Lake Almanor Fishing Report 9/24/25

The weather has been a mix of pleasant mornings, flat afternoons and a few afternoon thunderstorms. Traffic on the lake is down as we leave summer behind and move into fall. The water level continues its slow decline of about 1/10 of a foot/day and currently sits at 4483.7 or about 10.5 feet below full pool. Flows on all the lake’s tributaries are at seasonal norms. Water temperature is hovering in the mid 60’s. For anglers, the recent story is all about fish feeding on the lake’s pond smelt population. The trout are spread throughout the entire lake but much of the focus has been on the east shore, 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 from the dam to Big Springs and the east side of the peninsula. Trout have been caught on a wide variety of offerings recently. Slow trolled worms and plastics along with fast trolled spoons in bright as well as bait fish patterns have all produced fish over the course of the last week. Some boats reporting as many as 20 fish per outing, this kind of action has some anglers making unscheduled return trips to the lake to take advantage of the conditions. 35 to 45 feet seems to be holding the bulk of the active fish. The catch is a mixed bag of Rainbows and Browns. Bait fishermen have been netting a few fish at several locations including the dam and east shore around Dorado as well as eastern side of the peninsula. Fly anglers suspending flies under indicators as well as stripping pond smelt imitating flies on sinking lines are tempting the fish focused on the forage minnows. Lots of trout stacked up in Hamilton Branch, enjoying the cooler incoming water. Shore anglers are connecting with some, please pack out what you pack in. This is one of the best late summer early fall bites in recent memory and a cooling forecast should only improve the action. 

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