The surface water in Shasta Lake is finally on a steady rise!  The lake water has been really cool this year and we're a bit behind schedule as far as the surface temps go.  Cooler water kind of holds the lake in a condition we most often see in the spring months and it really changes our approach to the trout and salmon fishing.  It looks like we're headed out of the cool weather and the early summer beat down from the sun is just about here.  80's and 90's are what we're seeing most days now and that will heat up our Shasta Lake surface water quickly.  Thats not a bad thing at all.  Once the water warms up we'll start to see Shad migrating down lower in the Shasta Lake system to spawn.  The shorelines and coves heat up first and thats where we'll start to see the most Shad in the coming weeks.  After the spawn we will begin to see tiny Shad all over the main body of the lake right on the surface.  When this finally happens, the trout and salmon will start feeding heavily on the tiny shad.  The fishing gets really good!  At the current pace we should begin to see even better fishing than we have now by June and we'll start the month with a new moon which will really be what we need to get into that next level bite on the lake.  Early mornings are when most of our major bite periods happen but we see good bites in the afternoon some days as well.  We're not expecting a lot of summer visitors on the lake this year because of the Bay Area/So Cal misinformation machine so most days will provide lots of fishing time before the local skiers and houseboats start moving around.  We're fishing the top 20' of the water column and will do so until the thermocline develops by the end of June.  Many of our July seasons start out in the 40'-50' range but do drop deeper and deeper well into September.  Rainbows, browns, Kokanee, and King salmon will be available all summer long so go out and have a great time catching fish on Shasta Lake this summer!  Don't forget to stop by Phills Propeller in Shasta Lake City to get the gear you need and to get the latest fishing report before you go!

Captain Jeff G.