Top 5 fishing spots in Central CA: Fresno-area lakes, Don Pedro, Monterrey, High Sierra
Fresno Bee June 3, 2026
Fishing report compiled by California Outdoors Hall of Fame member Dave Hurley and edited by Roger George, who guides in the greater Fresno area and holds the striper record at Millerton Lake.
Rankings key below: 4: Fish are jumping in the boat. 3: Good fishing. 2: Decent fishing. 1: Poor fishing. 0: Don’t bother
Unless noted, area code is 559
Bee’s Top 5 Picks
Lake Don Pedro
Bass 3 Trout 2 Kokanee 3 King salmon 3 Crappie 2
Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing reported kokanee to 16.5 inches and nearly 2 pounds, but the schools are starting to hold onto structure. Smith has been working shad or Pro-Troll’s Kokanee Killers for king salmon to 7 pounds along with rainbow trout have been particularly effective. The kokanee are there, but you will have to start looking for them in the shallows. Our largest kokanee was 16.5 inches and nearly 2 pounds.” Don Pedro is producing fat, football-shaped kokanee, and these fish will continue to grow prior to the July 11 Kokanee Power Tournament. Aaron Jones of Central Valley Bait and Tackle in Modesto reported the lake has been busy, but the bass bite slowed down for a few days after the rainstorm earlier in the week. He said, “The topwater bite is back on, and you can find fish in the main lake as well as the creek arms now. Jerkbaits and jigs are the main baits for the suspended fish who are holding out around 20 feet. Spinnerbaits are working on windy days, and they are more effective than crankbaits right now.”
The lake will continue to experience intense fishing pressure on the weekends with 8 tournaments in June including the 56th Annual Modesto Ambassadors Night Tournament on June 6. Launch updates are posted at www.donpedrolake.com. A self-inspection is required for launching. The lake continues to rise, and it is currently at 822.66 feet in elevation. The Blue Oaks Upper Launch Ramp has reopened.
Isabella/Kaweah/Success/southern California Aqueduct reports available at https://www.tackleandrod.com/weekly-fishing-report.
McClure Reservoir
Bass 3 Trout 2 King salmon 3 Kokanee 3 Crappie 2 Catfish 2
Aaron Jones reported the bass are schooling up around the shad schools, and Berkley Choppo 90 topwater lures are effective for surface fish along with Senkos or jigs for the suspended fish. Steve Dedrick of Bait Bucket Bait and Tackle in Snelling reported trollers are picking up kokanee along with king salmon to 4 pounds running a variety of spoons in open water around the shad schools. Recently planted rainbows are also mixed in with the shad schools. The Reel Deal Market is now open daily from 10am - 5pm on weekdays and 10 am to 6:30pm on weekends. The Barrett Cove Café is open weekends through September 7. The lake dropped nearly a foot to 845.80 feet in elevation. The only tournament in June is the Cen Cal Elite Bass Tournament on June 6.
New Melones Reservoir/Tulloch
Bass 3 Trout 3 Kokanee 3
Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Guide Service has been bouncing between both lakes depending upon client preference, and in spite of a downpour on Tuesday afternoon, he produced limits for his client running Papa G Jpexs and the new T-Spoon Bullet Spoon coated with Pautzke’s Fire Corn and Herring scent at depths to 50 feet. Wise said, “It’s not complicated right now as we are running four different lures behind gold hammered dodgers. J-Pex, Apex lures, pink spinners, and Bullet Spoons in greens, solid pink, or white/pink are all working at speeds from 1.4 to 1.5 mph. On the J-Pex and Bullet Spoons, we are running a 15- to 18-inch leader, and the larger fish to 15.5 inches are found at 50 to 70 feet in depth with kokanee in the 12- to 14-inch range found from 40 to 50 feet. The fish are schooling up right now, and they are very aggressive.”
For bass, John Liechty of Xperience Fishing Guide Service reported a solid topwater bite earlier in the week during periods of inclement weather, and the bass are best found on reaction baits around mud lines, shade lines, or points when it is windy. He said, “The bass are coming into the shallows to feed on bluegill or fry, and we caught and released two largemouths at 4 pounds on Sunday, one on a glidebait and one on a spinnerbait. The fish are all very healthy.” Both Glory Hole and Tuttletown open from 6:30 am to 8:00 pm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Glory Hole will be the only ramp open starting at 8:00 am Monday through Thursday. All boats must be quarantined for 30 days or decontaminated at the New Melones Marina. The marina is open. There are two kokanee tournaments on the lake in June with Kokanee Power on the June 6 and the Central Valley Anglers on June 20. The lake dropped nearly 2 feet to 1035.55 feet in elevation and 76% while downstream Tulloch rose to 100%.
Wishon/Courtright
Trout 3
Trout plants have turned on the trout bite at both Wishon and Courtright, leaving Kelly Brewer of the Wishon Village RV Park and Store to report an excellent bite at the end of the week after slowing down earlier in the week due to inclement weather. Wedding Rings behind a flasher at 3 to 4 colors along with Rapalas or similar plugs for trollers while shore anglers are scoring with nightcrawlers, spoons, or Power Bait. Dinkey Creek will receive a trout plant this week with a plant scheduled for Courtright next week. Road conditions – Sierra National Forest 297-0706 ext. 4961 or 392-0423.
Delta/Stockton
Bass 2 Striper 2 Sturgeon 3 Catfish 2 Bluegill 3
Inclement weather with high winds was the story early in the week, and striped bass are moving quickly through the Delta. Captain Jeff Soo Hoo of Soo Hoo Sport Fishing worked hard on Saturday to find 6 keeper stripers drifting live bait on the San Joaquin side, and he said, “We pushed far up river toward Holland Tract, and there is a lot of algae and debris in the water, especially on the outgoing tide. They bit good on Friday, but they were tight on Saturday.” Soo Hoo is wrapping up his Delta operation this week to focus on San Francisco Bay. Catch-and-release sturgeon fishing ends on June 30 until October 1, but the diamondbacks remain thick in Suisun Bay although few boats are targeting them. Senkos, punching, chatterbaits, and frogs remain the main baits for largemouth bass, but the bite remains inconsistent. A series of larger tides starts this week, and the best action is on the outside weed line on the high tide. During the summer months, San Joaquin side will be dominated by recreational boaters through the summer months.
All the rest
Valley/Westside waterways
Striper 2 Catfish 2
Tas Moua of 559 Fresno Bait and Tackle reported the striped bass bite is picking up around Manning Avenue with cut bait, jerkbaits, grass shrimp, or flukes. Z-Man’s Graph ShadZ’s have been particularly effective.
Eastman Lake/Hensley Lake
Bass 2 Trout 2 Bluegill 2 Catfish 2 Crappie 2
Tas Moua reported one angler found a 30-pound limit working the rockpiles in deep water, bouncing from rockpile to rockpile as the larger fish have moved offshore. The bass move into the shallow water for feed on bass fry, bluegill, or crappie. Damian Thao of Fresno continues to work big baits such as the BCG10 Trout glide bait for double-digit largemouth bass. With the bluegill and crappie spawning in the shallows, they are within range of bank anglers. At Hensley, Moua reported carp, catfish, and bluegill are the top species with few bass anglers heading to the lake. There are no bass tournaments at Eastman through the end of June. Eastman dropped 1.5 feet to 509.77 feet in elevation and 29% with Hensley dropping 2 feet to 493.91 feet in elevation and 35%.
Lake McSwain
Trout 2
Steve Dedrick reported slow bank action for planted rainbow trout as the last plant was May 5, but two plants are scheduled in June. The Splash-N-Dash Water feature dominates interest on the lake, but within days of the next plant, anglers will return to line the shorelines with Power Bait, nightcrawlers, or spoons. The lake dropped slightly to 80%. A single trout plants is scheduled at Lake Yosemite in June. The Reel Deal Market & Cafe is now open every day the Splash N’Dash is operation, Mondays thru Fridays from 10 AM to park close; Saturdays from 8 AM to 7 PM; and Sundays from 9 AM to 7 PM. The Bait Bucket Bait and Tackle at the site of the former’s Angler’s Edge Market at 6710 Merced Falls Road in Snelling is now open. Information on the Splash N’Dash is available at: https://mysplashndash.com/.
Millerton Lake/San Joaquin River
Bass 2 Striped bass 1 Shad 1 Bluegill 3 Crappie 2
Tas Moau reported shore anglers are scoring with Keitech swimbaits in the 3.3 to 3.8 range on a ball head or an underspin as bass fry, bluegill, or crappie are moving into the shorelines. Moau said, “I believe this is the reason for the urchin-style lures working so well since they mimic fry balls,” adding, “The bass are found in the rockpiles at depths from 15 to 20 feet.” The lake dropped 1.5 feet to 572.88 feet in elevation and 96%. The San Joaquin River is running at 387 cfs at Friant. There is a single bass tournament scheduled in June.
Pine Flat Reservoir/Kings River
Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 0 King salmon 2 Catfish 2 Crappie 2
Tas Moau reported the bass bite is picking up in the back of Sycamore and Big Creek with the best action first thing in the morning or at sunset with topwater lures, jerkbaits, or swimbaits. He said, “The dam area is also producing bass from the banks, and there is a lot of shad in the lake, even some in the 3- to 5-inch range. Trout are taken under lights at night from houseboats at the Lakeview Marina.” Trout trolling has been outstanding as Brian Klassen of Reedley and crew have logged in over 150 rainbows caught and released in five trips that were donated for non-profit organizations. David Geil of Sanger trolled orange Dick’s Mountain Hoochies tipped with a piece of nightcrawler behind D-Mac or Orange Scale Mountain dodgers for rainbows from 13 to 16 inches. He landed 10 on the downrigger at 25 to 30 feet down, and 3 more on his side pole using Texas Tea Dick’s Trout Busters with a crawler behind Dick’s Mountain Flashers at a setback of 100 feet. The key is finding the shad schools. In the lower Kings River, a trout plant is scheduled for the week of June 8, but shore anglers are still finding success with Joe’s Flies, Atomic Tubes, Power Bait, or nightcrawlers below Winton Park. The flows have dropped to 768 cfs below Army Weir. There are no bass tournaments on the schedule in June.
San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay
Striper 2 Catfish 2 Bass 2 Crappie 2
Mickey Clements of Coyote Bait and Tackle in Morgan Hill reported big striped bass have been the story from the banks along the left side of Dinosaur Point for bait anglers. He said, “They have been using anchovies for linesides in the 30- to 40-inch range, and fortunately, they are releasing these fish.” . Golden mussel watercraft inspections are no longer needed at San Luis and the O’Neill Forebay.
Roger George of Roger George Guide Service reported that the trolling and shore casting bites have been slow-especially since the lake was closed for 3 days due to the high winds. “ The combination of high winds, falling water and lots of spawning behavior – along with a full moon - has slowed the reaction bite significantly. It’s been tough fishing with the weather all over the place – but it looks like a more normal pattern is coming in the next week or so .” George said.
The O’Neill Forebay continues to produce unlimited numbers of undersized striped bass with chartreuse/white spinnerbaits or chatterbaits around Check 12. Clements said, “The bite has been consistent as the fish have yet to move into the summer pattern.” Around 1 in 10 stripers are pushing the legal 18-inch minimum. Tas Moua reported anglers continue to wade out with River2Sea’s Rig Walkers or topwater lures for numbers of undersized stripers. The main lake dropped from 77 to 74% with the forebay rising slightly to 84%. Los Banos Creek Reservoir should open on Monday, June 1.
High Sierra
Bass Lake
Bass 3 Trout 2 Kokanee 1
Recreational boating has taken over the lake as it does every summer, but early in the mornings or evenings, the bass bite remains strong around the docks and at depths to 15 feet with weedless presentations on a Texas-rig, Senkos, flukes, plastics on a drop-shot, or urchin-style lures. Mike Beighey of Bass Lake Fishing Tours reported a good rainbow trout bite prior to the storms, and he anticipates the action returning after a few days of clear weather. He said, “There are plenty of quality trout in the lake, but there are also many in the 12-inch range so you will have to release the smaller fish if you want to keep a limit of larger trout. The best trolling is between Miller’s Landing and the Forks Resort at depths to 20 feet using Dick’s Mountain Trout Tusters in orange or pink or green tipped with scented corn behind Dick’s Mountain Dodgers. Orange or pink Apexs, Wiggle Hoochies, or small green or light pink squid are also effective. It looks like it is going to be a good season with the trout stacked up already, but it’s too soon to tell about the kokanee as it had been three tough years without the landlocked salmon despite heavy plants of 50,000 fish annually. The lake used to be the number one kokanee fishery in the central Sierras. Wake boarders stir up the lake, and this is affecting vegetation growth. The buoys are placed to close inside the dam area where the kokanee usually are in Sky Harbour allowing recreational boat traffic to be too heavy. The 10K Derby fish remains out there, worth $500 for derby participants if caught by June 30. A webcam is available at https://www.basslakeca.com/bass-lake-webcam-1. No future bass tournaments are schedule through the end of June.
Shaver Lake/Huntington Lake
Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 2
Dick Nichols of Mountain Tackle said, “The recent inclement weather at Shaver Lake, characterized by cloudy skies, rain, and wind, has continued to impede fishing activities, but despite these challenges, some experienced trollers have successfully caught a couple of limits of kokanee and a few brown trout which have been present in the area for the past few weeks. Paul Brown of ‘Fishin’ With Paul’ Guide Service took out Ryan McKellar from Madera and Ian Justus from Royal Oaks for two limits of quality kokanee along with a brown trout using Little Captain’s Tackle or Dick’s Mountain Tackle in pinks or orange at depths ranging from 14 to 25 feet. The lake has crested, and it is anticipated that fishing action will improve as the weather warms up in June.” Small trout and kokanee remain the story at Huntington Lake with small spoons behind dodger. The June 13 Greg Marks Youth Fishing Derby at Shaver is full, but there is a waitlist at https://shaverlaketrophytroutproject.org/. Shaver is at 96 with Huntington is at 97%.
Ocean
Monterey/Santa Cruz
Rockfish 3 Salmon 2 Halibut 2 Striper 2 White seabass 1 Sand dabs 3 Surf perch
Allen Bushnell of Santa Cruz Kayak Fishing and Surf Casting Guide Service reported, “Saltwater fishing remains steady in the Monterey Bay region, hampered only by some high winds and a big swell that hit the coast this week. Salmon, rockfish, lingcod, halibut and bonito were all on the menu for local anglers.
Getting out early in the mornings was a key to success for many this week, before the winds kicked up. We had a number of nights where the wind blew, leaving a good chop on the water for sunrise. Still, the fishing could be productive especially for the salmon anglers and those targeting deep reef rockfish offshore. The deeper waters are the place to find bonito as well. Reports indicate the bonito are biting like crazy in areas from 150-300 feet of depth, though they are caught on the surface or down less than 30 feet. Salmon anglers are finding fish much higher in the water column as well. Many of the salmon limits reported this week came from boats trolling with their downriggers only 20 or 30 feet down. Mooching (drifting bait using lighter gear) might be a good alternative right now, especially if the salmon start grouping up closer to the surface. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife In-season Recreational Tracking charts only 3125 salmon caught in our area against the Harvest Guideline of 21,800 fish located through August 31. Looks like we’ll be salmon fishing for some time yet, which is good news indeed. Rockfishing has been better from the deeper reefs. This may be because of recent strong groundswells that have a tendency to roil nearshore waters. Same goes for halibut. Prior to last week many halibut were reported caught from the shallower waters of 30 to 40 feet. Surfcasters were beginning to pick up the occasional flatty from beaches as well, especially the protected coves and corners near Capitola. A good number of flatties were reported from local fishing piers also, both in Monterey at Fishermen’s Wharf #2 and also northern Monterey Bay at the Capitola and Santa Cruz Municipal Wharves. We’ll see those shallow water halibut back in a jiffy once this swell dies down, and the heavy wind action subsides. Surfcasters within the Bay report a steady increase of striped bass taking a variety of lures and bait. The Bay’s river mouth areas have produced the most numerous reports, though any broad sandy beach with structure can host feeding schools of stripers at any given time. Sunrise and sunset are good times to fish for the bass and nighttime has been the best as the stripers move in to feed in the darkness. Smaller stickbaits in the 110 to 115 sizes seem to be doing best with sardine pattern and white lures being most productive.”
Golden Gate/San Francisco Bay/Half Moon Bay
Halibut 2 Striper 3 Rockfish 3 Leopard shark 2
Striped bass remain the staple in San Francisco Bay as halibut over the 22-inch minimum size continue their hiatus with the return of larger tides.
Striped bass limits or near limits were the story over the weekend with Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sport Fishing reporting three linesides shy of 35 limits on Sunday along with a solitary halibut. Smith said, “The striped bass have really been a blessing, particularly on these larger tides. We put in 22 limits on Friday by 9:00 am along with halibut to 22 pounds. The smaller tides really make a difference, and we were averaging between 15 and 20 halibut earlier in the week. There are three or four large schools of stripers in the bay spread out from the Golden Gate to San Pablo Bay, and we are finding the best grade along the edge of the channel for linesides in the 10- to 12-pound range.
The stripers are a mixed grade depending upon what school you are on. The water outside the Golden Gate has cooled off, and we should have halibut moving into the bay.” Also, reporting in with limits on Sunday was Captain Chris Smith of the Pacific Dream with 20 limits of striped bass, five additional crew linesides, and a single halibut. Captain Trent Slate of Bite Me Charters out of Paradise Cove found a steady pick for five limits to 9 pounds with the best action at South Hampton Shoals. Slate said, “We didn’t hook a single halibut, not even and undersized, and this was surprising.” Rockfishing outside the Gate is best at the Farallon Island, but when the ocean is rough, boats such as the Sea Wolf out of Emeryville returning with 24 limits and 13 ling cod up the Marin coastline on Sunday.
Out of Half Moon Bay, the Coastside Fishing Club Chinook Salmon Smolt Release with the first 90,000 of 270,000 smolts to be held in their pens to acclimate prior to release. These fish return to the harbor after three years of survival in the ocean.
San Luis Obispo
Rockfish 3 Surf perch 3
Limits were the story out of Morro Bay Landing on Sunday with two boats with a combined 35 anglers returning with 284 assorted, 47 vermilion, 10 Boccaccio, 9 copper, and 29 ling cod to 16 pounds. Out of Patriot Sport Fishing, two boats were out on Saturday with a combined 36 passengers for 198 assorted, 13 vermilion, 10 copper, 6 Bolina, and 20 ling cod to 8 pounds.
Events:
Tournament Results:
Kaweah - Cen Cal Elite Bass Tournaments – May 30th: 1st – Jaime Marquez/Buzz Carrillo – 18.07 pounds (Big Fish – 5.20); 2nd – David Coy/Dave Simpson – 13.81; 3rd – Chad and Cross Cloyd – 12.66.
.jpg)