Great Action on Lake Oroville

[Ryan]

With the poor conditions on almost all the rivers, I figured it’s time for an Oroville update for the board. The lake is fishing about as good as I’ve ever seen it right now. 2-3lb+ spots are so much fun on 6 weights! Once the weather warms and water clears, stripping streamers on the surface and top-water will start producing. For the time being though with water temps below 60 degrees, the Float & Fly is the way to go.

Oroville really fished well this winter. Things slowed due to the dam issues and fluctuating water levels, but fish are back in feeding mode now.

Mornings are most productive. Landing 20 bass before 12:00 is reasonable right now. Then in the afternoon things slow but fish can still be caught, maybe 1/3’rd as many though.

Water clarity varies but with current rains the water will be a bit more stained. So for fly colors, the standard chart/white we fly fishers like so much has been my go to color for flies. 8-9’ leaders are doing the trick.

Right now the lake is consistently producing some of the larger bass I’ve seen out here. Big fish that are normally much deeper are hanging tight to the banks which gives us fly fishers the opportunity to get them much more easily. As the weather warms I expect fish numbers to rise, but I don’t expect the fish to be getting any bigger. The small 1lb and less bass so prevalent in the Spring and Summer aren’t anywhere to be found right now. This is definitely the time for “big” fish on Oroville.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from this season… Hope you enjoy!

Patrick Mcginis pulled the Kokane we've been waiting for 3 trips ago!!! March 14'th
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170314_095446.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170314_095446.jpg.html)

Trip on March 18'th. This fish was just under 4lbs which is my boat's current record spotted bass here.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170318_153808.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170318_153808.jpg.html)

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170318_111909.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170318_111909.jpg.html)

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170318_091905%20copy_1.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170318_091905%20copy_1.jpg.html)

March 23'rd. Began fishing around 12:00. We managed 7 fish, this one was just under 3lbs.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170323_160513.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170323_160513.jpg.html)

Another fish taken yesterday by Kayla Katayama.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170323_170919_1.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170323_170919_1.jpg.html)

Here's a few of my favorite pictures this season prior to the dam issues.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170125_090621%20copy.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170125_090621%20copy.jpg.html)

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170205_110652_1.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170205_110652_1.jpg.html)

Cast Hope Trip with Braeden Rhodes and Botond Trimmel! Braeden pulled a fish 3.75lbs. Toad of a fish!
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170116_082202%20copy_1.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170116_082202%20copy_1.jpg.html)

Next trip with Botond and Braeden.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170205_113618_1.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170205_113618_1.jpg.html)

In Mr. Chuck Ragan's boat for the day.
http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170127_113440%20copy_1.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170127_113440%20copy_1.jpg.html)

For those who haven’t seen my little writing on how to fish the Float & Fly, here is the link.
www.flyfishcnv.com/indicators-for-winter-bass.html

Also, anyone interested in trips out here, please check out my website for further information.
www.flyfishcnv.com

Please feel free to ask questions here. I’m more than happy to help anyone out. Plenty of water and fish for everybody! Pontoons and float tubes can be used in certain areas too. Even walking the banks can be productive. So like I said any questions, just ask!

[John Sv]

Cool pix and a great fishing trip!
That kokanee in the first shot (I think) is a landlocked king and I would love to get the skinny on how to fly-catch them!!
Thanks

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

It looked like a land locked King Salmon to me too?

Ryan...this is a 5 Star post in my book.

Very inspiring.

[Ryan]

Thanks John and Bill! My gut told me it was a king at first but then I started doubting it and looked at pictures online. I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to landlocked salmon though... Obviously. So King it is! We'll take that. Haha. Very good to see you give that a 5 star post Mr. Kiene!! And much appreciated.

John, we weren't targeting the salmon, just happened to stumble on one that day. The two times my boat has got salmon we happened to be running longer leaders than usual. 10-11'. Another thing to note is the area simply looked like a trout area with pine trees, rocks, moss on rocks, and a tributary. So unfortunately I don't know how to get those things consistently. But...

Yesterday, a client got a trout in that same area, so one of these days I am going to go through there stripping trout streamers deep, and nymphing different creek inlets in the vicinity and see how that goes.

I'll keep the board posted if/when I figure out the salmon stuff!

[Mr T]

I have targeted kings there a number of times pulling hardware and rolled shad. Many times the kings we landed had senkos in them when they were cleaned....

[Spicytuna1]

Right on Ryan,

Glad things are going well for you up there. New sled looks pretty sweet as well.

[Ryan]

Thanks Dave! If your referring to the aluminum boat in the bottom pic, that's not my boat unfortunately haha. But I am loving my bass boat. So far, I still have zero regrets about selling the jet boat for that thing, surprisingly.

[STEELIES/26c3]

is that a rubber dog biscuit in that dog's mouth? or just a tongue shaped like one?

[Spicytuna1]

yeah that bass boat is nice.

Can you shoot me a pic of your pvc rod holder. I got a new skiff and am trying to get as many good ideas as I can for rod storage.

[cranimal]

Great post, thanks for the report and pics!

[winxp_man]

Nice post Ryan!!! Also clean land locked king for sure!!! Did it put up a good fight?

[Ryan]

Thanks for the compliments everyone! I apologize for the late response. Been go go go the last 3 days with trips and scouting.

Dave, I'll post some pictures here of my rod tubes real soon. I'd just text them to you but my phone only sends messages 25% of the time. Bad service our here in the country.

Steelies your question is hilarious and a very legitimate question after looking at the picture again. It's the dog's tongue. Definitely looks like a dog toy though. Hahaha.

Thanks Aron! The fish definitely fought harder than the average bass we're getting out there. Looked like a really fun fight on a 6wt. My friend was really horsing on it at first thinking it was a bass so he got it near the boat pretty quick. Once the fish got to the boat though it started pulling. Took me a few attempts on the net to get it. There was no dragging that lively thing on the surface for an easy net job. Haha

Another update... The lake is still fishing strong. Basically all day long right now. It's normally only mornings or evenings for good action. Not the case now though. 3 days ago a friend and myself landed 18 in a 2 hour evening. Then the day before yesterday I had some newer clients land 26 in a full day, starting at 10:00. No monsters but what a fun time to be going for bass. Tons of birds and wildlife out right now too. Saw 3 bald eagles in one spot 2 days ago. And go figure the top producing honey hole for the day was right below the area they were flying.

[Ryan]

I don't know why all my photo's aren't showing up anymore. It looks like they've been deleted off my photobucket account somehow..? Nice... Website is acting up lately too on certain pages.

Dave, here are the rod tube pictures. Sorry everyone for pics of a dirty carpet lol. Didn't have time to clean for these. Hopefully these don't get deleted off my photobucket as well.

This design isn't the greatest looking, and one could say it's pretty janky, but it works great. The stick jackets work good in the PVC. For the larger brackets, I just bent one end out to fit.

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170404_203558.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170404_203558.jpg.html)

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170404_152405.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170404_152405.jpg.html)

http://i471.photobucket.com/albums/rr76/RWArt/20170404_152434.jpg (http://s471.photobucket.com/user/RWArt/media/20170404_152434.jpg.html)