It’s all about ‘weather’ or not you want to go fishing

Lake Almanor

The cold temperatures over the past week resulted in minimal snow melt with ice forming throughout the lake.  There was a drop in Lake level over the past seven days, down two tenths to 4481.51. Water temps’ range between 32 and 35 degrees. Single digit lows were recorded on Sunday and Monday nights and daytime highs were below freezing on Monday. Daytime highs headed back into the low forties by Tuesday and there’s a chance of rain/snow this coming weekend.

Fishing pressure remains light. “I fished one day last week,” said John Crotty of Almanor Fishing Association. “Ice prevented us from starting at the dam; we slow trolled the entire east shore to Big Springs picking up an equal mix of bows and browns slow trolling plastics and crawlers.” Crotty and his fishing pal found smaller fish on the surface and a better grade deeper in the water column. “There was no rhyme or reason,” said Crotty. “We covered ground and picked up a fish every half hour or so.”

Shore fishing also remains light, and conditions have improved at Hamilton Branch, although the catching “not so much.” There is ice in the coves around the dam that make access challenging.