8 May 28 , 2021 VOL . 40 • ISS . 10

Almanor Fishing Report

Tough Bite for Rainbows , Browns and Bass

Chester - High winds coupled with unsettled weather have made for uncomfortable fishing conditions the past few days . The bite remains tough at best . That said the fish we are catching are in great shape . Water level seems to have peaked the past few days , and clarity remains at 10-15 ’. Water temp has dropped the past week ; I saw 57 degrees on the fish finder today .

The bite has been tough for bass fishermen as well , there was a small club tournament this weekend and the top boat ( five fish limit ) was ten and a half pounds . Plastics , crank baits and top water all caught fish . Trout trollers are targeting the north / west section of the lake alternating between fast and slow depending on weather . We are covering lots of ground and fishing hard for a half dozen bites . Today I slow trolled for two hours without a grab , sped up with hardware and ended up with five fish . Red / gold at 20 ’ on the wire was our top producer . I have not seen or heard of any positive reports on the hex hatch , we are at least two weeks away from the hex hatch getting into full swing .

Traffic has been light during the week , both USFS boat ramps are open and most campgrounds are open as well . Our weather is expected to improve this next week and I would hope fishing does as well .

- Quail Lodge Lake Almanor Lodging & Guide Service .

Lake Amador

Troll Deep Water for Big Cutbows , Rainbows

IONE – Although trout planting at Lake Amador has ended until late October because of rising water temperatures , boaters who troll deep water on the reservoir are experiencing top-notch fishing .

This young angler was fishing Lake Oroville with Bare Bones Guide Service when he landed these king salmon . Photo Courtesy of Brett Brady ,

Bare Bones Guide Service

4007

45 Miles North of Sacramento

For example , Urban Escape Guide Service got on the lake early and couldn ’ t keep 3 rods in the water for 3 hours on a recent trip .

“ We caught them trolling Speedy Shiners in all colors ,” said Matt Urban . “ We landed 6 trout by 8:00 am and lost another 6 . Then I put down a giant swimbait to try and get a bass to bite , along with Speedy Shiners , and within 15 minutes it popped the clip and the fight was on !”

“ The fish swam into all the lines and broke off somehow . So I retied another one on and reset .

We went over the same hump we lost the last one on and we hooked another big bass . The fish ran into an underwater

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tree and broke us off again . All in all , we kept 7 trout by 1 pm . All lures were fished behind the 4 Fins downrigger weights .”

The lake level is 23 ’ from full , the water clarity is 12 ’ and the oxygen content is 10 mg / L .

American River / Sacramento Area

Central Valley Salmon Seasons Finalized , Shad Are Hitting

SACRAMENTO – The Central Valley salmon seasons have been finalized . The season will open on July 1 on the American , Sacramento , Feather and Mokelumne Rivers , with the exception of the Sacramento from the Red Bluff Diversion Dam to the Deschutes Bridge that will open on August 1 .

The CDFW and NOAA Fisheries predict a total run with an estimated 151,000 total run with estimated 21,000 adults harvested ., according to James Stone of the Nor-Cal Guides and Sportsman ’ s

Association . There is expected to be a very minimal return to the Central Valley system in this drought year , based on the jack ( two-year-old ) counts in the fall of 2020 . The bag limit is 2 per day with 4 in possession on the Sacramento , American , Mokelumne , and Feather rivers , although some guides would like to lower the bag limit to one based upon the poor anticipated returns . Shad fishing is the hot item on the Sacramento and American River in the Sacramento metropolitan area . Boaters are doing the best on the Sacramento from Discovery to I Street , reported Uncle Larry Barnes at Sacramento Pro Tackle .

“ Other boaters are anchoring up and fishing the deeper holes with 1 / 32 oz . jigheads with chartreuse and pink tails in the Sacramento River from the Sacramento Marina to just above the Interstate 80 Bridge ,” said Barnes . Craig Newton at Willfish Bait and Tackle reported solid shad

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Rustic Rob ’ s Guide Service put Edward Joe on this 8lb 12 oz king salmon . They were fishing at Lake Oroville and using a Brad ’ s Cut Plug .

fishing on the American from Sailor Bar to Harrington ’ s Access .

“ The fishing is best in evenings ,” he noted . “ I found success during a recent evening while swinging 1 / 8 oz . jigheads with chartreuse grub tails in the Harrington ’ s Access area .

- Dan Bacher

Lake Berryessa

All Three Bass Species Biting

NAPA – All three species of black bass – largemouth , smallmouth and spotted – are biting at Lake Berryessa mow .

Dom Paganelli of Paganelli ’ s Bass Fishing Experience found top-notch fishing on his latest fishing adventure at Berryessa .

“ The two anglers fishing with me caught around 20 fish to 2-1 / 2 pounds ,” said Paganelli . “ They fished with Senkos and tubes in 3 to 10 feet of water . They also lost a number of bass .”

Paganelli stayed in the Narrows all day , due to the winds hitting the lake that day . The surface water temperature was already 71 degrees .

Kokanee fishing continues to be “ really good ” at Berryessa , according to Troy Barr of T-Roy ’ s Guide Service .

“ We had a father son trip for Max ’ s tenth birthday ,” reported Barr after his most recent trip . “ The two anglers put the hammer to the fish , catching their limits . This was a first trip with our C4 Custom Rods and they performed as expected .” “ We dropped in the morning over a clump of fish in the 30-35 ft . range . We used RMT dodgers , Apex lures , Uncle Larry ’ s spinners , AA Lures and RMT micro squids , tipped with Pautzke fire corn and with fire gel on the hardware at 30 to 57 feet deep ,” said Barr .

Lake Berryessa is holding 1,107,096 acre feet of water , 69 percent of capacity and 80 percent of capacity .

- Dan Bacher

Bullards Bar / Englebright Reservoirs

Kokanee Highlight Spring Angling Parade

DOBBINS – If you want to catch scrappy kokanee salmon , Bullards Bar Reservoir remains one of the top prospects in northern California .

“ I made a run to Bullards Bar yesterday ,”

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