As the Serria Nevada mountain range stretches north and ends, the Serria Cascades begin, the Southern end of the Cascades is anchored by Mt. Lassen, a very alive volcano. Lassen's steaming vents and hot springs remind all of this areas volcanic past. Ancient vents that once spewed steam and possibly magma are now the sources of clean fresh spring water.

     There's lots of Springs in the Great Almanor Basin. Lake Almanor has many, hundreds actually. Most are Small, some are huge and gush out of earthen walls, others are in deep areas of the lake and their exact location is know only by locals. Almanor is a shallow lake, it barley has any area deeper than 100" and that's when its full. Being a shallow lake makes for warming water and good Smallmouth action, but when its gets too warm the Salmon and Trout move to deeper holes and springs. The eastern half of Lake Almanor is the Deepest and offers more springs and places that the bigger fish like.

     Morning is the best time to troll Almanor. Fish can be found on the top 12 ft. of water and are easy to target, even without a downrigger. There area so many good trolling lanes at Lake Almanor that its hard to decide where to fish; Prattville, Almanor West, The mouth of the Hamilton Branch, The A-Frame, Rocky Point,East Shore, are the first to come to mind when I troll.

     Fish rolling on the surface, at first light on a soft summer morning is a beautiful sight, and trolling can be good for awhile. As the sun get higher and the fish move down the water column you have to down rig, lead core, or turn to bait fishing deeper holes.  The Rainbows and Browns are plump, bright and healthy, Most Rainbows average 2.5 to 2.8 lbs. but there's lots of Trout caught better than 4 lbs.everyday. And with this lake, you never know when the big one will hit...

     The King Salmon are big this year and will be seeking out these deep areas especially ones with springs. This season looks like a real good one, and heres why I say that. Theses fish are three plus years old, and have been feeding all last summer, winter and spring on pond smelt. Usually food is a bit more scarce in the winter, but last summer the pond smelt showed in big numbers, and the Salmon and trout population have had ample food for the past 11 months. All the Salmon this spring that we caught were all over 3.0 lbs., some over 4 lbs., up to 6.2 lbs. The 3 lb. fish are all about 22 inches long, and up from there. And they will continue to grow.  Almanor King Salmon are the best fighting fish in the Lake. I have caught lots of smallmouth bass, and they are fun. But a big King on the line is wild crazy action, deep dives, blistering runs, flying through the air, burn a lasting image in the old angling memory pages. Yesterday I lost a Big King After 15 minutes of fighting, it peeled off 290 "of line before jumping and throwing the hook..but what fun that was!

     We have had some major league action with these Kings and I will be pursuing them for the next two months. Mid August the Salmon bite wanes , however the good Brown Fishing begins to warm up. Browns concentrations go up as pre spawn activity begins. Almanor has a excellent Brown population. Thick orange bruisers, with black and red spots lurk underwater gravel beds where spawning takes place. Rainbows move in to steal eggs from the nests and battles go on below. Many jigs are hit just out of aggression rather than hunger. Its not uncommon to release several Browns every morning 3 lbs. and up.
We did have a light winter here last season, but At 4500 ft. Lake Almanor is full of cool, clean water. And Fishing is going to be good, and its just starting here at majestic Lake Almanor.

Doug Neal,  www.almanorfishingadventures.com