Montana Fish Report

Surface temperature is at 72.5 degrees and clarity is good to about 13.5 feet. Almanor Lake levels are at 4492.12 and finally starting to creep down.

The thermocline begins around 18 ft. down and that's a good place to start during the early morning hours.

After the sun hits the water it’s all about downriggers, and maybe some leadcore, but most of the quality fish are down much deeper.

The last couple of days we have been hugging close to the bottom along the east shore, running our stuff down from 43 to 53 ft. down in 61 ft. of water along the Dorado and into Lake Cove, and north, up to the Hamilton Branch.

Several applications seem to be working for different anglers. Guys are getting limits off crawlers and dodgers, Speedy Shiners, Needlefish and Rainbow Runners. Y

And if you don't have downriggers, the bait bite has been real good also, but its all about going deep, like four to six feet off the bottom.

 Mealworms and crickets are a good bet these days. The hex hatch has slowed and there's just less food around. Fish are picking up everything they run into. The Fox Farm has been the hot spot for the bait guys and the A-Frame has been drawing them in as well. Boat traffic is down making the bait bite a little more wake free.

Insect hatches are in decline, including the hex hatch, which appears to have peaked.

As hatches decline, fish will focus on smelt..and maybe that's why the Pro-Cure Trophy Trout scent has been the flavor of the month, triggering lots of smack downs. If you’re  going to troll lures or dodger/crawler combos, always use bait scent!  It makes the difference of catching a few fish, or no fish at all.

I have been trolling most days and have seen rainbows in the three pound range and lots of them. Browns are random and expect a few pesky 14 inch salmon every day. Watch for those little salmon when they hit, because sometimes they will not pop the release and you could be dragging a little guy around and not even know it. Also there's been some smaller browns planted recently too, double trouble!

I have been asked often, where are the salmon this year? the answer is  I don't know either. But I can tell you this, Almanor is full and the thermocline is wide, fish are feeling comfortable moving around the lake and have not been forced into any of the deep holes yet. And maybe they won’t because surface temps are much cooler this year. In fact surface temps are about 5 to 6 degrees below average for this time of year, and that's a big difference.

Salmon that bite have all been running small, and no real big kings have been reported to me anyway - and I sure haven't caught any big kings in weeks!

Access accurate Lake Almanor data at http://www.project2105.org/lake_levels.htm.  Doug Neal (530) 258-6732 http://www.almanorfishingadventures.com