How to Fish Shasta Lake for Trout, Browns & Kings

How do you catch trout at Shasta Lake?

Power troll spoons that run clean, not behind a dodger. Jeff Goodwin pulls an Optimizer and an Optimizer Junior on number two Chinook divers in orange and copper. He lets out just 15 feet of line so the diver runs about 7 feet deep and close to the boat, where big aggressive fish rip it.

How deep should I fish at Shasta in winter?

Stay high. In cold water, 46 to 49 degrees, most fish push up into the top 15 feet of the column even when your sonar marks fish at 60 feet. Those shallow fish are too high to show on the graph, so run your divers short and do not chase the deep marks this time of year.

How do you use side planers and snap weights at Shasta?

Run 1 to 3 ounce snap weights on the side planer lines, lightest weights out wide and heaviest closest to the boat. Zero a line counter reel and use the 50/50 method. Fifty feet of line plus fifty more with 1 ounce gets you 7 feet deep, 2 ounces goes 14 feet, and 3 ounces goes 21 feet.

What spoons and colors work best at Shasta Lake?

Spoons, run clean. Small Optimizer Junior spoons shine, and the number three or number four Optimizer takes the bigger fish. Orange and copper are proven colors. These spoons power troll clean off divers and side planers, never behind a dodger.

How do you troll for Shasta salmon in summer?

Slow down and go deeper. Send cut plugs and a Brad's Skinny Mini on the downrigger, and slow troll dodgers with hoochies. Flashers paired with anchovy or herring also produce once summer settles in. Shasta fishes well right through the end of September.

What line and reels do you need for big Shasta trout?

Use line counter reels and 15 pound monofilament that can take the abuse of snap weights and clips. Skip the four and six pound test. Plenty of the fish are pan sized, but a 10 pound trout or a silver brown pushing 6 pounds can eat at any moment, and light line loses those fish.

When is the best time to fish Shasta Lake?

Shasta fishes year round. Winter and early spring is prime for big browns and rainbows on divers and side planers. The lake runs full with green water in the mid 60s through summer, when king salmon and trout keep biting on trolled gear all the way into fall.

Watch the technique

Power trolling Shasta Lake for trout and salmon FAQ

Rainbows, browns, and kings feed heavily on baitfish. Match them with thin spoons in orange and copper, and in summer add cut plugs and flashers tipped with anchovy or herring.

Big aggressive fish are not boat shy at Shasta. Running just 15 feet of line puts the diver about 7 feet down and right off the transom, and the fish hit it like it is their last meal.

Rainbows and browns run from pan sized to double digits, with silver browns around 6 pounds and bigger. Kings show up in the mix, and a patient day of power trolling can produce a fish of a lifetime.

Both work. Jeff leans on number two Chinook divers run short for high fish, then adds a downrigger for cut plugs and deeper summer salmon. Side planers spread the lines so you can run up to eight rods and cover more water.

Not in cold water. In winter the fish ride high, so short divers in the top 15 feet outproduce deep gear. In summer you drop down and put in more line to reach the depths where the salmon hold.

Yes. Cast PowerBait out over 30 to 40 feet of water and you can pick up wild rainbows to about 3 and a half pounds off the back of a houseboat, along with big channel catfish on nightcrawlers.

Patience. Pull big baits, stay in your area, and keep fishing through the middle of the day. Some of the best browns eat around one in the afternoon, long after most anglers have quit.

Very good. February through March the water sits in the high 40s and the big rainbows and browns are up high. As the water warms into spring the bite only improves for a strong March and beyond.