Same group, same time, same location only today the orange grubs were the best baits. It would be pretty hard to improve on yesterday's average, and that was the case. The jumbo grade of fish we had knocked out yesterday had moved on. Today, however, the fish proved to be more of a challenge to land and we lost several in the early going due to extremely hard fights with some aerobatics involved. Our biggest fish today was 4.5 pounds with the rest running around 3.5 pounds and several smaller ones released. The ELT are really moving around right now due to the rapidly cooling water temperatures. Most of the action up in the north basin has subsided with the water temp ranging from 36 to 38 up there. The area around Pelican Point and the open water in the middle basin is running in the low 40's with the warmest water on the lake being south of Pelican and running up to 45 degrees. Funny how you spent all summer looking for cooler water and come this time of year you are actually looking for warmer water. Look for the good fishing at the lake to continue as the fish try to bulk up for winter and spawning in the spring.

It was slightly warmer, at 28, this morning due to a thin cloud cover that came in over night. Departing Spaulding at 6:30 I decided to motor across the bay to where we had had our best results yesterday. Upon arrival I dropped the same compliment of brown and orange grubs. It would be clear shortly that brown was the way to go. The first fish of the day was a fat 4 + pounder followed by another and then another. With only 3 clients on the boat the limit was filling fast. Now I like to be on the water as much as the next guy (maybe more) but catch and release was not on the menu today. There was also talk of being able to get in in time to make the early football game. Their Call! We continued to whack an unbelievable grade of fish, losing only one, until the 6 fish limit was full. As was the case with a friend of mine last weekend, Eagle Lake was ON FIRE!!! (You know who you are) It looked to me like all of our fish were over 4 and a couple over 5 pounds. After further review (as they say in the NFL) and a check of the scale, we had 2 fish over the 5 pound mark with the biggest going 5 pounds 5 ounces, 3 fish in the 4 pound class and the "runt" of the limit at 3 pounds 14 ounces. Total weight of the 6 fish limit was 28 pounds 2 ounces! What a morning! After making fillets it was time to retire to the cabin for some football and yes we did make the early games.

It was in the single digits while I was launching the boat this morning. We left the dock in Spaulding about 6:30 and once we got out into open water started dropping line and heading east. The group of fishermen that had made there way to Eagle lake after Thanksgiving, are regulars during the summer, doing a family camp out/ fishing trip, but this was their first chance to see if Fall fishing at the lake was as good as the rumors had made it out to be. It took only minuets to hook up the first fish and the further east we went the better the bite got. The weapons were the usual Rogue 763 rods with either a brown or orange 3 inch grub run 150 + feet behind the boat. Two of the rigs I kept 1 to 2 feet off of the bottom while the other 2 were set near the surface on the Cannon Downriggers. Today it was split, half the fish came on the brown and the others on the orange baits. The fish that I have been cleaning have been absolutely loaded with shrimp so Pro-Cures Freshwater Shrimp Oil was my scent of choice. I continued to work the open water north of the Youth Camp and Pelican Point until 10:30 by which time we had 6 nice limits of ELT to 4.25 pounds losing a few and releasing several others. Needless to say they were quite happy with the results of the late season fishing, and vowed to return next year for another go at these beautiful fish.

I took part in an annual pilgrimage by a great group of guys to Eagle Lake. Our group had multiple boats on the water each day and covered a ton of water trolling from the northern part of the lake all the way to the south end. A quick summary; all of our boats did quite well with nice limits each day as well as releasing a number of fish. The top producing baits were 3 inch orange grubs scented with all kinds of stuff, but I will stand by my Freshwater Shrimp Oil from Pro Cure. The "Black Perch" Uncle Larry's Spinner did quite well tipped with a brown grub. A custom colored spinner, which has now become known as the "Tequila Sunrise", was developed by one group member, did well for a short time but then died off quickly. Right Ed?? Fish were also caught on a variety of other colors of grubs including brown, black, motor oil and green. Locations around the lake that produced fish were Bucks Bay, The Narrows, Troxel Point, Stones Ranch, Pelican Point, Shrimp Island and Pikes Point. I'm sure I'm forgetting a few but you get the idea that fish were caught just about everywhere. The water temps ranged from 45 to 49.7 depending on location and time of day but are sure to be dropping as the overnight temperatures are getting cold. It was all about the three "F's" Friends, Fishing, and Food. Thanks for everything guys and I can't wait till next year.

Three days of fly fishing and boy did we cover some water. Troxel Point, as indicated by the previous report, is loaded with food and it became our "go to" morning spot. The top producing flies were Jay Fairs in rust color or an olive scud pattern concocted by "Two Fly Terry". The bite would definitely slow if not completely stop as the sun would hit the water and we were off in search of fish. We managed to hook fish at a variety of locations in the middle basin all the way to Wildcat Point. Most of the fish hooked were in the 3.5 pound class and up the biggest toads came off of a point on Shrimp Island or as we now call it "Mount Shrimpus" (due to the low water at the lake). These fish were caught in less than ideal fly-fishing conditions with strong winds and a good swell pounding the rocks we were standing on and were in the 4.5 pound class, fat and soggy. The strong winds prevented us from even wetting a line on Shrimp one of the days. We never were able to find heavy concentrations of fish, instead it seemed like the fish were in cruising mode and if you were willing to put in the time and keep your fly wet you would find success. The bigger fish down South may be a sign of things to come. A southward migration maybe????? The water temps were as low as 45 degrees which usually isn't cold enough to get the fish to flood the South end but there are definitely some nice ones down there. Stay tuned we are moving into Winter. I have a couple of days available between now and the first week of December when I will be wrapping up my 07 Eagle Lake season. If you are interested in jumping on the boat and getting a crack at these fish please contact me soon.

The North basin has continued to kick out quality fish in the mornings. The water surrounding Troxel Point is holding a ton of food (mostly shrimp) and as a result, a lot of quality fish are cruising the water. I have been stuck on either brown 3 inch or orange 3 inch grubs, Friday the two colors seemed to catch at about the same ratio but Saturday and Sunday the orange had the upper hand. The bite up in this area is definitely better early and then tapers off as the sun gets higher. On days where clouds or fog keep the sun light in check the bite will hold longer. I have spoken to people who indicated that they had also done well late in the afternoon near Troxel but I personally have not fished it at that time. When I find the bite slowing down up North, I have been moving into the middle basin along the East side North of the Youth Camp and Pelican Point and working 10 to 12 feet of water with the same gear set close to the bottom. The water temperature has been running a balmy 47 to 49 degrees, but it wont take long for it to drop if we see some cold weather.

My apologies for the delay in getting current reports up on the site. Over the course of the last week there have been a number of changes going on the water at Eagle Lake. There were a number of low pressure bumps that moved in and out and brought severe thunder showers with plenty of lightning that caused the fish to change patterns and locations. I spent some time fly fishing over the last week with mixed results, one day we posted some great numbers on Jay Fair Wiggle Tails fishing rocky points on the east side of the lake. The other morning we couldn't buy a fish on the fly rods. (Probably due to the low pressure and extremely flat water) The trolling overall was pretty good but not what I would call red hot. Most of the days we were on solid bites at a variety of locations around the lake. The quality of the fish was great, with a good number of fish over the 4 pound mark landed and several 5 pound class fish in the mix. The over all best bait this week was the 3 inch brown grub, although one day under dark skies the 3 inch orange grub was the ticket. Honorable mentions for baits that produced quality fish also go to 2 and 3 inch motor oil grubs, brown Artic Fox Tube Flies, and Uncle Larry Spinners in "Black Perch" with a brown "pony tail". The standard technique was to run the baits at least 150 feet behind the boat on the Cannon Downriggers and to soak them with either Trophy Trout Sauce or Freshwater Shrimp Oil by Pro-Cure. Another key to our success was to keep the gear as close to the bottom as possible no matter what the water depth was. In the early mornings we started out our days fishing shallow at various locations around the north basin including the Castle and Troxel Point as well as the open water in the middle of the bay. As the sun would rise and light up the water our bite would typically slow down and I was forced to move into deeper water to have continued action. That deeper water was either the channel in the narrows or the open water north of the Youth Camp and Pelican Point, again keeping the baits 1 to 2 feet off the bottom. Saving the best for last, November 3rd was a great day that produced 15 hookups and resulted in 4 limits (8 fish) of fish that weighed over 33 pounds! The water temps have been running in the mid to high 40's depending on location and conditions and with fair weather in the forecast the bite should only get better. Now is the time to fish Eagle Lake! Big fish honors this week go to Norbert Hohlbein of Roseville with a 5 pounder caught at Troxel Point and Ryan Metzler of Fresno with a pair of 4.5 pounders caught near Pelican Point.

Pair of 4.5's
Nice start to the day!	Nice Limits!

The forecast change in the weather arrived this morning bringing breezy conditions and threatening skies. I would have been hard not to start out at the Castle based on the last couple of days. We took the ride across the lake, arriving at the Castle at just about legal fish time. I set the usual gear, brown grubs at 5 feet 150 feet back. It didn't take long for the first fish to hit but this day something was different. The larger class of fish that had been "camped" in this area had moved on and had been replaced by fish in the high 2's to low 3 pound class. Still nice fish but not the high 3 to low 4 pound pigs we had been seeing. After a few more fish the wind really started blowing so we tucked in on the North side of Troxel Point and in a couple passes hook 4 more fish (with several being hooked on an orange grub) before the bite seemed to fizzle out. We moved south into the middle basin of the lake and worked the area near the Youth Camp (which was probably one of the roughest spots on the lake with the South wind) with orange grubs set at 10 feet for a couple more fish before calling it a day with nice limits. The group was catch and release fishing only keeping fish that were mortally hooked. Tuesday the "weather man" was calling for more of the same, wind out of the South and it was colder. We departed the dock and headed for the tip of Pelican Point. Once at the point I turned around and set a course back towards Spaulding. We worked the North side of Pelican and then around the airport. The water depth ranged from 5 to 9 feet and we kept our gear within 2 feet of the bottom. While the brown grub got a few, the orange was on a tear and after it hooked the 3rd fish the brown was changed out. Today the fish had "shoulders" and attitudes, giving us some unbelievable battles including one 4+ pounder that we had to turn the boat back into to get under control. (the fun of catching hot fish on light tackle) This is Eagle Lake fishing. We continued to catch and release, again keeping only mortally hooked fish. We returned to the dock with limits of fish the ranged from just under 4 to just over 4 pounds. Despite the wind and the cold front the water temperature is running in the low 50's.

Limits

Castle, Brown Grub, 5 Feet, Big Fish, And Plenty Of Them, Enough Said!!

The red hot morning bite did give me some time for experimentation in the late morning and early afternoon. Like yesterday the bite shut off pretty hard when the bright sun hit the flat water but some newer rigs were still able to produce fish. We ran a combination of Artic Fox Tube Flies with the brown by far being the most productive rigged with a Wiggle Fin a few inches up the line. Another rig that had positive results was a Mini B Squid from Uncle Larry's Lures. More famous for his spinners Johnny is now producing some great looking squid bodies that have been catching a variety of species at lakes all over Northern California and we can now add Eagle Lake to that list. I rigged the root beer colored body with a large Wiggle Fin (or as we jokingly call them the "toilet plungers") about 5 inches up the line and you wouldn't believe the side to side kick that thing will give you. It is almost like having a dodger on the line but with out the weight. When people ask me if I think something will catch fish or not my usual response is something like "The next hot ticket is just seconds away from being put in the water and you never know unless you try".

We fished the Castle area again this morning for better results. The temperature was chilly and the lake was flat calm. The purpose off the trip was to get 7 year old  Jake on some fish and show Uncle Will some new areas of the lake. Dropping in on our first pass we hooked and landed several nice fish on the 2 inch brown grub run at 5 feet, and Jake learned the value of catch and release. We made several other passes that resulted in 3 other fish in the 3 lb class before moving on to the next stop which was Troxel Point. We dropped in and proceeded across the tip of the point and almost immediately a rod lit up with a hot 3.5 pounder, after a good battle and another one to the boat we decided to move on. I ran to an area about a half mile North of the Youth Camp and started dropping gear to 10 feet in 12 to 14 feet of water. While we did manage to continue catching fish the bite had definitely slowed down, probably due to the dead calm water and the bright sun. We picked up Jake's last fish of the day near Miners Point while I was playing tour guide and showing the pair Bly's old tunnel location. With the water being clear and flat and with the sun high over head Will and I took the opportunity to survey some submerged structure on the way back to the boat ramp for future fly fishing trips.

Jake's Big Fish	Beautiful Weather

We took to the water under cloudy skies and a light drizzle of rain. Heading South from Stones Landing. Our first stop was in front of the castle, and while that area didn't produce the open water between there and Troxel Point did give us a few hot fighting fish. I was running 4 lines with a combination of brown and orange grubs from the surface to just off the bottom. With the fish fighting well I decided to cut it back to 2 lines and we hooked up a couple more fish before moving South. We pulled in on the East side of the Spaulding bay North of the Youth Camp. Winds were easy and a light rain continued to fall. I set the gear within a couple feet of the bottom fishing 8 to 10 feet over 10 to 12 feet of water. After a few more fish with Bill continuing to land the big ones we headed back to the ramp while scouting some new water on the way. The group left with limits running from the low to high 3 pound range. The 2 inch orange grub did catch a few fish but the 2 inch brown by far was the best producer. We ran the rigs 150 feet back and found the best speed was from 1.2 to 1.4 MPH.

It was sure starting to look more like late Fall conditions at Eagle Lake. The cold front pushing in from the north began dropping snow after dark on Thursday night and by Friday morning it had left several inches on the top and gunnels of my boat and was threatening to leave more. Regular readers of my reports will recall my fondness for fishing in the snow (which actually sounds more like a sickness), in fact some of my best days ever on Eagle (and Almanor) have been during periods of heavy snow. While those conditions may be out of the question for some, a full enclosure and dual heaters keep the cab and clients quite comfortable. We departed the dock at Spaulding and headed for the East side of the bay to an area well North of the tip of Pelican Point and the Youth Camp. Again we managed to catch fish on a variety of colors of 2 inch soft plastic grubs, but orange seemed to be the "hot ticket" of the morning. The fish were also a little more predictable on their depth, and most of the action came on our deeper lines, running with in 2 feet of the bottom in 10 to 14 feet of water. The result was plenty of  fish and limits running to 3.5 pounds. Saturday morning had a whole different look and feel. The skies were clear and the temperature was in the low 20's. I had a little intel' from some sources of nice fish being caught up North near Troxel Point and based on our results from last week we opted to start there. The choice turned out to be good and bad. We managed to hook 2 nice fish right off the bat landing what would be our biggest of the day. The beautiful Eagle Lake 'Bow was right at 4 pounds and fell to an Uncle Larry's Spinner in the Copper Back pattern with an orange grub "pony tailed" up. These were to be the only 2 fish we hooked, and after several more fruitless passes and not seeing a net fly on any of the other boats who had joined us I decided to run. We moved South to the bay in front of the airstrip which only gave us one fish on the small side so to the East we went, right back to the location from yesterday. This proved to be a good change. Our bite was slower than the day before but steady and radio chatter from many of the other boats confirmed that was the case for them as well. Most of the fish we caught were solid, running from the mid to high 3 pound range including one that was well over 5 pounds that was lost close to the boat. Orange was working but the old trusty brown 2 inch grub really came on strong, and by the end of the day I had brown on all the rods. Again the ticket was keeping the baits with in 2 feet of the bottom and a long way (150 feet) behind the boat. The sun was out and the winds were light, it was one of those days on Eagle, absolutely beautiful! The water temp was running in the low to mid 50's depending on location and time of day.

Despite reports of a soft bite and scattered fish we found good success both days on Eagle. We started out early on what turned out to be an absolutely beautiful day, departing Spaulding under a clear moon lit sky with a 32 degree thermometer reading. I had found a concentration of fish the day before near the tip of Bucks Point and Little Troxel Point but decided that would be "plan B". We headed for the tip of Pelican Point, but with grass free water I opted to drop gear while still roughly a half mile North of the point. It only took seconds to realize it was a good choice. While I was letting out the first line the rod lit up with a feisty 'Bow and the battle was on! After landing the first fish I managed to get all four lines in the water for the first and last time. We had steady action on all four from the surface to 8 feet over 10 feet of water. The only pattern was there was no pattern. The fish came on green, chartreuse, and brown 2 inch grubs scented with both Trophy Trout Sauce and Freshwater Shrimp Oil from Pro Cure and run 150 feet back on the Cannon downriggers. With 3 limits of fish running from the low to high 3 pound class, several LDRs, and a couple other take downs by 7:45 and having people who were new to Eagle Lake on board I went from fishing guide to tour guide as we cruised the lake and took in some of the beautiful sights. Thursday morning found almost identical conditions but I was informed it was actually warmer at 34 degrees. We returned to the same area and dropped the same gear only to find a slower bite......for a while, then things broke wide open again. We boxed several nice fish and then decided to fish some water we had scouted the day before on our lake tour. We moved North to the tip of Troxel Point, and in moments had a nice fish hooked up. We continued to work the area and managed to land a few more while trying several different color combinations. Now in full experimentation mode (not because we had to, just to see what else would work) I moved us across the narrows to the castle (where we had spotted fish the day before during our tour) and dropped in 5 feet of water with an olive 2 inch grub and something new for me, an Artic Fox Tube Fly in a Tui Chub pattern rigged with a wiggle fin. To say the fish liked that fly would be an under statement. We hooked several more nice fish before calling it a day again with 3 nice limits of Eagle Lakers. The surface temp was ranging from 57 to 60 depending on time of day and location. Look for the bite to only get better as we move into Fall.