Lake Shata in early October?

[Joeprunc]

I'm trying to rally a Lake Shasta house boating trip together with some of my friends and family...but had a few questions first.

I remember when I moved up to Davis in late Sept last year, the winds were howling...is this normal for Northern California? My biggest worry is the conditions out there, I would hate to get skunked cause of wind and weather. Looks like it will be a bit chilly too (well compared to summertime)...maybe average of 80s during the day. The water will also be a bit chillier mid to upper 60s.

What are some of your favorite arms/sections of the lake? The lake is 110 ft down so the Pit Arm will probably be nothing but tree stumps.

Thought I'd throw a few pictures in there too...everyone like pictures right...

[Razzman]

Joe, October on Shasta can be 50/50 as you never know what the weather is going to do. The weather this year is strange for sure so anything can happen. It can be quite a bit cooler in the evenings and the water temps will have dropped as well. Average water temp is 76-78 depending where you are right now.

We were there for the July 4th week at Hirz Bay/McCloud arm and it got hot/windy/cloudy and even rained a bit. It was almost 70% of capacity then and now it's 42% so there are lots of islands appearing and stumps, especially in the Pit arm. Upper Sacramento arm will be very narrow and crowded depending on use. Antlers Marina has already been moved down to Sugarloaf.

We almost lost a boat in our group on day 6, hit a just submerged island and tore off the rudder creating a nice hole in the hull. Watched another boat hit the same one and ripped everything off the bottom. The Forest Service does not flag or buoy hazards on Shasta so be very carefull! Watch for brown patches / mud haze and keep far away!

I had a '95 2000slm comp as well and had it on Shasta for our yearly event two years ago. In protected areas or light wind/windless days it was fine but if wind came up and chop existed it was pretty rough on that little boat. Still a lot of fun if your carefull as said. Early morning glass in the big coves is to die for. Here's a pic that shows the water level then, and yes we walked that blasted hill multiple times a day! The second pic is from a little over a week ago, notice how much further down ..