Shasta Lake is well on its way to producing good numbers of nice trout and Spotted bass.  The fall pattern is shaping up to its normal transformation from the October bite shut down.  Surface temps are sitting at around 61 degrees and anglers that are fishing the surface are finding a consistent bite.    Get your presentations away from the boat and fish the top 5-10' of the lake.  I get calls and emails constantly and everyone has the same question.  "How can the fish be on the surface, I'm not marking anything that high".  Well, you won't mark fish directly under the boat less than 10' down.  Sonar cones are too narrow and fish move away to the sides from the boats.  You're not going to see them!  If you're not marking fish at 20',30',or deeper thats awesome!  That means they are on top every time!  Shad patterns, Shad patterns, Shad patterns!  Fish high, stay shallow, and get your baits AWAY from the boat!  Side planers or long setbacks on your riggers should be your only thought from now until April/May when the water starts to warm up again.  I start running Shasta trips next week and will fish straight through April.  I'll take a break in May/June and will be back crushing big trout from July thru September.  This is a very popular fishing destination and my dates will book up fairly quickly when the big fish pics start getting posted in my Shasta Lake fishing reports.