Wow, a long time has passed since my last report. The summer fishing got ridiculously good. Boat traffic was insane and the days ground into weeks and pretty soon a couple of months have gone by. What a strange trip it has been. The days of catching quality fish over the springs, boaters spatting with each other and pouting over crossed lines, validating parking tickets (pun intended in that), complaints of being too close and creating blockades to box out other fishermen has come to an end. A cold front came through and scattered the fish. They have not been hanging over the springs any longer. For a couple of weeks the fishing turned downright poor. The big fish were gone and midgets in the top of the water column became the best we could do for a while. All that is finally turning around now. So, now that we're caught up, let's get to it...
The weather up here is fantastic. Cool mornings are quickly turning to warm afternoons with zero winds. And I mean barely a ripple. 65 degree surface temps are holding steady and most all of the recreational traffic has left the mountain. If you like to fish but generally avoid Lake Almanor because of the horror stories of the unpredictable strong winds, now is your window. Get that little boat on a trailer and get up here. If nothing else, just to enjoy the day of solitude and peace. Be prepared for road construction coming up. I did hear that construction on Highway 32 is settling down, so it might make for a quicker drive up the hill.
As I mentioned, the fishing is turning around. Almanor is great for changing bites. Like a light switch it can be different. Of course as we head into the full moon it's getting good again. Go figure. Anglers are trolling a mixture of presentations. Silver and blue, Fire Tiger, Red Dot Frog and probably other colored speedy shiners and similar spoons have been producing smaller fish in the top 25' of the water column. One day they are on the surface, the next 16' on the wire, then 20'. Just experiment and enjoy the day. On the slow side of things, worms are back in flavor. I hardly ever fish worms this late in the season. The bellies of trout are packed with pond smelt, but the worm trolled slowly behind the boat with a couple colors of lead core or on the downrigger line seems to be the flavor of choice.
I hear the jig bite is picking up again as well. Vertical presentations of flies or bait- feathered jig heads, gulp minnows are worth a go. Try yellows or whites and give it a whirl.
See you on the water and good luck!