The Fish Sniffer

(Redding) Bass fishing at Lake Shasta is currently good and expected to get even better once the weather stabilizes in the wake of recent winter storms. Trout fishing is rated as fair, but is expected to improve too.

The bass are schooling now and can be found anywhere from the bank to 50 feet deep. Senkos and worms rigged on darter heads have been working the best, but spoons, rip baits and swimbaits are hooking fish too. Most of the bass being caught run 12 to 14 inches. If you want a shot at a larger fish, swimbaits are a great choice, but you’ll have to be patient, since you might only get one good strike per day.

Trout trollers willing to invest some time in locating fish are hooking up. For the best shot at success, you’ll want to increase your trolling speed to 3 miles per hour from the surface down to 40 feet. With the colder weather baitfish are starting to move up, so it is important to cover a variety of baits.

Top trout lures for trollers at this time include, Speedy Shiners, Hum Dingers, Apex Lures and Rapalas. 

Lake Shasta is currently 55 feet from maximum pool.

Things are pretty quiet at Whiskeytown Lake. Few anglers have visited the lake and those that have, have experienced slow action at best. Bank anglers stand a decent chance hooking a trout or two while soaking PowerBait, Pautzke salmon eggs, Fire Bait or inflated worms near the inlet. 

Trollers are advised to cover as much ground as possible while top lining standard spoons, plugs or threaded night crawlers until a concentration of willing trout is located.