Fish Bits for the week of 11/27/19
Lake Almanor
John Crotty of Almanor Fishing Association had a few hours for fishing Nov. 18 after repairs were made on the fish pens. Local four-footed mammals (otters) were trying to make the fish nursery their own private fast food drive-thru.
“We are still enjoying unseasonably mild weather. We do have some wind headed our way on Tuesday and Wednesday and temps will be dropping slightly,” said Crotty. “Water temps remain unchanged since last week’s report hovering around the low 50s.”
Calm mild winds made for tough conditions with lots of down time between fish this past week. We need a storm or two to get these fish motivated. Most of the docks have been removed and most of the seasonable businesses have shut down. Both public boat ramps are in and operational.
“Yesterday we saw lots of fish surfacing in the flats between Almanor West and Bailey; we started fast trolling hardware early and switched to crawlers when the early morning breeze subsided,” said Crotty. “We hooked a half dozen fish and landed four, a tough day of fishing. The weather was spectacular, approaching 70 degrees towards the middle of the day.”
Bank fishing was tough this past week as well. There are mature fish moving into the coves they are just very selective and tough to catch.
Our extended fall season is keeping access to fishing spots wide open. There remains minor road construction on highways 32, 36 and 70, with minimal delays; this week’s weather will not impact travel. The little bit of rain that was predicted for yesterday, Nov. 26, won’t affect much but to dampen the dust and perhaps bring the fish to the surface. Both public ramps remain open with docks in place.
Feather River
Fishing closed Nov. 15 on the Middle Fork Feather, North Fork Feather, Indian Creek, Spanish Creek and the North Fork of the Yuba so until spring, point the rod down river, way down river.
The River below dams is open year round — any section that connects eventually to the ocean. That includes the lower Feather, the American and the Yuba; they will remain open. To fish these waterways, keep in mind a salmon or steelhead license is required.
Lake Davis
The snow was expected to fly yesterday, Nov. 26, so the next item on your fishing calendar may be the John Pato Ice (or no ice) winter fishing derby the first Saturday in February, which this year falls on the first.
The docks were pulled in back in mid-October, so that is already done. The last we heard from Jim Graham up at J&J Grizzly Store was, “On the scale of 1 to 10, fishing is about an 8. That’s for boat, bank and fly.”
Jim suggests that folks head up to the lake soon. “Get up here before the snow starts to fly,” is timely. Even if the fish don’t bite, the roads around Lake Davis are scenic, peaceful and offer solitary moments in nature any time of year. “Davis is never a waste of gas or time,” said one local photographer.
Send pictures of fall fishing expeditions in for the Feather Publishing Sports Section to [email protected].
