LAKE OROVILLE: The bass are in all stages of spawning, and numbers are the rule with up to 70 bass per trip. The Bass Union weedless darter head has been very effective for numbers in and out of the grass. Spotted bass to 3 pounds are possible. King salmon remain elusive, but there has been an occasional king found by rolling anchovies behind a green Tornado or TopCoat flasher above the submerged trees in the main channel. Loafer Creek is the best launch, and the Lime Saddle Marina ramp is open as is the Bidwell Canyon ramp is on stage 1, but the Spillway ramp remains closed for construction. The lake rose slightly to 48 percent.
LAKE SHASTA: Trout action is just keeps getting better. Fish the top 20 feet of the water column early in the day and shift to 30 to 45 feet after noon with Speedy Shiners, Optimizer Juniors, or Humdingers in orange/gold, silver/blue, or Cop Car. The bass bite remains incredible despite some challenging weather this week. The fish aren’t exceptionally big, but there are plenty of them. Boitano threw plastics during his two days on the lake and these far outproduced anything on the surface. The Pit, Squaw and the McCloud Arms are all holding fish and working the bottom with finesse techniques is best. have also been exceptional. The lake did come up slightly, and combined with heavy winds pushed some big trees down and into the water, especially in the arms. The lake is 38 percent, and several boat ramps are open.
TRINITY RIVER, Willow Creek: The lower Trinity should begin to see an increase in flows later in the week but will likely remain clear. This should provide a good opportunity to catch some spawners making their way downriver. There should be some half-pounders around as well. Fishing pressure has been light. As of Sunday, flows were down to 1,600 cfs on the Hoopa gauge.
AMERICAN RIVER/Above Folsom: The flows have dropped dramatically this week, and the conditions are moving towards mid-summer with the snowpack basically gone. A few inches of snow and rain this week should dirty up the water a bit. Catch-and-release fishing continues to be excellent with for gorgeous rainbow and brown trout in the Middle Fork. Many anglers are waiting for the Saturday prior to Memorial Day for the river to open to bait fishing. Catch-and-release artificial-only, barbless hook fishing is best with small presentations in the clear waters for both fly fishermen and those casting lures. The flows have dropped from 1672 to 520 cfs at Chili Bar.
AMERICAN RIVER/Sacramento: Fishing remains slow with an occasional steelhead and some sporadic striper action. Shad are moving in with the arrival of the males, and there should be a full out bite in the next couple of weeks. This is one of the largest fly-fishing events of the year and Kiene’s Fly Shop expects this to be a very good year. The flows are 1081 cfs at Fair Oaks.
FEATHER RIVER: Fishing remains slow with an occasional steelhead and some sporadic striper action. Shad are moving in with the arrival of the males, and there should be a full out bite in the next couple of weeks. This is one of the largest fly-fishing events of the year and Kiene’s Fly Shop expects this to be a very good year. The flows are 1081 cfs at Fair Oaks.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Keswick Reservoir to Red Bluff: The wild rainbow trout fishing remains excellent with decent numbers of fish below Highway 44 and for drift boats fishing as far down river to Red Bluff. Trout fishing is now closed above the Highway 44 bridge until August 1st. The flows below Keswick are 3346 cfs.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Colusa to Tisdale: The striped bass bite has improved considerably with guides from throughout the state arriving to find limits of schoolies drifting live jumbo minnows. The fish are there but were spread out over about 9 miles of river. Increasing numbers of fresh-run striped bass have moved into the Colusa area by power-drifting live minnows or fishing sardine chunks on anchor. The spawn will be short-lived with the low water conditions. The river has dropped from 4204 to 4008 cfs at Colusa.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Metro area: More stripers are moving in every day, but most are shakers with few keepers in the mix. Stripers are holding near Sand Cove below Highway 80, and two oversized sturgeon were caught and released near the I Street Bridge on ghost shrimp. At the Port of Sacramento, striped bass action remains hit-miss with mostly shakers and a few keepers moving through the area. The bigger fish have not yet settled in. The flows have dropped from 13,280 to 11,674 cfs at Freeport.
The weekly fishing report, compiled by Western Outdoor News, highlights the best angling opportunities in the north state.
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