Lake Oroville Fishing Report

Pond smelt are the dominant forage right now at Lake Oroville. King salmon, rainbows, and spotted bass are all keying in on the schools. Trollers are getting a ton of action on hoochies tipped with anchovy fillets between 50-100 feet, with rainbows higher in the water column and kings deeper. Some big fish being pulled out... plenty of 5 pounders with a few in the double digits last week.

Bass are also chasing these smelt schools near rocky structure in 20-30 feet. Any lure that resembles these baitfish is producing like crazy... crankbaits, swimbaits, Roostertails, etc.

A lot of good spotted bass action coming out of Oroville right now. Water temps are hovering between 62–65 degrees, and fish are generally in one of three spawn phases. Dropshotting is the best move right now for most consistent action, combined with either a 4½-inch roboworm or small swimbait. The northern end of the lake is serving up warmer water temps compared to the south/east, so fish are shallower and more easily targeted there. Ned rigs, small T-rigged crawdad soft plastics, and small crankbaits are producing as well. Not a lot of size, most fish in the 1 pound range, with the occasional 2-3 pounder mixed in.

Trollers targeting trout and/or salmon have reported inconsistent action recently, although many say the bite should turn in the next few weeks.

CDFW released almost 130,000 fingerling Chinook salmon (up to 6 inches) into Oroville last week. This stock obviously won't help anglers this seasib, but will stabilize the salmon fishery for the coming years.

Spotted bass are the clear focus at Oroville right now, with nice 2–3 pound fish grouped along rocky spots from the bank out to about 30 feet. They had begun sliding into shallower rock and transition banks, but the latest push of cold water from the storms repositioned them back off the bank and into that 15–30 foot zone. Most consistent bites are coming on rip baits worked down to depth and then left to suspend on slack. Jigs and finesse plastics are producing on flatter rock and wood structure, while crankbaits are picking off fish along defined mudlines where stained inflow meets clearer water.

King salmon to around 4-5 pounds are still showing for trollers running near 2.0 mph. Surface temps are hovering right around 50 degrees, but could see an uptick this week with mid-60s air temps forecasted.