Bass Fishing Forum - Westernbass.com

Summertime....and the fishing is easy... Ok maybe not easy but pretty darn good right now up here at Clear Lake. I have been hitting the water at safe light and making my first cast right around 5:30 am. Starting off the first hour of the day with topwater in the north end of the lake I have been catching them pretty good on "walk the dog" style baits like the Vixen and the Super Spook in bone or baitfish colors. I have been successful targeting areas where the weeds are just underneath the surface like offshore flats and some of the creek mouths. Double bladed buzz baits have also been productive for me in these same areas especially if there is a little ripple on the water. The north end of the lake also has a great chatterbait bite along the tules and clear lanes in the weeds and deep weed edges. The frog bite is fishing awesome up north as well with some really definitive weed mats that extend way offshore in many areas. The best action on the frog for me isn't until about 10:30 am when the sun gets up a little higher pushing the fish under the cover.

Mid lake and both of the south arms are kicking out some good numbers of bass right now on a variety of different lures. There are lots of biting fish on rockpiles and deep hard bottom edges in 15' to 25' down there. I have been absolutely whacking them on a 1/2oz brown and orange jig with a Big Texan beaver for a trailer. Don't forget the Smelly Jelly. Drop shot, Carolina rig, Ned rig, and 6" Senko have also been consistent producers in and around the docks. There is a decent bite on a crawdad pattern square bill crank bait especially in the morning and late afternoon fishing it parallel to the shore line in rocky areas.

The summer catfish bite is in full swing out on the lake. Lot's of anglers reporting doing well fishing at sundown and thru the night with cut baits and nightcrawlers. I had a client catch a 18lb catfish while bass fishing with a Texas rigged Brush Hog at Glen Haven reef. Talk about a drag ripper. lot's of fun.
Crappie action is good for those who can find the schools on their electronics in deep water dock areas in the south end. I had another client with two young kids and we found a huge school of crappie off a point in Konocti Bay and just slayed them on a chartreuse crappie jig with a sliding bobber.

What is really strange this year is how incredibly clear the water has been. I mean the lake is actually living up it's name sake for a change. The north end has some green color from algae blooms around the shoreline but go out a couple hundred yards and you can just about see the bottom in 10'. The south end has super clear water also with about 10' of visibility in most places. What has also been strange is how full the lake is staying this year with a reading of 6.08 on the Rumsey gauge as of today. It seems like on a typical year, the water would have been drawn down a lot more by this time in July. I'm not complaining one bit though. The lake is beautiful and in great shape with water temps in the mid to upper 70's.

Good fishing and we'll see you on the water,

Troy Bellah
PS: check out the view from my office. Pretty sweet

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 (rock, etc). Checked out a lot of them but ran out of time!!!

Good stuff Troy! we’d love to see ya on Wed nites. Sounds like your on the opposite schedule. Nice fish

The lake is the clearest that I have seen it in the 17 years that I have been fishing it. There were some areas in the south that had about 6 feet of visibility when I was there for a week at the beginning of July.