Thermalito Afterbay

[McFish]

The weather Wed/Thursday was killer; highs in the mnid 80's and little wind. Unfortunately we failed to find bass.. They are now running water out of Oroville dam at night, none during the day. So the Afterbay fills at nightwith cold water, then drops a few feet during the day. The water temps north of Hwy 162 bridge are in mid 60's or less. The south bay was up to 74 by midday. It's beautiful water, shallow, clear, with reeds, weeds and rockwalls. But no biters. Can anyone shed some light?

[Lance Gray]

The weather Wed/Thursday was killer; highs in the mnid 80's and little wind. Unfortunately we failed to find bass.. They are now running water out of Oroville dam at night, none during the day. So the Afterbay fills at nightwith cold water, then drops a few feet during the day. The water temps north of Hwy 162 bridge are in mid 60's or less. The south bay was up to 74 by midday. It's beautiful water, shallow, clear, with reeds, weeds and rockwalls. But no biters. Can anyone shed some light?

If you are a California Fly Fishers subscriber online, you should be able to find the full article with all the pictures and maps.

If not, you can send me an email, and I will send you the text of the article.

Thanks

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Decades ago, one of my old friends and a baseball legend, Wally Westlake, used to fish the Afterbay in a small aluminum boat.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wally_Westlake

He gave me some samples of the "bugs" he tied and used there.







I heard that NorCal guide Hogan Brown fished the Afterbay for LMB.

[MThompson]

Hey Mike,
If conditions get weird they do weird stuff. Usually they suspend. Never fished there but if there's bouy cables(the ones that anchor them to the bottom) or bridge pilings you might be able get a few off those.

[McFish]

Thanks Mike. I hope you're doing well. We didn't meter any fish at all. The cables and the Hwy 162 bridge were water temps in high 60's; the cables way lower. The only fish of the day came off one of the islands in the mid bay area where the shore drops off faster and the weedline was narrower.

[MThompson]

Doing great Mike. To be clear I meant that the fish will suspend and hold on the structures I mentioned. Even the cables. They're not easy to catch, but I bet you'd get a few with a sinking line and one of your baitfish patterns.

[McFish]

Thanks for the input. The one fish we caught fit that category; steeper bank, narrow weedline, fish located mid depth. Oh well, live and learn; the weather was great. PS; there is night time construction on the main street in town and many hotels parking was not accessable without crossing closed off highway.