VOL . 40 • ISS . 8
Off Season Preparation
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Trinidad Tackle Optimizer spoons are responsible for taking more Shasta Lake trophy brown and rainbow trout than any other presentation I deploy . Optimizer spoons are most effective when trolled behind an inline side planer or off of a downrigger line . When using them behind inline side planers , I like a 130 ’ -150’ set back . When trolling them off a downrigger line , a 100 ’ -120’ set back is where I like to set them . Trolling speeds can vary , but generally speaking , I like to troll them between 3.5 mph and 3.8 mph . These spoons are big and heavy , thats why the trolling speeds are so high .
They just get bit more when trolling at those speeds .
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Bay Rat Long Shallow series stick baits are a big trout lure . Their versatility makes them easy to match when trolling presentations across the board . More often than not , I will troll the Bay Rats off of downrigger lines and will often set them as the deepest lines in the spread . Set backs vary , but when I ’ m fishing shallow , I almost always run a set back of 100 ’ feet . When trolling deeper , a set back of 30 ’ is more than enough . Trolling speeds will vary , but they fish very well between 2.2 mph and 3.5 mph . Most Bay Rats run true from the package , but make sure they run straight or you will struggle to catch fish trolling with them .
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The Brad ’ s Killer Fishing Gear
Kokanee Cut Plugs have earned a permanent spot on my tackle roster after demonstrating their effectiveness over the past several seasons on Shasta Lake . Stuffed with brined bait or tuna from a can , these baits can flat out catch trout on Shasta Lake . They ’ re pretty deadly on the salmon as well . I most often troll them behind inline side planers , but they are just as effective when sent down on a downrigger line . The Kokanee Cut Plugs can be trolled at 1.5 mph or over 3.0 mph . A very versatile presentation that can be used with fast or slow trolled lures on other lines .
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HOW TO ...
April 23 , 2021
Techniques for Lunker Trout at Shasta Lake
I started fishing Shasta Lake in 2012 when I moved to Redding
from Eureka , Ca . where I spent many years fishing the coastal rivers , but rarely spent much time on the lakes , as most were relatively far away . After my first couple of years of living in Redding I heard lots of stories of the great trout fishing on Shasta Lake , but I had yet to experience catching any really big specimens . I was intrigued and started looking for bigger trout and found that even the average size trout in Shasta were really nice fish . Over time , I was lucky enough to cross paths with some of the old timers on Shasta Lake and stories of big browns and rainbows had me hooked . I just had to see some of these big fish in Shasta Lake and this is where my big fish journey began ! I ’ ve spent countless hours looking at different ways to fish Shasta Lake for big trout ’ and although I haven ’ t invented anything new , I ’ ve learned how to use several different methods to get my baits in front of the bigger fish Shasta Lake holds . Most anglers out here in the west have a set or two of downriggers on their boat and thats the extent of their equipment used to get their presentations down to the fish . I ’ ve identified several ways to accomplish the same thing , but with several other pieces of equipment . To cover all of the seasons on Shasta and the different water conditions throughout the year , having more than a set of downriggers on your boat is critical to your big fish success . Some of the techniques I ’ ll mention are fairly difficult to deploy , but they are all tried and true techniques , that given time , will produce some of the biggest fish you ’ ll ever catch . I ’ m not going to explain how to use every technique in this article or even tell you when they work the best , I ’ m just going to tell you what they are and why I use them . I will , at some point , write about each of the techniques and give some detailed information on just exactly how to use them . In the meantime , you can study up on these techniques online or by reading content elsewhere that goes into more detail about using these methods to catch big fish . I ’ m going to start with the fall fishery on Shasta Lake and take you all the way into the summer months up until Shasta Lake turns over again in the fall . Shasta Lake is defined as a warm monomictic lake , look it up , and it is very predictable because of this designation and its behavior throughout the year . Right after Shasta Lake turns over , usually in late October , the fishing you are used to changes abruptly . Everything you were doing a few weeks before will no longer catch big fish , especially if you keep fishing deep . Having the ability to find water temperatures at depth throughout the year is important , but I ’ ll talk a bit more about that later in this article .
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By Jeff Goodwin
So fall has arrived and Shasta Lake has turned over because of the much cooler conditions making for similar temperature conditions throughout the entire lake . Turnover signals the big ( adult ) spawners to turn into the pre spawn mode and most will begin their migration up the arms of the lake . I ’ m not saying you won ’ t catch trout down in the main body of Shasta Lake in the fall , but I can tell you that you won ’ t catch very many . If you want to catch big fish , head north . Thats where the big fish will be . October can be a frustrating month to fish so if you need to take a break on Shasta , October is the month . Now that Shasta is pretty much sitting in the mid 50 ’ s temperature wise , its time to break out the side planers . The big trout will be in the top 10 ’ of the lake and will be cruising up the lake arms towards the head waters . Sure , you can use 150 ’ - 200 ’ foot setbacks off your downriggers or by top lining , but your boat is going to spook more big fish than not . Big fish , especially browns , are quite weary to boat traffic . Driving over them will push them to the sides of the boat so why not have your trolling gear out there where they are swimming off to . Makes sense , doesn ’ t it ? The side planers are going to make little noise and their surface disturbance is minimal . During windy / choppy conditions , the side planers will impart action on your lures thats just not possible while trolling with downriggers are fixed rod holders . Lastly , you can cover a lot of water if you have lures off to the side of the boat instead of just running a few lines right behind the boat . As fall progresses into winter , you will have access to the big fish migrating up river , spawning , and out migrating again down into the lake . During winter , I will catch both pre spawn and post spawn fish in the same day . Theres quite a few fish around and the combination of trolling with a spread of side planers and big , fast running spoons like the Trinidad Tackle Optimizer spoon , you can cover tons of water during your day on Shasta and will attract some big bites ! Side planers and even stern planers can be a deadly tool that can be used in many ways with several other items to make them even more effective and to help you cover more layers on the lake . The only thing to consider when deciding on trolling depth in the winter is the presence of cloud cover and surface conditions . If its overcast and choppy , fish high . If its sunny and flat , run a few lines down to 10 ’ as the bigger fish will push down a bit to get out of the penetrating rays from the sun and the predator birds overhead . Shasta often time gets some great weather in the cold water season , but really the fish will still be up higher in
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