Lake Facts
Forage base: Threadfin shad, trout and kokanee salmon.
Surface acreage: 30,000 acres.
Shoreline mileage: 365 miles.
Expected water clarity: 1 to 6 feet of visibility.
Dominant structure/cover: Rocks, standing timber in the upper end, and flooded shoreline grass and scrub brush.
REDDING, CA. — B.A.S.S. Nation Western Regional competitors can expect to see some heavyweight spotted bass on spawning beds at Lake Shasta. “There will be a big spawn there in April,” said Bassmaster Elite Series pro Skeet Reese. He noted the lake used to be loaded with largemouth and smallmouth bass but spotted bass now dominate on Shasta.
Spawning spotted bass will be scattered along chunk rock and gravel banks ranging from 2 to 15 feet deep in the backs of pockets.
“They won’t spawn way back in the creeks like a largemouth would, but they will be on the sides of the secondary points,” said Reese.
A variety of small soft plastics (finesse worms, stick worms, etc.) in brown, green and purple hues will trigger strikes for the regional contenders.
“They can just take a spinning rod and go down the bank and catch fish on small finesse baits,” Reese said.
Magnum swimbaits will produce some kicker bass during the tournament.
“A lot of guys will key in on the big bait bite that time of the year and catch them on the Huddlestons (swimbaits),” Reese said. The California pro suggests throwing a big swimbait all day is a gamble that might produce five quality fish or might not catch anything.
Fishing on the upper river arms of the lake usually turns on earlier than the lower lake, but Reese thinks the whole lake will come into play by mid-April.
“The Pit River arm historically produces some bigger quality fish but then the Sacramento River arm has a bunch of those fish too,” Reese said.
Foraging on the kokanee and trout populations has caused the lake’s spotted bass to grow to heavyweight proportions.
“You can catch a 20-plus pound bag of spotted bass there,” Reese said. “There are a decent number of 5- to 8-pound spots in that lake now.”
Predicted winning weight: 47 pounds