it was fish on!
Thats the way the morning would go for some time and then it slowed down for a short while, as we changed gear and found the fish again it was not long and we had Three limits of fish on board and did I mention it was 10:15 in the morning and we were heading for the cleaning station.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi all,
We had a trip on June the 3rd at Don Pedro with two clients, we were looking for a mix bag of fish, as kings, kokanee and Trout, but the only the thing that we could get was kokanee and plenty of them and we had to work for them for a while.
The water is still on the rise at this lake and I would have never thought the lake would rise this much after seeing how low it was back in March, can you believe the lake has only about maybe another 30 vertical feet and it will be full, what a great site to see!
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

We fished clients Bruce Verstegg and Lee Adams on May The 27Th at Don Pedro, the fishing started out slow as it took us at least 30 minutes to get our first bite, we did not have a great bite that day, but a steady bite that took us until around 11:30 to finish our limits and we released three fish in a row so we could keep fishing.
The kokanee were the usual size from about 11 to 13 inches, we caught four nice Rainbows with the biggest going two pounds and a monster king! that hit the scales at a whopping six pounds and measured 26 inches in length, what a beautiful fish was especially as it was swimming along side the boat before we netted it.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi,
Today's Clients Mike and his wife Carleen Tapp from Stockton caught almost a grand slam at Don Pedro today we caught King Salmon, Kokanee Salmon, Rainbow Trout and Brook Trout today all we needed was to catch a Brown Trout but that did not happen! anyway they still had a great time catching fish! Oh and we did loose a few fish to.
The fish are on a good bite here at this lake.
The lake level is really rising, from the last time we were there it has come up at least another four or five feet and no one thought earlier this year that we would not see the water at this level.
I am so glad to see this!
The kokanee are small for some reason, at this time last year the fish were at least two inches longer, however the trout seem much bigger and cleaner and for the kings we have yet to see fish over the Five pound mark as last year we caught fish over that mark and there were other monster Kings caught.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

We were out at Don Pedro on the 14Th of May that resulted in a mixed bag of limits of King Salmon to Three pounds that were caught while trolling shad at 90 to 110 feet deep out in deep water.
We boated Five kokanee Salmon in the 11 to 12 inch range at depths from 45 to as deep as 70 feet deep, and we also caught Two Rainbows while trolling Kokanee gear at the same depths.
The action was not as hot as the previous day , but we still had no problem catching limits of fish for our clients!
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Man what a week of fishing at Don Pedro!
The action has been great!
We are catching Small Kokanee in the 12 inch range.
The Rainbows we are catching are one and a half to well over two pounds and the action is amazing on these fish, the King Salmon action has been pretty good with fish up to Four pounds.
We are having no problem catching limits of fish for our clients.
If you are thinking about booking a trip please do not waste any time as the action is great!
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hi everyone.
We have busy fishing New Melones for the kokanee and also have been fishing Don Pedro for the King Salmon.
Lets start with the kokanee at New Melones although they are small fish in the Eleven and half inch to 14 inch fish they are very plentiful and easy to catch, there are some bigger fish in the lake although they are harder to find, trolling deeper than the shallower fish may get you some of the larger fish.
Kokanee power has released the Rainbows from the pins on Monday in Melones so now their is a good chance of catching some very nice Rainbows.

Now Don Pedro this lake has been some what tough for most, however the kokanee are just starting to bite and the rainbows are also biting, the King Salmon are also showing up, we were out on Tuesday the 29Th and had several good fish on that did not make it to the boat and the biggest fish that did make it aboard was a very nice Four pound King that went 23 inches long.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

We had a trip today Thursday the 9Th of April, we went to McClure, the lake is still on the rise which is great to see, lots of floating debris in the water.
We set out five rods today with two rods rigged with shad, one on the surface with a set of Vance's slim willies and a night crawler, one rigged with a kokanee set up and the other was with an Uncle Larrys spinner tipped with a night crawler behind a small dodger. Everything out was getting bit however the shad was getting the most bites.
We finished the day with Three Rainbows, Three Brooke Trout and Four Kings, we let a few fish go and we had several missed hits and lost a few at the boat, we never did get a kokanee to bite.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

I know its been awhile since I posted anything, so here it goes.
Last week we made a trip to Don Pedro in search of some kings, we did catch some Kings, but not what we were after, the fish we found were on the small side, but I know the big ones are in there.
The fish are definately later than last year as last year at this time we were catching good numbers of fish.
We did manage a few Rainbows that were pretty fat and healthy, as far as the koks go we have not caught one yet here at this lake, if this weather would stablize the fishing I think would really get going.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hello
I know its been a few weeks since I update things.
We made a trip to McClure today the 19Th of March with Tommy Farr, we trolled Shad on two Down riggers and a set of Vance Slim Willies on the surface along with a sling blade dodger with an Excel spoon on the other.
We started catching Kings on the down riggers that were rigger with shad and had a good bite going with lots of bites from the kings, most of the fish we caught were around one and half to two pounds.
We caught a few Rainbows and the Brook Trout seemed to out number the trout.
The Brooke Trout were very fat and healthy and put up a great fight.
The kings are just getting started and the kokanee bite at these Mother Lode Lakes is just around the corner.
The water level at McClure has really come up these few weeks and that is great to see,but becareful there is lots of debris's in the lake.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Took my oldest daughter Jordan out fishing Saturday the 28th of February, we went to Don Pedro.
The conditions were perfect the water is warming was 54 in the morning and 56 degrees when we left at 1:00 the lake has come up Ten feet in the month of February.
The catching was kinda slow with only six fish to the boat two kings and the rest Rainbows, but I was there just to see what was happening and to do a ittle scouting!
It will not be long now before the fishing really turns on.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sportfishing

Hello,
Well it was great to see all this rain we have had, but it sure was nice to get out fishing!
We made a trip to Tulloch on Thursday the 19th, thought we would pretty much have the lake to ourselves, but boy was I wrong! looked like everyone else had the same idea thought it was a weekend at first, counted over 15 boat trailers in the parking lot.
We started out fishing off the south shore ramp by setting two side plainers and two rods on the downriggers, and it did not take long to start catching fish, we started releasing the small ones in hopes of getting that nice big Rainbow, and only keeping the ones that were hooked to deep.
The fishing action was great and a great day to be on the water.
We ended the day around 11:30 with two limits of nice fish, we released about six fish and we lost or missed at lesst another six or seven also.However we did not catch anything over two pounds, but lots of action.
No pictures this time so you will have to beleive me.
Monte Smith
Gold country Sportfishing

Hello all,
well we fished Tulloch today the fourth of Feburary with two clients what a great day it was, I could not even get the second rod out before we had a fish on and for most of the day we could not even get the fourth rod out.
Fishing from the surface to about 17 feet seemed to be the best no matter where we fished.
The fish were all pretty good size all around one and half to two pounds nothing reel big this outing but lots of action, that kept me busy and my clients very happy!
Lots of Garbage in the water since the lake is back on the rise.
Monte Smith
www.Gold Country Sportfishing.com

HI All,
I am going be buying a new boat, but before I do, I need to sell my Willie boat first!
If you or anyone you know that is looking for a jet boat please have them call me (Monte) at
(209) 581-4734 for further details on this boat and what it comes with.
Monte Smith
www.Gold Country Sportfishing.com

I want to thank everyone for stopping by my booth at the Sacramento I.S.E. show it was a great turnout.
I was able to finally get back out on the water today Tuesday the 20Th, man hat a beautiful day it was, I had heard about the planting of Brooke Trout again in the Mother Lode and today we fished McClure for steady action on Rainbows catching and releasing many fish picking the ones we wanted to keep and finally the last fish we kept for the day was a very nice fat Brooke Trout that pushed the scale very close to two pounds.
Monte Smith
Gold Country Sport fishing