Submit
Report

Shasta Lake and Reports

Limit:
Click for interactive map

Monday, August 2nd, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 80.5

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: our cooling trend arrived and glad to have it, in at Packers at 1915, lake nearing 71 ft down, breeze out of the WNW at 6, parking lot virtually vacant, ran over to the sac and hit a good stiff wind of about 12 running upstream, fished some rock walls with my first coming at 2020, a nice fat 1.8 and it turned out to be the smallest of 8 for the evening, no bruisers but some solid fish the biggest being a 2.52 and the best five went 11.61. They wanted a skirted jig tonight and all were a bit deeper than normal, the first was 28ft deep the rest came out of 18 to 20 ft on a melon pepper B and S twintail, no topwater takers at all, not even a roll or bump. Very little traffic except for one ski boat and the sheriff. moon came up around 2245 and a few shooting stars appeared, the meteor shower should be at its best on the 12th and 13th this year. Easy trip on plane going back with the moon up. The island just northeast of no name has just come up and 2 of the three poles are knocked down so you might want to watch that for the next few days, when you run for the sac stay tight to no name or give it at least a 1/4 mile berth so you don't hit that hump. The steeper rock was the ticket, in some cases I was standing in 70ft and flipping to the bank, most came on the fall with that satisfying "tick" on my 3/4 oz stuff.
    City: Redding

  • By

    Water Temp: n/a

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Re: Jones Valley ramp problems. I contacted the Forest Service law enforcement agents regarding the problems, and they contacted the Shasta County Sheriff's dept. These incidents need to be reported.........don't shine them on and figure someone else will deal with them. The Sheriff's dept patrols the area and if they know there are problems they will increase the coverage.
    City: Redding

Saturday, July 31st, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 81.6

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: went in at packers at 2250, slight push out of the north and a few bassboat trailers in the lot, air temp a cool 74, lake at 69 ft down, dropped the troll motor right off the bat and started throwing at the island out in front of the Packers float and got 6 small fish right off, moved down the west bank out to the point near the gap for the next hour with a few hits but nothing in the boat. Started seeing a few other bassboats moving back into packers at midnight and got a good fish on outside Packers at midnight that went 2.68 and another not 5 minutes later that was slightly bigger. The ten boats that came in then went to the float for the first of a split weighin(Redding Bassers) and I fooled around back on the island for a bit for 4 more small fish and a 1.8 just after they left again at 0200. A super nice evening out and only saw one skier out by no name, water level stil heading south at a good clip, got out at 0215, air temp down to 68. all my fish came out of 12-17ft of water, a bit different than normal, got no bites right at the bank.
    City: Redding

    Tips: B and S twintails in melon pepper and black root beer on 1/2oz football heads and no skirts.

Thursday, July 29th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 81.2 to 82

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: In at Packers at 4:30PM. Ran up the McCloud to Ycotti and picked up a nice 3lber. first thing with a 1/2 oz. football head with a BnS twin tail in #22 Brown Melon. Things went slow after that. Moved across to Greens Creek and started working the points moving down to the main body. Picked up a 2.0 on the same rig with a #23 Melon Pepper twin tail. The total for the night was 10, the best fish for the Blonde in the back was a 1.4 on a darterhead with a #23 twin tail. It was a beautiful moonlite night.
    City: Cottonwood

    Tips: If you are out after dark be sure and watch your speed, the patrol boats are out doing their job.

Monday, July 26th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 78

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: In at Jones Valley 7am fished humps in main body of pit and up the squaw, fishing slow at best and doesn't look to better in near future. Spent the night fishing for catfish. Return to ramp to find truck broken into and gas siphon seems to be a regular event on the Jones ramp. Wonder what it would take to get a few fisherman together and work with the sheriff's department and put in a few surveilance camera's.
    City: Redding

Tuesday, July 20th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 82.7

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: In at Packers at 1845, 95 degrees, lake down to 60ft, 105 in town today. Went just outside to try a little worm fishing, waste of time, tried it for and hour and one bite. Tried the jigs and also had only one bite at 2030 and things ain't looking good. at 2105 I ran to a lower Pit hump that was only a foot deep and caught 8 with about a dozen casts and all on a top water bait and all were small, got back into packers and worked the west shore back in till 2230 and not a single bite. Lots of traffic this evening and the sheriff was busy running down the jet skis and boats without any lights on. area around bridge bay and the pit river bridge very dirty, no mud lines the whole channel was a mudline.
    City: Redding

    Tips: wouldn't know what to tell you today, it was the pits for fish of any size.

Thursday, July 15th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 79.6

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: in at packers at 0440, air temp 68, lake at 55.6 ft down, flat calm, went to the hump up at Packers with a surface bait and fooled around it till I could see to run and no bites. Went over into the mid Sac and continued with different surface baits and couldn't get anything to go until 0530 when I hit a stretch of bank that coughed up 5 spots on 6 casts but they were all near clones at 1.4 lbs. Got on some steeper stuff and got the jig rod out and immediately got bit good and in comes a 3.14 spot. Continued down the bank and managed one more by 0630 when the ski boat crowd got started. Went on back to packers and got out. Last fish was 30 ft deep. Water has cleared somewhat in the main body of the lake.
    City: Redding

Wednesday, July 14th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 80.5

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: went in at Packers at 2045, air temp 88 and a slight push out of the south, nobody at the ramp and not to many rigs in the lot, ramp down to 2 lanes, the ones nearest the float only, just went down the north bank throwing top water and caught 7 by the time I got to packers point but all very small, caught my personal best for the smallest when a 3 1/8 inch spawn of the year spot grabbed a junior spook, kinda makes you wonder what he was going to do with it. moved out to no name and the gap is not usable anymore, only about a foot and a half deep, the islands at Bridge Bay is up and connected to Beaver now so there is scads of parking near the north ramp now. Worked a jig around the sandy stuff in the gap and no bites, moved back into Packers on the south side and caught 2 more dinks and then stuck a decent fish that went 2.86 on my 3/4 oz jigs with a B n S twintail in melon pepper. Tried some other stuff with no takers and fished back to the ramp just enjoying the cool evening, out at 2330, airtemp at 70 with a slight breeze now out of the north.
    City: Redding

    Tips: looking forward to the new moon, things have been much better(for me anyhow) about 3-6 days after the new moon.

Tuesday, July 13th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 80.8

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: in at jones valley at 0445 with johnny mac as his boat is in the shop, started throwing some top water right off and got bit roght off on 2 but dinks only, went to the jig rod but only managed 5 more and all of them were dinks too, last fish came at 0620 and we fished till 0930 with no more bites, nice morning and the skiers didn't get going till 9am. B n S twintails in melon pepper again and spooks.
    City: Redding

Thursday, July 8th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 79.8-81.6

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: In at packers at 0412, use only the lanes nearest the ramp, #3&4 or at the end of their usefulness, us them and damage your trailer, Bailey Cove is out now also, Lake is 49.6 ft down, air temp a cool 66, moved away from the ramp throwing my jigs with no luck, cranked up and ran over into the lower Sac and throwing at points with no takers, ran up into the gooseneck and got my first at 0545 on a surface bait, a fat 2.84 spot, 2 casts later get a big roll but I missed it, ran acorss a mess of fish in 18ft and out came the jig rod, dropped it straight down and hooked up a good fish and out comes 3.54 spot. Moved to a rock wall and about a half hour later connected with a 3.18 spot after changing to a 1/2 oz jig. Finshed the morning off with a 2.76 spot on the 1/2oz and missed a couple of others. Turned out to be a great morning with a slight breeze out of the north and much better fish just not nearly the numbers from the night fishing, but good solid weight for only 4 fish. used my usual B & S twintails in melon pepper except for the first. out at Packers at 0920 as the skiers got cranked up. air temp 80 degrees and a nice cooling trend from the folks in the Bay area. Only saw one other bassboat this am but lots of trout trollers.
    City: Redding

Tuesday, July 6th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 85.3

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: a hot one today, redding at 115, in at Jones Valley at 2055, air temp 99, lake down to 48ft, slight push out the south, over into the middle Pit with the first one on at 2104 and ten more by 2215 when things came to a halt, no skiers tonight and the sheriff came by twice before 2200. The wind came up a bit at 2200 but gone as quickly as it arrived. Only one more inside Jones Valley at 2330 so I got out, the hump is up at Jones Valley, used a 3/4 jig tipped with a B&S lures twintail in melon pepper and soaked in their goop. no size to speak of with most being clones near 1.6, fat and spitting up crawdads and shad, no dinks. out at 2345, airtemp still 95 lakeside and muggy.
    City: Redding

Thursday, July 1st, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 80.2-80.9

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: out with one of my wife's co-workers', got in at Bailey Cove at 1915, lake nearly 45 ft down and this ramp will be out of the wter in a week or less, air temp 94 with a 8 knot wind out of the south, ran over into the middle Pit to fish some emerging humps with no takers and only 2 bites, moved south a bit and finally got a few in the boat, nothing going for 1 1/2 hours but started getting some small fish, finally managed a couple under 2 throwing my B&S 3 23 twintails on 1/2oz jigs. We finished up over near Jones Valley with 21 but must have missed twice as many. Tom struggled a bit with a baitcaster as he is new to that type of reel, turned out the reel was the problem and his catching improved when he laid it down and went to another rod. Beautiful night out with a full moon and the sheriff was out tending to the night skiing problem. out at 0115, air temp 73.
    City: Redding

    Tips: The lake is now dropping very fast and it is necessary to really watch what your doing, lots of stuff coming up quickly.

Wednesday, June 30th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 79.6-80.4

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: got to Bailey Cove at 1945 and waiting for a guy who wanted to fish and was to meet me. lake is doen to 43.5 ft, air temp 83, water murky with visibility to 5 ft. Stayed around til 2040 and left, had 17 before 1030 with 11 coming between 2050 and 2110. Best was a fat 2.74 spot, the smallest was a 1.6 and no dinks and all came on a 3/4 oz jig tied up with 2 colors and a B&S twintail in #23(melon pepper) and soaked in their goop. Tossed a blade for a bit right off with no takers over in the lower pit and most caught on long submerged humps with a little rock on them. NOt a lot of traffic tonight and easy to get around with the full moon, out at 2245 at 73 degrees, very pleasant and the fish were pounding my offering, no doubt when you got bit, just had to crank like crazy to stay ahead of em.
    City: Redding

Friday, June 25th, 2004

  • By

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: had some e mails regarding BnS Lures, their items can be obtained by calling (530)347-1779 or emailing brycensusan@juno.com. The owner is making a number of new products some of which, I have found effective. They are located in Cottonwood, Ca and can ship your order promptly.
    City: Redding

Thursday, June 24th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 78.8

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: In at Jones Valley at 2100, air temp at 86, lake down to 39 1/2 ft, ran over to my rock pile in Fort Creek and no fish on or around it but 4 houseboats and ski boats back in there, moved over into the lower Squaw creek on a hump that came up overnight and tossed a 3/4oz footballhead tied up and a BnS Lures twin tail in #23(melon pepper) with some of their goop added and caught 12 dinks on and around this hump. between 2130 and 2200. Left there and moved over into the pit on a submerged hump for 4 more the biggest being a 1.74 smallmouth. Went back inside Jones Valley and got 2 more by 11PM when some fools in a ski boat started skiing without any lights on. I got out to avoid getting run over along with another guy in a john boat. These fish were very aggresive tonight, I swam my baits just ticking them along the bottom. and reel like crazy to stay ahead of these fish as every one of them ran at the boat after I set on them. MIssed at least 10 others but no size to speak of.
    City: Redding

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 79.2

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: went in at Jones Valley at 2030 hrs but couldn't get in due to all the ski boats hovering around the ramp, air temp 89, lake nearly 38ft down, slight push out of the southwest at 3 mph, finally got goiing at 855pm and ran over into the lower pit throwing a blade for one at 1.5. Went back into Fort Creek on a submerged rock pile at 930PM and dropped a 3/4oz jig wearing some living rubber and a B&S twintail #23 and pulled it over some rocks in 12 ft and got hit hard, up came a 4.04 largemouth, first one this year. Fished around this pile for another 10 minutes catching 6 dinks on the same bait and left for another submerged hump near Squaw creek point and got four more dinks and a decent 2.5 spot on the same 3/4oz rig. Went back into fort creek and the rock pile gave up a 3.86 spot. The wind stoped at 1015 and the bugs came out in force so I took off figuring some open water might provide some relief but it didn't. Got out at 11pm, best 5 went 12.04 so a nice night out even with the damn bugs. Mr. Fuller, I will see you on Lake Blvd tomorrow night please don't forget my order!
    City: Redding

Thursday, June 17th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 75

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished two clients from the Bay area, who were on a house boat vacation on the upper Sac.
    launched at Sugar Loaf @ 5;00 pm and picked up my clients @ 6:00 pm. Fished the rock wall above Little Sugarloaf Creek, throwing Ricos and Jitterbugs for about 1 hour with several blowups and only one 1.5 lb. fish. Decided to stick with the topwater baits, as we tried swimming grubs and worms for the next hour without sucess. At about 8:45 the topwater bite got hot,one client caught a 2 lb and a 2.5 spot plus several smaller fish and the back seat caught a good fish
    Bite died about 9:40 so we switched to plastics without any success and then I delivered my clients back to there house boat @ 11:00 pm and proceeded to find my way back to the dock, man was it dark out there. I don't recommend fishing at night without some moonlight to go by. caught a total 9 fish all on topwater, most on jointed Jitterbug.
    City: Redding

    Tips: if we would have hook all our blowups we would have had a boatload.

Tuesday, June 15th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 75-78

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: shasta had some of the best fishing ive had in a long time. i pulled up a big old bass on a green yo zuri deep diver.
    City: anaheim

Monday, June 14th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 69-70'

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Caught a nice jig bite on the upper McCloud arm Tuesday. Fishing wasn't red hot, but did manage 7 nice keepers over two pounds, fishing points. Home by noon.
    City: Redding

    Tips: 1/2 to 3/4 oz green pumkin jigs., in 12-15'.

Friday, June 11th, 2004

  • By

    Water Temp: 70 F

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Hit Shasta for the annual houseboat vacation with the wife and dog. The trip didn't start off too well. My bass boat was lashed w/ fenders to the starboard side of the houseboat. We were headed up the Mcloud Arm when a jet boat burned by us at 60+mph. The wake shook both boats pretty bad - next thing, I noticed smoke from the bass boat engine compartment. I managed to get the fire out before it blew up, but it was a close call. The fuel line was burned all the way to the squeeze ball. If anyone can figure out how the fire started(short circuit? sparks from flying tools?) or how I could have prevented it, please send me an email. I don't want to go through that ever again. Anyhow, the outboard and all other wires were toast, but the trolling motor still worked. So, I fished one small section of the upper McCloud very thoroughly all week. Did okay all things considered. Averaged 15-18 fish per day. Only fished early and late, napped and bbq'd in the afternoon. The weather was off/on overcast and rainy from Mon-Thurs, didn't get hot until Friday. Most fish caught were relatively shallow, 10-15 feet, started towards 18-20ish when the sun got higher. Had more luck on the main lake arm during the morning, but they seemed to move up into the creek arm around sunset. I didn't fish too late since none of my lights worked. I caught a few small ones on a chart/white blade at dawn and sunset. Didn't have any luck with a rip bite or topwater. Caught a bunch dropshotting hologram shad and baby bluegill 4" worms around submerged trees and off of steep rocky points. No real size, most were cookie-cutter 12"s and smaller, a few 13" and 14". Had some better fish on Waltman's Custom Crafted football head(1/2 oz) and darthead jigs(3/8 oz) with twin-tail grubs in watermelon-pepper or green-pumpkin off of sloppy banks with fist-sized rock early, or around rocky points in the evening. Had a number of 14" and 15", and a couple of 16".

    Most of my fish and my best fish came on a 1/8oz darterhead w/ a 6" green weenie or 4" Jerry's special(green w/ red flake paddle-tail) worms. Slow lift/drop retrieve off of steep rocky walls, boat was in 30' of water, bank was a medium cast away.

    One of the highlights was a nightfishing trip w/ Jerry. Thanks for being so patient w/ a rookie, Jerry. I learned a lot and had a great time. He was polite in his report and didn't mention how many fish we should have had if I would have set the hook properly. (And thanks for the jigs and worms! Great stuff!)

    The other highlight was the 19 1/4", 5lb3oz monster that slammed my darthead at sunset on Thurs.(I remembered to set the hook, Jerry.) 1/8oz, 6" green weenie, 10 ft of water off of a steep rocky point up a creek arm. I already had 16 fish up to that point, but couldn't fish any more that night 'cause my hands weren't steady enough.
    City: Newark

    Tips: Fish w/ Jerry. He's a class act and you'll learn a lot.
    Jigs and worms in greens and browns w/ pepper or red flake.