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Thursday, January 23rd, 2014

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    Water Temp: 45-48

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Weather: clear stable no wind 70s daytime 30s at night
    Lake Level: 7 ft down from full but most ramps still usable\Best Depths: 10-30
    still kinda slow with plastics but guys are getting big fish.minnow bite is good
    Big Bass: 10-3001/21/2014 - 13.54
    John Pearl on a swimbait
    Events: ABA team coming up 2-16
    Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

    Tips: I went minnow fishing yesterday and we caught 16 bass to 8 lbs and 3 catfish 15-30 ft deep in 5 hour trip

Thursday, January 16th, 2014

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    Water Temp: 46-48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: As I have said before - it takes a real man to make this report. Fishing was tough yesterday - at least in the lower lake. Mike and I fished for a little over 5 hours - from 4 pm 'til a little after 9 pm. I had 2 giant bites - yea - all of 3 1/2 and 2 3/4 lbs - after dark. Hey, at least I boated both of my bites!! Mike is still recovering from his recent 11.35 bass - hasn't had a bite in awhile. Mine were caught on black/blue hog-type baits in about 15 feet of water. Saw very little bait and few fish on the meter anywhere! At least yesterday - they weren't on the bank anywhere. I will end with the conditions - the warmest January night I have ever seen at Clear lake - and the full moon rise at dusk was nothing short of stunning! Problem is: too many sun and moon rises - how about rain clouds!!!

    Tips: Nothing much to say. The water temp this time of year might inch up on the surface, but after dark is returns to 46-49 degrees. Starting in February, the warm sun will mean something as the rays begin to penetrate deeper and fish will start moving more shallow - especially up north. They might not have far to go this year.

Sunday, December 29th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 46

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished south end from daylight til dark. Swimbaits, arig, crank, jig, ripbait, and minnows. Covered all depths. Got six bites between 5pm and 6pm. Boated 4, biggest 3.5lbs with minnows. Long day and drive.

    Tips: My guess is the bite is early then late. You have to know were there at. We marked very few fish throughout the day. Weather needs to change

Monday, December 23rd, 2013

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    Water Temp: 44-48

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Weather: clear warm almost 70 yesterday
    Lake Level: .66 or 7 ft low\Best Depths: shallow in the afternoons
    ive had reports of several limits 27-31 pounds a rigs ,cranking , ripbaits , jigs all working and minnows
    Big Bass: shallow in the afternoons12/14/2013 - 10.35
    george hill on a A rig
    Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

    Tips: if you can find em you can load the boat

Wednesday, December 18th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 46-50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: A brief report for a brief trip! A friend and I fished from 5 to 9:30 pm Tues evening, mostly in the south end. I hit the jackpot with the only bite we got. It was a GOOD bite - weighing in at 8.00 lbs. Gorgeous bass!! That makes up for the bass I caught a few years ago in a night tourney that went 5.99 lbs! Imagine - they wouldn't round it off to 6 lbs - LOL!!!! Water was dead flat calm with a full moon that was too bright. Moon is straight up in the winter - very few shadows except under docks. My fish took a black/chartreuse jig w/black/green sparkle Yamamoto 6" grub. I think about 20 feet deep - good hit too! Why was that the only one??

    Tips: Glad we went last night - wind is blowing tonight! I used Berkley baits and swim jigs also - nada! My friend fished jigs the whole time - nada!

Monday, December 16th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 45-48

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Weather: clear warmer to 60s daytime
    Lake Level: low need rain bad\Best Depths: 3-30
    crankbaits are still king . i had a guy tell me he had a 28 pound limit on a a rig so that bite has started
    Big Bass: 3-30
    brendan sapp showed me some photos of several in the 8-9 pound class in the last two weeks
    Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

    Tips: crankbaits, a rigs or go minnow fishing. not much fishing pressure but the fish are biting!!

Monday, December 9th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 45 ish

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Weather: cold
    Lake Level: .6 above rumsey\Best Depths: there is always some fish shallow
    water temps dropped but the wind hasnt been as bad
    crankbaits and a rigs, minnow bite will be the best bet for a while
    Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

    Tips: i took some minnows out in my kayak on friday and fished two hours in 8ft of water and had a 7,a 5 and a couple 3-4 pounders

Wednesday, December 4th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 52

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Sunday night & Monday afternoon & evening. The bite was tough for us. We pulled in right before the cold front. The only bites we got were on the jig. We threw just about everything else. Texas rigs, cranks, swimbaits, blades, were all a no go. The wind got progressively worse and so did the bite! We managed a 5.5 & a 3.5 with a few other hits. Broke off one good one in Konocti & that about sums the trip up for us.

    Tips: I think it's hit or miss right now & we missed! The strikes we got were slowly presenting a jig. The bites were very soft! Keep an eye on the weather, I think if you hit it right, thr bite would be good. Also, lost one using Sunline Floro. The stuff doesn't seem to work for me!

Monday, December 2nd, 2013

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    Water Temp: around 50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Weather: clear stable calm warm for this time of year
    Lake Level: low we need rain!!!!!!!!!!!!\Best Depths: 2-30 you can still find shallow fish
    guys are still doing good shallow and deep cranking, but you can catch fish on lots of things,swimbaits,jigs etc. minnow guys are doing better now that the weather stablized
    Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

    Tips: alabama rig bite should be there just not many guys talking about it.find the shad and you will find fish.

Saturday, November 30th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 54-56

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Mike Sperbeck and I hit the lake for awhile late Wed afternoon and for about 3 hrs after dark. A VERY special trip for Mike as all personal best trip are!! How does 11.35 lbs sound? Love that feeling when I can't lift the net into the boat with one hand! I tried to keep up (not really) but was 4 lbs short - my best was 7.25 lbs. We had 3 more between 5 and near 6 lbs for a best 5 of 34 1/4 lbs. First 30+ limit of the year!! We missed a few and landed three others between 3 1/2 and 4 3/4 lbs. We had a somewhat stiff south wind which made boat control quite different. It could have gotten some big fish moving however.

    Tips: Jigs ruled for us - Mike was using his own homemade jig w/Yamamoto grub trailer. I was using one of the Blade Runner jigs - 1/2 oz. Rick Tietz said it was a newer brown/orange color. Not sure if the bass knew that in the dark of the moon! We stayed in the Clearlake arm most of the time. Areas that had steepest dropoffs held the biggest bass.

Wednesday, November 27th, 2013

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Just got back from my 4 day trip. Saturday was pretty tough with the high winds and big water to deal with. I did manage to catch a couple 5lbers on a crankbait in a craw pattern. Sunday the lake was like glass but the temps dropped big time over night. I decided to go get some minnows and just catch a few fish. The catfish bite out deep in 18 to 30 feet was really good. Caught a 20lber and a few others over 10lbs with a few small bass here and there. Monday was a different story all together. I fished midlake most of the day with crankbaits and swimbaits. Ended up with 29lbs for my best 5. Tuesday morning i stuck a 8.11 on a crankbait then a few 5's on a swimbait. I was off the water by 1pm.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Cover a lot of water, the fish are spread out. Throw your convidence baits and just stick with it. Once you catch one evalualte where that fish was and why it bit. Try to duplicate that.

Monday, November 18th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 60

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Decided to head up to Clear Lake to do some night fishing on monday. Fished from 5pm to 10pm. Talked to a gentleman who said the bite has been really tough latley. I guess he went out all day monday and didnt get a bite. I spoke with another gentleman that said the same thing. Im assuming the fish are in there fall to winter transition which would explain the tough bite. Well... first cast for me in Jones Bay got a 5.5 lber on a double wide beaver texas rigged with a 3/8 OZ wieght. Next cast same bait another 5.5 lber!I was stoked and thinking the bite was gonna be off the hook! Definatley not!Got two bites the rest of the night on a big swimbait and missed both of them. I guess the first cast curse struck again. The two i did catch were fairly shallow, about 5ft. The other two bites i had on a swimbait were in about 15 ft. Im planning on going back up saturday through tuesday of next week. I heard the wind is going to be really bad for next couple days so im expecting it to be a really tough post frontal bite. Ill post when i get back and let everyone know how it went.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: No real tips for this trip but anyone planning on fishing clear lake this weekend better slow way down!

Wednesday, November 13th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 58-60

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: This report will be brief. Want to make sure this new system works - LOL! I took a client from Oregon yesterday, late afternoon 'til midnight. He is a very good bass fisherman and showed it during this trip! His first trip on the water ever, after dark. He caught 16 bass - including a matching pair of 6 1/4 pounders. He was liking after dark fishing more and more - imagine that!! I fished different baits and caught 7 - the biggest at 6-10, using a D&M Piranha swimjig. We fished all over the south end and some mid-lake. Best bite was soon after dark for the quality bass, and they gradually became smaller (3 to 4 lbs) after 10pm. I was very pleased with our 29+ lb best five - but didn't quite make the magic 30 lb limit. Most of the biggest bass were between 10 to 20 feet. Smaller ones a bit more shallow.

    Tips: We used all soft plastics except for the D&M swimjig. He was an expert using the 6" Senko! We used Berkely Havoc baits, Power worms, and various jigs. Other than a few earth shaking hits. most were soft bites - some watching the line move sideways in the black light.

Monday, November 4th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 60 ish

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Weather: cool mornings around 30 60s daytime
    Lake Level: 1 ft above rumsey normal for this time of year\Best Depths: you can catch em in a foot or 30 ft whatever you want to fish
    not many reports coming in but the reports im getting are good. lv 500, deep and shallow cranking, swimbaits and spinnerbaits are a good bet
    Big Bass: you can catch em in a foot or 30 ft whatever you want to fish
    11.49 in the aba toc caught by JodyJordan
    Events: small club events only until new year
    Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

    Tips: minnow bite is coming on strong had a pair of anglers said they went thru 10 dozen on sat.
    catfishing remains very good .not uncommon to catch 15-20 pounders right now . lots of silversides still up and more threadfin shad than in the last couple years

Saturday, November 2nd, 2013

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    Water Temp: 61-65

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Mike Sperbeck and went to the lake Fri afternoon/night for some quiet time of bass fishing. Wow!! When we hit Henderson Point about 6 pm - there was a November party going on. Didn't see a burger stand however! Nine boats on both sides of the Henderson wall, 3 or 4 boats on Shag, and a few elsewhere. I have never seen that in November - with boats fishing up 'til dark. I know there was a party somewhere - maybe today! Anyway, Mike and I fished Henderson and surrounding area for a few hours and still were able to catch some quality bass. We hit some of our favorite area on the way back to Red Bud, where Mike was able to land a 6 lb 7 oz bass - our biggest. I lost a real big bass after a good battle. Not my night! We landed 8 with the best 5 slightly over 25 lbs. All caught on jigs - fairly shallow - 5 to 20 feet. Nada on topwater.

    Tips: I must say that I lost the big bass on one of "Cooch's Wadda jigs - and I don't think it was the jigs fault. Ran into Cooch - at night no less - and he wanted me to try one of his jigs which he was nice enough to give me. Obviously it was of interest to a really big bass. I would expect the water to cool pretty quickly now - which should cause the more compact "brush hog or jig" type baits to be more attractive to large bass. Big bass do tend to prefer "bulk" type baits in cold water. Longer, plastic worm type baits aren't as effective in cold water. Also, downsizing is often necessary during the winter days - but not at night.

Sunday, October 20th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 63 - 70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Figured it time to head back out to clearlake. Had not been out there since spring. Tiger and I fished from the narrows south, both forks, started with rock piles where we knew them and other deeper spots we had luck on in the past. Overall we did catch 12 fish but no real size, couple 3.5 and a 2+ and a couple other would be keepers but the rest dinks. Overall best 5 maybe 12 lbs. Nothing from the rocks for us, not a single fish. Tiger got two on a jig and I got a couple on dropshot and the rest came on senko (some with splitshot). Most of the fish came after 4:00. Alot of fishing with no bites - crank bait, rattle trap, spinner bait, swim bait, even a spook in the shallows. Limit out Tackle was very open with local info and what's "hot"- thanks for that! He told us there was alot of pressure on the lake the last 3 days. We are going to stick with our excuse that the big boys (FLW Two day tourney and ABA finals) with 150+ team boats over 3 days bringing who knows how many fish back to the weigh-in is why we were a little light :) Young girl at Clearlake oaks landed a nice catfish about 10# when we were pulling out. Weather was beautiful all day, almost no wind.

    Tips: Missed several hookups on plastics for some reason.

    Did not fish north end of the lake at all - maybe should have tried it.

Thursday, October 3rd, 2013

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    Water Temp: 66-69

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I guided a good angler from Chicago Tues and Wed evening - fighting wind most of the time. We fought our way to Henderson Point area where he caught his first Clear Lake bass - about 4 3/4 lbs! The man from Chicago was impressed!! I had him using a green pumpkin Berkely Havoc Craw Fatty. He caught another nice one pushing 4 lbs using a Power worm. I caught a 3 1/2 on a jig. We lost 3 or 4. The wind calmed down some. Last night was a different story - very dangerous wind conditions - as bad as I have seen for a few years.. The Wed night tourney guys went out and luckily made it back alive! I wasn't going risk that boat ride with a client, so we fished areas across from Red Bud. He missed 2 or 3 on his spinnerbait, which he loves to throw. I decided to try a red shad Dead Ringer 8" worm - with the giant tail working thru weed openings. After landed a mighty 10 inch monster, I got a fair hit in 3 feet of water. I managed a good hookset in spite of the bow in my line. Out of the water jumps a big bass and the fight was on. We guessed 5 lbs but the number kept going up in my mind! It took forever to land her in the wind but finally a nice 7 lb 2 oz bass joined our group! If there was ever a time I wasn't thinking big bass - this was it! You just never know - especially if you were using 8 lb test!!! We gave up a little while later. We joined the tourney guys trying to get our boats out as gale force winds blew directly into the ramp! Ugly - but all boats out ok - I think!

    Tips: We didn't get a lot of bites during the 2 trips, but Berkely soft plastics and the Dead Ringer seemed to work ok. We tried some reaction baits with no success. I like to think the red shad was a good color for the beginning of fall. At least one of the bass agreed with me!

Monday, September 23rd, 2013

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    Water Temp: 64-

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Mon - Weds. right in a cold front coming in. Wind was bad, worst being Tues night when we didn't even try to go out. Fishing was a little slow except for Monday evening when they were on a good bite. Caught them on jigs, Texas rigged double wide beavers, & a few crank fish tossed in. Tuesday evening was slow, they were off the double wide beaver & jig bite, they were hitting 7" Powerworm green pumpkin & Yamamoto Kreature in junebug. Weds. was the most consistent with all the aforementioned baits working plus we got a 6'5 on the 5" Senko . Even nailed a 5.5 lb bladefish. The best limits were Mon. @ 23.6 & Weds. @ 21.4. You don't want to know what Tues best limit was lol. There's a ton of Silversides all over the place so next Spring outta be great!

    Tips: Wind started declining Weds evening, wished I could have fished just one more day! You have to hide from the wind. It got so ridiculous Tues. you lost contact with your bait. Since our fishing spots were limited, we pounded the areas we could fish! Didn't see anyone else fishing where we were at! what ever technique you use, slow it down a little, they seemed bait specific, so we through alot of different baits at the same spots to see what worked. We couldn't move around much! I do think, however, the bite's gonna be lights out in the next 6-8 weeks if you pick out the weather!

Wednesday, September 18th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 71-74

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Monday the 16th all day & Tuesday the 17th in the morning until the wind got to be way too much to be worth the risk...especially since it was my sisters first trip in way to many years. Monday...fishing was good, launched out of Clearlake Oaks and ran up to the "wall" where she wasted no time in putting the first fish in the boat, a nice fat 3.5lber, which I promptly bested with a nice 5+...and so it went. We fished all the way to Glenhaven and put together a nice 25lb(+/-) limit for the day. Tuesday the wind had been up since the early AM and it wasn't a particularly a gentle ride up to the narrows. Fished from the islands down to Konocti before deciding the wind wasn't going to lay down and in fact was getting worse. The few small fish that were biting weren't helping to convince us out there. Made it back to the ramp safely only to have the left rear brake on the truck all but lock up as we were pulling off the ramp. Ended up having to have the truck towed to Lakeport to get it worked on....I know this is a "fishing report" but have to publically thank Bob from "Limit Out Bait & Tackle" as I called and explained the situation that being over 130 miles from home AAA would tow the truck but wouldn't touch the boat/trailer. I asked if I could get the boat/trailer over to the shop, could I leave it at the there until I could make arrangements to somehow getting it home. Well, Bob went "above and beyond" to help...and actually dropped his boat off and brought his truck over to the ramp and towed the boat back to the shop while I waited for the tow truck, then waited after hours for me to get back from the repair shop to pick it up and head for home. Restored my faith in at least some of the human race...Just can't say enough about that kind of unexpected response. It definitely made a bad situation a lot less stressful. Thanks again Bob!!!
    City: Colfax

    Tips: Green & Brown jig & trailer combos seem to put most of the better fish in the boat on Monday, with a few on Brushogs pitched around & under the docks. Got a few on chrome & shad rattle baits from the stretches between docks, but didn't find the previously mentioned top water or blade bite though...

Monday, September 16th, 2013

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    Water Temp: 70-75

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Weather: cooler in the 80s this week, windy sunday morning on south end
    Lake Level: still dropping but launching is still fine everywhere\Best Depths: the buzzbait fish were in a foot of water but you can catch fish deep
    fished south for two hours sunday morning in the kayak .three on the buzzbait and a couple on a dropshot
    Events: scbbc classic 9/28-29
    triton owners 10/5-6
    Guide Information: clearlake outdoors\Name & Number: 707-262-5852

    Tips: cooler weather should improve the bite
    we finally got some jumbo minnows in