Water clarity, poor about 4 to 5 ft..
Surface temps have warmed to 37.8 degrees.
The latest Lake Almanor Lake Level from the Dept. of Water Resources as of 1/8/16:
4,478.08 foot elevation and rising.
742,481 acre feet storage and building.
Moon phase building, but not a factor with cloud cover, snow or rain most every night.
Lake Almanor is Looking Good. Viva El Nino.
Lake levels are rising, but there's along way to go.
Currently its raining, and we got another inch today, with a colder storm bringing more snow that’s due in tonight.
The Hamilton Branch is flowing slightly brown runoff into the northeast basin comprising clarity throughout the east basin.
The Ham Branch power house is still not flowing after PGE drained Walker Lake a few months. ago.
The North fork of the Feather is running strong and clear.
Bailey Creek is not moving yet but will soon, and a few seasonal streams are staring to flow.
The last round of storms were much warmer and the east basin is totally ice free. The west side is also opening up and most of that ice is gone as well.
Rec. 2 still has ice around the log boom and dock area, making launching there impossible. That should be gone in a few more days providing it doesn't refreeze again later.
Canyon Dam is in good shape, ice free and a dock in place. Rec. 1 has both ramps now useable allowing access to open water.
Still I wouldn't be in any big hurry to get up here. The bite has not been that good, clarity is poor, and more weather is in the forecast, which is good.
A year ago we got zero precipitation, not a drop. Currently to date we have received 48 to 52 inches of snow, along with 9 inches of rain, perhaps more depending which end of the lake you look at. FYI, I have three weather stations outdoors around my home and that’s how I get my numbers. Also we patch into the National Weather Service station located in Prattville.
I was able to launch two days last week and it was just great to see lake levels rising. I trolled slow action threaded crawlers right on top and along the shoreline shallows and released a couple Rainbows each day before early afternoon winds had me heading for the barn.
The east basin is your best bet for bait fishing or trolling as the clearest water can be found in the Canyon Dam area, which is about 5.5 ft. clarity.
Winter fishing can be excellent there at Almanor, we just need a couple days of clear weather.
Attached to this report are a few photos of winter caught fish between Jan. and April, when fish are hungry and fishing pressure light.