(Oregon House) Whether you fish bait from shore or troll from a boat, this is a great time to fish for trout at Collins Lake.
“This is the first week so far this year that we are seeing EQUAL catches from the bank of trolling in a boat,” said Kathy Hess of the Collins Lake Resort on April 1. “Trollers are also picking up catfish and bass!”
Trolling between 3 ft. to 10 ft. with a simple lure like a Kastmaster, Needlefish, or flasher and a worm will net you the best chance of catching trout right now, she advised.
Suzanne Cari from Orangevale caught her 5 lb. 12 oz. rainbow off the sand beach using PowerBait. Ricky Damico also caught a 5 lb. 12 oz. bow trolling a Rapala near Elmer’s Cove.
Andre and Zeke trolled worms for a while then anchored off the east end of the dam and used PowerBait and caught more trout. Mark McCee caught two nice rainbows on the east side of the dam too.
Trevor Wilkinson from Gridley hooked a 4 lb. 8 oz. rainbow while trolling a Wedding Ring Spinner in the channel. Jeffrey and Mike trolled in the same area with a dodger/worm combo and bagged a surprise 6 lb. 4 oz. catfish,.
Conner, Lorenzo, Steve, Steven, & Xavier Gladden from Elverta caught 12 trout along the Open Area shoreline using yellow PowerBait. Katy Sannar from Yuba City limited out on trout using Power Eggs by the beach.
The lake is full and spilling 3”. The surface water temperature is 54 degrees and the water clarity is 1’ visibility.