Fall changes on Shasta Lake are inevitable in November
Fishing Shasta Lake in November can be both challenging and very rewarding! November brings with it a change in the seasons and Shasta Lake feels its own changes in November as well. Now while October tends to be the beginning of change after the summer season on Shasta Lake, November is when we start to see some significant changes to this large body of water. Lake levels typically bottom out and any appreciable rains will start the lake on its fall/winter rise. Colder evening temperatures and the influx of rain water runoff will set the stage for the lakes winter turn over which normally happens in late December. Any body of water that experiences significant changes will definitely affect the fish species contained within its mass. Big change can and will change the fishing patterns and techniques we deploy when fishing Shasta Lake in November. The following information comes from my own personal experiences while fishing Shasta Lake during this time.
Where to fish on Shasta Lake during the month of November
I’ll be the first to admit that fishing Shasta Lake in November can be pretty tough. Staying on top of the fishing pattern is pretty important and that means spending a lot of days figuring out where the trout have gone. I mention trout specifically because i don’t spend a lot of time salmon fishing on Shasta in the fall or winter months. Big browns and rainbows are my target species and we get into some really great fish this time of the year. The trout in Shasta Lake have spent all summer gorging themselves on Shad and other small fish and they are big and healthy in November. Its important to note that those very baitfish that these trout chased all summer will be migrating back up to the surface of the lake and will be traveling back up into the upper reaches of the lake arms. Its for this reason that I often times will abandon my efforts down in the main body of the lake and head up into the Sacramento, Pit and McCloud River arms. Not only are the trout following their primary source of food, but the brown trout begin their spawning migrations up the lake arms. By late November, the upper arms of the Sacramento and McCloud Rivers will hold migrating adult class brown trout exceeding 10+ pounds. Catching both post spawn and pre spawn browns is a very real possibility in late November. Its been told to me by Shasta Lake angling elders that the full moon in November is the official beginning of the fall trophy brown trout season on Shasta Lake. This year, the full moon will be here in the first week of November. I’ve tested their words of wisdom and have found that what they say is quite true. We catch big browns on Shasta Lake in November.
Trolling techniques for trout on Shasta Lake in November
There are many techniques used to troll on Shasta Lake in the fall, but I favor trolling in the upper 20-30’ of the water column in November most years. Two things to consider are where you want to troll for browns and rainbows, and also, how do you keep from spooking the bigger fish when trolling up so high in the water column. Big fish are absolutely boat shy and so are the smaller trout for the most part. One of the very best techniques for finding and catching big trout on Shasta Lake during the cold water months is the use of inline side planers. Top lining the surface and having really long setbacks using down riggers (200’+) can be somewhat effective, but not nearly as effective as side planers. Side planers can be positioned as far away from the trolling path of your boat as you want and you can run 1-3 lines off each side of the boat. Having 6 lines in the water and covering over a 100’ wide section of the lake all at once can be extremely effective when fishing for big trout. The presence of your boat becomes a non factor and you can present lures in places you simply can’t when trolling directly behind the boat. This is especially true when you are targeting big browns that are laying on structure, like big points and steep walls. As an example, big browns will often times hang out on big points in shallow water in November. You can effectively run a few side planers right over those holding fish with a spoon setback of 150’ behind the side planer. Its a quiet presentation with very little disruption to the surface when trolling over those big, weary browns compared to driving over the top those same fish with your boat. Even with long setbacks, you’re going to spook those fish and rarely ever catch them. If you’re not using side planers in the fall, you’re missing out on some great fishing opportunities. I talk to many people every year during November and this question always arises, “ I’m doing everything you said I should, but I’m just not catching fish, what am I doing wrong? “ Nine times out of ten, they are not using side planers.
Lures we use to catch big trout in November
There are dozens and dozens of lures you can use to catch November trout on Shasta Lake, but if I had to choose one, it would be a Trinidad Tackle Optimizer or Optimizer Jr. spoon. Its been proven time and time again that these spoons will catch big Shasta Lake trout. My boat record brown trout was caught using a #4 Optimizer spoon in a 50/50, blue/white pattern, and the brown was 10 1/2 lbs. There are a lot of browns in Shasta Lake in that weight class and the Optimizer spoons will absolutely catch them. I did find in the past several years that there were some days when the big browns would not take a big spoon and I would have to size down my presentations to get bites. Well, Trinidad tackle has solved that problem and has developed a smaller Optimizer spoon that’s 2 1/2'“ long instead of the 3 3/4” and 4 1/4 “. This gives you the option of using a proven big fish catching spoon with a smaller profile that will catch big fish when the larger Optimizers will not. I’m not stuck on one spoon and have caught browns on many other types of lures over the years looking for the magic spoon, but its a fact that the Optimizer spoons have produced my best brown trout fishing trips over the years.
Final thoughts for fishing Shasta Lake in November
I know this information will be helpful to some and I truly hope to see some of this information put to use by the readers of this article. It doesn’t contain every piece of the puzzle, but the puzzle pieces change every month of the year. Some of the biggest trout, especially brown trout, are caught during November each year and the rainbow trout fishing can be pretty good as well. I wish all of you the best of luck and hope to see some amazing Shasta Lake trout pic’s again this year.
My next article will contain a few different insights on how to fish Shasta Lake during the month of December. As with November, December will bring more changes to Shasta Lake and my approach to fishing will change as well.
