Submit
Report

Clear Lake and Reports

Limit:
Click for interactive map

Monday, April 7th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 54-58

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: It must be tournament time, or no one can write anymore. Not much help for folks here anymore. I took 3 guys out this last Thurs, hoping to get a good afternoon bite - but the wind killed us again. We started at 10 am - hoping for the water to warm. It did not - stayed at 57 all day with another day of south wind. One of the fellows landed a 3 1/2 lber, and a few other bites were missed in the wind. I finally started fishing a bit with a Senko and soon nailed a 6 lber and later a bare keeper. Finally, the guy next to me set on a good one that almost cleared the water. She went 5.05 lbs. He was very excited and so was I - saved the day! He was using a Berkely Havoc bait. Very slow bite - but I am sure they had bites they didn't feel.

    Tips: We fished mostly on the west side of the Clearlake arm. Wind was no calmer on the east side. I was embarrassed for our sport when a bass boat cut in front of me and the only other boat within miles, coming off plane. He talked to the other guy but didn't even look our way! I guess this could be common tournament behavior, or we weren't worthy of his respect. However, my clients weren't impressed at all. What a shame.

Saturday, April 5th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: n/a

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Hey Clum, Post some pics! I would love to see some of these 35lb limits. Man I miss that place!

Thursday, April 3rd, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 56.2

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Doing this at 5:00 am & forgot to say our best five last nite went 38.7! They were: 9.9, 8.6, 7.2, 6.14, 6.8!

    Tips: This was one of the best trips ever on this lake!

  • By

    Water Temp: 53.8-56.2

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Report for the last two days. Got on the water Tues nite @ midnight, slow steady showers but no wind. Best day number wise getting them on jigs, senkos, & crankbaits. We didn't move around much staying in Konocti Bay. Boated 17 with 10 of them going under 3 lbs. We did get a good limit of 34.13 with the best five going 7.6, 7.2, 7.1, 6.11, 6.9! Got chased off by heavy rain at 4:30am. Weds. Got on at 7:00 pm, ran to Henderson, Shag, Dollar & blanked. Got into a small bite in Jones Bay around 9:00pm & snagged a fat 9.9 & 7.2 on (you guessed it!) jigs. Ran to Konocti & scored a few sixes & a few dinks. Went in for dinner at 11:00pm, came back out at 12:30 & managed only two more but one was a nice 8.8. Bite shut down on us after 1:30 & we blanked the rest of the night. It was all a jig bite. We were happy about the big fish strikes, the pre spawn bite has been off the charts this season for night fishing!

    Tips: We don't do much day fishing, but the night bite for us is the way to go. The water being so clear, I think you stand the best chance when it's dark. We caught almost all fish near Rocky structure in 12-20ft. Hop & pull the jig in a slow presentation. We were using Brown 1/2 oz. Rodstrainer jigs with green trailers. The Damiki Knockout was one that worked for us. The rain y weather may have helped as well!Best tip we can give is fish Clear Lake now! I've never seen it better!

Tuesday, April 1st, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 54

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Got on the water @ 10pm for a really slow start. Around 11pm, picked up a few 2 lber's then stuck a 8.15 & a 7.14, all on jigs. As the night progressed,we added one here, then one there for a total of 11 total. Quality was still good, it seemed much slower than last night because we were out longer. All fish came on jigs tonite except one crankbait fish that went 7.2. We had to slow the presentation down and the bites were very subtle. They were also a little deeper, around 20ft. No blade, Senko, or Texas rig fish. Best five were 8.15, 7.14, 7.2, 6.11, 6.8 for a total of 37.2. We had a lot of dropped baits tonight so we had to Rush some hooksets.

    Tips: Again we fished south, wanted to try Shag Rock & Henderson because the wind died, but was too tired plus we had intermittent rain! Anyway, slow down,watch your line because any pressure could be a fish! Also Rocky points were best for us. Even getting soaked, the quality was good & made it worthwhile!

Monday, March 31st, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 55

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Got on the water @ 2:30am. Unbelievable fishing. We boated only 15 fish & with the exception of two 3.5's, they all were BIG! We caught two on the Senko, six on the crankbait,(finally a reaction bite!) & the rest on jigs. The color of the evening was green. Didn't matter which hue, they just wouldn't hit anything Brown. The wind started from the north, a light breeze, went slack @ 3:00 am & stayed dead for an hour. That's when the crankshaft bite was on. Wind then shifted from the SE & the jig bite took off. We were fishing south again in Konocti Bay. Our best five were 10.2, 8.14, 8.6, 8.2, 7.11 for our best limit ever ( including El Salto) of 43.3 lbs. Wow, congrats to Ted who caught his pb - 10.2. They preferred a medium retrieve & whatever we threw, they smacked it hard!

    Tips: Fish this lake! Many of our fish were doubles off the,same spot. We caught them in 12-20ft & they seemed to favor Rocky structure! Will see if the weather let's us fish tomorrow night!

Tuesday, March 25th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 60-64

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Clear Lake is living up to its name - its gone clear again!! Mike Sperbeck and I decided to do a Monday evening trip - NOT KNOWING - the Holder tournament had been held Sat and Sun. Mike and I couldn't figure out why during the few hours before dark we could only catch 4 bass - the biggest at barely ONE pound!! What is going on?? As the sun set on a gorgeous evening, I finally stick a good one at 5 1/2 lbs, my first good Senko bass of the year. The fishing continued to be fair thru the first 2 hrs after dark and then simply died! Mike and I managed three around 4 1/2 lbs and I did get big fish at 6.87 lbs, on a jig. We both lost a really big bass. We could have had a really good limit had we landed one of those, but we were pleased with best 5 around 25 1/2 lbs. We had around 13-14 bass total - NOT counting the dinks!!! Our quality bass were all 10 to 20 feet - a little deeper than previous trips. We were using Senkos, beavers, Havoc baits, and jigs.

    Tips: It was interesting to see after our trip, wiping off the Ranger, absolutely NO moisture on the boat. That is how dry the atmosphere is. That never happens on a cloudless night during the cold months. We covered most of the west side of the Clearlake arm which I am sure had been previously covered well by the tournament anglers! At least they saved us a few!!

Wednesday, March 19th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 58 - 60

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: My buddy and I took our annual fishing trip to Clear Lake We fished three days, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (3/19/14 – 3/21/14) out of Lakeport. About noon Wednesday, we started fishing south of Lake Port but north of Long Tule Point. We stayed north of the point because I think every fishing boat on the lake was in the cove near the point. We caught a few nice fish to 4 ¼ lbs. The other boats were too far away to tell if they were catching anything. Later in the day, we move to the south side of Buckingham Pt. and located fish off shore in 5 – 12 ft. of water. Thursday we went north of Lake Port and found fish off shore again in 5 – 12 ft. of water near Rocky Point. The bite was on all morning. In the afternoon, we tried the entrance to Rodman slough. The water there was only about 2 ft. deep and very stained (almost muddy). Again boats at the entrance were stacked like cord wood. We did not catch anything and only saw a couple fish caught. Every boat there was throwing large swim baits. Friday, we headed south back to the fish we found Wednesday afternoon. The fish were there for several hours but then turned off or moved. Other places near by were tried with no success. We went back to our morning spot but the fish weren’t there. We found the fish again about 200 yards up the shore. In this area, we caught a 4, 5, and 6 pounder and many 3 and 2 pounders. For the three days, we caught 57 fish with our best 15 fish averaging 3 lbs 9 oz. Almost all the fish were caught off shore in 5 – 12 feet of water drop-shotting a purple 7 inch RoboWorm. Other techniques were tried with very limited success including various sizes of swim baits. Of all the fish we caught, only about 6 fish were female.
    City: Pinole

    Tips: The fish are staging in 5 – 12 feet of water and should be starting to bed any day now. The only problem I see is that the normal bedding areas are too shallow because the lake is about 5 feed down. The fish will need to bed off shore. This will make it harder to find them.

Friday, March 14th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 54

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: After reflecting on this outing, & judging from this time last year, If you can possibly make it to Clear Lake in the next month or so, I'd do it! Fish are active & strong. You might have a few set back days if you encounter wind +/or rain, but if you can wait it out, you'll be rewarded. Larry started the madness for me about 7 years ago when I treated myself to a trip with him for my birthday. I was hooked on Clear Lake ever since! So thank you Larry!

    Tips: If you're going for a guided trip, you can't go wrong with Larry Hemphill!

  • By

    Water Temp: 55-57

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: No wonder we could catch 'em during the day - clum caught them all at night - LOL!! Anyway, it's no wonder Berryessa looked so good for my Thursday trip after being on the water for 16 hours Tues and Wed - day trips. Sort of like being in a giant washing machine! When the "big wind" blows from the south it is hard to find anywhere to fish! Do I love my 521 Ranger, or what??!! Do I remember the past with 3 people in my 17ft10in Ranger in those conditions? How did we do it? It was called "above water drowning!" Tuesday my clients and I did our best but couldn't boat a fish, though we missed 3 bites. It was lonely out there - only 2 other boats. I was actually looking forward to my Wed trip because the wind was supposed to die down some. Yea....Right!!! It was worse! My husband/wife team and I started about 8:30 am in Jago Bay. No wind yet! I was using my brown/orange jig that clum likes so much and - behold! - a bite!! She went 5 1/4 lbs! The lady of the boat soon hooks her first - gets it to the boat - but loses another 5+ pounder. She then caught one near 4 lbs and hubby soon lands one. So far, so good! Until the wind reappears - worse than Tues! I finally give up on the west side and battled our way to the east shore. We spent the rest of the time exploring various structures which were new to them. We wound up with 8 in the boat for maybe 21-22 lbs - best 5. Weird - just as she lost a big fish in the beginning - he looses a big fish on his last cast of the trip. Broke his line - bummer!! Anyway, I felt pretty happy with the results of our trip and the knowledge they gained. Nice people!!

    Tips: Talk about tough conditions - two days in a row! I was not sad to leave Clear Lake. Again on Wed - only saw 3 boats out! Jigs were the preferred baits for both trips - maybe the best and easiest baits to use in heavy wind.

Thursday, March 13th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 53.8

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Although the fishing was spotty, the size was again phenomenal! 5best were 8.4, 8.2, 7.12, 7.6, & 6.14 for a 38.6 lb. limit! Got on the water @ 6:00pm & it was a slow start. The bite didn't get going until after 1:30 am. Wind was calm so we went to Jago & Jones bay but once again caught most of the fish in Konocti. They were back on the jig bite in 15-20 ft. Of water. We used Rodstrainer jigs in Brown/Orange for the trip with various trailers, mostly craw like the Damiki Knockout. Good trip except for the windy Tues. Gonna try to come back in 2 weeks. All of the fish are healthy, strong, & big bellied!

    Tips: We moved around more tonight. When we got bit, they crushed it. We were working it in short hops then deadsticking it for5-10 sec. When you resumed, pow! Hold on when you set the hook, I was leaning the wrong way on one & almost got pulled off balance!

Wednesday, March 12th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 53.7

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Went out at 9:00pm, windy conditions. Only able to stay out for an hour,boated 2 around 4 lbs each. The wind literally started howling & we pulled the pin & came in. Stay tuned for tomorrow.

    Tips: Love fishing as much as the next guy, but staying safe is a priority!

Tuesday, March 11th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 53.7

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: What a difference from yesterday. Weather much nicer & fishing a little tougher! Started at 6pm picked up a few dinks the 1st couple of hours. After it turned dark fishing improved, we caught good quality fish. They were on more of a Texas rig bite instead of jigs. We managed a few good jig fish, a 7+ & a 5+ but the big fish, an 8.12 was caught on Texas rigged Yamamoto Flappin Hog. We finished with a best 5 of 34 lbs even. They were: 8.12, 7.9, 6.7, 5.11, &5.9.We had to work a little harder, boated 16 with the average size a little smaller than last nite. They were deeper also in 22- 20ft. Bite died at 1:30am. Gonna try it tomorrow if the wind prediction is wrong.

    Tips: Presented the baits much slower tonight, you felt a bump, then they ran with it. Most fish came in front of tules with structure in front. Greens were the popular color. Once again fished Konocti Bay.

Monday, March 10th, 2014

  • By

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Did previous on tablet & it autospells, the values for Ted were personal bests. Also for got to mention the fish were up close within 8 feet off the bank.

    Tips: Turn off autospell!

  • By

    Water Temp: 53.4

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Hit the water @ 7:00pm Sun. 1st strike broke a new Loomis rod on a hookset, thot this could be bad luck. Got lucky tho & put together a nice outing! Fished til rain chased us at 2:45am. Boated 20 fish, all healthy & chubby! 8.8, 8.2, 7.11, 7.8, 7.6; a great 39.3 limit. Tried like the Dickens to get to 40, but when they rain hit, the bite died on us. Fished south in Konocti Bay, most were on jigs with a few on Texas rigged Sweet Beavers. Ted got his phone @ 8.8 & got over 30lbs for his best 5 also a lb. Gonna try again tomorrow if weather let's us! No blade, Seiko, or crank bite, we tried. Smallest fish we caught was 4.7, everything else was,over 5!

    Tips: 1/2 oz. Jigs were the ticket with small hops then slow drag for about 6", the trailers were Damiki creature green watermelon red flake. They picked it up most of the time but a few smacked it! The Texas rig was Sweet Beavers in Big Texan, slow presentation. Would have been nice to have caught one more 8-9 over but we're with what we got!

Wednesday, March 5th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 52-55

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: It is really a shame that there aren't more reports for Clear Lake. I enjoy posting them (at least for the good trips!), but I enjoy reading them too. We can always learn something - especially on current conditions. Enough of that! Mike Sperbeck and I hit the lake yesterday about 5 pm and had 11 in the Ranger by dark - with three all around 4 1/2 lbs. After dark, the bite got really weird - maybe because some of the 2 to 3 pounders are showing up. Mike lost several quality bass that just wouldn't stay on the hook - and he sets the hook with quality!!! I had the tail of a 6 inch Yamamoto grub bitten off my jig combo 3 times! That just doesn't happen at night in Feb and March. Very strange. And some of the bites were fierce - but nothing there when setting the hook. Some large fish started feeding about 11 pm and I was able to land a nice 7 lb 6 oz and 6 lb 10 oz bass that both hit a black/chartreuse jig. We were trying for our 3rd 30 lb limit in a row, but fell short at slightly over 27 lbs. We did boat 24 bass on our 6 hr trip - plenty of action! We were pretty happy over our 15 best (3 trips) over 92 lbs - great lake!!

    Tips: I just have to comment on the weather. Clear Lake is known for the wind factor, but most don't know that it can get more calm than any other lake. All Sierra foothill lakes have a down-slope night breeze, east to west, for example. Clear Lake doesn't have that pattern, so nights can get so flat that you have no feeling of boat movement at you go from spot to spot. That is really cool during full-moon nights! Last night was one of those nights. All the shoreline lights were reflected as perfect twins on the flat water. Stunning!! As for baits we used - quite simple. Mike used small and giant Sweet Beavers and I used jigs. I tried D&M swim jigs and Berkley havoc baits (usually good baits), but could only get bit on jigs. So, what else is new? Again, 15 to 25 feet - some at 30. I tried deadsticking to no avail - they wanted the bait moving and twitched a bit.

Sunday, February 23rd, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 54-55

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Did not get an early start. Went out with Jim for first trip this year after getting some good intel , thanks Scott! Fished only the south mostly Redbud arm. First fish about 9:40 and then 10:20 both near Indian then a big lull third one in the afternoon on rocks at Rattlesnake. Lots of boats set up on key spots not leaving at all. Then back to Redbud in the afternoon, even more boats then. Little after 3 Jim hit 3 about 5 minutes. The slow moving pointer was the key. 8 fish total 7 were Jim's but he did credit me for putting him on the fish. Nothing on Jig, Swimbait, Drop Shot, crank bait or the "stupid" A- rig (there is one more of them on the bottom of the lake though). All fish were on jerk baits and no fish caught over 10' deep. Big fish 4.8 - best 5 went 17+. Beautiful day on the Lake, some wind but not enough to hurt. Water was stained way back and cleaned as you moved up. Saw a few A-Rig fish caught by tourney guys. Thanks Bob at redbud bait shop for the sticker / tips / hospitality, and for Jim's new pointer.

    Tips: Fish seem to be moving up already! Contact Scott before you go and get the latest skinny.....

Friday, February 21st, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 50-52

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Mike Sperbeck and I decided to see if we could repeat the 30 lb limit thing - and we did - barely. Actually, our trip last week was better than I reported. I thought I heard him say my big fish was 7.36 lbs, but she was actually 8.36 lbs. That gave us a 34lb 6oz limit. We started yesterday afternoon and actually caught 5 nice ones before dark, up to 5 1/2 lbs. After dark, Mike put on a show - hooking bass after bass, including an 8.12 and 7.76. He made up for his earlier bad trips. That's right - he caught 12 and I caught 4 - ugh!! I was pleased that some of the new places I wanted to try worked for him - HE caught all the good fish! Well - that must be the "guide" in me!! So, 30lb 3oz for our best five, on a beautiful, windless night.

    Tips: Again, most of our bass were in the top 15 feet of water. One or two maybe 20 feet. The baits we used are easy to report - all jigs with various trailers. I tried Senkos and deep crankbaits - nada. We got some of the same "crunch" bites like last week, but many were just pressure bites - maybe because of the previous north winds. All of our bass were on or next to some type of major ledge or dropoff.

Monday, February 17th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 52-55

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Weather: clear today
    Lake Level: 1.04 above rumsy\Best Depths: 3-30
    I took the kayak out of county park on sat. Plenty of water to launch a boat . 3 ft deep at the little tule patch in front and 5-6 ft at the channel bouys
    Big Bass: 3-30
    ive counted 20 fish over 10# caught this year from reports to the shop
    Events: A/C team this weekend
    fpt classic 3-7--3-9
    Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

    Tips: I caught a couple ripbait (128) at county park one was a 6#er . I fished two hours

Thursday, February 13th, 2014

  • By

    Water Temp: 48-51

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: After a few slow trips, Mike Sperbeck and I decided to give it another go. Glad we did!! We started about 5 pm and quit at 11 pm, out of Red Bud. Mike got the first one - all of 8". Where did that one come from in the winter?? He got one more before dark - much bigger, and then things became exciting! I didn't have a bite until 7:15 when a big bass crunched my jig!! I set in self-defense and soon landed a tail-walking 7.36 lb bass. Very nice first bite!! We then moved to an area that isn't fished much by us or anyone else. Soon big Mike is grunting and hollering - NET. He must think it is another 11! She went 8.52 lbs - yes, I had big fish for about 15 minutes!!! In the next hour I caught 3 between 5.9 and 6 lbs and we both had more in the 4 1/2 lb range. We were able to do the 30 lb thing early this year - best 5 at 33 lbs 6 oz. We had 10 bites each - I landed 8, Mike 6 + big fish. A very fair and square trip for both of us, making the tow home a piece of cake!!

    Tips: I caught all my bass on black/chartreuse Blade Runner and old Weapon jigs, with a 6" single tail Yamamoto grub. I think Mike was using a double-wide Beaver some of the time, and probably other baits too. None of the quality bass were deeper than 15 feet. Most were caught on off-shore structure. Rare to only wear a jacket during a Feb night. Cloud cover kept the air mass rather pleasant and probably helped the bite!