Lake Chabot Fishing Report

Lake Chabot is fishing well for July with water temps hovering in the mid-70s. EBParks dropped a catfish plant earlier this month, and there's been plenty of catfish action near the Marina and west of Live Oak Island on garlic prawns and chicken livers.

Small bass are showing up everywhere around the weedlines and backs of coves, mostly in the 1–1.5 lb range. Finesse is the way to go... dropshots, shaky heads, and wacky-rigged Senkos are all working. Although a 5-pounder was caught last week on an Urchin style soft plastic... the new bait taking the bass world by storm.

Lake Chabot continues to produce both quality and quantity when it comes to trout. The lake was stocked with Lassen rainbows by EBRPD last week, marking the third stocked week in a row. Limits are coming mostly on PowerBait and Mice Tails fished on short leaders with light line, cast into the deepest water you can reach. Coot Landing and Raccoon Point have been good starting points. Plenty of 1 to 2 pound fish are showing, and an 8+ pounder was also caught last week. Water is stained, so strong scent on your bait is important. Water levels jumped with the recent storm, and some of the usual access points are now flooded. With water temps still in the low 50s, bass action remains quiet. We likely only need a week of warm weather to trigger prespawn movement.

Bass fishing is wide open at Lake Chabot right now, with fish hitting just about everything as water temps dip into the low 70s... from big topwater baits and glide baits early to jerkbaits, chatterbaits, and soft plastics. A lot of action is reportedly coming near Coot Landing and Raccoon Point. Folks are hooking fish throughout the day, but the morning and evening windows are producing the biggest bass, including multiple 5-pound fish and a 7-pounder this week. While a lot of action is coming in 10-20 feet of water, the back of coves with thick algae or surface cover have been producing well with punch baits or frogs.

Catfish are still going strong off the August plants, with fish being caught on cut baits, chicken liver, or garlic-scented prawns, especially after dark.