Lake Almanor and Clear Lake 3-21/25-15 - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

rhyak · 03-26-2015, 12:09 PM

We had been planning this trip for a while I had some stuff come up that I had to be at so we left on Friday after I left the Central Coast to handle some business in the LA area and then drove up to Coalinga to been Derrick and Ryan. We left around 5pm and sailed north.

Made a few stops along the way and got into Chester the home of Lake Almanor around midnight. Unpacked and got the rods ready for the morning and finally laid down around 1am. Up at 6am to get on the water by 6:30 in a chilly 28 degrees. We launched on the East side of the lake and worked it hard for a few fish. First thing in the morning on day one. Ryan nailed a nice smallie just under 18inch this was right after I hooked a dink smallie on a point. The lighting on this one did not turn out as it was still pretty dark out.

We rounded the corner trolling rip baits and everything as we came up here for big browns and could not find a bite. The weather was amazing to say the least not a breath of wind and sunny no clouds. We worked the water till about 1pm and called it a day and grabbed some lunch in town and talked about a game plan.

We decided to launch by the dam and fish the deep water. We got there around 430 and wanted to fish till sunset. However at this point we were greeted by some wind making it pretty tough out on the water.
Ryanimpreza and Derrick headed one way and I headed the other looking for fish. I found one on the troll within a couple minutes at 17inches was happy to get the trout skunk off the boat.

We trolled for a little longer and at about 630. I set up shop in a cove to get away from the wind. Drifted a flylined crawler and tossing a rip bait and the crawler gets picked up by 21inch - 4lb brown sweet UPGRADE.

They end up joining me and do the same thing as we were about to loose light and call it a night, I get picked up again on the crawler this time its BIG. 6lb test is screaming off my reel. I wanted to put the breaks on this fish so BAD. But held off and had a close to 30 minute battle with the fish. Finally got it in the net and hurried to shore to snap some picture and release it.

Ended up being a 24incher and close to 7lbs.

The next morning we woke up early and found it was raining so fell back asleep as one of the local kayak guys was gonna meet us at 7am and we wanted to just wait on the rain. Well it did stop raining and we got on the water at 7:30 but today was much different then the day before it was cloudy and WINDY. Great wind just what every kayak fisherman loves.

Chris the guy we were meeting had 4 browns in the boat already. He was working a pretty small area and picking up fish. We found some smallies sitting on a bank and I pulled a 15incher off it and 20 minutes later Derrick gets a pig at 18inches

We worked are way around the east end of the lake again pulling in fish at a decent rate. Think I got about a dozen smallies but most around the 12inch range. We worked down to an area called big springs and Chris found a school on the FF and dropped down and got a 20inch Salmon.. Great maybe we found them. But no that ended up being the only Salmon of the day. I did nail a decent Brown on day two as well at 23 inches.

That afternoon with the wind blowing we decided to head down to Butt Lake to try and get a brown. At this point in the trip being the last afternoon for Almanor, RyanI had yet to get a trout and wanted one. So we got there and we headed out on the troll. We got about 3 miles down the bank and he hooks up and its a dandy. 25inches. We get some photos and release it.

Biggest Trout of the trip came from RyanI he got his Nice Brown from Butt Lake.

Couple other photos from the Almanor section of the trip.

Derrick with a Smallmouth

rhyak · 03-26-2015, 12:09 PM

Now for Clear Lake. Well Bass and cold fronts do no mix well. Windy conditions were there non stop. We arrived on the 23rd grabbed some minnows and headed out. This lake is loaded with docks and areas for bass to hang out at. Talking with people coming in the bass bite been tough since the wind picked up and rain the night before. We gave it a couple hours and then moved locations. Windy as can be and good washing machine out on the water. We decided are best bet was troll the shallows and hope for the best. We turned the corner and as Derrick came around the corner from the launch hooks a nice bass ended up being the only bass the three of us caught that was really even over 12 inches everything seemed small for us.

Biggest Bass

We are trolling and I feel a snap. I gimp back into the marina and we call it a day at 630.

We drive to the nearest town which is Ukiah and find a home depot and start looking for parts. Coulc not find hobie part in Home depot so we make it work.

Didnt hold well but the rebar gave me enough to get by.

The next morning we launch at the state park and I toss a dropshot gulp into the trees looking for crappie or bass and hook into a monster. Came in at 14lbs.

We peddle the 2.5 miles to Shag Rock and find no fish along the way or at it. Wind made fishing nearly impossible. We find another marina and tuck in and I set out a minnow on one rod and a piece of cut mackeral on the other. About an hour sitting there the mackeral rod starts pealing like and I reel in a 16lb Cat...

Biggest Cat of the Trip

That night we head to an area called the Keys which is just a maze and we set some mackeral and minnows out for cats and nothing wanted to play we fished it till midnight and called it a night.

The next morning was the day we had to head home, Clear Lake Bass beat us this time. We fished another 2 hours for nothing.

With close to 40hours on the plastic and 24hours of driving over the trip we put an effort in that is for sure. We all came away with some new best.

Both RyanI and myself got Personnal best Trout on the trip and Derrick got a new personnel best Bass.

We enjoyed the trip.

ful-rac · 03-26-2015, 12:20 PM

Not another broken Crank arm!!....

Don't let the paddle guys see that....they're gonna go nuts!!!

Looks like another fun adventure Ryan! I'm looking forward to our trips south of the border this year!

alanhighhand · 03-26-2015, 12:47 PM

Nice report thanks for sharing.

Amish Ed · 03-26-2015, 01:09 PM

Great report. Congrats on all the PBs too.

corpsmanusn2001 · 03-26-2015, 01:13 PM

Nice job on the road trip! I have a buddy that hooks big ol bass out of Clear Lake. Hope to get up there some day. Great pics! Good lookin fish!

StinkyMatt · 03-27-2015, 09:02 PM

Nice write up Ryan.

The trout you boys got a very nice, people do not realize that catching a 6 or 7pound trout is a very big deal.

Congrats.

Holy Mackerel · 03-28-2015, 07:31 AM

Sweet report, Almanor is one of my favorite places to fish. Trophy rainbows, and browns there. Took my family camping for a week last summer at Butt valley reservoir, nice place, 3/4 empty campground, gotta love how wide open Norcal is compared to Socal.

rhyak · 03-28-2015, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holy Mackerel

Sweet report, Almanor is one of my favorite places to fish. Trophy rainbows, and browns there. Took my family camping for a week last summer at Butt valley reservoir, nice place, 3/4 empty campground, gotta love how wide open Norcal is compared to Socal.

Indeed, much more relaxing weekend on the lake then trying this in a socal lake.

ericko · 03-28-2015, 06:09 PM

I found salmon near the dam(almanor) love a piece of anchovy drop it down 2 cranks up and wait .. Love the lake just not the 9 hour drive from OC.

FlyFishinYakr · 03-29-2015, 11:33 PM

Very good read! Thank for taking the time to post!

I wasn't aware Almanor had Trout that big! I never fished there before. May just have to make a point to get out there!
Sorry to hear about your mirage drive malfunction.

Hoping I can get an epidural sometime soon to get out to Clear lake for the spring spawn. I didn't read anything about you tossing any "BIG" Swimmies (8"+ Hitch patterns), did you throw any? I bought a couple new Loomis Swimbait rods for my "Huddies" and Osprey's I used to use for Stripers @ Castaic/Pyramid in the hopes I can make it up there this year.

FFY

rhyak · 03-30-2015, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlyFishinYakr

Very good read! Thank for taking the time to post!

I wasn't aware Almanor had Trout that big! I never fished there before. May just have to make a point to get out there!
Sorry to hear about your mirage drive malfunction.

Hoping I can get an epidural sometime soon to get out to Clear lake for the spring spawn. I didn't read anything about you tossing any "BIG" Swimmies (8"+ Hitch patterns), did you throw any? I bought a couple new Loomis Swimbait rods for my "Huddies" and Osprey's I used to use for Stripers @ Castaic/Pyramid in the hopes I can make it up there this year.

FFY

Tossed about everything from big swimbaits, small swimbaits, Bama rig, lipless cranks, deep, shallow, rip, Drop Shot, frogs, shakeyhead, just about everything got tossed at somepoint. Nothing found the fish really.

When minnows dont get a fish the bite is tough.

Tough fishing was an understatement.

03-26-2015, 12:09 PM	#1
rhyak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Central Coast Posts: 398	Lake Almanor and Clear Lake 3-21/25-15 We had been planning this trip for a while I had some stuff come up that I had to be at so we left on Friday after I left the Central Coast to handle some business in the LA area and then drove up to Coalinga to been Derrick and Ryan. We left around 5pm and sailed north. Made a few stops along the way and got into Chester the home of Lake Almanor around midnight. Unpacked and got the rods ready for the morning and finally laid down around 1am. Up at 6am to get on the water by 6:30 in a chilly 28 degrees. We launched on the East side of the lake and worked it hard for a few fish. First thing in the morning on day one. Ryan nailed a nice smallie just under 18inch this was right after I hooked a dink smallie on a point. The lighting on this one did not turn out as it was still pretty dark out. We rounded the corner trolling rip baits and everything as we came up here for big browns and could not find a bite. The weather was amazing to say the least not a breath of wind and sunny no clouds. We worked the water till about 1pm and called it a day and grabbed some lunch in town and talked about a game plan. We decided to launch by the dam and fish the deep water. We got there around 430 and wanted to fish till sunset. However at this point we were greeted by some wind making it pretty tough out on the water. Ryanimpreza and Derrick headed one way and I headed the other looking for fish. I found one on the troll within a couple minutes at 17inches was happy to get the trout skunk off the boat. We trolled for a little longer and at about 630. I set up shop in a cove to get away from the wind. Drifted a flylined crawler and tossing a rip bait and the crawler gets picked up by 21inch - 4lb brown sweet UPGRADE. They end up joining me and do the same thing as we were about to loose light and call it a night, I get picked up again on the crawler this time its BIG. 6lb test is screaming off my reel. I wanted to put the breaks on this fish so BAD. But held off and had a close to 30 minute battle with the fish. Finally got it in the net and hurried to shore to snap some picture and release it. Ended up being a 24incher and close to 7lbs. The next morning we woke up early and found it was raining so fell back asleep as one of the local kayak guys was gonna meet us at 7am and we wanted to just wait on the rain. Well it did stop raining and we got on the water at 7:30 but today was much different then the day before it was cloudy and WINDY. Great wind just what every kayak fisherman loves. Chris the guy we were meeting had 4 browns in the boat already. He was working a pretty small area and picking up fish. We found some smallies sitting on a bank and I pulled a 15incher off it and 20 minutes later Derrick gets a pig at 18inches We worked are way around the east end of the lake again pulling in fish at a decent rate. Think I got about a dozen smallies but most around the 12inch range. We worked down to an area called big springs and Chris found a school on the FF and dropped down and got a 20inch Salmon.. Great maybe we found them. But no that ended up being the only Salmon of the day. I did nail a decent Brown on day two as well at 23 inches. That afternoon with the wind blowing we decided to head down to Butt Lake to try and get a brown. At this point in the trip being the last afternoon for Almanor, RyanI had yet to get a trout and wanted one. So we got there and we headed out on the troll. We got about 3 miles down the bank and he hooks up and its a dandy. 25inches. We get some photos and release it. Biggest Trout of the trip came from RyanI he got his Nice Brown from Butt Lake. Couple other photos from the Almanor section of the trip. Derrick with a Smallmouth __________________ Team Central Coast Kayak Fishing

03-26-2015, 12:09 PM	#2
rhyak Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Central Coast Posts: 398	Now for Clear Lake. Well Bass and cold fronts do no mix well. Windy conditions were there non stop. We arrived on the 23rd grabbed some minnows and headed out. This lake is loaded with docks and areas for bass to hang out at. Talking with people coming in the bass bite been tough since the wind picked up and rain the night before. We gave it a couple hours and then moved locations. Windy as can be and good washing machine out on the water. We decided are best bet was troll the shallows and hope for the best. We turned the corner and as Derrick came around the corner from the launch hooks a nice bass ended up being the only bass the three of us caught that was really even over 12 inches everything seemed small for us. Biggest Bass We are trolling and I feel a snap. I gimp back into the marina and we call it a day at 630. We drive to the nearest town which is Ukiah and find a home depot and start looking for parts. Coulc not find hobie part in Home depot so we make it work. Didnt hold well but the rebar gave me enough to get by. The next morning we launch at the state park and I toss a dropshot gulp into the trees looking for crappie or bass and hook into a monster. Came in at 14lbs. We peddle the 2.5 miles to Shag Rock and find no fish along the way or at it. Wind made fishing nearly impossible. We find another marina and tuck in and I set out a minnow on one rod and a piece of cut mackeral on the other. About an hour sitting there the mackeral rod starts pealing like and I reel in a 16lb Cat... Biggest Cat of the Trip That night we head to an area called the Keys which is just a maze and we set some mackeral and minnows out for cats and nothing wanted to play we fished it till midnight and called it a night. The next morning was the day we had to head home, Clear Lake Bass beat us this time. We fished another 2 hours for nothing. With close to 40hours on the plastic and 24hours of driving over the trip we put an effort in that is for sure. We all came away with some new best. Both RyanI and myself got Personnal best Trout on the trip and Derrick got a new personnel best Bass. We enjoyed the trip. __________________ Team Central Coast Kayak Fishing

03-26-2015, 12:20 PM	#3
ful-rac Emperor Join Date: May 2009 Location: Buena Park Posts: 3,649	Shhhhh! Not another broken Crank arm!!.... Don't let the paddle guys see that....they're gonna go nuts!!! Looks like another fun adventure Ryan! I'm looking forward to our trips south of the border this year! __________________ There's nothing colder than yesterday's hotdog.

03-26-2015, 01:09 PM	#5
Amish Ed Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Grants Pass, OR Posts: 1,906	Great report. Congrats on all the PBs too. __________________ Amish Ed You can't catch it again if it's dead!

03-26-2015, 12:47 PM	#4
alanhighhand Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2014 Posts: 100	Nice report thanks for sharing.

03-26-2015, 01:13 PM	#6
corpsmanusn2001 Member Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Corona, CA Posts: 65	Nice job on the road trip! I have a buddy that hooks big ol bass out of Clear Lake. Hope to get up there some day. Great pics! Good lookin fish!

03-27-2015, 09:02 PM	#7
StinkyMatt Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Under a bridge Posts: 2,169	Nice write up Ryan. The trout you boys got a very nice, people do not realize that catching a 6 or 7pound trout is a very big deal. Congrats.

03-28-2015, 07:31 AM	#8
Holy Mackerel Señor member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,627	Sweet report, Almanor is one of my favorite places to fish. Trophy rainbows, and browns there. Took my family camping for a week last summer at Butt valley reservoir, nice place, 3/4 empty campground, gotta love how wide open Norcal is compared to Socal.

03-28-2015, 06:09 PM	#10
ericko Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Huntington beach Posts: 594	I found salmon near the dam(almanor) love a piece of anchovy drop it down 2 cranks up and wait .. Love the lake just not the 9 hour drive from OC.

03-29-2015, 11:33 PM	#11
FlyFishinYakr Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Nor Cal...30 min from Bodega/Tomales Bay, 1hr from Clear Lake, 2+ hr to Berryessa & the Delta Posts: 729	Very good read! Thank for taking the time to post! I wasn't aware Almanor had Trout that big! I never fished there before. May just have to make a point to get out there! Sorry to hear about your mirage drive malfunction. Hoping I can get an epidural sometime soon to get out to Clear lake for the spring spawn. I didn't read anything about you tossing any "BIG" Swimmies (8"+ Hitch patterns), did you throw any? I bought a couple new Loomis Swimbait rods for my "Huddies" and Osprey's I used to use for Stripers @ Castaic/Pyramid in the hopes I can make it up there this year. FFY