It finally started to feel like spring this week. Beautiful cool mornings followed be bright sunny afternoons in the Almanor basin. Bailey Creek, Hamilton Branch as well as the super ditch are all seeing increased flows as the warmer temperatures increase the snow melt higher up.
Increased flows also have the lake level on the rise, currently sitting at 4489.5 just 4.5 feet from max pool and up over a foot in the last week. Water temps are now ranging from the high 40’s to the low 50’s depending on time and location. More fishermen are beginning to show up at the lake, and boat traffic is definitely on the rise especially on the weekend.
As of 4/19/24 the USFS announced that the Almanor North Boat Launch is now open following repairs to the dock and anchor system that were damaged last year. This provides more options for people to launch boats and will take the pressure off Canyon Dam Boat Ramp. For the boats it was solid spring fishing this week featuring multiple bites and options around the lake. Fish are well dispersed and continue to feed on the pond smelt as well as the rich aquatic bug hatches that are now happening all over the lake. Multiple techniques were getting fish, fast trolled speedy shiners in the usual reds, oranges and greens were getting pounded by aggressive rainbows on both the east and west shores from 5 to 25 feet. Top lined plugs connected with a mix of Browns and Bows on the east shore. Slow trolled plastics, flies and crawlers also saw action on the east shore from the surface to 30 feet with Browns being the predominate biters. Bank anglers were scattered in the coves around the dam and found some limited success, along with a few fly fishermen out in tubes. The warmer temps have the bass activity on the rise, reports were spotty but I’m sure the people fishing the Mountain Bass open on Saturday got their share. The tournament the week before had several 5 fish limits solidly in the 19 pound range. T
he weather is forecasted to be pleasant with a slight downward trend in temperatures and maybe a chance of showers late week. In other words, nice with a high probability of fishing.
