Bass are moving onto spawning beds sparking the seasonal debate about catching or leaving the fish alone. Bass are coming from Clear Lake and lakes Sonoma and Berryessa, striped bass from a low Lake Mendocino, trout and king salmon from Berryessa, crappie from Clear Lake, and catfish from several lakes. Families able to travel also can consider fishing Lake Shasta. Rainbow trout have been hard to catch. However, salmon to seven pounds, and some big German brown trout have been landed even by bass anglers working for plentiful bass.
Most lakes are in great shape as fewer winter storms left waters clearer than normal.
For example, Chris Lands at the Lake Sonoma Marina was watching a bank fisherman catch bass when I called Monday. Crappie are starting to bite. The lake is a bit low. Native rainbow trout take wet or dry caddis-pattern flies in the Redding to Red Bluff stretch of the Sacramento River. Drifted nightcrawlers, crickets and globugs also work.