On the other hand, “There’s a better brown trout fishery in the Trinity River than there is in the lake,” he says. “When the salmon and steelhead aren’t there, you can still fish the river for browns.”

GREATER TAHOE REGION
For the last several years, Lake Tahoe has seen excellent spring action on rainbow and brown trout. Guide Mike Nielsen of Tahoe Topliners said 2007 will be the best year in a long time. He should know -- he’s broken the lake’s brown trout record two years in a row. There’s high potential to see yet another new record this year.

“We are going to see stellar fishing in Lake Tahoe due to high water levels from the past year. The fish are going to be chunky, fat and full of spunk,” Nielsen added. “The average weight of the fish is going to be better than in past years because there’s been a ton of feed in Tahoe.”

Brown trout action tends to be better in April and May, while rainbows turn on in June. Rainbows are spring-spawners and are often in lake tributaries spawning until late May.

Nielsen also predicted that more fish would be surviving the spawn because the water levels are higher than when they spawned the last two years.

The browns and rainbows don’t have to compete as much for spawning grounds because there is much more water in the system during the spawning times.

MOTHERLODE
For the last few years, the Motherlode Region has treated anglers well. In addition to excellent trout prospects at New Melones and Don Pedro Reservoirs, Tulloch and McClure have joined as some of the elite. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t continue through 2007.

“With the health of Don Pedro and the health of Melones, it will be a tossup which one you want to go to. They are both kicking out great rainbows,” said guide Danny Layne of Fish ’N Dan’s Guide Service. “It’ll be a great time to fish Central Cal because all of our lakes are healthy. For whatever reason, the shad population has come back strong in both lakes. The football rainbows are here again. You can’t go many other places and catch quality fish like this.”

Guide Fred Thomason of Last Cast Guide Service believes that reservoirs to the north in the Crystal Lakes Basin are primed for another great year of trout fishing. He said Union Valley, Loon and Icehouse reservoirs saw good water levels last year and are maintaining super populations of trout.

EASTERN SIERRA
Hands down, the Eastern Sierra will still be the best place to catch trout in California. The general season here opens the last Saturday in April, and all indications point to another banner year, says Mike Haynie the Eastern Sierra’s deputy regional manager for the CDFG.