Lake Almanor, 2/17-19/2012: Waiting for March...

If I were asked to sum up this past weekend’s fishing on Lake Almanor, I’d have to say “sporadic.” It was very difficult to find any kind of pattern to the bite.  I suppose we’re in a ‘transition’ period right now—rainbow trout are just getting their engines revved for spawning, a lot of browns are still recovering from their spawn, and it seems like none of them know what to do with themselves.  I fished several areas via shore and kayak from Friday through this evening.  Here’s the scoop.

Friday: North Shore to Bailey Creek (yakkin’ it)

After having decent success fishing the Bailey Springs area from shore last week, I really wanted to check the place out on my plastic vessel.  Friday morning, I loaded my kayaking gear and made the short 3.5 mile drive to the launch site near Gould Swamp.  Conditions were glassy and warm (well, warm as in you only needed a couple layers).

I’ve fished Gould a bit for smallmouth, but in general I’m unfamiliar with the area.  I kept a close eye on my depthfinder as I paddled from Gould Swamp east to Bailey Springs.  As I expected, it’s shallow out here.  Depths almost never exceeded 18 feet, and surface temps were a nippy 37-38 degrees.  It’s about a 2 mile paddle to Bailey Springs from here.  I toplined a Pin’s Minnow en route for nada.  Arrived at Bailey Springs around 11am.


She was mighty glassy this day!

Water temperatures around the springs were much higher than the main lake, hovering around 44-45 degrees.  The water was also very clear, with an easy 8-10 feet of visibility.  I fished between the springs all the way to the mouth of Bailey Creek using a variety of methods.  Jigs, worms, roe, Speedy Shiners, and Kastmasters were all given a chance to shine…but only jigs were getting bit.  The bites were very non-aggressive, and it was difficult to hook up.  I had maybe 7 bites on jigs, had a few fish on for a few seconds before coming off, but was only able to land one rainbow.

This happened a couple times as well.  I’d have to guess they were smaller fish latching onto the paddle tail of my jig.

As evening approached, I trolled a broken-back Rebel minnow back towards the launch.  About 5 minutes in, my rod doubled over on something solid.  Not long after, I had a nice little brown to the net.

Continued trolling back to the launch, then kinda got distracted with yet another spectacular sunset.  When there’s nothing but you, the call of geese flying high above, the gentle lapping of waves against your bow, and the slicing of your kayak paddle through the water as you’re looking at stuff such as this…I mean really, who cares if the fishing’s slow?



Almost got lost trying to find my launch site in the dark, but the sunset was totally worth it.

Saturday: East Shore, Big Springs, Peninsula (bankin’ it)

Weather was forecasting some wind and cold for Saturday, so I left the kayak at home.  Met my buddy Matt at a tributary mouth on the east shore at 9am, looking for some rainbows.  Last March, this tributary mouth saw some crazy-good fishing on rainbows attempting to ascend the little drainage.  I knew it was early, but I thought perhaps there’d be a few rainbows poking around by now.

Alas, we fished here for 1.5 hours without a bite.  Since there’s practically ZERO snowpack this year, these little streams are barely a trickle.  We really need some precip to get the streams flowing to attract fish.

Next stop was Big Springs, where we found a little action.  I hooked a nice male rainbow on a worm+mallow combo.  Released.

There were a bunch of small planter rainbows (fish from last fall I imagine) jumping in the cove, but they weren’t wanting any of our stuff.  After seeing the umpteenth one leap out of the water, I jokingly told Matt “I bet they’d eat some Power Bait.” Just to see what would happen, he put on a little bit of P-Bait and flipped it out there.  Not 30 seconds later, and he’s hooked up!

It’s HUGE!!  Haha.  Matt kept fishing with PowerBait, and went something like 4 for 20 on little planter rainbows ranging from 11 to 14 inches.  I didn’t want to bother with them, and luckily they felt the same way about my worm+mallow combo and Kastmaster offerings.  I had enough enjoyment watching Matt struggle to hook the planters.



We finished off the evening plugging some rocky shorelines on the peninsula, for nada.

Sunday: Bailey Springs (bankin’ it)

Alright, at least on Saturday I figured out where NOT to fish.  I couldn’t fish this morning, but I was able to get out around 3pm for an evening fish with Matt at Bailey Springs.  We parked at the Highway 36 rest stop east of Chester and hiked down the hill to Bailey Springs.  This way is a lot shorter than hiking in from Gould Swamp, but it’s not nearly as scenic.  You just have to hike down a steep forested hill, follow some old railroad tracks, then climb down another steep hill.  Only takes about 20 minutes.



Tossed out a worm+mallow combo, and about 10 minutes later, I saw the slack in my line tick slightly.  I picked up the rod, waited.  Waited.  Waited some more.  Watched my line slowly creep along the surface.  Reeled in a bit.  Feel tension.  Swing.  Fish on!  After a great fight on light tackle, I had a gorgeous fat brown trout to hand.  Sah-weet!

We also got some great underwater footage of this fish, on Matt’s camera.  After a few pictures, I released this beauty back into the drink.  We continued fishing into the evening for nothing.  Matt had a few non-committal bites that mangled his bait, but the fish didn’t seem too interested.  Things got windy and cold as the sun set, so we bailed back up the hill.



In talking with my fellow angling brothers today, it seems slow all over the lake.  Heard of a few fish around Prattville this afternoon, but nothing to write home about.  The weather’s supposed to be very nice and warm this week…hopefully it’ll get the fish onto a consistent pattern.  We’ll see!  Tight lines all!

Beautiful pics and a great report.  For a transition period it sill looks like you did pretty good.

Man, I now know how to spell paradise; A-L-M-A-N-O-R!!!

You've got it real rough up there Chris! 

Dang, it looks like the only snow up there is on Mt Lassen.  Great pics, I wish I was catching fish right now!

Another great report Chris, love those pics. and congrats on the nice brown.

Thanks guys, that nice brown yesterday was a definite confidence-booster.  None of these fish were coming easily!

Dang, it looks like the only snow up there is on Mt Lassen.  Great pics, I wish I was catching fish right now!

Yeah, the snowpack is pathetic!  I have about a foot of snow in my front yard...at this time last year, I couldn't even see out my windows  .  PG&E is already slowly raising the lake levels, in anticipation of a crap snowpack.  A lot of my spring fishing last year was centered around inflowing tributaries, which are currently at a trickle.  Might have to change my strategies this spring!

You're so blessed to live in the area bro. Awesome report as always.

Jedmo

Nice Brown, Chris, and great report as always.   

Although the fishing may be "sporadic" for ya Chris, some things are always "CONSISTENT": your detailed reports, your extraordinary fishing skills and wealth of knowledge ya share. Thanks for another fantastic report Chris!!

Lake looks pretty full still. That's a fine brown at the end there. Always appreciate the great reports you put up Chris.

Awesome report and pics! Hope we get some rain in the next couple months.

Thats a sweet brown!!

Great pics, great write-up...much appreciated.  I'm throwing some dates around for a trip up there, looking like the last weekend of March or so.  Would love to have a brew with ya!