This morning it's a sunny 75 degrees at 1139 hours. The forecast remains sunny and warm temperatures continue to prevail. The evenings are beginning to offer some relief with cooler air blowing through the windows. Last night we had a low of 59 degrees. Water surface temperatures are high starting out around 73 degrees before the sun continues to push them higher throughout the day.
The fishing has remained strong all summer long with decent catch rates of quality fish. The worm bite of summer is giving way to a speedy shiners and pond smelt imitations anywhere cool water can be found. Jigging is picking up with bait fishing and artificial presentations over springs being a favorite. The Hamilton Branch of the Feather River is packed with fish. "Synchronized Fishing" as it's been referred to, shoulder to shoulder along the banks is the reality. Sight fishing is popular as trout seek cold oxygenated water and pile up in the shallows.
The pond smelt hatch this summer is one of the largest most encompassing I've seen. Literally a blanket of pond smelt across what at times feels like the entirety of the lake can be seen on fishing graph. It's a great time to be a big brown trout, but maybe not so much any form of zooplankton. Targeting fish around this blanket of bait is a good idea. Unfortunately, although the bait is pretty easy to find, catching predator fish around it is more difficult. We've been landing good trout in the 4 to 8 pound class targeting this biomass of hors devours. The fish can be picky and their times of feeding short. Reasonable expectations and persistence are always the name of the game out here.