OROVILLE – Fishing for rainbow trout and king salmon has been tough lately, but the bass are definitely on the bite at Lake Oroville

“The jig fishing is definitely off the hook,” reported Tony Mello at Johnson’s Bait and Tackle. “We caught and released quality one spotted bass after another from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm on my most recent trip to Oroville. The fish were all in the 1-1/2 to 3 lb. range. The fish hit best on Keitech jig heads with dark green pumpkin Yamamoto double tail grubs. The A-Rig bite should start soon with the water temperature dropping to 60 degrees.”

“On my last trip to Oroville, we ended up with one king, no trout and 8 bass while trolling,” said Rob Reimers of Rustic Rob’s Guide Service. “Most of the spotted bass were fish in the 14 to 16-inch range. We hooked all of the fish while trolling with Brad’s Cut Plugs at 35 to 55 feet deep.”

“The rainbow and king fishing should improve once the lake water turns over,” he stated. “The surface water temperature was still in the sixties on the day we went out.”

DWR is reminding the public that boat ramps at Lake Oroville are no longer open 24/7. Watercraft must be out of the water by ramp closing time or they will be locked into the facility overnight. Please plan ahead. More details about DWR’s mussel inspection program are available at water.ca.gov/mussels.

Watercraft Inspection Location/Decontamination Services, North Thermalito Forebay at Garden Drive and HWY 70 in Oroville. Hours of operation: Daily from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Sealed Vessel Launching at Lake Oroville is available at the Spillway, Bidwell Canyon, Lime Saddle and Loafer Creek/Loafer Point.

Lake Oroville is holding 1,776,850-acre feet of water, 52 percent of capacity and 100 percent of average. The lake level is 768.87 feet in elevation.