Almanor's Autumn Colors

I don't post much anymore since a shoulder condition has prevented me from paddling.  But I thought I'd let you see that it's not only the trees that are turning gold at Lake Almanor.

Doug

WOW!
Talk about a blast from the past.
Glad your making good use of your spot up there.

Hi Doug. Beautiful fish.

Nice fish, Doug. Good to hear from you.

Doug! Wow. What a beautiful fish. I was mentioning you the other day about the crab you caught at Albion that year and your remote electric down rigger you made for your kayak. Looking good man. Fall looks good on you. Cheers brother!!!

Great pic. Thanks for the report . I am so tempted to run up there this Thursday /friday. Where is the closest place to camp or lodge?

Welcome back, Marmite.  I hope to see more reports from you.

Where is the closest place to camp or lodge?

You can rent a cabin at Camp Wilson, although they may be filled because there's a recovery group that typically stays in the cabins around this time of the year.

http://www.camp-prattville.com/

You can stay at the Best Western in Chester, about 10 mi away.

I have a 5th wheel in Camp Wilson on the West Shore at Pratville. This seven pounder was caught on 9/27, just off the shore about 200 ft directly behind me in this picture in about 16 ft of water, using a white gitzit tube jig over a 1/6 oz dart head.  The fishing had been really spotty most of July/Aug even by the perennial veteran fishermen in the camp.  But it started turning hot for jig and bait just days b4 I came up.  Predictably it shut down the day I started fishing.  Fish and pond smelt were there but the fish were not aggressively feeding.  So you had a hard time getting a strike.  During the week I didn't see the birds in a feeding frenzy hitting dying smelt on the surface even once.  And only the occasional pond smelt would float by. I left to attend a conference at Stanford on 10/2 but the day b4 the bite turned hot for trolling Speedy Shiners.  My friend Steve, with two guests in his boat pulled in 12, and kept 9 to five pounds.  The next day the trolling shut down though.  It's kind of hard to use speedy shiners from a kayak (unless it's a Hobie) cuz the work best pulled at 2.5-3.5 mph.

Those of us in the camp are mystified because almost all the fish we bring in have empty stomachs.  You'd expect them to look like little footballs with them belching out dead pond smelt in your live well.

The the colder weather should provoke them to bulk up.  I'm returning today for my final two weeks and expect to here the bite is improving.  Usually it gets a bit harder now to get browns as they are on the bottom getting ready to spawn.  But even dropping a mealworm/cricket can sometime temp a nice brown.  Some fish roe on the bottom--I haven't done that though.  I'm more likely to troll now, more in the deeper water where the rainbows and Eagle Lakes will often hit fast trolled lures.

I love this lake, but I miss dearly miss kayak fishing.  I especially miss kayak fishing on the ocean.  There is so much variety and the chance of getting something really big.  Here all you can hope for is getting a bigger trout.  And I really do miss meeting with the great guys I met in on hook ups or at NCKA at the events.  A few of you who responded to this thread know me but I'm sure most of you newer members don't. Make you sure you enjoy all the kayak fishing you can while your body permits.

Between the extension of the marine reserves on the ocean and the hassles around the quagga mussel restrictions, I thought I better learn to do some lake fishing.  I have two patients that have fished Almanor for years and every time I see them they'd say, "Oh you ought to see the beautiful browns at Lake Almanor.  I started coming up in a poptop camper with my wife for about 6 years renting a seasonal 6-month site.  Three years ago we bought a 38 ft 5th wheel a guy in the camp was selling.  We love it, it's literally like having a one bedroom, lake front apartment with none of the hassles of owning property.

This is a big lake and its a little hard to get to distantly located springs where the fish congregate during the warmer weather (though Clayman seems to have no problem).  As my shoulder began to trouble me  more, I did my last bit of tinkering and rigged myself a "booster" kayak for the disabled. But eventually I did what Joel would call "switching to the dark side" and got a cheap used boat.  One great benefit is I now spend hours fishing with my wife who fishes, but really just loves being on such a beautiful lake.

Take care and be safe,

Doug

Beautiful fish, Doug.  Great to see a report from you and hear that you're doing well.

I've been enjoying guiding, and I'm considering getting a tandem Hobie so I can take a guest out with me in the same boat.  If I get set up like that I'd love to get you back on the ocean - the trip would be on me.

Enjoy.  Be well.  Hope to fish with you again.   

That's a beautiful fish!

Awesome fish!

Good to hear from you Doug. Beautiful brown and pics.  Take care.

Thanks again for the reply,report and pics Doug. I can definetly understand you missing the ocean and its beauty. But with such a beatiful and tranquil  area that you are in now. I think you will adjust.  . Hope to make it there before winter really sets in.

Alex

Nice fish Doug!  Been wondering if I'd run into you up here this fall.  You're right about the bite: it's definitely perked up these last couple weeks.  Not quite red-hot, but the mornings have been dependable.  I've been working jigs on the bottom and getting a mixture of rainbows and colored-up browns.  There is a LOT of smelt this year, which can make it challenging to tempt these fat fish to bite.  But as the water cools, the bite should improve over the following weeks as more and more fish (particularly rainbows) start moving in and the fish start competing with one another.

I'm in a dune-colored Revo 13 now (no longer the blue one).  Hope to see you out there, and good fishing  .

Thanks for the detailed report Doug..
May be up there in  couple weeks so we'll look for you in the camp ground.
Hope the bite will still be good.
Daviator