Been seeing a lot of pictures from squaw creek, heard it is on fire right now. Was planning on going on my new boat with my dad this Sunday to go fish for tilapia but I couldn't help but consider bringing my bass gear. Is the lake producing good fish right now? And if so what stage are the bass in? I know it should be about pre-spawn for normal lakes, but because of the power plant how far ahead is Squaw? Any info would be appreciated!

My partner and I caught 9 weighing in at 35 lbs last weekend for a tourney. I think many of the fish are moving in to the coves to spawn now, if they haven't already spawned. They wanted a slower presentation too.

Must have been a great tournament

Spawn is almost over, lots of fry but a few still on beds

Luminent Energy shut one of the reactors down back in October for some maintenance - a wave of fish moved up then and spawned. Another wave moved up 2 weeks ago, another 2 waves will move up between now and May - I had a killer day in May the year it re-opened after 9-11. Some of the fish will spawn more than once. If you ever get a chance Read John Hope's book. He caught and put tracking devices in some monster bass and studied them for about 15 years on Fork. He discovered some interesting facts. If the conditions are correct fish will spawn more than once. I've read for years about sand bass spawning more than once year. I'm no saying all the fish on Squaw Creek will spawn more than once, but when you have water temps that stay around 62 to 80 degrees on a consistent basis for 5 months it makes for those perfect conditions.

Was curious on catching tialpia as well is it like fishing for crappie

I've caught tilapia on 1.5 squarebills with regularity. Downsize to a .5 and probably all you need. Last weekend caught 2 large tilapia on carolina-rigged 7-inch powerworms.

Cast net

Like fishing for brim. Earthworms, hook, sinker under a bobber. That's it!

Exactly, Classic perch rig. It's like catching brim but they fight like bass and taste ALMOST as good as crappie. The only downside is cleaning them. It isnt very pleasant to say the least

What is unpleasant about cleaning tilapia?

You almost HAVE to have an electric fillet knife because their scales are so big and thick. I tried to fillet them with a straight edge and after each side I had to re-sharpen the knife. I told myself never again and put an electric in the boat lol. Plus, they're pretty bony but taste dang good after they've been in the deep fryer.

Yes sir.......and you gey will tired before you clean them all

They were full of the algae they eat and it stunk so bad it took everything out of me and my dad not to throw up. Not sure if that was a thing for that time of year but I'm almost certain it's all the time.