Fishing Report For the week of March 28 to April 3

Here is this week's fishing report for rivers, lakes and streams in Nevada, Northern California, the Sierra and Southern Oregon. This report is for the week of March 28 through April 3.

ALMANOR LAKE, CALIF:
Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500)
Lake Almanor is on the rise. Barring any real cold north storms, surface temperatures will start pushing into that 40 degree plus range. This is when the magic begins to happen.
Expect trout and salmon to be still on the smelt for now. However, when the bugs do start hatching, fish will come. A few more sunny days will also get the fish moving. Insect protein converts to instant energy, add a couple more degrees of surface temps and the stage is set.
Lake Cove, on the east shore and Bailey Springs are places where hatches seem to start first.
Currently the trolling is still fair to good.
Rainbows have been from 15” to 20” and 2.7 lbs.  
A couple bigger Browns were reported but that was before the last storm pushed in. With clarity only about 9 ft., dodgers with white or chartreuse trolling flies, or crawlers, pin minnows or any smelt pattern is still a good bet. Be prepared to change colors.
Avoid the Hamilton Branch area; the power house is still running brown water, which is also impacting clarity at Big Springs.
— Courtesy of Almanor Fishing Adventures

ALMANOR LAKE, CALIF:
Keith Kerrigan of Sierra Anglers Guide Service (530-414-1374) (www.sierraanglersfishing.com) reports:
Almanor has been doing well for Rainbow Trout and Browns. The weather has made it hard to launch with out chains. Fish over on the southeast side running some white Arctic Fox flies.

ANGEL LAKE, ELKO COUNTY, NEV:
The Nevada Department of Wildlife (www.ndow.org) reports:
The road to Angel Lake is closed for the winter.

BISHOP AREA, CALIF:
The fishing season for the Bishop area is closed.
 
BLUE LAKES, CALIF:
The road to Blue Lakes is closed for the winter.

BRIDGEPORT RESERVOIR, CALIF:
The fishing season for Bridgeport Reservoir is closed.

CARSON RIVER, CALIF:
East Carson River: The fishing season for the East Carson River is closed upstream from Hangman’s Bridge.
West Carson River: The fishing season for the West Carson River is closed.

CONVICT LAKE, CALIF:
The fishing season for Convict Lake is closed.

CROWLEY LAKE, CALIF:
The fishing season for Crowley Lake is closed.

DAVIS LAKE, CALIF:
Keith Kerrigan of Sierra Anglers Guide Service (530-414-1374) (www.sierraanglersfishing.com) reports:
The ICE is BAD.

DONNER LAKE, CALIF:
Keith Kerrigan of Sierra Anglers Guide Service (530-414-1374) (www.sierraanglersfishing.com) reports:
With some ice and a lot of wind not too much fishing going on. The bite will come on next month I hope. I am taking clients out on Donner from Mid May till June. Book your trip now, the dates are filling up fast.
Please let the Big Macks GO (fish over 10 pounds). If we don't your KIDS wont have the chance that you have to catch one of these big fish that have been in the lake for 40 years.

EAGLE LAKE, CALIF:
The fishing season for Eagle Lake is closed.

FALL RIVER, CALIF:
The fishing season for the Fall River is closed.

FEATHER RIVER, CALIF:
The fishing season for the Feather River is closed.

FREMONT LAKE, CALIF:
The fishing season for Fremont Lake is closed.

FRENCHMAN RESERVOIR, CALIF:
Wiggin’s Trading Post at Chilcoot (530-993-4683) reports:
The weather has been crazy up at the lake, but the fishing is better than ever.
Reports of catching rainbows at Big Cove, the dam, to the left of the dam, and on the North end, Nightcrawler Bay and Turkey Point.
Fishermen have been using nightcrawlers (inflated) and/or Power Bait (rainbow glitter, white glitter, garlic).
Average size is about 16 to 18 inches long, weighing about a pound to a pound and a half.
The roads are clear up to and at the dam, but going around the rest of the lake, you need a four-wheel drive truck, and you may want to carry chains with you as a precautionary measure.

HAT CREEK, CALIF:
The fishing season for Hat Creek is closed.

HEENAN LAKE, CALIF:
The fishing season for Heenan Lake is closed.

HOBART RESERVOIR, WASHOE COUNTY, NEV:
The fishing season for Hobart Reservoir is closed.

HOOVER WILDERNESS AREA, CALIF:
The fishing season for the Hoover Wilderness Area is closed.

HOT CREEK, CALIF:
Kent of The Trout Fly and Troutfitter (760-934-2517) (www.thetroutfitter.com) reports:
Water conditions: Great. Flows at 30 CFS as of 3/24.
The road to the canyon section is clear but the gate has again been locked despite the snow being long since melted.
You can drive right to the Interpretive Site.
Fishing conditions: Good to Excellent. The fishing continues great with a tough day here and there if it is windy. Once the water temp comes up about two degrees the food bell rings and it is downright good for 3-4 hours daily.

JIGGS / ZUNINO RESERVOIR, ELKO COUNTY, NEV:
The Nevada Department of Wildlife (www.ndow.org) reports:
Unfortunately, Jiggs has dried up.

JUNE LAKE LOOP, CALIF:
The fishing season for the June Lake Loop is closed.

KIRMAN LAKE, CALIF:
The fishing season for Kirman Lake is closed.

KLAMATH RIVER, CALIF:
Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500) (www.shastacascade.com) reports:
Releases out of Iron Gate are steady at 1,300 CFS.
Conditions have been good on the Klamath and the fishing fair to slow.
— Courtesy of The Fly Shop

MAMMOTH LAKES BASIN, CALIF:
The fishing season for the Mammoth Lakes Basin is closed.

MARKLEEVILLE CREEK CALIF:
The fishing season for Markleeville Creek is closed.

MARLETTE LAKE, CARSON CITY & WASHOE COUNTIES, NEV:
The fishing season for Marlette Lake is closed. 


OWENS RIVER, CALIF:
Kent of The Trout Fly and Troutfitter (760-934-2517) (www.thetroutfitter.com) reports:
Upper Owens water conditions: Good to Excellent. As of 3/24 the flows are constant at 79 CFS.
Road is open all the way up.
4X4 and a wash job on the way home are recommended.
Fishing conditions: Good. Nymphing most sucessful but at least a short BWO hatch midday. Midges early and Baetis later as usual.
Stripping streamers under the cut banks still delivering some big guys
Owens River Gorge water conditions: Great. Flow: 45 CFS.
This is a permanent flow required to be maintained by LADWP
Fishing conditions: Excellent and nice and warm on cool sunny days this time of year.
Beautiful these days and lots of hungry fish to greet you!
Lower Owens water conditions: Excellent. Notice how the flow report hasn't changed by even a tenth of a CFS in weeks. The gauge is stuck. Actual flow is about 125 CFS as of 3/24.
The LADWP has yet to increase the flows as they work on their equipment at the power stations. The latest is 25 CFS a day increase starting first of the week going just to 200 CFS so if that plays out it could remain stellar.
Warmer and longer days have brought water temps up considerably and fish are moving into faster water. Wading and drifting are still good now so strike while the iron is hot.
Fishing conditions:
Midge clusters showing up as early as 9 am, so start with small Midge patterns sub-surface or go with Griffth's Gnat up top. Mid morning go to dries when they start in on the Caddis on the surface and it is as good as it can be. Stupid hatches begin around noon as the Caddis start to come off big time. To get your "one of the many" noticed try a surface emerger in the film. Midday you are best to go back subsurface as the surface is a blanket of real ones and why take yours when there are 25 others within 6 feet of it. Later, like 2 pm, the hatches slow down and the second round of feeding gets going.

PINE VALLEY COMPLEX, HUMBOLDT COUNTY, NEV:
The fishing season for the Pine Valley Complex is closed.

PIT RIVER, CALIF:
Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500) (www.shastacascade.com) reports:
Heavy rain has caused the Pit River to jump up in volume and shoot out muddy water. The Pit is not a happy place to fish. Give the river about a week to show positive change.
— Courtesy of The Fly Shop

POORE AND SECRET LAKES, CALIF:
The fishing season for Poore and Secret Lakes is closed.

PYRAMID LAKE, WASHOE COUNTY, NEV:
George and Carla Molino of the Pyramid Lake Store (775-476-0555) (www.fishpyramid.com) reports:
Not much to report, the fishing has been sparse, and it was cold and windy most of the week. The good news is that the pelicans are back and they know when to expect fish.

ROOSEVELT AND LANE LAKES, CALIF:
The fishing season for Roosevelt and Lane Lakes is closed.

SACRAMENTO RIVER (LOWER), CALIF:
Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500) (www.shastacascade.com) reports:
Although the Lower Sacramento is off color due to rain the fishing reports coming off the river today were great. This almost always happens. Just when we think the river is too dark, the fish deliver! It's March! Consider this report a green light people!!! Go fishing!
— Courtesy of The Fly Shop

SACRAMENTO RIVER (UPPER), CALIF:
Shasta Cascade Wonderland Association (530-365-7500) (www.shastacascade.com) reports:
The Upper Sacramento is full of mud right now and the fishing, unfortunately, is poor. Check back in a week for a more refined report. We should be back out fishing this river by April, weather permitting.
— Courtesy of The Fly Shop

SAN JOAQUIN/RED’S MEADOW, CALIF:
Steve Osterman of Performance Guide Service (760-934-6101) (www.performanceanglers.com) reports:
Road closed.

SHASTA LAKE, CALIF:
Keith Kerrigan of Sierra Anglers Guide Service (530-414-1374) (www.sierraanglersfishing.com) reports:
We were out one day last week. Fished up the McCloud arm for Browns. We did okay with 4 fish and the best one was 3.7 pounds. It looks like the weather will be good the next few days so I’ll try to get out for some more browns. The Rainbows should be starting to move up the arms to spawn, so look for action in the creek arms for trout.

SILVER CREEK, CALIF:
The fishing season for Silver Creek is closed.

STAMPEDE RESERVOIR, CALIF:
Keith Kerrigan of Sierra Anglers Guide Service (530-414-1374) (www.sierraanglersfishing.com) reports:
The Mackinaw were on a good bite on Stampede till the snow came and covered the ramp. Looks like more snow this weekend.

LAKE TAHOE:
Keith Kerrigan of Sierra Anglers Guide Service (530-414-1374) (www.sierraanglersfishing.com) reports:
The fishing in Lake Tahoe was real good till the weather came in. Lots of wind and rain. The bite has been in all the hot spots. The Rainbows are starting to stage for the spawn, trolling close to shore might get you some nice browns.
REMEMBER TO STAY 1,000 FEET FROM ANY STREAM ENTERING THE LAKE. BIG FINE IF YOU’RE CAUGHT.

TOPAZ LAKE:
Chuck and Linda Fields of the Topaz Lake Marina (775-266-3550) reports:
The fishing has been really good. We had quite a few boat fishermen out this last weekend, there were limits for almost everyone.
Lots of fish begin caught, 1-1.5 pounds, nothing big.
They were mostly trolling with Fire Tiger Rapala lures.
Not many shore fishermen.

TRINITY LAKE, CALIF:
Keith Kerrigan of Sierra Anglers Guide Service (530-414-1374) (www.sierraanglersfishing.com) reports:
Snow kept me out of Trinity Lake all last week.

TWIN LAKES, CALIF:
The fishing season for Twin Lakes is closed.

VIRGINIA LAKES, CALIF:
The fishing season for Virginia Lakes is closed.

WALKER LAKE, MINERAL COUNTY, NEV:
The Nevada Department of Wildlife (www.ndow.org) reports:
No Lahontan cutthroat have been reported or seen at Walker Lake since 2009. Mineral County Road Dept. has done some work on the State Parks Launch. Launching is improved but you still need four wheel drive.

WALKER RIVERS, CALIF:
Kent of The Trout Fly and Troutfitter (760-934-2517) (www.thetroutfitter.com) reports:
East Walker River water conditions: Good. Flows are steady now for 5 days at 50 CFS as of 3/24.
Fishing conditions: Excellent! Dry action after 11 am is strong. Beforehand subsurface with Midges then Baetis coming off.
Dry and emerger combinations seem to be the best for quantity and swing streamers has been the trick for the bigger fish.

— Don Quilici is the Outdoor editor for Carson Now and SouthTahoeNow.com. He can be reached at donquilici@hotmail.com