OREGON HOUSE – With 5000 lbs. of trout already planted in October and an additional truck for each week scheduled until May, fall fishing at Collins Lake is really taking off. The lake is 34 ft below spill with a surface temperature of 58 degrees. We’ve had a good mix of cool and warm days punctuated by a few of wind and rain. Most days however have been very pleasant either on shore or in a boat.

In Mid-October Jeff Ensley caught a 17-pound monster catfish up along the inlet fishing with Yellow Garlic Marshmallows. He wasn’t the only one with a “late summer.’ Everett Buchter caught a 7.5 lb. catfish up in the channel using frozen shad. Get catches there! Let’s see who will pull up a catfish in November!

Trent was pretty excited for the first fall 2025 plants, catching a limit including a big lightning trout. Along with his friends Elijah and Garrett they managed to bring in a triple limit for the day- and all big fish!

Trout had been pretty deep but we’ve had more than a few reports of improving shallow and even top water conditions. Jeff and Laurie caught eight trout fishing the topwaters, including a big lightning trout and a trophy rainbow.

Local guide “Angling Wes” Wes Ward has had good success, especially using small spoons down about 15′ in otherwise fairly shallow water. Lots of fish have been caught on pink, but as he says “that will change as the weather rolls through.” as the lake has cooled. The trout are definitely migrating further from the lake center and closer to the shore.

“The rainy and windy days have been producing the best fishing,” said Kellogg. “My latest trip to Collins produced limits of trout for 3 anglers. The top five fish weighed a total of 17 pounds. There are a lot of 3 to 4 lb. fish, including holdovers from last year, holding at the mouth of the Narrows and in front of the marina on the east side of the lake.”

Th best trolling depths are from 1 to 10 feet deep. “We’re doing best using cold steel #5 floating Rapalas, orange Trout Trix Minnows and orange Metalheads at speeds of 1.8 to 2.2 mph. We are also running small sideplaners, trolled at 20 to 30 feet back from the boat,” Kellogg tipped.

Fall is a beautiful time of year at Collins and there’s LOTS of mid-week camping availability, including cabins, so if you’re looking for a quieter trip to the California Foothills than you could ever find in summer, or if you want to try your hand fishing a well-stocked Northern California lake head on up our way.