Submit
Report

Clear Lake and Reports

Limit:
Click for interactive map

Thursday, March 17th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 51

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: first time on clear lake ever,being from so. cal. my wife asked where i would like to go for our anniversary and i said clear lake. we got there late sat. and left tues. at noon. Fished some on sunday and had no idea where to fish and there was a big tourny going on so i just picked a spot and fished . managed to catch a 2# fish on a jerk bait . threw all i could think of that might trigger a strike and no luck. had some bad weather and with the wife it shortend my fishing time. monday nite was nice and my wife said she would try some nite fishing. went where i metered some fish during the day and my wifes first cast was a nice 5# and i managed a 6# fish. only fished 3 hours befor wife got cold and called it a nite . Realy had fun and loved the lake, it was just a huge lake and a little intimidating. plan on another trip as soon as i can.
    City: tehachapi

    Tips: caught my best fish on home made 7" pastic green weenies

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 50.8 - 55.2

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: This might be a shame - no posts since my last one? I guess there is no one fishing the lake much! Must have been a quiet weekend!! Not much pressure at night either - Mike Sperbeck and I were the only ones on the lake last night during a stunning, beautiful night. Dead calm sea and half moon in and out of the clouds. Air temp around 48-50. Now for the really good fishing report!! A 30-10 night again - FINALLY! Didn't know if it would ever happen again at Clear Lake. Mike and I boated a 30 1/4 lb limit and I landed my first "10" in awhile - #48 in my quest for 50 bass over 10 lbs in northern California. More importantly, Mike caught an 8 inch bass - a rarity these days. All our efforts were from below the narrows to the state park. We fished a ton of rocky areas and pitched to brush and trees. We ended up at Shag Rock where there are no fish left - except two. Mike caught a 2 1/2 and on the famous "last cast", I hooked another gorgeous bass - this lady at 8 lbs 1 oz. During our 6 hr trip, Mike caught 7 with his biggest at 5-2 (plus the dink) and I only caught 4, but their weight was about 24 lbs. Nice!! I lost 2 big bass and Mike dumped a 5 or 6 at the boat. We could have had a truly amazing weight - but no complaints from either of us. We did miss or lose about as many as we landed - Mike about 7 or 8 and me losing the 2 big ones and 2 others. Mike got some shallow bass to hit when the moon was brightest around 9 pm. but most of the quality bass were again around 20 to 35 feet deep. Bulky baits like the brush hog and Yamamoto big Flappin' Hog worked best.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I figured weather conditions would be ideal last night and that is why I called Mike about 3 PM and said "WE'RE GOIN'"!! Cloudy nights mean less heavy, damp air and an improved bite. Last night the boat was hardly damp and the bite was excellent. I did notice that many of the big bass were on the secondary ledges - 20 feet or below. When the bait fell off a ledge and landed in deeper water - I would let it sit - then shake it a bit. Bang!! That worked fairly good last night. While most of my bites the last two evenings have been just pressure bites, the "Lady 10" just CRUNCHED the bait. Probably the best hit I have had in over 2 years. I just kept setting the hook over and over while driving home. Nervous twitch???

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 49-54

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the Holder Ford Tourny at Clear Lake with Chris Z. Took 27th place out of 155 boats.
    First day we stayed north and fished the mouths of sloughs with ripbaits, Dry Creek Tubes and LV500's. We weighed 24.9 lbs and caught around 15 bass that day.
    Next day we caught a couple fish in the spots from the day before, and also flipped one on a jig in the keys, caught one on a ripbait in Konocti Bay, and flipped a few in Rodman Slough with a Brush Hog and a jig. Ended up catching 18.5 lbs that day.
    City: San Bruno

    Tips: Please visit www.russnyders.com for more fishing reports, videos, and info on Northern California Guide Trips.

    <a href="http://www.russnyders.com/">Rus Snyders Guide Service</a>

Thursday, March 10th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 49-55

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I took myself to the lake yesterday afternoon to check conditions and also keep up with the night bite, assuming there was one! The night seemed especially quite after watching all the bass boats buzz around during the day. I guess gas must be cheap somewhere! I started about 3pm on a series of rockpiles in the Rattlesnake arm and actually went to the wrong one - but tried it anyway. On the first cast, my BladeRunner brown/orange jig w/180 Yami grub got heavy - no bite whatsoever. I set anyway and lo and behold - a 3 3/4 pound was holding on. Nice fat bass! I did some looking around, checking water temps and conditions. Did find 55 degree down south. As night fell, the bite was dead and the skies cleared - as usual. Finally it clouded up about 9 pm and the fun began!! Until midnight, I was 6 for 7 which included a 5-2, 4-10, 4-9 (those two 4's on back-to-back casts!), 4-3, 3-9, and a 2 something. Limit was about 22 lbs. After midnight the skies cleared again and I went home, At least I had a few hours of cloud cover!! Even though the water averaged 50-51 at night, there was NO bite. As I have said in the past - it was either a bass or a 5 ton rock!!! The Power Hog or brush hog just got heavy. I caught one of the fish on a black/blue D&M Piranha swim jig, but didn't get any other bites on that bait, which was surprising! The bass were all over the place depth-wise. The day fish was 11 feet and the night bass were 20 to 38 feet.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: It was fun to run into my former client - Marty P., last night. I can't spell his last name - it has 20 letters, har!). He has become quite the night fisherman, as some of you know! It is fun for a guide to light the fire under someone and see them take off and become who they are! I believe lighting that fire has cost him a hundred grand or so!! Don't blame me! As a final thought, watch the lake level - it is about 7 1/2 feet (Rumsey Scale) with more rain coming. I think they close the lake to boating at 9 feet. Not sure.

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 47-49

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: fished rodmen to redbud 0 fish

    Tips: the weather killed the bite :(

Monday, March 7th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 52-57

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I had two great clients last weekend - good fishermen!! They towed their boat up from Arizona and fished the day before I came, and did well with bass up to 6 1/2 lbs. Welcome to California!! They were impressed, never having been on the lake before! Over the weekend, the bite was very slow, but we covered one end of the lake to the other - many, many miles on my new Z521!! I thought Monday would be a recovery day for the bite (after I went home!) and it was as they did well with another 6 pounder to boot! While I was with them for the weekend, they caught several in the 3 to the near 4 lb range, all on plastics. They threw their Alabama rigs a lot but only caught one or two - very slow. Clear water with NO breath of wind made conditions very tough. My biggest was 4 1/4 lbs on a jig and my smallest was 12 inches - first dink of the year!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Clear lake is famous for the hurricane winds, but many don't know that it can be as flat as a pane of glass, mostly in the winter. It actually gets more so in the cold months than most other lakes in Nor Cal (not talking about stormy weather of course). Again, that made for some tough fishing over the weekend. Changes will occur about the last week of March when the spring and summer coastal afternoon wind pattern set in. During heat spells, the wind isn't too bad and the morning are calm. When Natures "air conditioner" - the delta breezes - cool us off in the summer, the "cool" is brought in by wind. Same at Clear Lake - except it is usually not a "breeze!" Expect big wind day and night. The northwest end of the lake around Lakeport is usually more protected however. As September rolls on, the wind usually diminishes in intensity and by October, the best windless weather of the year begins. If any of you mature SF Giants fans remember freezing during night games at Candlestick Park, you might also remember the nicest day or evening game was the last game of the season - around Oct 1st!!

Saturday, March 5th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 47 - 50

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: CLEARLAKE BASSMASTERS hosted their March Club Tournament. The rain kept some away, but 6 boats competed. 5 of six caught limits, nothing under 4# was brought in. Big fish was over 8#. GREAT DAY FISHIN' CLEAR LAKE ! jerk baits - swim baits & drop shotting all produced fish.
    City: UKIAH

    Tips: morning bite was best !!!! Drop shotting is the ticket ! ENJOY YOUR DAY ON THE WATER !

Monday, February 14th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 48-52

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Great weather and great fishing this last week on Clear Lake,

    The water level is up and the fish are biting, catching healthy and strong fighting fish from 3 to 5 1/2 pounds on Jigs / Shaky Heads and minnows, the LV 500 bite is also good and some fish can be caught on the medium size Swim Baits, both fished slow on the bottom in 5 to 18 ft of water.

    I fished in the Red Bud arm and only had to fish a few spots, most of the fish had moved up from the deep rock piles to the first break on the shore line.
    City: Clear Lake

    Tips: Fish the Jigs slow, and work them from 5 to 18 ft, most the bites came from the 12 ft range.

    The best time for me was around noon,.

    I know there is a good Rip Bait bite up north to, i just had fun fishing the rocks down south. .

    Lets hope this year will be wide open at Clear Lake !


    Have fun..... .
    for more information... StevePerkinsFishing.com

Friday, February 11th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 53

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Up from Sacramneto for a day and a half of fishing. Fished with minnows and found 12 bass between 3 and 6 lbs. All fish were in 20-25 feet. tried deeper tried shallower, that depth was the key. Also tried artificals with no luck even when we knew the fish were there.
    City: Sacramento

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 47

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Clients had a very good week using minnows in the northern end of the lake, in water from 4' to 9'. One of my very good clients had one of the best days ever, catching 22 quality bass in just 5 hours. He had a 2-6's, 3-5's & his personal best a nice 9.2, all the rest were from 3 to 4 plus pounds. In all there were 58 bass caught on just 3 half day trips. The lure bite is there but its not the best, however with this warm weather, things are starting to pick up. Now if the very cool nights were too warm, things should start to get the pre- spawen'ers moving up and feeding a lot more. Tight-Lines" Hope to see you on the water.
    City: Kelseyville

    Tips: A varity of lures are working ie:rip baits, lipless crank baits & jig's, in both the deep water & shallow. It's just a very slow bite, so if you wan't to just have fun and catch some very nice bass, try the minnows..

Saturday, January 29th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 47* to 49*

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Took my nephew and started at 7am. Fished a couple of spots with success. Caught 16 between the 2 of us. 4-4lbs, 3-5lbs, 2-6lbs and an 8.5, the rest were 2s and 3s lbs. They didn't take any artificials. All were caught with Jumbo Minnows.
    City: sacramento

    Tips: All were caught in the 20' to 25' depth. Fish slow.

Friday, January 28th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 47-51

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I guided two good anglers last night with weather conditions very nice and fishing only sorta nice. I know one of my clients would do well since his last name is January!! And do well he did as he put all three of our bass in the boat - 3 lbs 8 oz, 4-3, and a nice 5-7! He caught them all on his own Rodstrainer jigs that he brought. The other client missed his one hit and I had two hit a D&M swim jig but they never inhaled it. I really was disappointed in the bite since it wasn't too cold until midnight and not too damp with dew. In spite of warmer surface temps since I was there last, the bass were deeper. All of our hits were on rocky points.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: One will have to move around to find willing bass. When you do catch them - they are in good shape!

Friday, January 21st, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 45-52

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the South end of the lake, Magic Worms, Crank Bait, Drop Shots, Spinners, nightcrawlers, anchovies again just about everything in the old tackle box again. Fished the west side of the lake opposite of the county launch in Clearlake with no success. But the weather was nice and it was good to see some other people out enjoying the day, fished in 30-38 feet of water with the fish showing around 12-18 feet depth again no fish caught. I will attempt again tomorrow! Weather looks good for awhile! Get out and toss a line in! See you out in the lake! Fonzie
    City: Clearlake

    Tips: Could use some Tips myself!

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 45-50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Clear night that began somewhat warm, went from Clearlake all the way out to Rattlesnake Island. Plenty of fish on the fishfinder just none in the boat. Dropped down pretty cold by 430am. Tried everything in the tackle box, plus some anchovies and nightcrawlers for some Catfish but no luck. Wind came and went but was not that bad. If anyone knows where the fish are hiding or what seems to be working any tips would be helpful. Have fun fishing! Fonzie
    City: Clearlake

    Tips: I could use some good winter fishing tips! All and any or greatly appreciated!

Saturday, January 1st, 2011

  • By

    Water Temp: 71

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The bite was slow with 3 bass 3.5 - 4.9 all on jigs and one 8-9 lbs catfish on a jig.

    What was disapointing was how nasty the keys were. I'm not talking about alge bloom, I'm talking about the floating oil. The smell was so bad I almost vomited. I think EPA needs to do a little investigating on the pollution within the keys. Yuck!
    City: Lincoln

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

  • By

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Sometime we all just need to talk less and fish what we know. That is what's wrong with a Bass fisherman, to caught up trying to be the next guy. We are all Pro's until we found out the guy that won stuck to the basic's. Bummer ey?
    City: clearlake

    Tips: Just cast baby. It's like paying the lottery.

Monday, December 27th, 2010

  • By

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Hey Ray, all of the above what AB stated and my brother and I also throw senkos in watermelon/red flake at the docks, dropshot white or wtrmln/rf 4" yamamoto cut-tail worms at the rockpiles. Slow roll 3/8" spinnerbaits also works but we generally stick with the plastics. Increase the worms to 6" sometimes gets bigger fish but we've gotten 2-5lbers on 4" worms just the same. They're decent but at Clear Lake, they're not the big ones. Clear Lake has your homestate quality bass! Good fishin!!
    City: folsom

    Tips: All of the above...you'll get more tips when you hit the launch and the water.

Saturday, December 25th, 2010

  • By

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Hey Ray-right now, your best bet is to use electronics and find fish on offshore rock piles and ledges, though you will find fish suspended around deepwater docks. There are various opinions on techniques to use, but one thing I've been successful with is to either darthead (for suspended fish) or T-rig (fish on the bottom) a very small black, pumpkin or natural shad curly tail worm and drop it on graphed fish, then just stay on top of 'em for awhile. Use the minimum amount of weight you need to get down to them. Also, the Duh Spoon in morning dawn color is a good one, as is yo-yo-ing an LV 500 when you find a school. Big swim baits and deep cranks fished slowly across points will work as well. Hope that helps.
    City: Clearlake Park

  • By

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: How is the fishing on Clear Lake this time of the year. Just moving out to CA from FLA and wanted to see if anyone had any recommendations and/or tips for fishing Clear Lake during the winter. Thanks and Merry Christmas.
    City: Fairfield

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

  • By

    Water Temp: 49-52

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I made a quick trip to Clear Lake last night to check on the night bite. I launched about 7 pm - looked right, looked left, and behold! - there wasn't a tournament going on! I fished many areas to get a feel of what was going on in the short time I was on the water. It may be the first night I couldn't get bit on a Brush Hog. I was 4 for 5, naturally losing the one that hit the best. The quality was pretty good - 6-3, 5-5, 4-13, and around 3 1/2 (didn't weigh the small one). All were caught on a black/red D&M Piranha swim jig (3/8 oz). One was about 15 feet deep - the others over 30 feet deep. Very subtle bite last night. I really love my fluorescent Berkely Fireline - helps me feels those winter "non-bites"!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Spinnerbaits probably would have worked also - they seemed to need a blade to get then to commit. The south breeze made it impossible to fish some spots. About 11:30 pm the lake went dead-flat calm - gorgeous! Couldn't get bit at Rattlesnake Island after doing well on some previous trips.