Fish Bits for the week of 2/14/18
Lake Almanor
The following information was provided from Almanor Fishing Association on Feb. 11. Fishermen continue to take advantage of the mild weather. The browns and rainbows that were planted in 2017 are still hanging out in and around Geritol Cove.
“I spoke with a couple of fly fishermen that said they caught and released more than 60 fish each last Monday, they were back for more on Saturday,” said John Crotty of Almanor Fishing Association. As mentioned in previous reports these fish are fat, healthy, hungry and eager. “They are not good table faire and more importantly the future of our fishery, please enjoy catching them and release them unharmed if possible,” said Crotty.
Water levels have dropped a bit and clarity is 9 to 10 feet, temps continue to hover around the 41.5-degree mark and will most likely will drop this week with overnight lows dipping into the teens and daytime highs not rising above 40 a few days.
There is a slight chance of snow early in the week and the weather should be nice this coming weekend.
Crotty and his fishing pal found fish scattered throughout the lake and caught a few fish on Friday and Saturday fast trolling hardware, speedy shiners in Red/Gold and Red dot frog being the top producer. The pair picked up a few fish working Artic Fox trolling flies in the pond smelt pattern. “I run my Artic Fox products on lead core, I typically have 2 or 3 colors of lead core out followed by 50 to 75 feet of mono a small P-Line swivel and 6 feet of 8-pound leader. Pond smelt is my go-to pattern, we have had success on the Cop Car, Rainbow and Brown patterns,” said Crotty. “I don’t use the wiggle disc on Almanor, I have found keeping the rod moving is more effective.”
Crotty said, “These flies work … especially this time of year through Spring.”
Crotty has been targeting fish in water less than 25 feet deep. He caught fish along the east shore, off the Peninsula and from Rec. No. 2 north, but didn’t find any concentration to fish.
