Feather River, Horseshoe Lake

Officially In Spring Mode

That Lateral Line!

Its officially spring but it feels almost like summer. The weather is amazing with slight breezes and 80 degree air temps. Although we really need the rain, the time to really gather it is over now and we get what we get. Nevertheless the weather is beautiful and so is the fishing. Who’s arm is sore from catching fish? This guy.

Horseshoe Lake
It’s official. I finally figured out the secret to this lake/pond. I have been able to consistently catch fish and although a good day is one take, the fish are very quality. After many trips of trying several different flies and covering a lot of water, I have found what the fish like and where they like to hold especially the bass and cats.

While fishing the lake I had a hand jerking take and once it was fish on I knew it was a big one. Its first run ripped a bunch of line as it ran straight towards a sunken tree in the lake where it was going to try and break me off. Its actually amazing that the fish knew where it was going despite the zero clarity. I lowered my rod at a low angle to try and maneuver it out of point and was able to move the fish towards me before it could break me off. Now that I was in the clear for a safe landing I wanted to know what I had at the end of my line. I fought it for a couple more moments and high sticked my rod to try and get a glimpse of it. I saw that tail and immediately thought its a huge bass! Then I got its head out of the water, its a cat! Definitely one of the better cats I’ve caught out there. A little girl and her dad came by to check it out but I had already released it. Cute little thing.

Fishing the lake can be a pain sometimes with people yelling at their dogs, letting their dogs run around in water, and the occasional obnoxious people. It’s not the greatest place to go to get away from the world but a short trip is all worth it when you get that take and land a nice fish.

Quality Cat

Feather River
The spring-run are around but with hot days and blue bird skies, it can be pretty tough.
I would say the best place to fish the Feather river right now is the high flow but the low flow is producing as well.
The low flow was a shitshow near Outhouse Riffle Friday mid-morning. Three drift boats in that small section trying to fish around each other. I stood my ground and represented the wade anglers but not to my surprise I didn’t catch anything in this area.

Earlier I hooked a 20+ inch fish that looked around 4-5 pounds on a swing with my switch rod and damn was that an exciting fight. Once I tired the fish out it was stuck in the weeds near the bank. Instead of using my net to scoop it up, I tried to pull it out of the weeds by grabbing my leader. Mistake! The hook came loose and that beautiful chrome fish scurried away. Technically I landed and quick-released it so… It’s all good! Lets catch a bigger one next time.





Ellis Lake

The Last Day of Spring Break

The Last Day of Spring Break: Before The Front

Greedy Lil Green Sunfish

So it had finally came to an end. I ended my Spring Break fishing Ellis Lake. With winds up to 15mph and with a high of 70 degrees it was going to be a tough one. The lake was starting to turn over with warm water temps. I was using my 3wt this time and started with the north lake first as usual. With no luck after covering a lot of water I switch the south lake.

The south lake was fishing a lot better and I hooked several fish close to the bank near the rocks. They weren’t the biggest bass I’ve caught but its better than nothing. I lost a lot of flies that day and was worried that I would run out of things to throw. I just tied and refilled my fly box with new patterns that I will be trying out. New motto for Ellis Lake. Simple to tie yet effective to fish just in case they get snagged.

Ellis Lake Dink

Overall it was a decent trip. There were quite a few people fishing but I didn’t see anyone catch anything. It was really windy that day and that might have put the fish off a little bit. Some day I’ll catch a lunker out of there I just know it.

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