Yesterday Gregg and I fished Manzanita Lake, located at the north-western end of Lassen State Park, right near the junction of Hwy 44 and 89.
The weather was wonderful, a little windy at times but a very comfortable day. We were hoping on fishing through a callibaetis hatch but they never emerged in large amounts.
We tubed around the lake for a while but the banks were the key to our sucess.
Wading along the bank stripping callibaetis nymphs proved to be somewhat effective for me. The catching was sporatic, all of my fish came from the nymph. The majority of the fish were small 12" or smaller
We both caught a nice trout. Here's a nicely spotted rainbow that took the nymph using short strips on a long leader and floating line.
Gregg switched to a dry fly to sight fish along the bank, he hooked into a nice brown on an ant but lost it. After that he switched to a hopper and caught a nice rainbow.
Gregg prefered wading the banks because of the sight fishing possibilities and becaue I caught a nice 20" brown trout after spotted it cruising along the banks.
That fish was alot of fun. All in all a great day, no major callibaetis hatch like we hoped for but we had a ton of fun. We got a late start, we fished from 11-dark, we stayed until dark to see if the mototrboat caddis were emerging. Gregg saw one but that was all, no evening hacth.
Both Gregg and I enjoyed the beautiful lake and the scenic soroundings. I recommend taking a trip to Manzanita, maybe you'll find the callibaetis to be much more active.
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