Submit
Report

Clear Lake and Reports

Limit:
Click for interactive map

Saturday, January 13th, 2001

  • By

    Water Temp: 47-48

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Well it seems like that weather system that came through did not bother the ish at clearlake. We went out at about 4pm on saturday a little windy but, not to bad. We caught one about 5-10 wright o the get. Then at about 5:30 to 6:30 we caught 6 ish 3-10, 4-4, 5-2, 5-4, 5-10 & 7-1. It slowed down until about 9:30, then rom 9:30 to about 11:00 we put another 5 ish in the boat a 5-1, 5-3, 5-4, 7-2 & 7-5In all we caught 16 ish all nite, we got o the water at about 3:30am. Are biggest was the 7-5 no toads but, still some nice quality ish. All but 2 o are ish came on brush hogs the others came on jigs. So the people that say you need to ish with minnows are crazy and using minnows takes no skill. You might catch more on minnows but I belive you can catch better quality with plastics.
    City: Modesto

    Tips: Fish very slow.

  • By

    Water Temp: Cold

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Went out this Saturday on a guide trip with Ben Williams & Scott Holzchuh and had one o the greatest ishing days ever in January. Over cast skies and a slight breeze met us on this day. We caught maybe 25-30 keepers. The majority o the ish caught were between 3-5 pounds. Our best ive were a 5,5,5,6+ & 10+ or well over 31 pounds and er 7 we would have peaked 40 pounds. Most o the ish we caught were up on lats in anywhere rom 4-16 oot o water. Rocky structure or grass beds, in very protected areas, seemed to be a key to inding ish or us. It also helped tremendously that we had a camera. We caught all but one o these ish on live jumbo minnows, ished either carolina or under a bobber system. Today, I caught my irst ish over 10 pounds on live bait. Also, the bite was strongest between 12:30-3:00. Ironically, this is within a window o peak eeding periods as suggested by a number o Astro tables I've looked at today. I only mention this, as we had a discussion on the Forum about Lunar phases the other day. There's no doubt in my mind, these were also a key to our success.
    City: Oakley

    Tips: Water is very cold and clear, ish are very inactive and not chasing artiicial baits at all. Splitshotting small inesse worms, tubes and whacky riggin Senkos will catch ish, but ya gotta ish so dang slow. Right now, take advantage o this live jumbo minnow bait bite, it is truely awesome and I garuntee you'll have a blast. Just be sure ya buy enough minnows or the entire day, right Ben? HAR!

Thursday, January 11th, 2001

  • By

    Water Temp: 45 to 46

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished several trips during the last several days, and watched the water temp go down, down, down, inally to 45 degrees Tuesday night. I have always elt that the number 47 is very important when ishing or largemouth bass. When the water temp is 47 or below, anglers have their work cut out or them, at least those ishing with artiicials. I have had outstanding trips in 48 and 49 degree water, but not as many in 47 and below. Friday night the temp was 47-48, and two clients and I had a pretty good trip, ishing rom 7pm to 1 am. We had about 15 bites and landed 7 to 7lbs 7 oz, with the ive best at 23 1/2. Again, brush hogs and Weapon jigs were the ticket. We got bit in about 6 dierent rocky locations in the south end. The day beore, on a "learn the lake" trip, a client and I got one bite on a jig - and missed it!!! We didn't ish all the time, but still - very slow day ishing. Talked to a ellow who ripped all day, and he had one bass. The minnow leet was doing well, rom what I saw. Tuesday night was the most interesting weather activity I've ever witnessed in my 22 years o night ishing Clear Lake. It is amazing we caught anything, but we did get an 8-3, 7-8, and a 4, all on Weapon jigs with 6" Yamamoto grub trailers. The weather olks messed up again - instead o a nice evening, we had a cold rain 'til 9 pm, then crystal-clear skies (instantly!) with a ull moon and a 10 to 15 degree air temp drop (real good or ishing, ha!). Keeping my eye on the weather, I noticed the clouds that had just moved east were backing up. I knew that was crazy, so I looked a little closer, and realized that those wern't clouds, but FOG! I couldn't believe it - too soon or og. "Bring 'em in guys, we're outta here!" From the time we let the Wheeler area to when we got to Windlower Point, that whole area ogged up, in minutes! It was amazing. We made it back to the Rattlesnake area just ine, and inished our trip with the our pounder, and a ew misses. I will mention that I was shaking my jig (which I rarely do) violently in order to get bit in the 45 degree water. I may have to rethink that technique, since the 8-3 that answered my calling nearly stretched out my arm. What a hit!!! Make 'em mad enough in that cold water, and they will bite! All the bass we caught on those night trips were no deeper that 15 eet, and some were right on the bank. Interesting.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Look or bass, even i they are shallow, near rocky breaks, ledges, steep banks, etc. I you are ishing rockpiles, bass are likely to be near the bottom o the dropo, in 10 to 20 eet - not on the top o the rockpile as they would be in summer and all. Deadstick any bait you are ishing, i possible. For example - rip, rip - eat a sandwich, rip, rip - have a cup o coee. You get the idea!!

Monday, January 8th, 2001

  • By

    Water Temp: 50

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Yes, I could see down to 8 eet and I think that kept ish rom some o my avorite docks but not rom my avorite o shore ree where we caught 7 ish to 3 1/2 lbs, but we did get 1 ish to 5 lbs on a dock that was in 8' o water, we could see the bottom and yet the ish still took the minnow.I tried plastics as slow as possible but no takers.
    City: MILPITAS

    Tips: I you get some takers in one place don't stray to araway becuase when you come back to it there will be two boats sitting on your spot catching ish and keeping them, that is what happened to us, we saw 15-20 ish to 5 lbs taken home this week, I hope the lake can handle it.

Saturday, January 6th, 2001

  • By

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: City: Sacramento, Ca

Tuesday, December 26th, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 44-48

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: took my oldest so he could catch a largemouth, got in the water a 712AM, 29 degrees and went over(slowly) to Rattlesnake and poked around or a bit, took o to Shag Rock and ound a bunch o ish in 13-26 t o water but couldn't get them going, roamed around anderson isld or a bit as things warmed up and inally went to Konocti or breakast, back on the water at 1130AM and over to Shag Rock again where he dredged up a 4lber on a jig, that got him excited, this was his 5th time out and he was pumped, caught another 3.2 in same area and one other tap. Four other boats working the area, saw two other ish boated, a good 6 plus and a smaller 2 plus by two guys shaking worms in 25 t. pulled out a 430 PM, temp got up to 58 but quickly dropped to 42 at 5PM. The kid is going to be a serious bass isherman now, nut he admittedly loves catching the spots at shasta over the largemouth at clearlake. I think a spring trip to Clearlake will probably change his mind.
    City: Redding

    Tips: ish are sluggish, jigs worked or us, I would wait until the aternoon to go out this time o the year. I used a 5 inch yamamoto twin tail skirted grub on a 3/8 ounce jighead, the hits are very light, wait or the pressure and let the rod load beore u stick'em.

Friday, December 22nd, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 49

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Well, I guess it is only air that a client with the last name "Noel", and his buddy, should have an early Christmas present! Believe me, they did!! I got to see some clients that really knew how to set the hook, hold on to some o these big bass. I believe they set a new record or my guide service, catching 5 bass or 40lbs 2oz. Ater weighing them careully on three scales I have on the boat, the ive came in at 6-8, 6-9, 8-4, 8-11, and the inal ish o the trip, 10-2. Both caught their personal best, with one beating his 9-2 with the 10-2. They caught another at 5-11, and I managed three - 5, 5-1, and 5-6. Somebody had to catch the "dinks"! I believe this is my irst trip ever where a lot o bass were caught, with NONE under 5 lbs. Amazing!! These guys were excited, making or a trip I won't soon orget. We started around 4pm, and by dark (5:40?), we had our irst ive in the boat or over 30 lbs, all on Rodstrainer Jigs with Yamamoto grubs. Many olks know how much I love the last hour o light or late all and winter big bass ishing, but even I had trouble believing this! Ater a short coee and hot soup break, we went out and battled the wind and rain. Not many bites, but they all counted, and they were all on big red/black brush hogs. The ish we were catching were only about 15 to 20 eet, so we kept 4 in the live well or a photo, and later released them where they were caught. The guys decided to go another hour (good decision!), so I took them to a rocky point north o Konocti Inn, where I have caught airly nice ish, but never a monster. About 11:30 pm a client missed one, and two minutes later, the "Noel" client gets bit, and the struggle is on. For 49 degree water, I stood with the net ready or an eternity!! Finally, when I lited it in the boat, I knew he had a chance - 'cause he talked about a "ten" the whole trip! Lie is good sometimes! Wouldn't you know he gets it ater the irst photo shoot! So, more photos, and back into the water it went. He will have a iberglass mount made with the measurements we took. The holiday greeting "joyous Noel" is appropriate or this happy ella.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Ater dark, the jig bite did not happen. That really amazed me, since it was red-hot beore dark. I cranked a little beore dark, but no takers. Big brush hogs and Berkely Power Hogs have been very good since the cold weather set in. Remember to use a large hook - I use the Mr. Twister 5/0 keeper hook. This is the best big bass worm hook I know. It is a thinner hook than some, allowing inexperienced people to have a better chance at hooking a big bass on a weak hookset.

Thursday, December 21st, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 47

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: O.K. This was a trip o a lietime! Me and my buddy got to clear lake around 7:30 in the morning on Monday ater a 10 hour drive. Air was 30 degrees and the sun was shining over head...Now I normally don't write my reports but this time I igured I should since Clear lake is so hot right now! The winter bass bite is better here then anywhere in the world...We went out on the 18th and ished Wheeler point and got on a school o bass at 5 lbs..Pulled out 8 ish in one hour all over 5 lbs. Then went in and ate..Went out or a night session..40 degrees went out and 29 when came in..NOT one bite...Shag rock was loaded but no takers...No big deal though..Now tuesday was the day...Went out with Keith Clow the KING OF CLEAR LAKE. Dont let anyone ool you Keith know's this lake better than just about anyone..I you need a guided trip email kclow@mail.telis.org...Now this day was absolutely amazing..We went out to some oshore rock piles and irst cast a nice 4 pounder or my buddy then a 4 pounder or my sel..Then the big boys started biting..A 8-6, then a 7-3, then a 7-1, anothe 7-6, and then the 9-6 or my buddy..I could not believe it..We were hooking all day in 18 to 25 eet o water. We were calling the 5 pounders small and it was no big deal, Really!! This lake is the most amazing lake in the U.S and I just witnessed the best bass bite ever..I you love big bass go to clear lake and sit on a rock pile..You are sure to hook a hawg o a lietime...
    City: Huntington Beach

    Tips: Tip; Jumbo Minnows, and big jigs..They need to see the silhoutte. Also , be careul in the Rattlesnake arm..The indians are damn crazy over there and they were shooting bullets at us and I am not kidding...BE CAREFUL...OR DONT GO OVER TO THE RATTLESNAKE ARM..

  • By

    Water Temp: 49 to 50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Well talk about a great start to the Christmas holiday. We went out Thursday night the 21st, with Larry Hemphill who is a proessional bass ishing guide, and boy did we have un. We started about 4pm and by the time it got dark we had 5 ish or a little over 30lbs. My partner and I both caught are personal best, he had one 8lb 4oz, and mine was 10lb 2oz. My trip started with a 6lb 9oz, then an 8lb 11oz and then my third ish was the 10lb 2oz toad. We did not catch anything under 5lbs the whole night. This was a trip that you only dream about. The person responsible or this once in a lietime night was Larry Hemphill, what an exceptional guide he is. I cant say enough about him and i you want to learn a lot about bass ishing and a chance to catch some quality ish you should give him a call he is worth every penny he charges and thensome. You can reach him by email at lunkerlarry@hotmail.com, phone is (530)674-0276 or you can check out his web page at www.theishsnier.com/hemphill. You would thoroughly enjoy your ishing experience with him; he is a 1st class guy. I personally will ish with him again very soon. By the way my partner and I went out on Friday morning and we caught three ish over 5lbs 2 ish about 41/2lbs and one little ish 3lbs, not nearly as good as Thursday night, but not to bad either. Last thing I have to say is thanks again to Larry I had truly wonderul ishing trip.
    City: Modesto

    Tips: CALL LARRY HEMPHILL AND READ ALL OF HIS FISHING TIPS THEY ARE RIGHT ON THE MONEY.

Tuesday, December 19th, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: What a lake. Spent the day ishin / catchin large bass on one o the best ishin holes in Caliornia.My son Jake and good ishin pal Tom and mysel caught 35 bass between 3 and 8.6 lbs.All caught on jumbo shiners.
    City: Modesto

    Tips: Take lots o bait

Sunday, December 17th, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 50ish

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Spent 2 days ishin .this beautiul impoundment not alot o bites. But the iteen or so produced heavy ish not one under 3+lbs. My wie caught her lie time best an 11.3 Hawghad several over 5lbs. DON't BE AFRAID OF A LITTLE COLDTHE FISH DON't MIND.
    City: resno

    Tips: ind structure ish are holding tight,JIGS JIGS JIGSMERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR SEE YOU ON THE WATER

Sunday, December 10th, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 49-50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: This is just a short update on the continued good jig bite at Clear Lake. Friday aternoon-night was the best weather conditions o the all - warm, cloudy evening with moon covered. I continue to be amazed how these conditions trigger heavy eeding. As the sun set, I landed an 8-13 and a 3-8 on a brown/orange Rodstrainer jig on a rock ledge near Shag Rock. Ater dinner, we ished the south end and caught 5 or 6 more, with the ive biggest o the trip at 29 1/4 lbs, including another at 8-3. We might have gotten over the 30 lb mark, but one o the clients lost a nice one as he attempted a second hook set. Be careul about a second hookset, because dropping the rod tip to set again can spell trouble. Sometimes, you may eel insecure about your hookset, but just keep the line tight. In the winter, you don't have to worry as much about the ish jumping, which is when you lose a poorly hooked bass. The summer and early all is another story! Once again, all our bites ater dark were on Weapon Jigs/6" Yamamoto grub trailers. For some reason, we missed several ish. I think the reason was because some o the bites were so aggressive that we ailed to detect the subtle pick-ups. Saturday night was back to tough weather conditions - cold, damp, and bright moon. We struggled with only 2 bass around 3 1/2 lbs each. About 10 pm, a wonderul thing hapened (as a guide who was a little stressed, it was wonderul!). Some thin cirrus clouds moved in and dimmed the moon. BINGO!! I'm not sure in what order, but client landed a 3-14 and a 5, and I boated a 6-11 and a 7-2 - in less than an hour, all on jigs. Clouds moved out, and so did the bass - end o story. Not another bite. Anybody think that these bass are in tune with atmospheric conditions? Though I have seen events like this hundreds o times in my career, I am still in awe o what turns these ish on, or o. As a sidelight, my client was with me last year in November when the same thing happened at the same location at the same time. Weird! Same results - ish turned on in a matter o minutes as clouds moved in. And I especially like the clouds that don't have rain in them!!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Sat. night was the irst trip that I only used my jig rod. My client alternated between worms and jigs, but all his bites (I'm pretty sure) were on jigs. I know the ish he landed were on jigs. The trick is to swim the jig as slowly as you can over the rocks, stopping it wherever you think it is sae to do so (withour snagging up). Shaking the jig doesn't seem to work lately. They hit when it stops or drops down o a rock or something. I inally lost my irst ish in our trips ater hooking it, using my 30 lb test lame green Berkley Fireline. I hooked it right under the boat in about 25 eet o water, and sometimes those are the hardest hooksets to maintain. I have lost several big bass with under-the-boat hooksets using jigs. Bad angle, I guess.

Sunday, December 3rd, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 49-50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I inally got the winter bite that I had been looking or, Sat. aternoon and night. Had a wonderul client who had never been to Clear Lake beore, and was he impressed! We were oten laughing so hard, I couldn't set the hook. We started about 4 pm, ishing several deep, rocky areas, with Rodstrainer jigs. I missed a big one in shallow water, as did my client. He was quite upset with himsel or missing the ish, since he thought it was a big one too. Judging rom the two I caught beore dark, a 6-14 and 4-11, we were in some good ish. Ater dinner at Konocti Resort, I showed him some nice areas at the south end. We only used black/chartreuse Rattlin' Weapon Jigs, with a 6' Yamamoto grub trailers ater dark. What happened in the next hour was simply amazing. As I taught him now to work jigs in the wicked rocks o Clear Lake, the ish started bitting. In a hal hour I caught over 20 lbs on a rock ledge that I like. I irst caught a 3-8, and then a 5-11. I was showing him how to deadstick saying: "you see, when you stop it like this, they bite". Two SECONDS later, a tick and I set up on a 6-0. By this time we are laughing so hard we're sick, as I explain that Clear Lake is always this good - yeah right. I am now embarrassed, and tell him that I will quite ishing, as I always do i I catch too many. He says, no way - he's having too much un! I did back o and ish a less productive area, and immediately stick a 7-4. Where are these ish when we try hard?! While I was excited about my 30 lb limit, I could not igure out why he wasn't catching any - I thought his technique was excellent. He is an accomplished tournament ishermen. That is one o the mysteries o bass ishing. As we headed towards Henderson Point, he did inally catch one, about 2-5. I did get another wonderul bass, an 8-3, to give me a limit a little over 34 lbs. We wound up with 13 that trip, all on jigs. Henderson was even better the previous evening, when my client caught a 5-2, 4-2, and lost a bigger ish there. Biggest I could get on Fri night was a 5-6. I think we caught only 6 total, though we missed several. Both trips involved ishing rock walls, rockpiles, and rock ledges - all with 20 to 30 eet o water nearby. That is my proven winter combo at Clear Lake, at least or me - jigs and rock! That's also my best recipe or snags, too!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I have now settled on my new line or night ishing, 30 lb Berkley Fireline, in the Flame Green color, which works in the black light very well. I landed every single ish Sat night, except the big one beore dark, which was on mono line. I you snag up, use it to anchor your boat!!! Actually, you need to wrap it around something to break it o.

Friday, December 1st, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 52

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Already posted the story o the 2 11's caught on Clear lake. i didn't mention that i caught a 4 and a 5 didn't eel it was neccessary. As ar as ishin report jigs on rocks with deep water access. stay to northern banks that get sun most o the day and start ishin right at dusk till ya can't stand the cold anymore. Remember night ishin on clear lake is not always good or alot o ish but the quality is outstanding.
    City: Suisun City

    Tips: The only seasonal tip I have is to read larry Hemphill's reports. They are right on. I took the ino he so readilly shares and added it to what little knowledge I have o Clear lake and my pard got his mount.

Sunday, November 26th, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I started ishing with a client on Friday night about 8 pm. The second spot we stopped at produced 2 smaller bass, about 2 1/4 and 3 1/2, on Weapon jigs. Moved to the little rock wall by Indian Beach and missed a big ish - we could hear it roll ater I missed it. I thought it was part o a let over weed mat - ugh! It seemed like it would be a good night, but actually it wasn't - until the end! We ished several deep rock areas and only got a 5-2 and a 4-5, again, on Weapon jigs and 6" yamamoto grub trailers. My client missed 4 or 5 since he wasn't used to pressure bites. About 2:30 am I had to take him back because he was developing an upset stomach. Since I was't too tired yet, I decided to quickly try a couple o areas or the next nights trip. I started dragging my jig in a deep (20 t), lat area next to a rockpile. I don't think many olks ish this area. Slowly, my 844 Loomis started to load up, either on a big rock or a bass. I set the hook, and it jerked back - wow!!! It turned out to be a dandy, weighing in at 10 lb 2 oz! As I was netting it, I heard another boat with other crazy olks coming in, and we all managed to ind our way back through the og. The other boat had 3 o my riends in it, and they had two nice ones - 8-14 and 9-11. Ater photos all the way 'round, I took all the monsters back out in the lake to release them. What a sight in my lighted Ranger double livewell - 3 bass or nearly 30 lbs! Not an everyday (night) sight! The next night was very poor or us - in act we only landed 2 bass to 3 3/4 lbs - the slowest trip since May. One o my riends was ishing too, and didn't do well, thought he got one over 6. It was a was nice evening, with moderate temperature, but or some reaon, the ish were not active.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Look or bass in deeper water now, 10 to 30 eet deep (i in the south end)! Release deep caught ish right away i you are not planned to use a needle to delate their air bladder. I still say - don't orget your jigs!!

Tuesday, November 21st, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I ished Clear Lake with clients Fri, Sat, and Mon. - all were late aternoon-night trips. I really hope my ingers thaw out soon - I am typing slowly! Friday started out good with me catching a 3 1/2 on a Rodstrainer jig by the metal wall near Rattlesnake Island, by hwy 20. Next stop was a rocky area a little north, where a client got one nearly 4 lbs on the same jig. Ater dinner, we worked rocky areas at the south end. One o the clients got his personal best, a nice 6-7 on a jumbo brush hog. Five minutes later, other client hooks a monster. I'm standing, ready with the net or what seems like ages, and the next thing I hear is "oh no"! That is always a rough time or me, when a client loses a huge bass. I know how excited they would be i they landed it. Anyway, he caught 3, other client 2, and me,1. Sat. night, one client and I landed 10 bass, with the biggest at 7-10. Our 5 best was 25 1/2 lbs. Sat. night the atmosphere was drier and slightly warmer, I mean, slightly less cold!! The ish were more aggressive, and a ew o them actually struck hard. We caught all our ish on Power Hogs and brush hogs, except the 7-10, which I caught on a Weapon Jig. Again we ished rocky areas with deep water access. Mon aternoon-night provided the weather I had been waiting or - some clouds and even less cold. Fishing should break open, right? Wrong! We only got 6 or 7 bites the whole trip. However, we were looking or quality, and we got it - 4 bass that weighed 4-10, 7-0, 7-1, and 7-6, or a little over 26 lbs. I could hot believe how dead the lake was, maybe because it was dead calm. The previous nights when we had so many bites, there was a slight breeze, which made a slight chop on the water, causing the ish to move shallower. We caught a lot o shallow ish on those night, but Mon night we were orced to try to get the deep ish to bite, and a ew did. They were caught in 20 to 30 eet o water on Weapon jigs. The brush hog bite was dead.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Always have a rog rigged with a jig, day or night. But have other rods rigged with other baits, and switch o oten. Bass change their preerences, even in the winter. That act was really driven home to me during those three trips. Also, shaking our worms and jigs worked well on Sat, but did not work on Mon. They just wanted the bait dragged very slowly. 'Tis the season or pressure bites, even when jig ishing.

Sunday, November 12th, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 50-53

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Bummer! I knew the odds o great trips were slim with this major cold ront coming, and the beginning o our Friday trip didn't help when I lost a 9 to 11 lb bass at the second spot we ished, about 6:45 am. On a whim, I threw a black/red Tennessee Killer crankbait near some rocks, and this ish slammed it. I saw the WHOLE ish! I had her on or about 15 seconds, then she spit it. I remembered losing some big ish at Amador on that bait - so, I don't know i it is a problem with the lure, the hooks, or the isherman. Maybe the latter!! I havn't used that style crank or years. Anyway, bummer!!! Actually, my client was new to bass ishing and really picked up jig ishing in a hurry, so the day got better and better as he kept hooking quality bass to 4 1/4 lbs. He lost a big ish that took a Rodstrainer jig in 20 eet o water, and several others. His best our weighed 14 lbs! A beautiul aternoon with wonderul cloud ormations and a lat lake, along with a happy client, helped me get over the loss o Mrs. Toad (sort o). We ished too many areas to mention, but we concentrated on rock walls, ledges, and docks with a little rock around them. Funny, as it warmed up (that's a joke) in the aternoon, the bite slowed or us. We ished Shag Rock or an hour without a bite. Should have changed baits, but was too stubborn to switch. Just one more cast I said. Sometimes that attitude works, and sometimes it doesn't!! It didn't.Saturday night truely was an experience or the brave (and stupid!!). My clients were cool - and I mean, about midnight - very COOL!!!!! The three o us must have looked like terrorists the way we were dressed. They really handled the cold weather well - it was about 28 degrees when we quit. They were thinking that we wouldn't get bit because o the post-ront conditions, clear skies, and a moon that is too bright in the winter. But we did get bit, about 20 times at least. They were using 3 dierent kinds o 6 to 8 inch worms, and were getting most o the bites. I stuck with a Weapon jig and got the big ish - only 5-2, but got ew bites. The bass would bite, but not really take the bait, and as a result, we lost about 3/4 o the ish we hooked. Very rustrating. We ended the trip with one client breaking o a ish on 17 lb test, and I dumped one about 6 or 7 lbs at the boat. It is hard to understand how those things happen sometimes, but they do. We could have had a great trip ish-wise, but it wasn't meant to be. Besides that, we had a great time inventing new ways to stay warm, and clients loved learning to ish "o-shore", which they had never done beore. We hit a little known rockpile on the hwy 20 side o the Rattlesnake arm and stuck the two I mentioned we lost, lost another good ish, and I missed a jig hit. We were just shaking our heads as to how we could have lost all o them. Clients were really shaking the brass 'n glass Texas rigged worms, then letting them settle on the bottom. This works real well at night as the water gets cold - and they did this with success the whole trip, at least as ar as bites goes. Black/chartreuse and junebug were the top colors. I think we wound up with only 5 or 6 bass in the boat - actually good or the conditions, but not good or airly good ish activity. Maybe it was so cold that our hooksets were in slow motion - ah, that's it!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Just when you think that the jig bite rules, the worm bite turns on, day and night. As the winter approaches early this year, try to establish whether the bass preer a jig or some size, type, and presentation o a worm. Many large bass at Clear Lake are caught in the winter on 4 inch black worms, such as a ringworm, or Berkley Pulse Worm. As I mentioned, I am guilty o occasionally sticking with a jig too long, since it is my major conidence bait, especially in cold water. And don't orget your tube baits - sometimes they will catch bass when nothing else will. Ask Gary Klein!!

Saturday, November 11th, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 50-55

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished a club tourney (Redwood Empire Bass) Saturday. The bite was a little o, but everyone caught ish. There were 3 ish over 8 lbs and several in the 5-6 lb range. Winning weight was over 21 lbs. Personally, I landed 3 ish or 11.5 lbs, largest 6.5 lbs. My parner also landed 3 or 11.9 lbs. We spent most o the day on the south end throwing crank baits and rip baits around drop-os and rocks.
    City: Rohnert Park

    Tips: When cranking, be sure to be dragging the bottom. Find bait ish and throw rattle traps or rip baits.

Sunday, November 5th, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 56 - 58 F

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Sonoma County Belly Boat Bass Club held its inal regular season event o year @ Clear Lake on Sunday, November 5. Winning weight (4 ish) was 21.49 lb, including 7.79 lb beauty & another hawg over 7 lb. Second place was 5 ish or 16.35 lb, & 3rd place was 4 ish or 15.83 lb, including 6.71 lb toad. Another bass o 7.78 lb was weighed in as well. Sixteen anglers participated. Bass went primarily or crankbaits, spinnerbaits, & buzzbaits.
    City: Santa Rosa

    Tips: I you'd like more ino about club, send me an e-mail or check out our website @ http://scbbbc.homestead.com.

Friday, October 27th, 2000

  • By

    Water Temp: 62

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I would have to call my Thursday aternoon-night trip a "perect 10" - or 10+! Client and I started cranking at the ront o Rattlesnake Island beore dark, working slowly. A ellow rom Oregon told me that they had cranked a 9-13 that day. Client missed one, and I got a 4-5 and a 5-1. A small storm was breaking up, with a lot o clouds overhead - causing the ish to still be active. We were praying that the clouds would hang aroung or a ew hours, but it was not to be. Lots o stars and cooling temperatures caused the bite to shut o or awhile. Around 10 pm, we picked up a ew on Dead Ringer worms and Rattlin' Weapon jigs near Konocti Resort. I decided to move up near the Buckingham area and ish jigs on several ledges and rocky areas. This worked out well when we landed two between 4 and 5 pounds. There was not much wind, so we were able to drag our jigs, or shake them and let them settle to the bottom. About midnight, I let the jig rest on the bottom one too many times. CRUNCH!! A giant bass slammed the jig in about 25 eet o water. My client did a great job o netting the 10 lb 3 oz pig. I LOVE to be in the boat with a person who sees a 10 lb bass or the irst time, whether they catch it or I do. Lots o excitement!! I was using a 6" (#159) Yamamoto grub with my black/chartreuse Weapon Jig. A big bait or a big girl! Released her immediately ater quick photos - I was worried about her air bladder, having been caught so deep. She looked like an Amador tub - only 23 inches long! We worked our way back to Rattlesnake, catching a ew more. My client caught the last one, a nice 3 1/4, on an 8" Dead Ringer worm. We ished several rockpiles beore we quit - not a bite! When og begins to orm, as it did that night, cold air has settled in, and the bite shuts o. I have never ound an exception to this rule. We wound up with 9 bass - the ive largest weighing a little over 28 lbs. Fall is here!!!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: As the all transition period arrives at Clear Lake, most large bass will move to and eed in deeper water (south end). The challange is to make these ish bite. It takes a lot o patience. Many will choose to ish or more active, shallow bass. That is ine. I believe that most monster bass can be targeted in 15 to 35 eet o water, beginning in November. This is true o night ishing too. Day and night, as the water cools into the 50's, jigs are hard to beat.