We've seen some pretty good days of trout fishing on Shasta Lake this past week and the weather has been pretty nice too.  The break in the rain has helped Shasta clear up considerably and the debris is still managable in most areas of the lake.  We've been fishing the main body of the lake and have spent equal time fishing in the McCloud and Sacramento River arms as well.  Its been a rainbow show for the most part but we are catching a brown or two most days as well.  Most of the trout caught have been in the top 10' feet of the lake and a few are being caught down to 40' feet on the downriggers as well.  This is typical for this time of the year and will remain so until things start to heat up in April.  Water temps have been cold and have hovered in the 46-47 degree range in the areas we fish.  The Shad have been schooling up in the 45'-50' range early in the day and by mid day are dropping to 80'-100' on the brighter days.  The Shad behavior has been non typical this season but finding them seems to aid in finding the biters. trolling small spoons at 2.5-2.8 mph has bee the most productive presentation for me the past few weeks. I have some river rainbow trout fishing trips coming up to finish the month but March will be dedicated to chasing trophy browns, like the one we caught this past Saturday, throughout the month of March.  I still have quite a few days available for spring browns for those of you that don't have your own way to get out on Shasta in the coming weeks.  I'll be looking for big browns for the most part but we will also be catching rainbows, Kings, and maybe some Kokanee salmon as well.  The spring Spotted bass bite really picks up in March/April so we'll be catching plenty of them whether we like it or not.  We are allowed to retain 5 trout, 5 salmon, and 5 bass per person daily.  That can make for some pretty heavy fillet bags at the end of the day when the bite is hot!  If you would like to fish Shasta Lake this spring or summer, call Jaynie at (530) 510-2925 for more information and available dates.  Thank you!

Captain Jeff Goodwin