Thermalito Diversion Pool near Oroville: Fishing Spots, Seasons and Access

• Overview

  You will find Thermalito Diversion Pool in Butte County, California. The setting is open plain. Roughly 312 acres of surface: treat each bay as a water in its own right. Size puts it in the front rank of our Butte County list. The town to know is Oroville, 2.7 miles out. Chico sits 22 miles out, and it is the nearest city worth the name. One jurisdiction covers this water end to end.

• Where to Fish on Thermalito Diversion Pool

  There is no recorded depth, so work from what you can see. Draw-down through summer strips the margins, so follow the water out. Inflow corners move water, and moving water gathers fish. County-wide records name green sturgeon, Chinook salmon, striped bass, rainbow trout and Sacramento sucker. At least one recorded species is protected in parts of its range; read the local rules before targeting anything. Take Thermalito Diversion Pool a stretch at a time.

• Seasonal Patterns

  Typical July readings run about 80°F; by December the average is down near 46°F. Summer heat is the limit here, not winter cold. Late winter and spring fish steadiest here. Spring and autumn carry the year; summer squeezes it into the ends of the day. Keep it in mind when planning a trip to Thermalito Diversion Pool.

• Tackle & Baits

  We hold no note on access for this one. Formal access is not mapped, so the last stretch is likely on foot. Bass water: a Texas-rigged worm near cover, a spinnerbait when you need to cover ground. Where a permit is needed, the nearest town usually sells it. Access can change hands, so last year's answer may not hold. Lake Oroville, 3.7 miles away, makes the obvious fallback. Where Thermalito Diversion Pool is concerned, a local answer beats a written one.