Following a beautiful day out on the water (several days back) lol we cruised up Hamilton Branch where we met the esteemed President of the Almanor Fishing Association John Crotty. John was kind enough to give my clients a tour of the fish rearing cages and allow them to feed the fish.  This is the oldest in lake pen program in the state having been operated for 35 years by AFA and funded by membership dues, donations and fundraising efforts and staffed by AFA volunteers.

Mother nature just wont let winter give way to spring. Despite the onslaught of weather fronts moving through Northern California the bite at Lake Almanor has remained pretty good with some good quality fish showing. We continue to catch a mix of Browns Bows and Kings at various areas around the lake. With current conditions the fish are somewhat scattered and covering a lot of water seems to be the key to finding them. We have moved on from the flies and are now focusing on the spring plug bite. These fish absolutely crush the plugs with a good number going aerial on the initial hit.  The fish are fat and healthy (see the pictures) and giving some fantastic battles in the sub 40 degree water. Look for the bite to intensify as we are scheduled to have a dryer, warmer, more stable weather week coming up.

The waters of Lake Almanor are ever changing and recently they have been bouncing between winter and spring conditions, sometimes all in the same day. Recent charters have seen numbers of Almanor's big three, Browns, Bows, and Kings coming into the net. We have managed to catch fish in just about every corner of the lake using a variety of methods, including flies and plugs. Ever get the feeling that you are the only boat on the lake? Well that is an everyday occurrence right now, we are not seeing many people on the water. Currently we are getting a pretty good whack from the weather man which is a good thing for the up-coming water year, more snow pack means more cool water flowing into the lakes which means better fishing. Lake Almanor is just getting started and the fishing will continue to expand from good to over the top as we move further into the year. If you are thinking about a trip this spring, don't wait, contact me today about getting you dates secured for this exciting fishery.