For Email Marketing you can trust

HOUSEBOATING
A Few Great Days on Shasta Lake

By Uncle Paul Matson, Licensed Fishing Therapist

Until this year I had never experienced the pleasure of a houseboat vacation. The last week of April we took the plunge and signed up for a four-night tour via Silverthorn Resort at Shasta Lake, California. What a great get-away it was.

For openers, the check-in and orientation are easy and brief, and the staff friendly and accommodating. Once registered at the office, you are taken to your boat and instructed how to operate its generator, fuel supply, electrical equipment, safety features and appointments. At the same time a small fishing boat shows up and another brief overview is provided. Tied to the houseboat, it tags along behind. Next you load in your luggage, food and fishing tackle with easy-to-move garden wheelbarrows. Then away you go onto Shasta Lake with its nearly 30,000 acres of water surface, hundreds of miles of shoreline, and its significant, long arms of the Sacramento, McCloud and Pit rivers.

The Presidential houseboat, which we had engaged and is their most popular model, has everything you need. A large kitchen and dining area houses the steering wheel, controls, gauges and the ignition system. Also present are a microwave, two refrigerators, sound system, TV/DVD, four-burner stove and oven, dishwasher, heater, air conditioner and a fully outfitted dining area. Bedding, food and drink are about all you need to bring. This front section serves both as the living and lake viewing area.

To the rear are sleeping areas, two bathrooms and a nice porch at the back of the boat (and waterslide). Above is an attic/sleeping area and above that an upper deck from which you can also operate the boat. We were duly impressed with the spaciousness, cleanliness and functionality of the Presidential. It was easy to drive and very stable on the water and when moored.

And then, of course, there is the main attraction, Shasta Lake. This enormous lake is the largest man-made lake in California, formed by Shasta Dam, the second-largest dam in the United States. First filled in 1948, it provides water, electricity and recreation on significant levels.

The U.S. Forest Service has done a good job of allowing substantial recreation on the lake without over commercializing it. This meant a lot to us. While there is boating, camping, hiking, fishing, skiing and caverns to explore, the lake has a natural beauty and open look and feel. There is plenty of wildlife (in addition to the fish): deer, bear, waterfowl and the greatest congregation of bald eagles in California.

For our first night we motored around a nearby island and found a cove we liked. You gently nudge the boat into the shoreline, throw out a gangplank, pound in two iron stakes for mooring, and you are established for as long or short a time as you like. The area we tied up at that night had a shoreline covered with lupine.

The next day we went up the McCloud Arm of the lake and found a perfect little cove, placing us out of sight. From there we explored in our fishing boat, which I would call a must-have for any trip. It provides extra mobility, fuel economy and a nice, almost water-level 360-degree perspective of the lake and the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

And speaking of fishing, everything we tried (and we didn't try very hard) worked. Various spinners, lures and worms were all equally effective. We ended up with several smallmouth bass, trout and a salmon, returning most back to the lake.

There was one unique feature of this trip that we truly enjoyed. Once we got the hang of it, the ability to park the houseboat in a new spot whenever one cared to was great. Unlike staying in a motel or tent camping, being able to enjoy new locations was fun and easy to do.

I highly recommend Silverthorn Resort ( 530-275-1571 or www.silverthornresort.com) as an excellent Northern California getaway. We will most definitely do it again.