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Thursday, March 4th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 51

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Wednesday was brutally cold. The rain was coming down pretty hard on the drive up, but at 8am when we launched the sun popped out, for a few hours anyway. With frozen hands we made our way from Lakeport to the Clear Lake State Park. We begin by throwing ripbaits (Lucky Craft 128 pointer), and swimbaits (Osprey and Basstrix). We cover water quickly and make sure not to waist to much time in one spot. The water color and temperature would fluctuate drastically in the matter of 100 yards. The mouths of the creeks were dirty, but right around the corner you could see the bottom in 4 feet of water. With only a couple short strikes on the swimbait, we make our way south to fish rockpiles at the mouth of the Clear Lake Keys. Still, a couple missed bites, but no fish in the boat. We then pull out the jigs and flipping rods and head into the keys. In an hour or so we catch two bass, both around 3 pounds. At around 2, the temperature drops about 15 degrees, the sun goes away, and it starts hailing. The next few hours were painful, we both though our fingers were going to fall off. Low 40

    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>

Friday, February 26th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 45-50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Started out south.I was able to find a pattern early. Fishing docks near the deepest water. I threw a weedslinger as far back as I could under the docks. Lots of giant followers. I did get 4 fish that would go 18-20lbs. Biggest was around 8.
    City: Colusa

    Tips: hit the top of the grass all the way to deep water. The fish were hitting the bait in the deepest water. fish slow. Be ready.

Saturday, February 20th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 45-50

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Went out today and caught 17 lbs doing the things the previous posts said to do, thinking we did okay! Wrong! Look at the "AC Clear Lake "Slug Fest" Results" in the forums! 35.78 lbs won first place!!!

    Tips: Ouch!

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 50-55

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I fished late Tues afternoon with jigs and ripbaits with no success until just before dark with my first on a Blade Runner jig. I fished about 3 hrs after dark south of the narrows and was 4 for 7, three of them from 4 1/4 to just under 5 lbs. About 18 1/4 - 18 1/2 lb limit. One on a D&M piranha swim jig and the rest on jigs. Average depth was 20 feet - nothing shallow. I had a "learn the lake better" guide trip yesterday. We fish all over from Soda Bay south and found the fishing slow. Thankfully he did catch a few. We looked at the water in Konocti Bay and was amazed at the clarity of the water already - about 6 to 8 feet. Amazing! Upcoming tourney for him, so no more from me!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Every year in Feb it seems that I am fooled as are a lot of anglers when we get a warm spell in Feb and think the bite will bust open. But water temp rules and the sun penetration in Feb is still only 1/3 of what it is in summer. The warmth of the sun really doesn't change water temp much until mid-March, plus the warm afternoons are longer as the spring progresses. In spite of 72 degree air temp, it is still winter below the surface of a lake. I saw that Tues evening when the surface temp was up to 55 and 3 or 4 hrs later was down to 49-50! Moral - don't rush mother nature!!

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    Water Temp: 52

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: been getting an excelent jig bite thanks to mavrick jigs and ed at tackle it stick to dark colors
    City: potter valley

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    Water Temp: 52-54

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Great to see the lake back up! Only mannaged to pull seven off my area that i key on this time of year! Sun came up and seemed like the i could get them to react to the jerkbait in the AM but as the day progressed i pulled way off and used the graph to key in! Got a nice 4 on a jig on a three foot drop off but that was it! Im really curious to see how the Elites do here this Year especially with all the pressure this lake gets this time of year!
    City: Northern Cali

    Tips: Everyone know where the fish are in this lake and how to catch them! My tip is come mentally prepared for the task and hand and dance with the B**** you Brought! Dont forget the things you learned to get to where you are and be respecful to other fishermans water! Its a HUGE lake just move down the bank a hundred yards till they leave! Rip-um!

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 52-55

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Water got up to 55 degrees today!
    City: lakeport

Sunday, February 14th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 50ish

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Rodman dirty, also cache. Tried rock piles with some success south and narrows. Deeper areas held more fish and size was proportionate.
    City: sac

    Tips: Water is rising and patterns will change. Also temperatures will raise motabilization. Tules may be interesting.

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 45-47

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: We launched the boat at the Clear Lake Oaks at around 6:45. Because of all the storms we

    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>

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

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    Water Temp: ?

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: took my girlfriend to county park with minnows so she could have fun and catch some bass, but we didnt even get a bite. i also tried a jig with no bites
    City: ro po

    Tips: dont ask me!

Friday, January 29th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 46-48

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Mike Sperbeck and I made a quick trip to Clear Lake last night to check things out - not expecting the bite to be too good. The real excitement was seeing the lake up around 4 feet - just amazing - wonderful!!! We only fished 4 hours, 6 or 7 bites, landing a 2 3/4, 3 1/2, and one topping 4 lbs. Did lose a bigger one. Mike stuck with a brush hog and I used the Piranha swim jig.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Water seemed to be cleaner as we went south and quite murky north. A little hard to tell at night. Thought we would get some shallow bites but they were still about 20-25 feet deep. Again, as last trip, good cloud cover for first 2 hours (8 to 10 pm), clearing and colder next 2 hrs - bite died. Actually, it was never really alive, har!!

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 48 or so

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Went out with my good friend Jim for our first 2011 Bass. What a beautiful day on the lake - except for the fishing part. There was a team tournament out of the north end but did not see one person catch a fish all day. At the ramp boater with 3 guys said they did Ok with a 6# as the big fish but were using minnows all day. Water temp rose as much as 4 degrees in the shallower flats but no luck there. Fished 5 to 30 feet and everythign in between, off-shore rockpiles, rattlesnake, state park, redbud arm, never had a fish on. Mostly plastics, brush hog, drop shot, but tried many others, spinner bait, swim baits, jerk bait, crank bait, jig, etc. Then at 4:30 heading back to the ramp Jim opened the rear locker we had our food in my first nightmare. He had a banana in the bottom of his lunch bag. Fishing was tough enough without that bad luck charm in the boat. "I forgot to eat it on the ride up" was all he could say.....still had a good time getting out on the water.
    City: Pacifica

    Tips: Minnows if you are so inclined....and no Banana.

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    Water Temp: 48

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Weather was perfect this weekend sat and sun...the rains stayed away until Sun night. Fishing was slow but the quality is great. Jigs fished slow near ledges and rocks is the deal. But if you want constant action take some jumbo minnows - the minnow bite is off the chain. Got some rip fish but the bigger fish all came on the jig. Water level is coming up so thats a really good thing. You can launch from the Lucerne Harbor again.
    City: Fairfield

    Tips: Fish slow unless you gow tih minnows. also there's a new tackle shop down the street from the Lucerne ramp - stopped in and met the owner George...really nice guy and very nice shop.

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    Water Temp: 47-49

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: A friend and I decided to check out the winter night bite for a few hours Fri night. We fished from 7:30 pm 'til midnight. The bite started out pretty good for fair sized bass up to 5 1/2 lbs. In fact, the first 5 were a little over 22 lbs. No big fish hookups however. We fished several rocky areas in the narrows and south end - most fish taken about 25-30 feet. We were 10 for 11 - 11 hooked, 10 landed. Again - timing! The clouds parted and the fish got smaller - one even at 2 lbs! One doesn't usually see those fish in the winter at night. At least the warm cloud cover lasted for awhile. Four, including the 5 1/2, were caught on my black/red D&M Piranha Swim Jig with a Berkely Power worm trailer, and the rest on brush hogs and Kreature baits.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Hope to see lots of you at the ISE show in Sacramento, Thurs thru Sun. Kent Brown has again lined up lots of great speakers and a great roundtable discussion mid-day on Sat. I will be speaking on deep water techniques at 11:30 am Thurs and Fri.

Friday, January 15th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 45-48

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Help! We need 2011 on the date icon! Mike Sperbeck and I shook off holiday cobwebs and decided to get nice and cold at night on Clear Lake. Maybe the fishing would be hot!! Well, sorta - in a 15 minute period! We started about 10 pm - Mike throwing a brush hog and me using the trusty black/red D&M Piranha swim jig w/ 6" Yamamoto grub trailer. Within minutes I felt a pressure movement and set the hook. My first 7 pounder in awhile at Clear Lake found her way to the net. Wow, I wasn't sure there was any of those left in the south end. After regrouping, the next cast produce as much of a bite as one will get in 45 degree water. This time she was 6 lbs 13 oz. About 5 minutes, Mike's hog works some magic and he is into his first - and only - nice bass. She went 6 lbs 1 oz. I had one more good fish on which I lost. That was it folks - 4 bites, 3 in the boat for an ounce or two under 20 lbs. That is almost like the 'ol days (er, nights!!)
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: The air temp was up to 65 degrees during the day and might have brought the nice ones up a little shallower. All our hits were about 15 to 25 feet deep. I saw deeper fish on my new Lowrance HDS-7 (WOW, what a unit!) but couldn't get then to go. Lake lever looks great - only about a foot and a half to full pool. Our fish were caught in 45 degree water. We found lots of 47 and 48 degree water - no bites!

Saturday, January 9th, 2010

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    Water Temp: 48 degrees

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Tried everything rip baits,jigs,fluke,crank,shaky head and the only thing that produced was a double drop shot 4" aarons magic appx. 20" off bottom in appx. 12' water.
    City: Penn Valley

    Tips: Fish deep docks

Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Napa Steve, you're right; I got so caught up in only being a "bass fisherman" that I forgot my own roots and how I learned to fish from dad and uncles. In fact, I still use live bait drifting on the bay and tuna/billfishing in East Cape Baja. So I apologize to everyone and especially catchbigones for being critical. I do not want to be a bass fisherman snob and I came off that way. Bad Bad Bad Dog!!!! I'm back under the clouds now and with you guys!! Happy Fishing!!
    City: Clear Lake

    Tips: Stay humble and don't forget what got you hooked on fishing. Most of us didn't learn on Lucky Craft and all the other outrageously expensive lures. I still love using nightcrawler/marshmellow combo for trout and yeah, I hang a cork on the line and LOVE to watch it rise up when I get a hit!! Thanx Napa Steve for bringing me back to reality. Fish On! Oh oh, Fish Off!!! hahahahaha

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished minnows all day. Caught about 25 fish but only kept the 10 biggest to eat between 2 of us. Big fish was 8.3 pounds. Tasted great with beer batter!
    City: Lakeport

    Tips: Buy Jumbo minners and get the frying pan ready!

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: My first bass fishing trip with my grandfather was in 1974 at the age of 6. The first thing he showed me was how to harvest nightcrawlers in the garden. The next thing was to go down to the local creek and put out a minnow net with old bread as bait,my grandmother saved for this very use. This was a couple days prior to our day at the lake. Then we took our live bait along with a couple Hula poppers,Jitter bugs and few Lucky 13's and my Addiction began. This taught me a whole lot more than buying a bag of lures. Do not get me wrong, I do buy lures and lots of them. This idea of the easy thing to do is buying somthing rubs me the wrong way. How about the guy that we all know who has allways said... DO IT THE HARD WAY-THE BARTA WAY. That teaches you the old way. Bye the way most all of my big bass have come from store items.
    City: Napa

    Tips: Keep Fishing and stay true to all that has been passed down to you by the people you love.

Monday, December 21st, 2009

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    Water Temp: cold

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: to catchbigones......you're pretty big on catchin' with minnows. maybe you haven't figured out that bass fisherman use ARTIFICIAL baits....it's the challenge of enticing a bass to eat something that isn't real. that's the challenge. but you go ahead and enjoy catching all the fish you like on your dollar per minnow live bait. when you decide to step up to the challenge, let's see if your 'addictive disease' is still infecting you. i bet NOT!!
    City: clear lake

    Tips: slow slow slow.... stay just outside of the baitballs and work your favorite confidence plastic. slow roll a lipless crank or spinner off the bottom. if working the docks, pitch your senko to the piling then work toward the dropoff just beyond the dock. if they're not at the piling, they'll be down in the structure just beyond. slow slow slow. or you can simply give up and go buy dollar apiece minnows.