LAKE OROVILLE: Just like other lakes, finding bait is the key as the bass are inhaling the scent of the pond. There is top water in the early morning or evening before you hit the bottom with bass union football heads. There are only two launch ramps open at the lake with Bidwell and Loafer Creek being the only options as the lake dropped another 5 feet to 676.98 feet in elevation and 31 percent. Bidwell is in Stage 3 and will remain open until the lake reaches 665 feet, while Loafer Creek will be closed at 680 feet elevation.
LAKE SHASTA: Bass action has been very good for the smaller 2.5-pound fish on the main body. Look for the fish and once you find them. Weighted green squash worms fished in 30-35 feet have been very productive. The surface bite has been fair early in the day or when there is a bit of a bite. The lake is at 31 percent. Centimudi, Jones Valley and Sugarloaf public ramps remain open.
TRINITY RIVER, Willow Creek: Bass action has been frustratingly slow, with the only fish reported being caught on 8- to 10-inch swimbaits fished painfully slow. The lake remained at 22 percent.
AMERICAN RIVER/Above Folsom: National forests are open again, but there are several areas closed due to the clearing of the mosquito fire. Flows are extremely low, dropping from 304 to 208 CFS at Chili Bar. The river is baitless catch and release through the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend in 2023.
AMERICAN RIVER/Sacramento: Salmon action remains very slow. There are still steelhead below Sailor Bar, including half-pounders and hatchery fish in the 22- to 26-inch range, and the numbers should only improve. Try using beads, egg sucker leach, Ho Bo Spey, or Caddis with a green rock worm pattern. Flows at Fair Oaks dropped from 1,463 to 1,434 CFS and are low. On October 31, the upper section of the river was closed from the US Geological Survey gauging station cable that crosses about 300 meters downstream from the Nimbus Hatchery fish rack site to the crossing of the SMUD power line at the southwest boundary of Ancil Hoffman Park.
FEATHER RIVER: Salmon action below the Thermalito is now closed from the unimproved boat ramp above the Thermalito Afterbay outfall to 200 meters above the Live Oak boat ramp. The lower reaches of the river remain slow. Flows at Gridley increased slightly from 2,499 to 2,523 CFS.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Keswick Reservoir to Red Bluff: Trout action remains good on caddis patterns, but the egg bite is slow. Flows below Keswick drop from 3,880 to 3,863 CFS while Battle Creek increases slightly from 178-200 CFS.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, from Colusa to Tisdale: Salmon action remains slow. Flows at the Colusa Bridge have increased slightly from 3,848-3,863 CFS.
SACRAMENTO RIVER, Metro Area: Salmon action is very slow, but those with access to Sacramento Harbor are finding solid striped bass action on Blade Runner spoons. The gates between channels in the Delta are usually open from October 1 to November 30, but when real-time fishing monitoring indicates the migration of salmon into the Delta, the gates are closed for up to five days to provide conditions of beneficial migration. The doors will close on October 31.