Shasta Lake rainbows!

Shasta Lake - Shasta Lake, CA (Shasta County)

Shasta Lake rainbows!
Stan Kulak with a Shasta Lake rainbow trout he caught with one of his Optimizer spoons!
Photo Credit: Capt. Jeff Goodwin

by Jeff Goodwin
12-18-2017
Website

We got a break in the wind today on Shasta Lake so I set out with Stan Kulak of Trinidad tackle to see what kind of a trout bite we could find on the main body of Shasta Lake.  As most of you who follow my reports know, I've been spending most of my time the past month on the McCloud arm chasing German Browns.  Its been pretty good overall, but anyone who's spent a bit of time on Shasta Lake knows that when the winds howl, the McCloud arm is no place to be.  Today was forecasted to be calm on the lake so Stan and I headed out to give the Optimizer spooons some exposure down on the lower lake.  We covered a lot of water and unfortunately experienced a slow morning bite.  We hit a lot of structure and big points only to come up short on any big bites, but when you're hunting big fish, thats just the way it goes sometimes.  We had put in plenty of time along the shoreline so we decided to mix it up and push out into deeper water.  As soon as we turned into deeper water, bam!  Fish on!  With four side planers running off the sides of my boat and trolling at 3.8 mph, Stan hooked up on a nice rainbow with a #4 black/white Optimizer Spoon. After a fight to the net and a quick pic, Stan released his rainbow back into Shasta to be caught once again some other time.  We had an early day planned and packed it in a short time after Stan released his fish.  It looks like we are going to see some fishable conditions this week so I'm headed back out to see what I can get into this week. I'll be sure to update my report if I find a good bite in the days ahead!  Tight lines! 


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 many bodies of water in the Redding area, but also guides the Sacramento River and Feather River during certain times of the year. Jeff can also be found on the California coast chasing ocean fresh King salmon and steelhead each year. To learn more about the fishing trips Jeff has to offer, please visit Jeff Goodwin's Guide Service.  You can also find him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or please feel free to call him anytime at (707) 616-1905.



< Previous Report Next Report >




< Previous Report Next Report >


More Reports


12-15-2017
Today we fished Shasta Lake on the McCloud arm near Hirz Bay again and found some nice browns along the...... Read More


12-12-2017
Kokanee fishing on Whiskeytown Lake during the winter is not frequented by area anglers during the winter months.  Although Kokanee can...... Read More