Collins Lake Fishing Report

I fished the NTAC Tournament on Saturday, 4/26/2025. It pretty much rained/sprinkled all day from Sun Up to around 4pm. Fishing was GREAT! I caught tons of fish, especially trout, with a few spotted bass and crappie mixed in, which were released. The fish were in the top 20' of water, no matter what the depth was. Pink seemed to be the color of choice.
I even caught myself, which was a biotch! LOL! It happened early in the morning, but I just cut the curve of the hook, leaving the barb in my thumb and continued to fish the tournament, looking for that BIG trout :-)
There were a lot of trout caught, with the winning weight going over 9lbs. There were a few 7lbers as well, with lots of 3 and 2 lbers being caught. I caught a lot of trout but nothing going over 3lbs. I got the hook removed when I got home :-)

Trout were on top, caught top lining 75' back from my kayak with Dynamic Lures HD Trout and Berkley Flicker Shads. HD Trout were great with the crappie, because they imitate minnows. The crappie were spread out, caught in depths of 10' to 20'. The trout were caught 10' to 15' from top and depth did not matter. My better half, Christy Wilson caught the biggest crappie and biggest Trout of the morning

The latest from Collins Lake: water levels are at capacity after recent storms, which pushed the lake up nearly 78 feet and caused significant debris and muddy conditions. Despite this, Cal Kellogg has been out guiding full-time and still putting fish in the boat. The water is cold, sitting at 47°F, and while the first day post-storm was tough with heavy rain and murky water, clarity has since improved.

Trolling has been productive using bright-colored 6-inch FishEye Dodgers in pink, chartreuse, and orange, trailed by threaded crawlers or gulp worms. The key? Slow speeds (around 1.5 mph) and heavy scent to get sluggish fish to commit. Trout are scattered, with some moving into unusual spots like the backs of coves and very shallow areas due to storm-driven currents. Fish are showing in big numbers on the graph—more than Cal’s ever seen before—but many are still semi-dormant. Once water clarity improves and temperatures rise, expect an all-out bite, making early spring a prime time for both trolling and bait fishing.

Checkout the video for his full Collins Lake report.