I've been really busy on Shasta Lake so far this year and its been an incredible tear already! We are catching big German browns every trip this winter/spring with the exception of one day during a really slow bite. browns are scaling up to 10.5 lbs, but most are averaging 5-6 lbs. Yesterdays group hooked seven browns and 5 rainbows making for a great day on the water. Side planers were the hot presentation, but we did get some bites on the downriggers as well. Optimizer spoons were our hot bait again. 15-30' seemed to be a great zone to run baits all day.

Optimizer spoons are making a big splash on the western lakes!

The rainbow trout fishing has been quite good as well and we've started catching some of the bigger rainbows again this past week. The smaller 14-16" trout are easy to come by and most can be caught throughout the lake. I'm trolling smaller baits for them at 2.5 mph from the surface to 35' most days. I'm mostly trolling single spoons or Arctic Fox Trolling Flies, but in some of the dirtier water adding a UV Sling Blade helps draw the trout to the spoon or fly. I expect the good fishing to continue well into spring and know this summer will be great!

Another nice Shasta Lake rainbow caught on an Optimizer spoon!