Lake Shasta

Lake Shasta is one of the best lakes in Northern California for spotted bass. I go there once a year in late winter with my friend Bob and spend a week fishing. (The map at left can be enlarged by clicking on it.) We always catch fish, and almost always get wet due to the time of year we pick for our trip. In 2000, it stayed dry all week, but the wind gave us alot of trouble. In order to catch fish that time of year, it's generally necessary to fish deep for them. Usually we want to work baits down to the 20 to 30 foot depth. Windy weather makes it very difficult to keep your lure down there long enough to get bit, but when you do, and you're in the right spot, they will bite.

When the water temperature warms sufficiently, usually in the low to mid 50's, the fish will start to move shallower, and we catch them anywhere from right next to shore, down to 10-20 ft. The lure of choice for us is a lead head jig, 1/8 oz., with a plastic worm body. Colors vary, but we like basic pumpkinseed and black, normally. During those times that the fish are shallower, crankbaits can give you an electric shock when one of those spots smacks it. Pound for pound, spotted bass seem to fight better than any other bass. Once you hook one, you'll swear they are 2-3 lbs, but when you get it up to the boat, you normally find it's much smaller.

There are also smallmouth bass as well as largemouth, and you'll catch a fair amount of smallmouth, but the largemouth have been quite illusive for me.

After 2002 I pretty much ran out of room on this free web page, so I quit posting new pictures, but the old ones tell the story of our trips down there.

For pictures of our trip in 2002, click here.

For pictures of our 2001 trip, click here.

For Pictures of our trip in 2000, click here.