Lake Almanor

Lake Almanor is a large body of water and a super fishery. I regularly fish for trout and smallmouth bass there, with varying degrees of success. The smallmouth fishing can be painfully slow, getting skunked is a regular occurrence for me, but when it is good, it is great. There is also a population of largemouth established in there, but the smallmouth are much more abundant.

I usually fish Almanor after the first of the year until late March or early April. Since this lake is so large, a big boat is recommended if you plan on going any distance. The boat ramps I use are on the west side of the lake, one at the dam, and another down near the town of Almanor at the Forest Service Campgrounds.

Fishing early in the year is usually deep, a technique I dearly love is vertical jigging. There is something special about dropping a jig directly below your boat and getting that fish to bite. Of course my fishing success improved greatly when I started using electronics to locate fish. Before that it was trial and error... much more error. I have caught salmon, browns, and even smallmouth bass vertical jigging in 40 ft. deep water. When I can't get them to bite a jig, trolling a small floating rapala sometimes gets plenty of action. Another under appreciated fish you will catch doing that is a squawfish. Some people consider squawfish to be trash fish, but if you ever hook one, you'll be in for a fight worthy of a smallmouth or a large trout. I consider them to be every bit as good a game fish as the more popular species.

Smallmouth bass fishing can be so good, it spoils you for the times you can't seem to find them. Some days the average bass will weigh over 2 lbs. and larger. I caught one that weighed 5 lbs. 2 oz. (pictured below) but that was the largest I ever got in that lake. Alot of them are the size in this picture to the right, near 3 lbs.

Baits used here vary depending on the person and what the fish want, but I have caught them on crankbaits and jigs under a bobber. People also use tube baits that mimic crawfish, a main forage base in the lake. If you're into throwing crankbaits, you need to hit stumps. Right after the bait bumps a stump, hang on, the strike can be electric. Stumps also claim their share of expensive baits, so a lure retriever is a valuable tool to have.

A 5 lb. 2 oz smallmouth