Collins Lake

It has certainly been a wild ride these last few weeks. After a 1am evacuation of all staff and campers we are blessed to be able to report that neither of the two fires threatening Collins Lake actually got to the campground property. Many of our staff were on volunteer crews fighting to contain the Willow fire. It’s only now, ten days later that things at the lake seem to be returning to a sense of normalcy, if you can call any part of 2020 normal.

Channing Venegas came down the hill for some fishing and two day in row reeled in huge catfish caught up in the north channel on nothing more than hotdogs. The larger of the two maxed out our certified 20lb scale!

Usually catfish activity will continue as long as the lake is low and warm.

Thanks to Manny Navarro of Lincoln who sent in photos of this beautiful bass he brought in on Monday using Chatter Bait just shy of where Channing’s cats were caught. Bass will be spread out all over the lake this time of year, so on the one hand they can be hard to nail down. On the other hand you just might pick one up in any cove or corner or even out in open water!

Trout remain generally slow, with some folks at the beginning of September having success down at 35ft before sunrise. Somehow Mike and Deborah (pictured below) bucked the trend and managed to reel in a limit using PowerBait by the dam.

There was a brief spark of action mid week when the smoke was the heaviest, a couple of guys reported a double limit one day and another limit the next day. Christian Peck of Vacaville also reported a limit on a spinner by the dam.

Yesterday, as smoke cleared entirely, and apparently only for the day, the trout traffic took a dive and for all the boats trolling the blues skies I saw only a solitary two pounder. Your mileage may vary.

We’re praying for our friends & neighbors who continue to be affected by fire and evacuations. We’re keeping a close eye on winds and while Red Flag conditions have cleared for the moment in the lower foothills we’re holding off on permitting open fires (wood campfire & charcoal) while local fire resources are still strained to their limits.

Thanks for joining us in supporting our first responders! Ed