Lake Almanor Fishing Report 8/20/25

The nice weather has made things comfortable out on the water recently, but that may be coming to an end. The water level continues its slow decline currently sitting at 4487, a drop of about a foot in the last ten days. Flows on all the lake’s tributaries are at seasonal norms. Water temperature is at or near 70. Bug hatches continue in many areas of the lake, but a good number of fish, including trout and Smallies, have shifted their attention back to the lake’s pond smelt population. The trout are now spread throughout the entire lake. With localized dense pockets of fish tightly grouped on bait. Find one of these groups and stay on them for some wild bites. Action for trollers is happening at a variety of locations around the lake, from the dam to Big Springs as well as the area around the mouth of Hamilton Branch. Both sides of the peninsula have also been giving up fish as well. On the west side, from the tip of the peninsula north past Rec 2 and on the east side Rec 1 and A Frame are all prime spots to check.  Trout have been caught on a wide variety of offerings recently. Slow trolled worms and plastics even a few trolling flies along with fast trolled spoons in bright as well as bait fish patterns have all produced fish this week. 30 to 45 feet seems to be holding the bulk of the active fish. The catch continues to be a mix Rainbows and Browns along with a few salmon.  It has been a little quiet from the “bait guys” over the course of the last week. Fly anglers suspending nymphs under indicators are continuing to hook fish that are keyed in on the aquatic larvae.   Bass anglers have been throwing jigs on rocky points and shorelines for smallies keyed in on smelt as their food source. Lots of trout stacked up in Hamilton Branch, enjoying the cooler incoming water. This area can attract a lot of traffic this time of year and anglers are connecting with some fish. Be sensitive to the area and the resource, please pack out what you pack in. The weatherman is saying our pleasant weather is being replaced with a heat wave over the next 5 days or so. This high pressure is also likely to drag in some monsoonal moisture and trigger some thunderstorms in the mountains so be prepared. 

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