Today I experienced some excellent bass fishing on Shasta Lake. Fully stocked up on plastic trays full of Shasta Bass Baits, I launched at Packers Bay at daylight. I had two anglers meeting me at the launch just before 7:00 AM. Once they arrived and loaded up on board, I idled out of the Packers Bay marina and headed for one of my hot spots up the Shasta arm of the lake. After fighting some pretty stiff winds and some surface chop, it was obvious we were going to have to find a protected area of the lake, and I knew just the spot.

I powered into a cove and shut down before I got to the area of the cove I would be targeting spotted bass. I handed out two rods that were ready to go, and said, get them out! Just as I had expected, the bass were there. We hooked several bass in short order and had 10 bass in the live well before 10:00, with many more that had come un plugged before I could get them in the boat. We used several baits, but the stand out without a doubt, was a 5" spider grub I poured in green pumpkin candy. Something about this color has definitely got the attention of the bass in Shasta Lake. We had hooked over 20 bass by noon, and suddenly the bass just shut off. It had been a good morning and we really didn't fish an area much larger than half a football field. After the bite turned off, I decided to take a look around and hit a few more spots I frequent.

We fished main points, secondary points, and deep into the coves. The afternoon mite had shut down and after only hooking a few fish in and hour or more, it was time to call it a day. In summary, the fish we found were staged deep in a cove. The water temps were still around 51 deg's and the color was clear to about 3 feet or so. The bass are feeding on crawfish and shad (evidence in the live well) so there was a good bite on craw imitations. I threw a bunch of colors and the green pumpkin was definitely tops. My two passengers never changed bait color and they caught the majority of the fish. Shasta is still on the rise, but its coming up less than a foot per day. That will definitely slow with this dry period we are in.

Thats my report for this week on Shasta Lake. If you are looking for some quality custom bass baits, check out Shasta Bass Baits. You'll find us on Face Book, and on Instagram currently. Please feel free to contact me directly at my website or at shastabassbaits@yahoo.com.

Photos submitted by Jeff Goodwin. Pic#1 Shaun Montgomery (tall guy) of Palo Cedro, Ca with an excellent Shasta Lake Spotted bass caught on a Shasta Bass Baits twin tail spider grub. Pic #2 Chuck Steen of Palo Cedro, Ca. with his catch of the day while fishing with Jeff Goodwin's Guide Service.

Jeff Goodwin is a full time Northern California fishing guide. He guides year round for salmon, trout, steelhead, Kokanee, and bass on Northern California rivers and lakes. He fishes primarily on the Sacramento River, but also spends many days of the year fishing on The Klamath/Trinity River systems. Jeff also guides on local lakes during certain periods of the year. To learn more about the fishing trips Jeff offers, please visit Jeff Goodwin's Guide Service at www.jeffgoodwinfishing.com Facebook, Instagram, or feel free to call him anytime at (707) 616-1905.