Collins Lake

The warm weather, slow winds and low lake level have propagated a sudden surge in surface temperature which has pushed trout deeper. While 59F at the surface isn’t exactly bathwater, it’s a leap of 8 degrees in just two weeks.

Since Noah Ruiz’s 6.75lb catch (below, left) on Orange PowerBait mid March we’ve seen tons of trout including Wyatt Shanks’ 5+ pound fish (right) caught from the bank near Elmer’s Cove. Wyatt (below, right) limited that day bumping spring green PowerBait along the bottom!

David & (a different) Wyatt used a wide smattering of baits and lures including nightcrawlers, maglips & grubs and fished all over the lake to bring in a double limit. If you’re not having luck otherwise, find a friend named Wyatt:

The dog, Remi took interest but didn’t end up casting a line. There’s plenty on the brag board so I’d guess she’ll still partake at dinner time. David, Cooper & Shannon caught a freezer-full as did Ariel, Tyler & Bailey:

With trout headed to deeper (cooler) water it’s a great time to slow troll with family & friends. Wade, Karen, Lori & Doug of Fairfield teamed up to catch 16 trout on Rainbow Spooners:

There are far too many limits to feature them all, and quite a few lunkers you can see on our Facebook but before we move on here’s a couple more from the last few days:

On the left we have Lucy who was trolling a Kastmaster when she hooked a fighter weighing in at nearly 5 pounds! On the right Mike White caught this wide jawed 6 1/2 pound rainbow on a Firetiger Rapala.

Niles St. John caught three trout… and a crappie fishing the main channel. Mike & Alex of Yuba City were casting Kastmasters and bumping Yellow PowerBait when they caught five trout… and a small mouth bass:

Janette Jarrett of Chico, large mouth bass on garlic PB. Jayson Yaj caught his first spotted bass, and then 3 more (all released):

All of this to say: If you are used to waiting until the end of April for the bass bite, don’t!

The fact that Jayson caught a run of four says that in some places on the lake, bass are already starting their pre-spawn feeding.

The fact that we’re seeing bass caught by folks fishing for trout says that they’re ravenous.

The fact that there’s warm temperatures early in the year appear to mean an unusually early start to the spring bass season.

Good luck out there!