The recent cold, wet, windy weather has slowed the bite on Almanor. Water level is up over a foot and a half in the past seven days currently sitting at 4487.77 we achieved our high-water mark of 4484.39 in 2022 on May 31rst. Water temperatures have dipped back into the low fifties. Water clarity fluctuates throughout the lake as winds and tributaries are adding color. We will see a warming trend over the next seven days, with insects hatching and fish beginning to feed aggressively.
Hamilton Branch continues to deposit large volumes of dirty water into Almanor as does the Suer Ditch, Bailey Creek, and the Feather. Shore fishing remains difficult at best and the recent winds haven’t helped. The coves around Canyon Dam are your best shot at catching fish from shore, as Hamilton Branch begins to clear fishing should improve and the Causeway is worth a shot when conditions allow.
Trolling was good early in the week and a struggle later as our weather deteriorated. Trolling hardware and Rapalas at 2.5 mph and crawlers/plastics at 1 mph (when winds allowed) caught fish. We are catching a mix of browns and bows (75% browns) with an occasional smallie thrown in the mix. We caught a fat five plus pound female small mouth yesterday that was in spectacular shape while fast trolling. Insects will be the diet of choice as temperatures rise, I haven’t seen any pond smelt in weeks.
Our campgrounds remain closed, and Canyon Dam is the only usable public boat ramp. RVers are starting to show up along the east shore as all the snow is gone at lake level on the east side of the lake. There are still large snow drifts on the West Shore. If you are looking to park your RV this summer Will Meyers has purchased the Whispering Pines RV Park in Canyon Dam and he is open for business. Will has rebuilt the infrastructure and was able to save some of the trees and landscaping. Will changed the name to Canyon Ranch RV and is taking both long- and short-term rentals, Will can be reached at 530-774-3869.