It’s Brown Trout Fishing Season
Shasta Lake brown trout love the rain!
Shasta Lake weathered a descent storm this past week and Redding saw over 2 1/2" of rain the past few days. The lake is continuing to rise and were just 60' feet from full pool. This is great news, especially with more significant rain and snowfall in the forecast. Water temps in Shasta Lake are hovering in the 50-51 degrees, but temps in the 40's can be found up high in the arms where the cool mountain water continues to roll in. Brown trout fishing remains solid and I'm excited to report that a few browns are being caught just about every trip out. The browns have recovered from the spawn and are beginning to take on the appearance of our typical spring brown trout. Two, maybe three weeks should show some quality browns being caught and should remain so for the season ahead up until around October when they head up into the rivers to spawn again.
Brown Trout Lures and Fishing Recommendations
Time to start thinking about fishing Shasta Lake for brown trout!
I'm going to start focusing my efforts on structure and it won't be long until some of our biggest brown trout of the year will be swimming into a waiting net behind my boat. Spoons, stick baits, and fly's are going to lead the effort aimed at catching this years big browns. I'll be running brighter colors in colored water and a more natural bait presentation during greener water periods on Shasta. Cold waters will continue to slow these fish down, but because of this seasonal water condition, keep those trolling depths in the 10'-20' mark and down to 30' with clear skies and a flat/glassy water surface. if your not familiar with snap weights, now would be a good time to look into how to use them when trolling your local waters for trout. I rely on them heavily during the spring to get my lures down when I'm towing them with inline planers off to the sides and away from the boat. Some days the browns will take baits off downriggers with long setbacks, but others they won't touch them. Your only bites will often times come off the planer rods, some of which will have to be dragging spoons or stickbalts down 10'-20' feet.
Book A Brown Trout Fishing Trip
Shasta Lake winter/spring brown trout!
There's your tip for the week and an accurate report to refer to before heading out this next week. Its gonna be a great year and my calendar is already showing it. If you want to fish for browns on Shasta Lake in March or April (prime time) you need to get on the books before my available dates are gone! I handle all of my own brown trout trips, but thats because I have some great striper guides who will be staying down in striper town (Colusa) all spring and can help pick up some of my overflow bookings. That being said, it will keep me free to get one of those 15 lb browns for a lucky client this year! Its this years goal, and I'm confident it will happen for one of you out there!
