LAKE CONDITIONS: Lake Camanche's current elevation is 219.68 feet above sea level, a drop of .04 feet this week. The lake will drop slowly this week.??Water is currently flowing into Lake Camanche at a rate of 272 c.f.s., and water is flowing out of Lake Camanche at 340 c.f.s.??The surface water temperature at the marina has warmed up to 61 degrees. The Thermocline is established at 16 feet.

Get ready ready for our Annual Charity Trout Derby. This year it runs from April 13 - May 20, and is being sponsored by Yum's Troutkrilla trout bait. One $3.00 entry ticket qualifies you at each of these 4 lakes: Lake Camanche, Lake Chabot, San Pablo Reservoir, and Los Vaqueros Reservoir. All proceeds go to The American Cancer Society. Prizes include trips, tackle, cash, tickets to sporting events and much more!

TROUT: Trout fishing at Lake Camanche continues to be very good for many anglers. Nathan Oliver was fishing last week and caught 6 trout for a total weight of 40 pounds. His big fish was a whopper at 10 pounds. He was using a Strike King minnow imitation, with green/brown top, silver/pink bottom. All his fish came near the surface, near Hat Island. Two local men continued their weekly fishing competition Thursday, matching Yum's new Troutkrilla paste or pellets, against Power Bait and Power Eggs. They fished in the same boat, same depth, with 2 rods with Power Bait off the back, and 2 rods with Yum Troutkrilla off the front. After 15 minutes of fishing the Yum bait caught a 5 pound trout, and 30 minutes later Yum bait caught a 4 ?? pound trout. Both anglers caught limits by 12:30 p.m., but Yum bait had the first fish, and the 2 biggest fish of the day. The fish-off will be continued next week.

Trout guide Bruce Hamby, of Sierra Sportfishing, had several guests out with him on Thursday and caught limits of beautiful trout up to 4 pounds. They were trolling near Hat Island with Ex-Cel lures in blue/silver with gold flake, and also orange grubs. Fish were scattered from 10 to 28 feet deep.

There were reports from shore fishermen of limits of trout caught early in the day at North Shore Day Use Point. Power Bait, Power Eggs, and nightcrawlers with a scented marshmallow combo were working well. Few reports were received from the South Shore Pond this week, but some limits were reported to South Shore marina. Power Bait and Troutkrilla were mentioned, as well as Kastmasters, and Cripp Lures. Trout guide Bruce Hamby, of Sierra Sportfishing, had several guests out with him on Thursday and caught limits of beautiful trout up to 4 pounds. They were trolling near Hat Island with Ex-Cel lures in blue/silver with gold flake, and also orange grubs. Fish were scattered from 10 to 28 feet deep. Jeff Lester, from Lincoln, was out on Thursday and caught 3 limits of fine trout with a beauty at 6.5 pounds, and many others at 2 ??-4 pounds. Most of their fish came while trolling orange grubs, near Hat Island and the dam.

Locals Jim Rudolph and Truman Moss, from Camanche, continue to catch spectacular limits of trout nearly every time out. This week they had 2 limits again, with a whopper at 7.2 pounds, another over 5 pounds, and several more around 3 pounds. They were using Power Bait, and fishing in about 20 feet of water along the shoreline near Hat Island. Bill Gulart fished in the main lake last week and caught several nice trout from 2 ??-4 pounds trolling with flasher/nightcrawlers, but his biggest fish came from the South Shore Pond. He was float tubing with Power Worms, and caught a gorgeous 6.5 pound rainbow trout.

This week's trout plant from Mt. Lassen hatchery will be 1,200 pounds of fish, and will be will be split; 600 pounds at the South Shore Pond and 600 pounds at South Shore of the lake.

BASS: We would like to thank U.S Anglers Choice, and tournament director Danny Peluso, for holding their bass tournament here at Lake Camanche on Saturday. They had 15 boats go out, and 14 boats came in with limits. We congratulate the wining team of John Mills and Westley Jones for their weight of 14.44 pounds for 5 fish, and the team of Mike Stevens and Kevin Kelly for their big fish at 3.76 pounds. Most fish came on plastic worms and tubes, and dark colored jigs. The majority of fish were caught in 10-15 feet of water.

Frequent North Shore boat renter Steve Berkje, from Danville, took a boat out near the dam on Monday and caught 9 bass up to 4 pounds. He was using Baby Brush Hogs in green pumpkin, and plastic worms. Fish were 10-15 feet deep.

CRAPPIE: The crappie bite continues to be very strong for some anglers. Aaron Barnhart (who caught the lake record crappie at 3.06 pounds 2 weeks ago) came out again this week and caught 15 fish, with a 2.6 pound, and a 2.4 pounder. He was fishing the main lake in 20-30 feet, with jigs in green/pink, and yellow/white.

CATFISH:No reports of catfish received this week. Wait for the weather to warm up.

We encourage all anglers to report their stories, comments, or concerns to either North Shore Store, South Shore Store, or to us by email at eporray@camancherecreation.com. Thanks again for choosing Lake Camanche for your recreation destination.