Houseboating For All Seasons Part 1 of 2

Shasta Lake: Shasta Lake has more boats, more skiers, more everything. Enjoy it early in the spring when the lake is full. Stay in the Big Backbone and Squaw Creek arms and the Sacramento Arm up to the Antlers where the trout action is best. In the fall you need to watch for windy days, but can enjoy wonderful fishing and fine fall foliage. Shasta Caverns is worth a trip anytime! Do some shopping as a number of resorts rent boats. We rented a houseboat over the Thanksgiving holiday and even cooked a turkey!

Trinity, Berryessa and Coast Range Lakes: Trinity Lake has state record smallmouth and lovely trout fishing with fewer boats than Lake Shasta. We find spring an ideal time to visit when the full lake is at its most scenic. Lake Berryessa is so near the Bay Area it is easy to overlook. It may have the best trout fishing in California between November and March whenever the water remains clear. In the summer it is infested with jet boats and water skiers. The variety of other attractions is quite mind-boggling! A good choice with teen-agers in the group!

In the Coast Range, Lake San Antonio should get a lot more attention from Bay Area residents. Its superb fishing, super water-skiing on protected waters and convenient location near Paso Robles would be lure enough even without possible sidetrips to nearby San Luis Obispo or a visit to Monterey. Masochists can take Highway 1 back up past San Simeon. The weather is particularly nice in the fall and mild all winter. With all sorts of campgrounds and the usual services it's definitely a fine choice when the delta fogs in! Fun in the Foothills: In the Sierra foothills, Lake Oroville offers 167 miles of shoreline with outstanding landlocked salmon and brown trout fishing and decent black bass action. Bassmasters has claimed this to be one "California's best bass lake." Oroville does feature an attractive bridge and several lovely arms of the Feather River. Check out the unique floating campsites too. It's a good choice for two or three days in calm weather. Boaters will find dandy boater's only sites here and those with self-contained craft who have outlets sealed and inspected by a ranger and use floating campsites. In the fall visit the nearby fish hatchery! There's salmon fishing in the Feather River that, between the dam and Afterbay outlet, can be the only clear water in Northern California after big storms.

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