trout action.
Basic spring conditions have dominated the Almanor basin in recent weeks. Mostly pleasant weather with an occasional rain shower or dusting of snow. The lake level continues to slowly rise it currently sits just over 4490 or 3.5 feet below full pool. Flows on the tributaries have fluctuated in recent weeks as short but sometimes intense precipitation has hit the area. Hamilton Branch is running mostly green but has seen short lived pushes of muddy water when the flows become elevated. Remember when fishing Hamilton or any other location, pack out what you pack in. Water temperature is now running in the high 40’s to low 50’s depending on time and location. The trout are active all over the lake. The dam, east shore, west shore and the peninsula are all giving up fish. The fish in Almanor have it good, multiple abundant food sources are currently available, making it easy for them to load up. Pond Smelt continue to get chewed on but aquatic bug hatches all over the lake are attracting lots of attention from the trout and some fly fisherman. Running nymphs under indicators close to the bottom are fooling trout as well as Smallmouth for the fly guys. Trollers are focusing their attention from the surface to 30 feet with a variety of offerings and techniques to temp fish. Slow trolled (1.5 mph or less) worms, plastics and trolling flies are all solid choices. Running flies and Rapalas faster also brought fish to the net over the last week. With the elevated insect activity also comes the hardware bite. Spoons, mostly in the brighter patterns featuring reds and oranges, run fast in the top 20 feet have been providing impressive action. The catch continues to be mixed bag of Browns and Bows in all size classes. The coves of the west shore are providing shore anglers with some action. The top bait offerings continue to be crawlers and mice tails, jigs and spoons thrown from shore have also been getting hit for a catch made up of mostly Rainbows and an occasional Brown. The bass are in spring mode bringing more bass anglers to the lake as evidenced by the substantial increase in bass boat traffic out on the water and several weekend tournaments. The Canyon Dam boat ramp is open and useable, the west shore USFS ramp remains closed. Some unsettled weather is expected for the next few days before we return to warmer mild spring conditions.
