6 February 28 , 2025 VOL . 44 • ISS . 2

Big smiles and fat chrome steelhead make floating the Trinity River a wonderful day !

Photo courtesy of The Trinity Guide

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7500 Lake Amador Dr ., Ione , CA 95640

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LAKE ALMANOR

Trout fishing up and down with the weather

It appears February weather train keeps rolling on . The basin has received a mix of both rain and snow the last few days . The lake level currently sits at just under 4489 ft . up about foot in the last week . Water temperatures are running in the low to mid 30s . Prior to the storm , the light winds and cold overnight temperatures had some surface ice forming on the lake . The wind associated with the incoming front pretty well cleared out the ice on the open water leaving some coves with an ice slush film . We had some beautiful , albeit cold , days on the water prior to the storm ’ s arrival . Several areas along the lake ’ s east shore from the dam to Dorado had been giving up fish along with areas on both the east and west side of the peninsula like Rec 1 and A-frame as well as Rec 2 . Slow trolled worms , plastics and trolling flies are the preferred baits in the 20-to-35-foot range . Hamilton branch has seen elevated flows and dirty water reducing water clarity the closer you get to the mouth . In fact , the whole east basin is heavily stained with reduced visibility . The west basin along the peninsula had much better visibility . Traffic on the lake was very lite to nonexistent . No word or sight of bank anglers but this is the time of year where fish will push into the shallows of the west shore . After today it looks like there are some clear days in the forecast for some winter-time trout action . The Canyon Dam Boat Ramp has been plowed and is currently open and useable . Always be prepared for winter conditions and be safe .

- Report courtesy of Almanor Fishing Association

LAKE AMADOR

The Big Trout Keep Bending Rods

IONE – The big trout just keep coming out of Lake Amador . Just ask Brothers Kylus and Kasten Harris , who caught 4 trout total , but put the smack down on a giant Amador Gold weighing in at 10.4 pounds . All of their fish were caught by boat with Rapalas in Jackson Creek , reported Lee Lockhart at the Lake Amador Resort . JD also caught a mammoth Amador Gold weighing 11.7 pounds while using a tiny crappie jig . Justin M . landed a massive Amagold weighing 11 pounds , 10 ounces . He caught it on a mini jig fishing on the dam . Fernandez Guadiana nailed a nice 4.2 lb . Cutbow on PowerBait from the spillway . Marco Talavera landed a full limit of trout while fishing on the Dam with crappie jigs . The biggest 2 fish were both in the 4-6 lb . class . “ We hit the lake with 1000lbs of hungry Cutbows yesterday and 25 trout were tagged for the derby ,” said Lockhart . “ The lake is almost full at 4 ’ down and still rising . The water is a bit dirty , but not bad considering the amount of rain we received .” “ PowerBait and Rapalas have been working well from shore and trollers have started switching to Speedy Shiners with lots of success ,” Lockhart tipped . The surface water temperature is 52 degrees , the water clarity is 2 , and the oxygen level is 10.8 mg / L .

- Dan Bacher

AMERICAN RIVER

Steelhead Show In Good Numbers

RANCHO CORDOVA – The Central Valley ’ s steelhead season is underway with

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Friday & Saturday , March 7-8 , 2025

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