Shasta Lake 11/2 Kokanee and trout

Weather decided to throw a wrench on my opening day crab plans, so I stayed local. Afternoon sesh at centimudi was the plan, got on the water around 1pm after running errands. The launch and surrounding banks were crowded with power bait soakers and their kids by the dozens. Immediately I noticed clouds upon clouds of baby shad lining the shorelines. Tried a few hours north and south of the launch for some trout near the surface down to 35ft for only a few timid bumps. Low pressure and turbulent weather system plus ample post-spawn shad made for less than ideal conditions. I switched gears to Brads KCP with anchovy, and started smacking the Kokanee. No corn, super close to shore, on the surface. Wiggle hoochies too. It had been over 2 years since I caught my last Shasta koke. All males, varying stages of red, all between 8-12”. Shore spawning near the launch, even though some gullies had water flowing out from the rains still. Caught 4 in an hour, clouds of them marked by the dam but no big sonar marks. Whiskeytown had a good run this year until the bite tapered off around July for various reasons. Shasta kings ranging 2nd year fish 16-20” and self sustaining population of kokes are making the lake more and more attractive, even if the kokes are smaller than other lakes or even compared to the 21-22’ season. Probably a result of competition with shad or overpopulation due to successful spawning the last 2 wet winters.

Nice work, thanks for the report!  I'm looking forward to getting out and chasing kokanee again - super fun to catch and very tasty.

Thanks for the report. I gotta try koke fishing again this year...

Thanks for the report and pictures ST.

Great report.
Do you know if the spawning kokes last year were predominantly shore spawners? Or did they make it up upriver?

Thanks for the report. The lake looks like it’s in good shape. Those Kokanee would probably be good crab bait!