The lake temperature here at Lake Del Valle has been at a steady 50-55 degrees. The trout fishing is doing well with bait still being the best way to get their attention, the garlic scented powerbaits are the favorite for anglers out here. Across from the marina on the West Beach is where the shore fishermen catch most of the planted trout, since the plant truck plants them from the boat launch. We received one plant of 1000 pounds of Mt. Lassen trout on the eleventh of December, with 300 pounds of these trout being in the three to eight-pound range. From boat, Swallow Bay is where most of the fishermen have hooked into the trout, if you want to toss a lure instead of throw bait hot pink is the best color to use with smaller jerkbaits or a silver Kastmaster smaller than three eighths.
The Bass bite is still going out here with the trusty senko still being able to get one on the line. You can also throw weightless nightcrawlers, but the water is quite low so finding structure where they are hiding out at is going to be the issue out by the dam has a lot of good rock points to try to locate the bass at. The catfish bite is still strong with anchovies, or nightcrawlers being the main bait used. Many cats are being caught in the mud flats around the south end or in the upper narrows they prefer to be in the murkier water, so this is where you are going to want to target them. The striped bass are slow to bite right now but the large ones are chasing the smaller trout around the marina trolling big swimbaits is one of the only ways you are going to get these predatory fish to bite this time of year. You can also throw anchovies as bait around the island or drift them around the marina if you want to hook into these fish.