Northern CA Freshwater Fishing Report

Lake Shasta kings, trout and bass on fire! BY ROBIN WADE/WON Staff WriterPublished: Jun 28, 2012

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REDDING — King salmon and trout fishing on Lake Shasta have been off the hook, while along the shoreline the bass are lining up as the weather and fishing heat up!    “I had a family of five out on Friday when unexpected weather came in for the day,” pro guide and outfitter Kirk Portocarrero said. “It was cloudy, cold and starting to rain when we headed out and I was thinking it was going to be a little tougher than usual to catch fish. The temperatures cooled down fast, from our recent 90s down to weather in the 70s. But within 3½ hours we had 25 salmon and trout in the box.” Portocarrero said the Bridge Bay area, around the buoys, have been producing some nice rainbow trout, but with the warming weather and waters, the fish are going deep now. “Bass fishing has also been excellent around the shorelines,” Portocarrero said. “Most fish range from 10 to 15 inches. Ripbaits and crankbaits worked along the rocky shores have been the best bet for numbers of bass, while 4-inch plastic worms have been the ticket for some bigger fish in the Pit Arm of the lake.” Portocarrero’s Outdoor Adventures is in the process of changing their name to sacriverguide.com to avoid confusion with another guiding business. A reminder to those hiring guides here at Lake Shasta, Trinity Lake or any other water that is on government land. Make sure the guide you hire is an accredited guide with all of the right permits. Guides must be permitted by the US Forest Service to legally conduct business on Forest Service lands. They must be a licensed guide, have proper insurance, pass a CPR course and a host of other things because they are using US government land to conduct their business. Please try to support guides who pay the extra money and take the time to do things “by the book.”