Shasta Lake is fishing quite well and we expect nothing to change, even with lower than normal lake levels this year.  We are catching rainbow trout, King salmon, Kokanee salmon, and the occasional brown trout.  Because of the abundance of available bait (Shad) this year, the trout and salmon are packing on their summer weight before preparing for the fall spawning rituals.  With water temps on the surface hovering around 83 degrees, the trout and salmon have started to push down deeper and deeper the past few weeks and are now concentrated from 60'- 80' deep.  Using Shad pattern lures and attractors that are either glow in the dark or painted with UV colors can help anglers match the hatch and get into some pretty good bite periods.  Other traditional trout and salmon lures will work, but the Shad patterns are the key to getting lots of bites.  We've been concentrating our efforts on the lower part of Shasta Lake between Bridge Bay and the dam. There are lots of fish to be targeting right now and hooking up often times results in catching and landing one of the four species in the lake.  It's always unknown what you have until it lands in the net.  This makes fishing Shasta Lake fun and exciting every day of the summer, and can result in our clients taking home several different types of salmon and trout fillets.  The fishing will hold up very well through August when all of our guides will be fishing for river salmon.  We have seen a small decline in bookings on Shasta Lake this summer due to nearby fires and lower than normal water levels, either of which has affected the fishing or the air quality for the most part thus far.  We've encouraged our clients to keep their family vacation plans on or near Shasta Lake this year, even with all the negative press the area has been the subject of in recent months.  Our clients are having a great time fishing or staying on or near the lake and I haven't heard of any negative experiences our clients have had this year while at Shasta Lake.  The fishing is good and the water levels are far from being too low on Shasta Lake to have a good stay.

Capt. Jeff Goodwin