Fish Reports

It has been a rough couple of months. Trout season started in California in late November, but it wasn’t until recently that I finally landed a couple. My first successful trip was on December 20 at Mile Square Park in Fountain Valley, California. The weather was overcast with a light 4 mph wind. The lake was fairly busy, but there was little action anywhere. I landed one trout on salmon peach PowerBait using an 8-inch leader, cast about 10 feet out. After that bite, things slowed down for nearly two hours. I switched to mini jigs, trying different colors, and eventually landed another on a white mini jig with a slow retrieve and occasional rod bounces. It felt great to finally catch some rainbows! My next trip was today, the day I’m writing this report. I returned to Mile Square Park around 10 a.m. in heavy rain. I fished for about an hour using only mini jigs. Forty minutes in, I landed one on a Matador Brand jig in green, white, and orange. Once again, the trout responded best to a slow retrieve with very slight rod bounces to give it action. I can’t wait to see what else this trout season brings. Next week, I’m heading to a new location: Hesperia Lake. I’m hoping to land a few more in February!

The latest trout stocking at Irvine Regional Park Lake has triggered a reliable bite this week, with freshly planted rainbows showing good activity for anglers hitting the water. Tom Guzman fished with Devon Hammonds and the pair connected on several nice trout. The most effective setup was brown mini jigs tipped with Magic Fish Waters scent, producing steady hookups on quality fish. These post-stocking windows typically deliver consistent action as the trout acclimate and feed actively. The bite is holding strong right now, making Irvine Lake a solid choice for trout anglers looking for productive outings.

🎣 California Fish Plants for 1/11/2026 - 1/17/2026 California adds another 26,400 lbs trout this week! 🐟 Winter’s chill is prime time for hooking hungry trout, and anglers across California have plenty to look forward to. The upcoming week brings generally mild and stable weather, perfect for getting out on the water. This week, California is expected to have 26,400 lbs. of trout planted across 35 locations. Including unannounced plants, last week saw a revised total of 49,905 lbs. of trout across 63 locations. 🚨🗺️ Quick heads-up: based on all your feedback, we’re bringing back Pro Maps. This time, access is exclusive to shop customers only (no direct subscriptions available). Every purchase earns you points in our new system, so the more you spend on gear from top California tackle makers designed specifically for our local waters, the more days of Pro Maps access you unlock. 📅 The official launch is coming before February 2026, though we may roll it out even sooner since most of our maps are already ready. This exclusive info stays available only to the community that supports California-made fishing tackle. And if you grab anything from the shop before the official Pro Maps launch, you’ll earn triple points to get you started strong.

The Fog Bowl of 2025 by Jack Naves This past December, we experienced an odd weather pattern the likes of which most of us have never seen. For more than three weeks, an inversion layer trapped a blanket of fog over the Central Valley in a weather capsule straight out of science fiction. The good news was that the menacing Delta winds were at a standstill. On the other hand, the total lack of direct sunlight slowly turned down the dial on water temperatures in a torturous-like manner. I was lucky enough to spend four straight weekends on the California Delta chasing striped bass during the weather event. Not surprisingly, the action ramped down in direct correlation with the plummeting water temperatures. On Sunday, November 23, Gary and Anthony Mattis joined me on a foggy morning drive to the West Delta. The fog was so thick that I had to slow considerably at the Highway 12/160 interchange to figure out what was going on. Caltrans had Highway 160 closed for pothole repairs, so we crossed the iconic Rio Vista Bridge and meandered over to Sandy Beach, a Solano County park. After launching the boat in twilight, it was still too foggy to safely run west to my striper hot spot. Instead, we anchored off Sandy Beach for the end of the incoming tide, but nothing was biting. Once it was clear enough, we ran west and set anchor on the outgoing tide soaking chicken livers. It was a slow tide, so rather than waste away for several hours until a bigger tide started, I decided to troll. We trolled Rat-L-Traps west along weed lines near Sherman Island for three small striped bass including one keeper. I’ve had the Mattises out several times, and it seems like we always hit slow days when we fish together. After struggling all morning, I was thinking it was going to be more of the same, but then the incoming tide started to trickle upriver. After anchoring in one of my favorite spots near Collinsville on the Sacramento River, some of the other boats around us started picking up stripers on bait. I looked down at my starboard side drift sock; it was barely swinging in the current. “Patience,” I thought to myself. Only moments later, Gary’s rod got slammed and we had another nice keeper in the boat. As the current ramped up, the bite busted wide open. We had limits in no time and raced back to the cleaning station with striped bass up to eight pounds. The plot unfolded in a classic manner, with early challenges followed by a sudden flurry to end the day in grand fashion. The water temperature during that trip capped out at 58 degrees, but the fog would soon change that. I made it out with my entire family the following weekend on November 28. We ran to the same spot first thing in the morning, but this time the incoming tide was already flowing at full steam. The current ripped past our anchored boat as we pitched rods armed with chicken livers in every direction. It didn’t take long for the striped bass to find our baits. This time, the bite was wide open right out of the gate. We limited by ten o’clock on quality six to eight pounder stripers, releasing several others along the way. The water temperature was 56 degrees, and the bite was on fire! After such a momentous day on water, I convinced Jason Carlisle of Elk Grove to join me the very next weekend. On Saturday, December 6, Jason and I made a late morning start out of Brannon Island State Park. I was trying to avoid the still present fog and slow morning tide. We arrived at around nine o’clock on a small outgoing tide, so I anchored in deep water hoping to catch strong currents. In 33-feet of water, I made my first cast. After about twenty minutes and no bites, I was about to reel in to check my bait when the rod started pumping. I immediately knew that the fish had my bait, so I slowly started reeling to pick up line and pin the 8/0 circle hook. At first, the rod loaded up soft, but then it pumped violently. It seemed like an average fish until I had it up rear the boat. Suddenly, the fish ripped line off the bait caster and made a dash for the bottom. “This is a nice fish” I remarked to Jason. I was thinking it might even be close to a twenty-pounder. After more than five minutes, we had the twelve-pounder netted and into the bottom of the boat. The circle hook did a perfect job of hooking the striper in the corner of the mouth, so I revived and released the fish using my grip tool. That fish ended up being our biggest striper of the ‘fog bowl’ period. Jason managed a nice six-pounder on his last cast, wrapping up a slow day of fishing in December’s foggy gloom. The water temperature was down to 53 degrees. The very next weekend on December 13, I returned to the still-present fog, this time with Mick Berklich of Sacramento. The water temperature was down to 49 degrees – not a good sign! As we feared, it was slow, although we managed three small keepers plus a last-minute Sacramento Pike-Minnow that had us fooled into thinking we had striper limits. Soon after the trip, a storm system finally blew into Northern California that swept away the persistent fog. Sunlight warmed our faces for the first time in nearly a month. I fished through it all - experiencing Delta striper action that ranged from ice cold to red hot. Those of us who lived through it will likely never forget the Fog Bowl of 2025.

Hot fishing in Magdalena Bay!

By Paul J. Kneeland

Last September, my brother Ken from Merino, Colorado and I took a trip to Magdalena Bay, on the Pacific coast of the Baja Peninsula. Magdalena Bay is located about halfway down the Baja Peninsula, is 31 miles long, and features mangrove swamps in the north and south ends of the bay. We fished with the folks at Baja Pirates in the small fishing village of Adolfo Lopez Mateos on the north end of Magdalena Bay. We have fished the Baja area many times out of Cabo San Lucas and Los Barriles, but we wanted to try something different. We were intrigued by the mangrove fishery in the bay, and the wide variety of species of fish that spend time in the mangroves. We were looking forward to catching some species of inshore fish we hadn’t seen before, as well as the offshore species we were familiar with. We stayed at Baja Pirates new facility in Lopez Mateos. It was still under construction, but there were 2 fully furnished rooms with great air conditioning, firm beds and huge showers. The kitchen/dining room was almost completed, but no air conditioning yet. The weather was unseasonable warm for late September, and we really appreciated the cool air in our rooms. Our host Gabriel was very congenial and went out of his way to take care of our every need. The boats and tackle are all of top quality and set up for both inshore and offshore fishing. We fished from a 26 foot panga with a center console and a 175 hp. Suzuki outboard. Our Captain Carlos spoke little English but was very friendly, and our mate Carlos 2, spoke good English and worked very hard to put us on fish and also answered our many questions about Mag Bay and the general area. Our cook and housekeeper made absolutely delicious meals for breakfast and dinner every day, and excellent burritos for lunch on the boats. Our first day, we were up at 5 am and treated to an excellent breakfast of pancakes, ham and eggs. We were at the boat ramp ready to go by 6:15 and loaded into the panga and headed to the Pacific. It was a short run to the mouth of the bay, but went quickly in the calm bay. We observed thousands and thousands of different sea birds all over the area. Once we hit the mouth of the Pacific, the bar was showing whitecaps all around, but Carolos skillfully negotiated around them and we were into the ocean. The sea calmed down as we headed out to deeper water and out a couple miles to a row of shark traps. We approached a pair of buoys and set out 4 trolling rods with different colored small trolling jigs in red and pink colors. We trolled back and forth a couple of times with no love, and the Captain decided to run south about 15 miles to find dorado. After a bouncy boat ride, we slowed and put out the same lures as before. The area looked no different than anywhere else – no obvious structure or depth change – but the dorado were there! In just a few minutes of trolling, one of the outrigger lines went off and Ken grabbed the rod and skillfully played a nice dorado of about 12 pounds. A few minutes later, the same rod with the big pink feather went off and I got to land another 12 pounder, a brother to the first. The great bite stayed on for quite a while, and we landed 15 dorado from 8 to 14 pounds. Lots of action and lots of fun! Back at the lodge we had another great meal of chicken wings, pasta and fresh dorado and white sea bass. The next day we decided to stay in the bay and fish the mangroves. We also stopped at a small boat in the bay and bought some fresh, live shrimp for bait. We headed north in the 26’ panga and entered the weird world of mangroves! The upper Magdalena Bay splits in two parts and becomes very shallow with waterways tight with mangroves on both sides interspersed with sand dunes that looked like they should be on the moon! We stopped and cast the shrimp with a bottom sinker to the holes around the mangrove roots. It was difficult to hook the fish, the little bait stealers! In about 8 of 10 casts, you would feel a small tug and strike and the hook would come up empty. We were using heavy spinning outfits featuring Shimano rods, Penn reels and 30 lb. test braided line. I think some lighter outfits would have helped us land more fish. But you never know when you might hook a monster and need the heavy equipment! As it was we caught several different species including spotted bay bass trigger fish, grouper, jack cravelle and others not easily identified! We moved a couple of times, lost all our bait, and then moved south back toward home and started trolling right along the mangroves. The tide was running out and it looked like a small river running past the bushes. We started hooking and landing a bunch of snook – a fish I had never caught before! We were using a small, trout size 4 inch blue floating Rapala that the fish couldn’t ignore. We took turns landing 18 snook from one to 5 pounds. Nothing huge, but great fun!! Back at the lodge, we had an epicurean delight: fresh snook, deep fried and perfectly done! It looked a little spooky, because they deep fry the whole fish, excluding guts, but the whole carcass with head and all. The skin was nice and crunchy and the meat was well done but not dry – some of the finest fish I have ever eaten! Our final day, we decided to go back out to the Pacific for some larger bottom fish like grouper. As we headed north, we stopped alongside 2 huge ships docked at the sardine factory. Captain Carlos got out the cast net and in just a couple casts filled the live well with small sardinas for bait. We ran out past the rough bar and the ocean was much calmer than the day before. We tried several different spots for grouper. We caught several small bottom fish before we ran out of live sardinas. The live well in the stern was not operating properly, so we the live bait all died. We put on some 2 and 3 oz Ikara jigs by Ahi/Promar in blues and greens and dropped them to the bottom in about 70 feet of water and caught several larger cabrilla, triggerfish, Mexican snapper and other bottom fish. Captain Carlos decided to troll back towards the mouth of the bay. We put on the same small blue Rapala that had done so well on the snook, and preceded to have strike after strike of beautiful Sierra mackerel! These pretty fish were about 3 to 5 pounds and extremely feisty! They put up a good fight even on the heavy rods. And you learn quickly not to put your fingers anywhere near that mouthful of razor sharp teeth! We caught at least a dozen mackerel before we hit the bay Baja Pirates is a full service vacation provider. They have been working in La Paz for over 25 years, and now are also serving the needs of fishermen in Magdalena Bay. Owner Leonard Phillip’s and manager Eddie Dalmau (formerly of Van Wormer Resorts) take pride in providing the best service and accommodations on the Baja Peninsula. You can meet them at the Sacramento ISE show in booth #3342 at Cal Expo on January 15-18, 2026. For more information, go to www.bajapiratesoflapaz.com, or contact Eddie at 866-454-5386

Lake Almanor

Weather Changes and so does the fishing

The weather has been incredibly mild in early December making conditions ideal for some December trout fishing. The current batch of storms may change things dramatically. Traffic on the Lake Almanor is light. The water level remains virtually unchanged with very little fluctuation and currently sits at 4483 or about 11 feet below full pool. Flows on all the lake’s tributaries have been below seasonal norms due to the lack of precipitation, but that is changing as we speak. Water temperature is now running in the mid 40’s and trending down. The trout are spread throughout the entire lake feeding on the pond smelt population. Much of the fishing focus has been on the east shore as well as both sides of the peninsula. Some pockets of fish on the west shore have been providing action as well. As in weeks past, and really throughout the year, trout have been caught on a wide variety of offerings recently for trollers. Slow trolled worms, plastics and trolling flies are all solid choices especially in baitfish patterns. Fast trolled spoons have also connected on breezy days, but with flat calm conditions, slow is the way to go. The cooler water temps have opened up the entire water column to the fish which now can be caught at all depths from the surface down to 30 feet. The catch is a mixed bag of Rainbows and Browns ranging from small to very large. Smaller aggressive Rainbows provide almost constant action at times and will need to be picked through to get the nicer fish. Remember to release these smaller guys responsibly, they are future big fish. Bait fishermen have been netting some impressive fish from 3 to over 5 pounds, mostly Rainbows, at several locations along the west shore from Prattville to Canyon Dam. Mice tails scented with garlic are out preforming the crawlers this week. Again, the cooler water temps have the fish moving in close. Fly anglers suspending flies under indicators as well as stripping pond smelt imitating flies on sinking lines are continuing to hook fish focused on the forage minnows. Canyon Dam boat ramp is open and should continue to be available throughout the winter subject to access being blocked by snowfall. The USFS west shore ramp north of Prattville is currently open but look for this dock to be pulled and ramp to be closed at any time. Get out and enjoy these conditions, keep an eye to the weather and be prepared for changes. Report courtesy of Almanor Fishing Association