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EAGLE LAKE FISHING REPORT
Copyright Protected and Registered by Valerie Aubrey. Permission to copy and re-publish must be given by the Author.

Val @ 530 249-1430 or Contact Me

FISHING SEASON CLOSES DECEMBER 31!
In the event of a 911, accident or health issue, Chances are that Spalding Volunteer Fire Department will be responding.  Our department got a new ambulance and equipment in need of more donations. Please donate, you never know when it could be you or your family. 
Thanks! Val’s Challenge is on!

12-15-18
We are on FACEBOOK  Valerie Aubrey
and Eagle Lake Fishing Information and Network

  2018 ALL EAGLE LAKE, ALL THE TIME PHOTOS

 
We are now gearing up for legal action and you can certainly help us there!!
  You can help by donating via PayPal link on eaglelakeguardians.org!  
 
Very slow progress, grazing continues and the USFS grazing plan doesn’t even mention “fish” or “native spawn” in its stream bed analysis.  DFW still controlling the timing and the numbers of fish allowed upstream.  100 this year, same as every other year.  Timing was not at the peak of the spawn ad DFW needed all they could get, when they could get it.  This was from Paul Divine on 5-14-18 CRMP field trip as well as at the trap.  Here is a note from Paul’s boss Andrew Jensen in Redding correcting Paul’s numbers on 5-14  “In fact, we installed a video station, and based on our counts approximately 250+ adults passed upstream, throughout the six week spawning season, not 100 and not just during the peak of the spawn. I wanted to clarify that for you so you can update your information for the visitors to your site.”  Note: I just reported what Paul Divine told us at the CRMP field trip ON 5-14 and what I was told by DFW at the trap which matched. Now that no funding and restoration projects have taken place in 2018 season, is the result of allowing fish upstream going to remain the same predictable outcome as before and in years past?  Here’s updated stocking corrections by DFW:   “Stocking Corrections: 2017 stocking 54,383 pounds/123,180 fish stocked Additional Stocking Information: 2018 allotment 170,000 catchables 2018 stocking 14,100 pounds/56,400 fish stocked this spring .  General Information: Increases in allotments were made due to observed improved condition (length vs weight) of fish and low catch rates.  Also increased lake level since 2015 was a minor factor.  Water conditions have not really improved but the lake level has increased from the low water level in 2015.  Fish size at time of stocking is completely under the ability of the hatcheries to grow fish to the target size.  Darrah Springs Hatchery has been producing fish with the hatchery at half capacity, this apparently has affected their ability to grow fish to a larger size.  Target average size is 2 fish per pound, this is an average, so there are individual fish that are stocked larger and smaller than the average.  The bonus fish program is on hold.  We have been told that the hatcheries currently do not have the room to grow trophy fish, however maybe we can resume once Darrah has the capacity to grow trophy fish again.”  So the remainder of the 170,000 (115,617) are expected to be planted in fall. 

HERE IS THE 12-14 UPDATE ON PLANTING: I sent a request and Andrew answered rapidly. Jensen, Andrew@Wildlife <Andrew.Jensen@wildlife.ca.gov> To:Eagle Lake Fishing Cc:Jensen, Andrew@Wildlife,Divine, Paul@Wildlife Dec 14 at 11:23 AM Valerie, Crystal Lake Hatchery planted 7,095 fish yesterday.  Total fish that were stocked into Eagle Lake this year is 144,135. Thanks, Andrew Jensen Interior Fisheries Supervisor CDFW – Northern Region  Not the 170,000 we were told we were getting in the above email from DFW in summer but 80% of our normal allotment.  It’s going to take a lot more trout than than to bring this lake back, but all we can do is take what we get and keep the pressure on DFW to do the right thing.  Trout come and go with catching, tui chub stay.  The tui chub are well out of control right now and probably will for years to come.

 
6-18-18 NEW INFO:  CONCEPTUAL MEADOW RESTORATION DESIGNS 2-26-18 . 6-11-18 PRELIMINARY UPDATE FROM TU, 6-18-18 PARTIAL UPDATE FROM TU We have another request in to TU and CRMP for update as to what has been accomplished for 2018 season and funding progress as of 12-9-18.  Preliminary responses from TU is that funding dried up and they continue to seek funding, more update next week.  LoL.  Same players as in May.  CRMP didn’t fully answer the question so we are waiting for that detail. No signed minutes from 5-14 field trip official meeting.  No public info site available.   And, Eagle Lake Guardians are continuing to work on the rights the lake and trout have for water, pollution and grazing issues behind the scenes.  We don’t plan on backing down, we are turning up the heat.   
 
NOTICE
Updated 2012 to 2018 fin trimming    Also, 2017 creel data was submitted, the statement by DFW Paul Divine “With lower catch rates many anglers stayed on the water longer, past our survey hours, resulting in fewer anglers interviewed (on top of the already lower than normal fishing pressure)”.  Get a hint Mr Divine, you alone are responsible for the lower catch rates, as well as the reduced number of anglers and trust me, people wait until you leave before coming in.  Personally, in my 57 years on the lake, this biologist and DFW in general is probably the worst we have had in over 30 years. It might actually help if he actually fished the lake he manages.  LoL.  Lacking water quality testing has been a major error in these years of drought as well as the severe reduction in trout planting.  Which is one reason so few trout are being caught the last few years.  They seem to forget who they work for.  A busy day is 25 boats on the entire lake.  In fall all ten of us during the week.
 
DOWNLOAD THIS 72 PAGE FILE.   Eagle Lake Guardians assisted in financing some of the studies that went into this report.    www.eaglelakeguardians.org   Getting an update from those “restoring” Pine Creek has been like pulling teeth from a live gator.  But it looks like there wasn’t any restoration projects done in 2018.  More later on that.  And, no there is no public informational website.  The only way you can attempt to get information is to get on the CRMP “email” list is to request it, and when one requests information it doesn’t come.  Hmmm.  So if you want to know about meetings email CRMP at thetims3@yahoo.com  and ask to be put on the list again, and again, and again.  Guardians have been on the list and regularly don’t receive any updates of anything, including meetings, even after requests.  LoL.  This lake and our trout remain in dire need of people who care.  We dare to care and seek answers to questions long asked with nothing but rhetoric and false promises. 
  
We will keep “motivating” those who signed off on this plan to insure it actually gets accomplished.  But it isn’t moving very fast, grazing continues to be an issue, the main issue affecting the native spawn, water quality, flow from Pine Creek and Eagle Lake.   USFS had posted an algae warning for potential hazards before Labor Day.  The sign has been pulled since mid Oct.  1000+ cattle remain grazing off 139 in December, and many standing in the water, even in winter.  No wonder Troxel Bay is putrid all year long.  Sure a good way to reduce property values!!  See photo of signage in the photo gallery Ramp Album.   So glad to have had this lake at her best, as she is surely suffering now.   Looks like Eagle Lake Guardians are the only ones who have donated funding to the restoration and going into battle for the rights of the trout and the lake.
 
Check out  our photos and video galleries!
 
 
General South Basin:  GAME STILL ON!!   Shore fishing has been doing pretty well this week.  A big wind can move the fish out from the shore.  They generally will come back in and see what the wave action stirred up.  Every day has fished a little different for us.  One day the fish are in tight and shallow, the next day out on the outer rock piles or out over the depths….but not deep. Friends trolling have been doing well trolling from the ramp to Camp Ron McD and The Springs.  My buddies did pretty well from shore at The Springs this week.  Eagle’s Nest has some smaller fish. The fish are moving around but that’s why we sometimes just have to wait for them to cruise past the spot we are at.  In my kayak or tube, I can just go find em.   The west side from Christie to Shrimp & Slough Pt is holding scattered pods of trout.  From my kayak I’ve been working from Christie to Wildcat and doing well.  Brown/burnt orange flies have been my best colors & today a small tui chub pattern got attention too.  Eagle’s Nest still holding trout out over the depths for trollers (mostly smaller fish being caught but Some days putting in a little time to find em.  There’s been a hog or two mixed in) and a few caught closer to shore. Pikes Pt and the jetty still holding a few trout and over 7000 were planted from the hatchery this week.

Lures with orange on them have been producing the most action. Metallic Perch working good for my buddy.  Flies got em too, from cinnamon to the oranges (burnt and hot).  I have also run a tui chub minnow pattern….mostly taken as an opportunity than a massive feeding frenzy.  Good old Thomas Buoyant Red/Gold still picking up limits too and a gold rapala has been doing some damage and I have had action on my rainbow trout flicker shad.  Most fish have still been 3 to 6 ft deep.  Occasionally I’ll find one below that but not as many as right on top right now.  Grubs are also working in pumkinseed 3″ has been most preferred. 
 
The trout are scattered in the water column and the deepest I have caught has been 15ft this week.  It just depends on where the minnows are and what else they are feeding on is.  At least they are coming back into the rock piles to forage. Sometimes early, sometimes a little later in the morning.  Lots of trout with a trim on the dorsal fin the last few weeks.  Hadn’t seen that all summer.  Perhaps some older brood-stock was planted too as they are all the same size and only vary about 1/2 lb. All having trimmed fins, 1,2 or 3 as well as dorsal.  Some adipose trims, some split tails.
 
Cinnamon leech, rust, tui chub minnow & burnt orange trolling fly has been the preferred top line fly for us, hot orange & olive have been spotty, Jay Fair all around best has had it’s moments.  As always, Eagle fishes pretty good for those daring the elements in fall and winter months.  But don’t get caught in the wind with a small boat during a storm event or one blowing in or blowing out.  Your chance for surviving if capsized is between 0 and 0. I recently spoke with a gentleman that capsized the last day of the season several years ago.  He said had they not stayed with the capsized boat, they would not have survived.  Drifted to shore so they could swim and walk out.  He said he was very lucky to be alive and that staying with the boat saved his life.  We don’t have a lot of boats on the water so rescue may be well out of distance. 
 
On average be happy with a 2 1/2 to 3 1/2lb trout.  That’s the best eating fish in this lake.  But we have seen some nice 4+ and a handful of 5+ pounders late this season.  The bite comes and goes, even though at no time is it a waste of time to fish from shore or a boat this time of year. 
 
PowerBait has become a standard for dough baits for shore and boat baiting.  Colors can vary.  I generally have a “rainbow” on hand that covers several different colors in one jar.  You’ll find one color works better than another but finding the color of the day can take a little time.  Generally speaking, orange, pink, beige, chartreuse, pale yellow, are the most commonly taken. Garlic flavoring has been a good go to.  Purple, yellow and red have been good in December.  Don’t ask how many colors I have in my shore fishing box.  I need a wagon to haul em all! LoL!  Good old fashion small marshmallows can also do some damage.  That’s what we used before floating dough baits came out and it worked…often when nothing else did. Trout love sugar.

Shore Fishing:  Shore fishing has been steadily improving.  Wild turkey jigs (grey), olive jigs, Black/gold panther martin spinners & nightcrawlers (mini or 1/2).  We are seeing a few more fish caught from shore but one day has been better than another.  All in all, it hasn’t been a waste of time.  Youth Camp will slow down as water temps drop but the road in is in good shape from Merrillville (139) and a few fish are still being caught there.  The jetty has been up and down as has Pikes Pt but DFW just planted 7095 fish there this week.   Christie still has fish milling around and a few have been caught there this week.  Christie Day Use westerly point drops sharply to 24ft at the end of the rock pile and there is some trout there now and a couple have been caught from shore, most of ours have been along the shoreline to Wildcat.  Long walks.  Roads in are not in the best shape.  Lots of cow poop down there so watch your step.  There is a small spring off the Circus Grounds that can hold some fish, it’s off the easterly side of the gravel bar and even though not real deep again this year, but the fishing will generally get better as it gets colder.  We’ve had a few come in from the Circus Grounds this week.  The Circus Grounds is generally the first area to begin to get shoreline ice and the first to freeze over as it is on the northern exposure of Merrill Mountain and rarely see’s sunlight hit the shoreline. So far, warmer ambient temps are rolling through so pretty much all open water now. 

Accesses:  The Jetty, Pikes Pt, The Springs (via Camp Ron McD) has a great ledge that runs for a long way, Eagle’s Nest, Circus Grounds, Christie Day Use. Regardless of where you go, it’s going to be a walk to get there. Lassen County Youth Camp, best access is through Merrillville road off 139. Gallatin Road is in terrible shape past Camp Ronald McD and takes hours to get to the Youth Camp that direction.  Eagle’s Nest is accessible but the road was very slick getting in.  From our house in Spalding, it’s quicker to take 139 to Merrillville Road to the Youth Camp than it is to go on Gallatin Road.   The Osprey Management Area road is also an access Wildcat Pt on the west side of the lake or to Pelican Pt.  No vehicles allowed in to the lake beyond the border road for shore fishing at any time, only walking access from the road.  There are logging operations going on in the lava beds so watch for traffic and tree felling. 

Fly Fishing/Kayak/Float Tubing:   Minnow imitations, most nymphs and cinnamon & brown leech patterns, orange (burnt and bright) and olive wooly buggers.  We’ve been able to catch some nice fish bouncing things off the rock piles.   I haven’t had to access water deeper than 8-10ft to catch a nice fish or 8 this week and today they were in tight to shore for me in 2-3 ft of water casting in from my kayak.  But, I’m still using my trusty sink tip and it hasn’t let me down yet.  Some days we get 4-5, other days up to 10.  Every day fishes a little different.  Weighted flies such as Jay Fair Wiggle Tail will get down deeper if you don’t have a sink tip.  This is one reason I like having a sink tip, I can let it sink when the fish drop down over the depths or I can cast in shallow and start stripping.  We have a lot of different aquatic critters and these trout just forage and get just about anything they see moving.  The shallow rock pile trout have had at least 7 different things in their bellies.  They can’t resist a free meal if they see it.  Any small nymph, beetle, leech, scud, shrimp, minnow or snail pattern can work.   Brown leech patterns and woolly buggers have been my best flies.  My brown with a slight bit of red & burnt orange did well this week. Mostly all ambush strikes not subtle strikes (that’s coming though).  Orange can become a mainstay in winter months.  The shrimp and scuds change color when water temps drop below 50F and generally stay in a hue of orange until water temps begin to rise in late spring.  So it isn’t unusual for these fish to see small orange food.  My best advise for wading fly fishermen is to fish the shallow shoreline water before you walk in it.  I walk in 30-40ft above the water line, ring out a couple double hauls and drop that fly 5ft from the shoreline, then 10ft, etc.  That’s where I have caught my largest trout in the mornings in late season.  If you don’t believe me, prove me wrong.  You won’t be sorry if I win.  PS) I’ve been pounding em casting into shore from my kayak…like 5 ft from shore in 1 to 2 ft of water.   If you walk along the shore close to the water, you’re moving this fish out before you get there.  They not only see you coming, they feel and hear you walking.  Not uncommon for the trout to come in behind you once you’ve waded out and stirred up the gravel.  Never discount the 6-12 inch deep water here. Yes, I said 6-12 INCHES deep.

Kayaks:  We’ve done pretty well from our kayaks this week.  I can reach the depth of the fish with a lure on my mono or braided line as well as my fly line.  Note that 1/6oz lure drops about 5 ft, 1/4oz lure will drop about 6-7ft on mono or braid.  If you need to get it deeper, add 1/4 oz weight & I hang that up around 12-14ft.  I have not had to go deeper than 6ft the last few trips out in my kayak.   I’ll run 50-60ft of line out, but if my other rod goes off with a fish I’ll haul in as much as I can so I don’t hang it up on the bottom.   Launching kayaks is limited access.  You’re going to have to have wheels and walk. Use Aspen or Eagle’s Nest for accessing the east side.  Note that Aspen is tough dragging wheels over the tall grass, clumps and scattered rocks.  Firmer bottom is near the rock pile to the east.  Plan on soft mud straight down and to the west.  Christie is ok for kayaks.  Long haul uphill when finished. With a little more snow we’ll be able to use our yaks as sleds. But it’s doable.  Kayaks can also use the low water ramp.  Just pull over at the turn out so boats can still launch.  For the most part, a kayak takes a lot longer to prepare to go fishing than it does for someone to launch a boat, park the car and take off.  So don’t hold up the boat traffic, even if we haven’t had a lot of boats launching.  We still have a few boats coming and going.  Having a small depth finder on a kayak is your best friend.  This lake has so much structure it’s really important to know where it is.  Especially since we can no longer visibly see it in the cloudy water.

My favorite fly line from a tube or kayak is a medium sink tip for fall/winter.  I can cast it into shallow water as well as let it sink once the fish drop down a bit.  I don’t have to keep changing out lines/reels.  One works great for all. The floating section allows me to use it as an indicator for the strike so no extra garbage out there.  I can hold it up with a large indicator if I have to.  It also allows me to troll it when getting from point A to point B to fish.  A full uniform sinking line gets a long belly in it very quickly and by the time the fish pulls the belly out of the line, it’s generally too late to set the hook on these fish. A full sink also sinks faster.  I like a slow drift down.  For the most part, it is a matter of preference.  Result on a full sinking line is often a lot of strikes but fewer hook ups.  In a pinch, if you don’t have a sink tip, a short section of leadcore 8-10 inches long spliced between your floating line and tippet will work just fine and still cast very nicely over using a small split shot.  Either will work and it isn’t unusual to have to get down over a ledge on a clear, calm winter day.  Fish still know that you’re there in a kayak or float tube but they don’t run away as fast or as far as they do from a boat/motor.  I generally don’t have to run as long of a line or have a really long cast from a smaller craft as I do my big ol’ boat.  Lower profiles are better than higher profiles on the water. 

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With reduced trout planting a smaller trout the last few years, the tui chub have explosively reproduced and have pretty much taken over the lake in 2017.  This 2018 season had been pretty extreme for chubs.   Yes, we have caught them in fall and winter months but mostly they are deeper than the trout & we don’t have to get that depth to get to the trout.  I am not sure if they are surviving my release.  ;-/ It’s going to take a heck of a lot of trout to put  a meager dent in the minnow population and the stage two tui chubs are too big and protected by guardian chubs and the trout rarely even target the 5 to 7″ chubs.  Personally, I think we need to get rid of some chubs or they will be competing for the food for the trout. A 7 to 10″ trout isn’t going to eat a 4 to 7″ chub.  Fewer and smaller trout in this lake is not the answer.  As with nature, some foods dwindle and others take off in changing conditions of the lake.  The trout change their diet, often by choice and availability rather than necessity.  The level at which they lay in the heat of the summer as been a necessity the last few years for dissolved oxygen rather than cooler water temps. The blue/green algae has taken it’s toll on the lake the last few years.  Eagle Lake Guardians are currently working on that issue.  I have also caught Tahoe Suckers to 20″ but release these special fish alive.   They don’t compete & we need as many vacuums in the pond as possible.  

Complaints from fin trimming to catching should go to the local department of fish and wildlife biologist in charge of managing this lake. Just because our low number of anglers are catching some fish this fall, it isn’t the masses we would normally see in fall.  Gone are the days of 30-50 fish C&R.  Paul Divine Biologist:  Paul.Divine@wildlife.ca.gov  530 254-6363, Redding office Supervisor: Andrew Jensen Andrew.Jensen@wildlife.ca.gov 530 225-2300  SEE TROUT PLANTING AND MARKINGS FOR YEARS PLANTED HERE.  100% OF THE PLANTED FISH ARE NOW MARKED BY FIN OR TAIL TRIMMING.  We are about 250,000 trout short from reduced planting in the last 5 years.  No contingency plan, over population of tui chub and no plan for those either.  God forbid what next year will bring.  DFW is marking after every time they handle a fish for the spawn or plant it.    Quite a few fish had no fins at all, just his tail to maneuver.  Sad case.  We have caught hundreds of these mutilated fish this year in particular. Plus a lot of split tails.  This fall, lots of dorsal fin and 1-3 missing anterior and pelvic fins missing.  The dorsal fin trim or mutilation may be a brood stock trim.  We have been known to get some old broodstock fish planted in fall.  We have caught and released several hundred with dorsal fin distortions since early October.  All within a half pound of each other, relatively close to the ramp.  If it was anglers marking, there would not be so many and most are all very close to the same size.  If it is DFW (see fin trimming note from DFW), I would say they are mostly mutilating these fish now and freeze branding was much better for the fish.  If you get a nice one that you may want to have mounted, good luck as it will be somewhat mutilated when it comes to the fins and tails.  Not a trophy trout to be proud of, that’s certain.  This is being done s o that in the future, a native (native spawn) fish may be fully finned.  In the mean time, the hatchery raised/farmed fish might just swim in circles.  LoL.  Freeze branding didn’t handicap the fish like cutting off an arm two or their “legs”  LoL.  But when a fish only has a tail to use, that can prohibit some typical feeding patterns in this lake.  Like rock flipping and rooting out the snails from the gravel bars.

Trout come and go with catching and mortality of release in the summer months.  Adult Tui chub have no predators except pelicans if they can see them in shallower water and the chubs live over 32 years.  They stay in the lake regardless and rarely close enough to the surface for the pelicans or eagles and are very wary of the osprey.  The young of the year have only pelicans, grebes, loons, seagulls, terns and a few other birds to worry about, but the trout had always kept them in check until the severely reduced planting allotments kicked in.  The juvenile chubs have very few predators but the pelicans can get on them during certain times of the year.  The trout mainly only target the hatch of the current year, although only rarely we encounter a 4-5″ chub in the belly of a fish over 5 lbs.  Tui chub are now highly concentrated in the lake. They are often found in low dissolved oxygen range in the lake and the bottom of the stacked school is often below 40ft. They are a protective species of their own, even though they don’t run in the same schools.  The adult spawners protect the juveniles and the juveniles protect the young of the year in late summer and separate again in fall.  They are now seemingly the dominant species in the lake and well over populated.  Do chubs eat their young even though they go into a protective mode? Yes, when opportunity knocks. But the chubs are not a predator species, have no teeth and small mouths.

TUI CHUB INSIGHTS:   The chubs scope differently than the trout do and are pretty easy to determine on your screen.  Generally, they stack up and are very thick in zones of the lake that have dissolved oxygen levels too low to support trout.  When spawning in the depths in early summer, they can also form a 5ft thick layer just above the bottom in 30-40+ft of water.  Mostly, any large stacked school  or blob of fish that the top is at 7ft and the bottom is at 47f+t are NOT trout. We caught some chubs 22″ long in 2016 and again in late July 2017, my biggest in 2018 has been 21″.  Huge monsters for chubs so they are doing very well….maybe too well considering the biomass and fewer trout being planted.  With a little more spawning habitat back for the chubs up north, we saw another prolific hatch of chubs.  I believe their population density is going to bite us in the ass if it hasn’t already.  They’re over populated.  I see this becoming a very bad problem for this lake now.  People don’t come here to catch trophy tui chubs.  Not good.
 
Tui chubs are in 3 separate and distinct schools.  Here’s how I classify them.  Stage 1:  Adult spawners. We have two schools.  One school spawns in the northern basins and the other doesn’t leave the south basin.  During the dry years up north, we had one year of lower spawning rates due to habitat loss & the northern spawners not knowing where to go to spawn in the south basin.  But the next year they had it figured out and our tui chub spawn took off with a vengeance.  We had little to no grebe nesting 2012-2016 so the tui chubs had very few predators to keep the young of the year in check for 4+ years.  These are now all in stage 2 juveniles and rarely targeted by trout, too large for a grebe and now very wary to pelicans.  Stage 2: The nursery or juvenile population. (Several years worth that are protected by sub adults I call guardians).  I have seen these “guardians” rush out of the school and slam a passing trout like a linebacker.  Which is pretty brazen for a fish with no teeth and half the size.  But numbers count and generally there is more than one guardian rushing the trout.  Stage 3: Young of the year.  This is what the trout target.  When the adults spawn they can form a thick line protecting the beds before they disperse.  Once the young of the year complete the hatching cycle (which can last through August/September) we can see the schools of stage 1 and 2 form walls protecting the young of the year minnows.  Generally we will see the minnows in closer to the shoreline, the nursery juveniles outside of the young of the year and the adult spawners outside of the nursery.  It really is something to see.  I call it “walling up” and it generally begins around late August/Sept just as there is a hint of fall in the air.  It appears to me that the walling up is the chubs way of protecting their species from the trout.  If we have chubs in those numbers, the trout either find their way into the young of the year schools, or they move on to a different food source until the chubs disperse and relax. We can literally smell the tui chubs when near massive numbers.  As they transpire, they release a gas, especially the young of the year when in dense schools.  So follow your nose come late summer and fall.  Look for pelicans in large groups as well as a boiling on the surface.  Out over the depths, the trout push the minnows up to within reach of the pelicans.  So we often follow the birds when we see that.  This year, the pelicans are following us.
 
When fishing, I try to avoid the stacking adult tui chub as well as the nursery chub.  Generally the trout will be further away from the chubs or outside and above the chub school.  If you’re in the chubs, that’s all you’re going to catch.  Easy to determine on your line.  Chubs are tail thruster’s and head down, trout are head shakers and stay up and out even when charging the boat.  Big difference on the rod.  We also have Tahoe suckers (grayish with darker back, small nodes on the lower fins).  Seasonally they can be modeled green back with reddish stripe, late summer they can be a little more on the yellowish green back.  A treasure and rarely seen by anglers.  Lahontan Red-sided Shiners (which appear as a sucker), Seasonally spawn and yes the trout take them too. Please release these in good condition if you catch them as their numbers are low and they are a special species to this lake that don’t complete with the trout. Speckled dace (a minnow that only grows up to remain a minnow).   Generally seen taking harbor near the transom of an anchored boat and various sizes from small to 1- 1 1/2 inches at most.  Mostly in family units from smaller to larger and 50-100+ individuals is a big bunch.
 
Various zooplankton’s have also become very prolific to the point of fowling lines and downrigger’s…and when thick enough, can plug jet pumps.   The biggest change in the fishing occurred in less than one year.  From catching and releasing tons (20-40+ per day) of 2-3+ lb fish to being lucky to get one or two was a dramatic shift in Eagle Lake in less than one year.  Finding trout in the middle of summer at 17 to 20ft deep at 73F water temps is pretty unnatural but that’s where they were in 2017 when surface temps were above 70F.  We may have seen some 4+lb fish but their numbers being caught were few and far between…lots of 2 to 3 ½ lbs as usual.  This fall we have seen a handful over 5lb but on average, be happy with a 3 1/5lb.   Over 55 years of eating these trout, the best quality of meat comes from a 2-3lb trout.  Meat of the bigger trout of 4 +lbs is generally grainy, mealy and softer.  Everyone wants to catch a big fish, but the quality of the meat is not nearly as good as smaller fish.  Consider that.  I rarely keep a fish over 4lbs for eating as to me, it is a waste if it doesn’t eat as good as a smaller fish but I will smoke it.
 
© Content of this website is copyright protected 2003-2018 by Valerie Aubrey. Any reuse of the content must simply be authorized by asking.  Unauthorized use or lack of crediting content will be considered for legal action.  We often see our report summarized in other publications with no credit to where the info came from.  As a note, I do leave in some spelling, grammar and punctuation errors in and seeing them in other publications is a dead giveaway.  LoL! Opinions on this site are not necessarily the opinions of our sponsors or people we work with.  Our opinions are based on over 55 years of fishing Eagle Lake and nearly 30 years of living here full time and fishing several days a week till the end of December.  Through the El Nino’s of getting 24ft of snowfall and through several droughts.  We have been there and done that.  We know that a lot of the local county info on the lake elevation in the past has been doctored due in part to not having an official actually checking lake elevations in the 1990’s.  In 1993 200 residents of Spalding witnessed the lake rising nearly 8ft from the local snowfall of 24ft over that winter.  Despite our efforts when the lake chart was updated a few years later with incorrect numbers “to make the chart look historically accurate” not actually accurate, it remains inaccurate during those years as there was no water master.  Our explanation from BOS was “No one will know when you are all gone”.  So we don’t believe everything that Lassen County says nor other government agencies.  That is the honest to God truth and there are still many of us old timers around that know that.