March snowfall really was extraordinary.  In fact, the snowfall received in the Lake Almanor basin during March 2011 easily broke the old record for the month.  The monitoring site on the west shore recorded a total of 131 inches of snowfall during March, which is now the new record for the month.  That's just an inch shy of eleven feet of snow, with most of it arriving during the nine day period from the 18th through the 26th.  That total is more than six times the average for March, and basically amounts to receiving an average year's worth of snow in just one month. The season total snowfall was 318.5 inches at the end of March (more than 26 feet), which is 252% of average for the year. Lake Almanor is coming up fast.

The big meltdown has started. Seasonal creeks and streams are flowing, and some are gushing. The west basin has the Feather River as its main tributary, and it is running fast and clear, also Bailey Creek running clear.

The West Basin is the place to be this past week, water clarity is very good, about eight to nine feet and there's bait fish holding all along the peninsula's west side, from Bunell Point  to Bailey Creek. The morning trolling bite has been fair at best, its picks up by late morning, and has been best later in the day. Speedy Shiners, and Needlefish have got the most action. With clarity a issue heavy applications of bait scents area recommended, along with dodgers or flashers as attractors.

The east basin is a whole different story. The Hamilton Branch is the east basins main tributary, and its flowing fast and muddy. So much muddy water, that the entire east basin water clarity reduced to 18 inches to 2.5 feet clarity. If you must fish the east shore, Lake Cove to the Dorado Inn has about 4 feet of clarity, and we did manage a few rainbows there yesterday, and a couple of browns, best fish was a 3.7 pound brown that hit a threaded crawler on the surface. 

Areas to avoid, A-Frame, Rec.#1, and the entire East side of the peninsula, also Spar Buoy, Big Springs, and of course the Hamilton Branch..

Good weather is forecasted for the area for the next week. Insect hatch's are showing signs of starting, but its still the smelt that's feeding the fish. Smelt  begin their spawn activity when temperatures push 42 to 44 degrees, and will be moving closer to the shoreline and structure. Ripping white trolling flies or other smelt patters are advised.

Access accurate lake data @ http://www.project2105.org/lake_levels.htm