Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

Larry Hemphill

The lake went through those conditions about 20 years or so ago with very high water. In the Oaks arm one could see the bottom of dock pilings in at least 7 or 8 feet of water. Saw stuff we never saw before. Only lasted about a week. I wanted to check out every dock on the lake for sub-structure (ro...

Larry Hemphill

Who would do that? You could get lost out there at night!! With a bass like that - who cares! Congrats!! They look bigger at night, don't they?

Larry Hemphill

No I have not. Sure have heard a lot about it thru the years! Too many lakes in California - but a good problem!

Larry Hemphill

Almanor is a beautiful lake - and worth the trip!! It is a bit out of the way, so it is rare to have a big crowd. August is probably the busy month. But those folks don't get up early, so the bite is usually good until 9 or 10 am. There are shadows on the east shore for several hours in the morning....

Larry Hemphill

You nailed the big question - how are the other boats doing?? Actually the boats don't do anything, but the anglers do! THAT is the big question on every trip when you see other bass boats nearby. Tournament fishing or guiding - no difference in the question - I WONDER HOW MANY THEY GOT?????? Your m...

Larry Hemphill

Wow! This is the first essay I have ever read on the reports section. As a former teacher I would say you write very well! I will usually make a comment on a post, as others will, about a subject brought up on the forum. You went a lot further on your post - well done! It sounds like you fished the ...

Larry Hemphill

I finished a response to you, but it was too long! You are right - the bigger they are the more they thrash and wiggle with force.. One might think that if the bass was supported in two areas - front and back - the weight of the trophy would be more evenly divided over its body length. If one is str...

Larry Hemphill

I do know what I am talking about. Have discussed this with Fish and Wildlife experts. I was talking trophy size fish such as the one in the photo. You are certainly correct about holding the bass with his upper body bent at a 45 degree angle. Not good. One should hold the trophy somewhat horizontal...

Larry Hemphill

Congrats on a wonderful bass! Maybe your first trophy bass? I think you will have many years ahead to catch many more monsters. So I might suggest holding you future big ones with both hands - horizontal. One hand on the mouth and one hand in from of the tail. Tournament folks all hold the fish in t...

Larry Hemphill

If you have interest, read my fishing report about Clear Lake, posted 4:30 pm Wed. Another crazy pleasure boater at Clear Lake - close call for us.

Larry Hemphill

Thank you, guys! I'll learn to be patient someday!

Larry Hemphill

I don't tournament fish but do have a lot of friends and clients who do. I always look for the final results in a 3 day tournament. Can't find them for WWBT Sunday finals. Seems often I see the results promptly for day 1 and 2, but never for the final day. Could someone help me? Are they just not po...

Larry Hemphill

Great to see you win the battle with that bass! I guess the thrill never goes away when you catch a bass like that!
Still remember the evening when you and Frank gave a seminar to our San Jose club in the mid-70's!

Larry Hemphill

I am a big fan of Billy Driessen's weekly reports for Western Outdoor News. He did a nice report about my Bullards Bar guide trip with Clara Ricabal about 3 weeks ago. She was a star, catching a 7 lb 2 oz spotted bass during her first 3 hours ever on the lake!! Yea, we all do that! Billy, in a perfe...

Larry Hemphill

What if a dumb non-tournament fisherman wondered where this tournament was held? This fellow wonders why everything is covered about the tournament except "Where" was it held??

Larry Hemphill

Now that's a report!! I'm impressed - except with the "inches" thing. Have to think that through!! Be careful in the 5 mph zone. Don't want a ticket during the tournament! I'm seeing more and more of you folks on the water. A new definition of the stealth approach to an area. How do your l...

Larry Hemphill

I, too, have been using regular P-Line fluorocarbon for years now. Mostly 6 lb test which does fine on smaller spinning reels. Never seems to break. Maybe our bass are too small!!

Larry Hemphill

I have been throwing the 3.8 Keitech swimbait a lot recently, and have had very good results. Even hooked a big fish at Berryessa (assume it was a bass, but lost her). I just wish the head was a little stronger. It is usually one and done!

Larry Hemphill

My congrats also!! Not as many of those toads over 10 lbs as there used to be. A 10+ is very special these days!! I have seen what you could do when another angler in my boat landing bass after bass with one arm (not an 11 pounder!!). I took him out during one of the old BBAC tournaments, many years...

Larry Hemphill

That is one of the keys - eliminating unproductive water!! And there is a lot of that when the lake is near full or full!

Larry Hemphill

That is a true trophy from Clear Lake - what an accomplishment!!! She had no trout to feed on! A beautiful bass too - great marking for an old fish! I don't think I have heard of one that big for many, many years. Wondering if your lure was related to your name - Crawdad Dan - LOL!! Regardless, what...

Larry Hemphill

Jeremy at C&C Marine, Sacramento, is a great guy that I don't want to see too often - LOL!! He has always tried to keep my Ranger/Evinrude rigs in tip-top condition, and, because of that, never had a problem. I do the regular service visits and know I leave with an engine running in perfect cond...

Larry Hemphill

Sorry, I just saw your post. No one has the final answer to the spawning habits at Bullards Bar. Spots do spawn in deeper water, close to their best feeding area. The key is not how long a point might be, but is there a nearby quick drop to deeper water available? Unlike largemouth, trophy spots wan...

Larry Hemphill

I think you mentioned an important fact on your post - folks were working steep, shorter points. My biggest there, near 8 lbs, was caught just after post-spawn, a few eggs still coming out. She was spawning on a very steep point. There must have been a slight flat on that point. The big spots will s...

Larry Hemphill

Good job Kopper! I think your rankings are correct - with maybe one exception. I think I would rank Trinity as number one - just because it is out of the way, generally gets less pressure, a lower altitude (longer growing season), and very "thick" smallies that take advantage of a good foo...

Larry Hemphill

I never caught a smallmouth at Amador, but did catch a 2 lb spotted bass around 10 or so years ago. I was fishing alone at night. I got this real aggressive strike and great fight on a spunky "largemouth!" I netted it and then noticed something different which turned out to be several diff...

Larry Hemphill

Lots of good info, Robb! Amador was the first trophy bass lake in Nor Cal back in the 70's. Bass anglers would tow their rigs up on weekends from Southern Cal because the bass were so big and the bite so good. That was before all the big bass started to be caught in the San Diego lakes etc. The delt...

Larry Hemphill

All the lakes are in bad shape now until the weather settles down some. I think Berryessa would be your best bet, if you can find some cleaner water. Smallies get active in March and will start to move to the backs of coves. Smallies are found all over the narrows, in and around the coves. Also arou...

Larry Hemphill

My kids both followed the music part of my life (I was a public school music teacher) but not the fishing part. About five year ago I guided a mom and dad with their 5 yr old son in June at Berryessa. He brought his trusty Snoopy rod and reel with who knows what kind of line on it. He could actually...

Larry Hemphill

Lots more rain coming this week. This is why I tell people from all over the country, California is a state of "Feast or Famine." Anyone remember a "normal" precipitation year in California?? Either too much or too little. This weeks storms will be warmer which should help the sh...

Larry Hemphill

Does the lake have a name?

Larry Hemphill

If you had 2 of everything mentioned in these posts, you are good to go! You might consider going back to work - maybe to help you pay for everything - LOL!!

Larry Hemphill

I was hoping that most of you would have seen my warning about launch conditions at Bullards Bar. Be very careful, we are NOT experiencing a normal California winter, especially the last warmer than normal winters. Bullards will continue to have freezing weather conditions this next week, ice on the...

Larry Hemphill

Congrats Gary!! That's probably bigger than the one that broke your 25# test line at Oroville when we fished a warm spring afternoon in the middle fork, back around 1980. That was a big one too!

Larry Hemphill

Larry Hemphill

I and many clients and tourney guys stay at the Lake Point Lodge in the town of Clearlake Oaks. it is about 2 or 3 minutes to the Oaks public ramp. Rates are reasonable. You go right by Limit Out Bait and Tackle, so you can spend some money on the way!! If you want to go the north end, it is much cl...

Larry Hemphill

If you are considering a trip to Bullards Bar tomorrow - Tuesday, or Wednesday, and maybe Thursday - rethink!! It is snowing tonight and ramp roads will be iced up. You know the turns on both ramp roads. If you start sliding - it's a LONG way down!! Winter has arrived in the Sierras in a big way!! L...

Larry Hemphill

I was able to fish a club tournament there shortly after it opened, some 40 + years ago. It was pretty barren as nothing was build up around it, It was stocked with largemouth and I guess, smallmouth. I won the tournament with a 5 fish limit of largemouth - the biggest only about 3 lbs. Caught them ...

Larry Hemphill

Wow - great bass!! Brought back many memories of my biggest - also 14-2!! You don't know it yet, but you have a major problem now!!! Every bass you catch in the near future will be, or look like, a DINK!!! The next bass I caught after my 14-2 was 4 lbs. And yes, to me, it was a total DINK!! That pro...

Larry Hemphill

The voter guide from CTA, teachers union - recommendations for Calif assembly and senate

110 democrats

2 republicans

6 neutral

This does not include all elected offices - governor, etc, all democrats I think

Larry Hemphill

Wow! These are not posts, but essays - like we used to have to write in school. Just a few things to consider since the world will never return to the "good 'ol days!" It always moves forward - good or bad. I thought the posts were excellent however. Bass fishing has held up rather well in...

Larry Hemphill

I am older than a lot of you and well remember the family shows on TV that my generation grew up on. Ozzie and Harriet, The Danny Thomas show, etc, etc. The plots were often weak or silly, but the teaching of good values was almost always included in the subject of the show. Today - watch Modern Fam...

Larry Hemphill

First time for a serious problem with my web site - not the fault of W.B.com Should be up in a week or so.

If you want to talk to me, don't hesitate to call 530 674-0276

I know NONE of you will be out this week with all the rain coming - yea, right!!

Larry Hemphill

I love to see bellyboat photos! Reminds me of the hundreds of hours I spent bellyboating at the Yuba Goldfields (east of Marysville) during the '80's and early 90's! They weren't fancy - canvas over an inner tube. Talk about peace and quiet - AND great bass fishing most of the time. They were never ...

Larry Hemphill

Nights will still be good, but the huge 5 fish limits are nearly over, unless some things change. Too much relocation of bass in one or two areas of a lake, Clear Lake and Berryessa for example. Many lake operators are more interested in the trout population these days to bring in customers. Just re...

Larry Hemphill

Yea, I remember the Glow Boat!! When I introduced him to night fishing, I told him one didn't need too much light! I guess he forgot that part. He looked like a cruise ship more than a bass boat out there!!! We caught some nice bass in those days. I fear those days (or nights) are over.

Larry Hemphill

I think the best time to fish any lake during the winter - day or night - is during an incoming storm. The warmer air arrives first before the storm itself. The barometer is dropping. That has triggered some of the best winter bites I have ever had at Clear Lake - lots of 10 to 12 lb bass, and a 13-...

Larry Hemphill

Winter fishing at Clear Lake is not like other lakes that have spots and smallies which are more active in the winter. And Clear Lake water is very warm in the summer and can be VERY COLD in the winter. The cold air sinks into the "bowl" where the lake is - and can even have some snow in t...

Larry Hemphill

I normally would have some answers for you about Amador, but I haven't been there this year. Since it is late fall, I would just concentrate on the main lake points, or around the dam. The bass should still hit bulky dark colored plastic worms. Take a 10" Berkley Power worm and bite off about 2...

Larry Hemphill

Nice report! Happy clients!! Fishing reports are posted on the LAKE REPORTS section. You will get a good following from that section. As I understand it, the forum is for all general bass fishing subjects, including tournament results, political fishing news and observations, fishing company news, a...

Larry Hemphill

I don't know much about Meanmouth, but your fish is definitely not a largemouth. Looks like a smallmouth to me. Horizontal bars on the head, top fin connected, and smallie color almost all the way to the bottom of the fish. Largemouth are white on their bottom half and their top fin is in two sectio...

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