NORTH COAST RIVERS

North Coast streams and rivers are regulated by low flow closures. Always call ahead to determine the condition of the river you want to fish. If not mentioned, the river is closed or no reports. The DFG’s Low Flow Closure Hotline for north coast rivers is (707) 822-3164. For the Russian River and counties of Mendocino, Sonoma and Marin, call (707) 944-5533. South Central Coast streams number is (831) 649-2886. Many streams close, and others change to artificial/barbless only on, March 31 and others on April 25. Trouble identifying salmon or steelhead? Go to: http://www.swr.noaa.gov/fmd/identify.htm.

COQUILLE RIVER, Bandon, Ore.–The salmon are just starting to show in the river, and they are a few weeks late. The evening bite has been non-stop, with multiple boats fighting Chinooks at the same time at the Rocky Point section of the river. “One of my friends reported that the two of them caught 3 king’s scattered over the day,” said WON Field Reporter and guide Curtis Palmer of River Secrets Guide Service. “They ranged in weight from 21 pounds up to 25 pounds. Another friend caught 2 Chinooks the next day in the same area, but those fish weighed only 15 pounds and 18 pounds. If you are planning on fishing this river, it is good to carry plenty of flashers due to all the sunken logs from the days of when the river was used for transport of timber.”

ROGUE RIVER, Gold Beach, Ore.–After a 3-year low, fishing has finally come back with a vengeance here, and that’s great news.
“Most days are good fishing for king’s, and it’s a good idea to make sure that it is a Chinook at the end of your line after netting it, since Les Craig caught the first hatchery Coho that I have heard of in the Rogue River this year,” said Palmer. “The few days I was on this river it appeared that the most salmon were being caught around the Patterson bridge in front of Jot’s boat ramp. If you are trying to plan a trip to this area, the salmon fishing should be good into October.”

ROGUE RIVER, Grant’s Pass-Steelheading has been good, and salmon fishing has been decent and sometimes very good in the middle section of the river.

RUSSIAN RIVER-Daytime water users keep the smallmouth hugging the cover during the day, but when the swimmers/rafters/kayakers vacate the river, and early in the morning, anglers can score some good numbers of feisty little smallies.

UMPQUA RIVER, Reedsport, Ore.–It is time to be on the Umpqua River fishing for Chinook’s, because it is good fishing. “I feel that the best trolling is buoy 17 to buoy 24 and there is a reason why they call this area Windy Bend: If they are predicting high winds, it is better to fish the area’s around HWY 101 and higher on the river,” said WON field Reporter and guide Curtis Palmer of River Secrets Guide Service.

TRINITY/KLAMATH RIVERS

TRINITY RIVER, Douglas City-Fishing for spring run Chinook salmon was still pretty good last week, but it’s been all an early morning bite. Warm water conditions led to slower action below Evans Bar.

TRINITY RIVER-Fall run Chinook salmon are starting to show at the lower end of the Trinity, but the river does not open to salmon fishing until Sept. 1.

KLAMATH RIVER, Iron Gate Dam-Water conditions were still good, and trout and small steelhead to 18 inches are still being caught on nightcrawlers, back-trolled Hot Shots and streamers swung on fly rods.

KLAMATH RIVER, Klamath Glen-Fishing on the lower end of the Klamath River continued to be very good, and anglers are catching easy limits, although most of the fish are smaller adults and jacks. Virtually every fishable spot downstream of Blue Creek holds fish. Some very large steelhead were being caught, as well, some gorgeous adult steelies weighing up to 14 pounds. Most of the larger fish are wild and must be released unharmed.

SACRAMENTO VALLEY

AMERICAN RIVER-Striped bass were banging topwater lures, minnows, sardines and crawdads throughout the length of the river last week. Most were in the 5- to 10-pound range, but, occasionally, a hog weighing 20 pounds or more would crash the party. It’s not fast fishing , but early morning or later in the evening before and after the rafters are gone are great times to be on the river whether or not fish are caught. Fishing for salmon continued to be slow.

FEATHER RIVER, Yuba City-Flows were bumped up again to 3,500 cfs, but warm water is spurring salmon to travel nearly non-stop into the cooler Low Flow Section. A few were being intercepted by anglers trolling Kwikfish around the rapids at Shanghai Bend and at the mouth of the Yuba River. Steelhead continued to be caught around the islands below the Gridley Boat Ramp on drifted nightcrawlers, Glo-Bugs, and Berkley Gulp! Eggs, as well as flies.

FOLSOM LAKE-Bass fishing was slow once again, and the few fish being caught were taking slowly worked plastics over and through structure where concentrations of bait fish were present as detected on electronics.

MCCLOUD RIVER– The upper McCloud above the lake continued to see lots of pressure but continued to produce fish. Smaller trout were being caught on nymphs on the Lower McCloud.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Sacramento-Salmon fishing was pretty good-at times-not so good at others at the mouths of the American and Feather rivers. Trolling Kwikfish, FlatFish, and Silvertron Spinners, plus jigging with Gibbs Minnows have all worked when fish are moving through. Nothing works when they aren’t.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Red Bluff-Salmon fishing was pretty good from Red Bluff to Woodson Bridge last week, and some anglers were catching limits on occasion. Try backtrolling sardine-wrapped plugs early in the morning, switching to roe when the sun rose over the tree line. Most of the fish were smaller adults weighing 9 to 12 pounds along with occasional larger adults weighing 20 to 30 pounds.

SACRAMENTO RIVER, Redding-Trout fishing continued to be good, and rainbows from 12 inches to 3 pounds were being caught on drifted Glo-Bugs and nightcrawlers, as well as dead drifting caddis and Mayfly imitating nymphs under floats on the long rod.

UPPER SACRAMENTO RIVER-Fishing continued to be very good in the Dunsmuir area of the Sac with the usual 12 to 15 inchers being augmented by trophy rainbow trout in the 3- to 10-pound range. Pressure through town has been understandably heavier than in other stretches of the river. Some nice-sized rainbows to 21 inches were being caught below Gibson. These are native trout coming out of Lake Shasta. All in all, fishing has been the best in August in many years.

YUBA RIVER-Trout fishing on the Yuba River continued to be very good, with anglers scoring on caddis and Mayfly nymphs under indicators, as well as dry flies.

NORTH SALTWATER

BERKELEY- On board the California Dawn, anglers focused on rockfish, finding limits plus good lingcod counts (Sunday’s trip scored 41 lings). The salmon boats found fish into the 30-pound range, and one of the boats reported a lunker 18-pound bocaccio from the Farallon Islands. On the Happy Hooker, anglers caught a mixed bag during a salmon trip on Wednesday, a bay trip finding halibut and stripers on Thursday, and a limit rockfish trip that also boxed 12 lings on Saturday.

BODEGA BAY- Captain Rick Powers reported slow salmon fishing most of the week, but great bottomfishing with limits of rockfish and good lingcod action. On the weekend, some of the boats found a good salmon bite up inside the Fort Ross reef, with limits for many of the boats. The rockfish action has come from the mouth of the Russian River, Point Reyes and Fort Ross.

EMERYVILLE-The boats really got some time on the water this week, targeting salmon (some limit days), bottomfish (mostly limit days), lings, halibut and striped bass. There were some interesting catches reported, like the 8-pound barracuda (released), and 2 thresher sharks in the 30-pound class.

EUREKA-Still great salmon fishing on tap here, with limits for most of the boats through the week, and fish up in the high 20-pound class taking jackpots. Pacific halibut fishing was solid too, and the bottomfishing at Cape Mendocino was wide open. The tuna was the big question mark, with warm water close to shore to the north and south, but no clear satellite picture off the Eureka coastline.

FORT BRAGG-Salmon fishing has been decent with some limits coming from the fleet fishing the north side. The big news was albacore on the weekend, with the Tuna Hunter finding 18 fish, albacore and a couple bluefin tuna. Rumor had it they were only 20 miles west of Noyo Harbor.

HALF MOON BAY-Captain Tom Mattusch on the Huli Cat found some albacore on Sunday, his group hitting tuna 78 miles from the harbor at the Gumdrop Seamount. They caught 7 fish. Local rockfish action has been “limits the rule,” with good numbers of lingcod weighing down sacks. Still some salmon in the area, with fish caught between Martins Beach and Three Rocks. There are also some white seabass in that same area, said Mattusch.

LOCH LOMOND-Captain Gordon Hough on the Morning Star has been on the halibut hunt for his anglers, finding fish to 27.5 pounds at Red Rock, Raccoon Straights, Richardson Bay, Paradise Cay, Angel Island, Alcatraz, the normal main bay spots. While the counts weren’t mind blowing, most days offered opportunities for the anglers putting in their time.

POINT SAN PABLO-Captain Frank Miller on the Fury said the weekend days were as different as could be weather wise, as a result of rough seas on Saturday, fishing was tough, but his group still caught some rockfish, a halibut and striped bass. On Sunday, the weather was great and the fishing even better, and his five anglers caught 13 halibut. One first time halibut angler caught her limit while fishing the north bar.

SAUSALITO-The fleet found good action on king salmon with about one around on the average, and limits for some of the lightly loaded trips. There were some lunkers caught again, including a 34 pounder on the New Rayann and a 27 pounder on the Salty Lady.

SHELTER COVE-Tuna action broke open on Sunday on a flat calm ocean. About 19 miles out, birds and bait were thick and the albacore were boiling on the surface. About 25 boats hit the action, with counts up to 75 fish. “We got a late start, so we only had 31 fish,” said Captain Trent Slate on the Bite Me out of Shelter Cove Sportfishing. The fish ranged in size from 18 to 25 pounds, and most bite the trolling jigs, but a few hit Megabait iron. On Saturday, the Pacific halibut bite went boom, with both of the six-pack charter boats scoring boat limits up the coast. Rockfish and lingcod limits also filled the fish boxes on the Bite Me that day.

SIERRA LAKES/RIVERS

BOCA LAKE-The lake is at 95-percent capacity. Fishing has been slow due the warm weather and recreational boat traffic. For the best chance at a trout, get out at first light when the water is the coolest and fish are cruising shallower.

CAPLES LAKE-The lake is full. Dale Daneman at Dale’s Foothill Guide Service fished here this past week and reported very slow fishing-6 strikes with 3 hookups and only two “beat up” planters landed for 3 anglers. Daneman said he found few fish while metering around the lake and never saw any other fisherman land a fish all day-from boat or shore. This lake needs a DFG trout plant! Caples Lake Resort reported some fish coming from the Wood’s Creek inlet on bait.

CARSON RIVER (East, West)-The fishing is still “spectacular”. Top fish this week were an 8-pound 2-ounce rainbow and a 7-pound, 1-ounce rainbow taken out of the East Fork. The DFG planted 1000 pounds of catchables in both the East Fork and West Fork this past week and Alpine County will be making another 1800-pound plant of 3-pound average rainbows this week.

DAVIS LAKE-The lake is at 83-percent capacity. Ed Dillard at Dillard’s Guided Fishing had six 15- to 16-inch rainbows in the boat when WON called Sunday morning. He’s been catching 12 to 20 fish a day trolling copper/red head Dick Nites and olive wooly buggers at 20 feet deep near the island. Floating weeds were not as big a problem this week as last.

DONNER LAKE-The fishing has been slow for people fishing off the docks and piers on the west end of the lake. Sometimes you’re in the right place at the right time and pick up a few rainbows on Power Bait or worms, but mostly you just get a sunburn, according to Mountain Hardware and Sports.

FEATHER RIVER CANYON-Anglers are catching a mix of planters and natives on worms, salmon eggs, and crickets. The river flows are great and fishing pressure has slowed with the start of most schools.

FRENCHMAN LAKE-The lake is at 89-percent capacity. Ed Dillard at Dillard’s Guided Fishing reported that one of his friends fished here this past week and only picked up 5 fish for a morning’s trolling-12 to 15 fish has been the norm. He even tried soaking bait with poor results.

GOLD LAKES BASIN-Gold Lake, Lower Sardine Lake, and Packer Lake are all scheduled for DFG trout plants this week. Shore anglers have been doing well using worms at most of the lakes.

ICE HOUSE RESERVOIR-The lake is at 82-percent capacity. Planted this past week by the DFG, so troll a Sep’s watermelon Strike Master Dodger with a green grub and hold on!

INDIAN CREEK RESERVOIR-The lake is scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week. Evening fly fishermen in float tubes have been doing well on smaller fish. Not much competition and lots of action.

JACKSON MEADOW RESERVOIR-The lake is scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week. Mountain Hardware and Sports reported slow action with only a few reports trickling in.

JENKINSON LAKE (Sly Park)-There were only a few small rainbow and smallmouth bass catches reported to the Sly Park Resort. Most came out of the Narrows or at the first dam.

LAKE TAHOE-Great action on both ends of the lake. Chuck Self at Chuck’s Charter Fishing had limits of macks by 7 a.m. and a 7 1/2-pound rainbow by 8 a.m. after switching to shallow water trolling. Some kokanee where hitting small orange Rapalas fished for the trout. Mike Nielsen at Tahoe Top Liners had 22 fish on his morning trip on Sunday-4 macks and 18 kokanee; the afternoon trip already had 5 macks and 2 kokes in an hour when WON called. Nielsen was fishing at the Tahoe Keys 160 to 200 feet deep for the macks, and from the top down to 45 feet deep for the kokanee over 300 to 500 feet of water. The kokes were hitting silver flasher/Apex/ Pautzke’s Natural Corn rigs. The macks ate Storm ThunderSticks and Rapalas.

LOON LAKE-The lake is at 77-percent capacity. According to Dale Daneman at Dale’s Foothill Guide Service, the bite is wide-open all over the lake on a watermelon Sep’s Strike Master dodger trailing a Sep’s 2-inch brown grub on a 10-inch leader. The trout, all rainbows, ran 12 to 14 inches.

PROSSER LAKE-The lake is at 95-percent capacity. Warm weather has slowed the bite. The best bet is to be out a first light at the inlet or in the coves for rainbows and a few smallmouth bass.

PYRAMID LAKE-Joe Mendes at Eagle Eye Charters fished for Sacramento perch two days this past week and landed 244 and 168 cutthroat trout incidental to the perch fishing. Mendes uses light spinning gear and marabou jigs near tufa rock structures-the Pyramid, Hell’s Kitchen, and the Needles in 60 to 75 feet of water. The trout season is closed so all the cutthroats must be released unharmed.

RED LAKE-It should be re-named “green lake”, as it’s totally algae covered and pea soup. A few anglers were still trying, but WON editor Bill Karr didn’t see any fish caught when he went by there on Saturday.

SILVER LAKE-The lake is full, and scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week. Fishing has been slow-this plant should help! There weren’t many anglers at the dam, or trollers on the lake on Saturday, pretty strange for this time of year.

STAMPEDE RESERVOIR-The lake is at 94-percent capacity and scheduled for a DFG trout plant this week. Fishing has been slow on all fronts-for shore anglers and trollers. The kokanee were deep and finicky, macks tight to the bottom, and browns have lock jaw.

TOPAZ LAKE-Not much happening here. A big wildfire shut down the lake for a while this past week so aircraft could take on water. Fishing was slow with lots of recreational boaters on the water after the lake reopened.

TRUCKEE RIVER-Good fly fishing with lots of caddis, little yellow stone, and Trico hatches coming off throughout the day. Big stones, sizes 6 and 8, and crayfish patterns are attracting some bigger fish. The Little Truckee is fishing very technical with flies in sizes 16 to 24-bring your magnifying glasses!

UNION VALLEY RESERVOIR-The lake is at 85-percent capacity. Limits of kokanee were still being reported by Dale Daneman at Dale’s Foothill Guide Service. Dodger/hoochie combos in darker colors at 40 to 50 feet deep were doing the trick.

WEST WALKER RIVER-The Little Walker and West Walker are both scheduled for DFG trout plants this week. The flows are finally down to 300 to 350 cfs and perfect for fly fishing. Limits are very easy to catch with the river just packed full of fish from the DFG, Mono County, and the North Mono Chamber of Commerce. The next Mono County plant of 3-pound Alpers will come just before Labor Day and will be put in south of Walker because of lower water conditions north of town caused by irrigation drawdowns.

NORTHERN FOOTHILLS

AMERICAN RIVER-Still lots of rafters on the South Fork. Flows are low and clear on the Middle Fork and anglers who hike down from the Georgetown area do well in the deep pools for browns and rainbows on nightcrawlers.

BULLARDS BAR-The lake is at 80-percent capacity. Still a lot of recreational boat traffic on weekends slowing the fishing. Getting up in the North Yuba arm helps get away from the skiers and there have been some trout caught here by trollers.

CAMP FAR WEST-The lake has been dropping rapidly and there are a lot of islands starting to show so boaters need to use extreme caution while running to avoid all the shallow hazards which are not marked. Fishing during the day has been slow due to heavy recreational boat traffic. As schools get back in session, the boat traffic should subside and the fishermen can get back on the water. The best chance for anglers is night fishing for catfish.

COLLINS LAKE-The lake is 13 feet from full-higher than normal. Trout action is still slow but steady, while catfish and bass action is good. The top rainbow this past week was caught by Wes Brown of Rocklin-an 8 3/4 pounder taken on a Needlefish trolled at the dam at 30 feet deep. The dam has been the best spot to fish for trout where shore anglers have been picking up 2 or 3 rainbows averaging 1 to 1 1/2 pounds on worms and Power Bait. Trollers have been working the dam area at 25 to 40 feet deep. Catfish action was good– big fish this past week weighed 9-pounds, 6-ounces. Good numbers of catfish running 3 to 5 1/2 pounds were checked in at the store by anglers using stink bait, anchovies, and hot dogs.

ENGLEBRIGHT RESERVOIR-The lake is at 92-percent capacity. Trout fishing was good up lake from Missouri Bar to the confluence for boaters drifting worms. One boat landed a dozen fish. Bass fishing in the marina was good with young Jonathan Hecker of Marysville picking up a 4 pounder on a minnow. The DFG plans to resume trout plants here within the next month or so.

FRENCH MEADOWS RESERVOIR-The lake is at 78-percent capacity. The Foresthill Ranger Station said few reports had come in from here. Fishing has been slow by most reports but a 10-pound brown came 75 feet deep off the dam recently.

FULLER LAKE-The lake was planted this past week and fishing should be good.

HELL HOLE RESERVOIR-The lake is at 89-percent capacity. The Georgetown Ranger Station reported good action for kokanee at the powerhouse on dodger/hoochie combos. Some brown trout have been hitting toplined Rapalas in the early morning from the powerhouse to the inlet.

LAKE OROVILLE-The lake was down 8 feet at press time. Ron Gandolfi reported good action on the main points on the main body up into the West Branch and North Fork. The topwater bite has been hit-or-miss, but a lipless crankbait worked into deeper water can draw a strike. The most consistent action has been coming on tubes, small swimbaits, Senkos, and drop-shot shad pattern worms. A Paradise Tackle worm head jig/worm or Senko combo fished 25 to 45 feet deep will catch bigger fish.

ROLLINS LAKE-Long Ravine Resort reported some trolling action for rainbows at the dam in the early morning before the recreational boat traffic got on the water. Shore anglers at the dam have also been picking up a few trout on worms and Power Bait. Look for crappie around the docks in the marinas.

SCOTT’S FLAT LAKE-A triathlon held over the weekend pretty much shut down the lake for fishing boats. Earlier in the week, boaters running up to the inlet and drifting nightcrawlers and Power Bait were catching a few trout.

SUGAR PINE RESERVOIR-No recent DFG plants here made for slow fishing according to the Foresthill Ranger Station.

STUMPY MEADOWS RESERVOIR-The Georgetown Ranger Station reported lots of rainbow limits for both trollers and shore anglers. The campgrounds are still jammed on weekends, and reservations are recommended to ensure a campsite.

THERMOLITO AFTERBAY-The lake is at 77-percent capacity. Bruce Gibson at the Paradise Tackle Company reported good action for bass anglers throwing buzzbaits and frogs along the tule banks. Jigs pitched into the outside edges of the tules and rocky banks have been working well, also. Try black/blue and brown/black jigs.

NORTH COAST LAKES

CLEAR LAKE- The bite has not changed much, with 7 to 12 fish per day, most in the 3-pound range, although a number of 8 to 11 fish days are beginning to show up as well, great news for the future. Presentations and baits included jigs as the primary choice, but most methods of fishing plastic worms, crankbaits, and a little topwater mixed in on a good day also worked.

LAKE BERRYESSA- The fishing was outstanding, with a good grade of dime-bright chrome kokanee to 19 inches, smallmouth bass to 3.5 pounds and largemouth to 4.5 pounds. For bass, work the points with drop-shot rigs with Robo worms or Basstrix minnows from 3 to 25 to 30 feet. For kokes, try structure in 80 feet, fishing 65 to 78 feet deep.

NORTHEASTERN AREA

LAKE ALMANOR- It’s all about trolling smelt imitations now as the hatches are basically done and the trout are focused on pond smelt. The entire east shore from Canyon Dam north, especially the area near the Dorado Inn on the east shore, are providing some great action early with rainbows in the 3-pound class, and some larger salmon up to 19 inches.

BATTLE CREEK RESERVOIR- Pressure remains very light and fishing slow, though a few bigger fish have been coming in. Chubs continue to be a bit of a problem but the good feed is also fattening up some already big fish so keep at it. Worms and lures continue to be the most productive. As the water begins to cool going into fall, fly fishing should improve. Leeches and streamers tend to work well fished deep. You may not catch a lot of fish but a real lunker could be in the mix.

BAUM LAKE- Vaughn’s Sporting Goods in Burney reports PMD’s and callibaetis doing the job for trout. Nightcrawlers and Power Baits are doing well, as are two-toned Kastmasters. Nymphs of choice have been copper Johns in red or pt’s.

BRITTON LAKE-According to Vaughn’s Sporting Goods, the lake is fuller than it has been in years. The crappie bite is still on, with some nice stringers reported. Try crappie jigs or mealworms for best results around structure. The smallmouth bass also continue to bite.

BURNEY CREEK–Vaughn’s Sporting Goods reports good nymphing at the base of the falls still with green copper Johns. Bait and lure fishermen are still catching trout above the falls.

CASSEL FOREBAY-Rim Rock Ranch reported fishing in the forebay continues to be hot with lots of huge rainbows in the mix. Power Bait and eggs consistently work well here although the lure fishermen seem to keep pace most days. Pressure continues to be moderate and lightens up even more into fall. Flyfishing continues to be hot especially in the late evening. Lots of surface activity, with nymphing PMD’s and callibaetis the most productive. When the fish switch off to dry flies, Adams or light cahills typically work well.

FALL RIVER-According to Vaughn’s Sporting Goods in Burney, anglers have been mainly nymphing, but there has been some dry activity, especially with the sun. There has been good dry fly action on PMD’s and a few tricos starting to show.

IRON CANYON RESERVOIR- According to The Fly Shop, the fly fishing has been good here. Use a boat, float tube or pontoon boat to get out on this quiet lake. Insect hatches have tapered off, but rainbows and browns will chase clouser minnows and Lite Bright Buggers. Suspending nymphs like zebra midges, no.16 black micro Mays, or no.’s 16-18 flashback PT nymphs were good for rainbows, browns and the occasional brook trout.

UPPER HAT CREEK-Rim Rock Ranch reports the fishing has been very good, as the water conditions and the moderate temperatures remain conducive to excellent fishing. Bigger fish were on the bite this past week with dozens of fish coming in between 3 and 5 pounds. DFG plants have been consistent which has resulted in a well stocked stream over most fishable areas of the creek. Pressure is more moderate at this time and probably will remain so with the exception of Labor Day Weekend. Worms have been the most productive bait this season but of late Panther Martin spinners have been hot. With lower water levels, lures have been easier to use than earlier in the season. Some of the best fishing all year takes place in September so try and plan ahead for an opportunity at some great fishing. Fly fishermen have been doing well on weighted nymphs and buggers. Flashy patterns always seem to do well here.

HAT CREEK (wild trout section)-Vaughn’s Sporting Goods in Burney reported nymphing was still the way to go on the stretch just below the Powerhouse. There were also good results with pt’s, copper Johns, and there have been some decent hatches of PMD’s and callibaetis showing.

KESWICK RESERVOIR-The Fly Shop had no changes to report, just great fishing, with the best bite after 11:00 a.m. Fishing No. 12 bird nest and No. 12 Marlee midges are producing some good fishing for anglers willing to make the journey into this remote piece of water.

MANZANITA LAKE-Rim Rock Ranch reported early morning fishing has improved with better hatches. Pheasant tail nymphs and callibaetis cripples both worked well. The lake has been hot and cold all year with the bite more sporadic than usual. Deeper water levels and less weed growth may be the culprit. In any case there are some huge browns in this lake so keep at it for a chance at a real trophy. High winds in the afternoon have plagued fishermen in the high country a lot this year but that’s fishing. Remember to check the special regulations on this catch and release lake.

McCLOUD RIVER-Reports from The Fly Shop are that fishing is great, with light crowds but hot. The best dry fly fishing seems to be around 10:00 a.m. and near sunset. Indicator nymphing with Mercer’s brown or black micro mayflies in no. 16 has been working well.

PIT RIVER-Fishermen are doing best with black stones, copper Johns in red and birds nest in larger sizes fished on the bottom. There have been good reports from the few fishermen braving the increased flows. Be extremely careful of slippery rocks here.

SHASTA LAKE-Mike Elster reports continued trout are in the shad bait balls and you just keep going through them. An Apex in any UV color, Capt. America or white Wiggle Hoochies are all good shad imitations. Use them up in the McCloud arm or in front of Packers and Bridge bays for trout. For king salmon, try out in front of the dam and Digger Bay in deeper water from 80 to 100 feet with rolled anchovies and salmon spoons.