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Friday, June 20th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 76-80

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Another Friday trip with three clients - hard work but a lot of fun!

    Tips: We probably used 5 different dark colored 5" Senkos, wacky style.

Thursday, June 19th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 74

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: fished mid lake from 17th-19th, 30 fish days mostly senkos in the tules and good spinnerbait bite in the wind mid day, no topwater bite yet, best fish 5.2 and 5.1
    City: woodside

    Tips: find shade during hot mid day and you'll find fish

Saturday, June 14th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 75+/-

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Put in at Redbud, about 6:30 AM. Ten fish during the day; a 7, two 5's, a 4, and the rest smaller. Several yanked out of the reeds. Having 101 pound thrust trolling really helps. Caught several under docks. Shade patterns paid off. Green pumpkin Senkos wacky rigged drop shot were effective. You do have to work to get the good ones. I saw the biggest bass I ever seen (in the teens) swimming in about 3 feet of water near docks. I'm probably fortunate he didn't bite on my flimsy pole with eight pound test.
    City: Esparto

    Tips: On sunny days bass are smart enough to find shade. They also like to choose places where they feel like they won't get bothered. If you want to catch them, you need to think like a bass. I couldn't get anything going with topwater. That bite should be coming. I really thought it would be there in the morning, (before sun-up). I was too late!

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    Water Temp: 70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Well just got back from our first trip to clear lake, launched friday about 5pm and fish till 2am- started again from 5am to about 10am- caught about 12-15 all in the 2-4lb range, tried night fishing the docks with no luck, all fish were caught last and first 2 hrs of light, tried throwing alot of stuff and senkos were the best bet color didnt seem to matter almost all fish were caught fishing the shoreline right below konocti harbor and the wind everyone has been talking about ???? it was calm as can be. great trip cant wait to go back
    City: Diamond Springs

    Tips: bring lots of senkos they dont last to long the fish chew em up pretty good,

Friday, June 13th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 69-72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I left the Oaks ramp with 3 clients this morning at 6:15 am - on Friday the 13th! One strike. After getting them going, I tried to fish a different color Senko to see if that would work for them. Strike two - I caught a 5 1/4 on the first cast - a no no. Luckily, there was no third strike as my clients all caught several bass in the first hour including one at 4 1/2 lbs. They absolutely rocked for the rest of the day, boating nearly 40 bass! And yes, the guy in the back of my Ranger caught the most! He was insane in the afternoon, catching nothing under 3 lbs - amazing! He had the earlier 4 1/2 also. And let me tell you what he was using - I told him I would report this, har!! He had a vintage 2 piece Ugly Stik with an ancient Mitchell 300 reel and who knows what kind of line! The bass loved him, or maybe felt sorry for him!!! I got a good workout running to the back of the boat all day netting his fish while bumping into the others! He used a green pumpkin baby Brush hog most of the day. Bass were all over it. One of the other fellows was Senkoing (#301,330,912,921) all day and the other fishing green pumpkin worms. They all did an excellent job of setting the hook (they lost very few) and working their baits thru the heavy weeds that are now everywhere. I really didn't pay attention to our best five limit, but it was in the 20 lb range for sure. I never thought I would ever say this again, but about 1 pm I was saying "where is the wind to cool us off?!!" "Where are the 3 foot swells?!" Great day at Clear lake except for hot seats and rod locker handles!
    City: Yuba city

    Tips: I had them fishing shadows along Hwy 20 as long as they would last - bass were very active and shallow. We worked our way up to Sea Breeze which was absolutely dead for us. Maybe that was during the dead period. I told them that the morning bite would probably slow for an hour or two and then resume. That is exactly what it did for us. We then moved to the lower lake arm and proceeded to fish heavy weed areas. We didn't have much success in areas that didn't have a lot of weeds. We didn't see many bass - they must have been deep in the weeds. We did see one - had to be a carp. Nope, a 8+ lb cruising bass! Light penetration is amazing now since the water is so clear. If we get a heat spell, the lake may get some color. The guys were just casting their baits (with Smelly Jelly) into the weeds (underwater, not floating), dragging them slowly, and catching one after another. Fun to watch! I am a little concerned that I am not seeing any small bass. I have heard that from others too. Hmmmm. I think all of our bass were caught from 2 to 10 feet. While my clients were doing their thing in the early morning I threw a crankbait for awhile - nothing! The bass wanted plastic.

Wednesday, June 11th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 65-73

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Late report. I spent Wednesday thru Sunday there last week. We were thinking about entering the F.P.T. EVENT but deceided not to at the last minute due to just so-so results the previous few days. My big fish for the week was just 4.4. lots of dinks for me.
    City: antelope

    Tips: Talk to the guys that finished in the top 10!

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 68

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I went to Clear Lake (better known at the OCEAN at Clear Lake!) with a friend yesterday. We fished the late afternoon until a little after midnight. Fishing was ok for post-spawn. Where you found one, there was usaully a few more. Many spots didn't produce a thing. I caught 10 and he caught 15 or 16 and his limit was well over 20 lbs - the biggest a shade over 5 lbs. The intense wind kept us from hooking all the bites but we did our best. We fished from the narrows south.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I can't say much more since he is fishing an upcoming tournament. If we ever get a sustained heat spell, the lake may get some color and thus slow the weed growth. Until then, good luck with the weeds! They are already extending out to about 12 feet deep.

Sunday, June 8th, 2008

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Well I don't have a report, but I do have some questions. I am looking to make my first trip to Clear Lake and I am looking for some advice about where to stay (camp) and launch. Also, from reading the posts, it sounds like senkos or drop shotting is the most popular approach? Any suggestions on where to go or what to use for a first timer? Numbers are good, but big fish is better! Thanks!
    City: Redding

Saturday, May 31st, 2008

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    Water Temp: 67

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Got on the lake by 7am. Fished the south end of the lake near Jago Bay. First fish of the day went 5lb 10z. Next fish went 4lbs. A lot of 2pounders the rest of the day. Caught most near docks. Our trip was cut short due to battery problems in the engine. Overall good day, 12 bass.
    City: Pleasant Hill, CA

    Tips: Fish near docks, let senko sink to the bottom. If the senko didnt work throw a drop shot near the same spot, should get a hit. You might not catch a lot of bass, but the ones you will should be nice size.

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

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    Water Temp: 64-67

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: I decided to fish the keys Thurs afternoon before my guide trip on Fri. I know I could handle the wind in there at least. From 2 to 8 pm I had a great time - maybe I will start to like the south keys better (not enough rockpiles)!! Using 5 and 6 inch Senkos (wacky rig) with the Gami 2/0 weedless senko hook, I was 13 for 13, then lost the next 2, and then landed a 5-10 and a 6-2. They were all over the Senko about 7 pm, very shallow - my best 5 just under 25 lbs!! Lots of fun. Today I was privledged to guide my first deaf clients - great guys!!! There are tournaments being held now for hearing impaired folks - I don't know much about them but I think it is a great thing! It was very interesting to watch them communicate and be excited about the fishing - in sigh language!! It was chilly at 6:30 am and so was the fishing. We hooked several on Senkos and Robo worms that we just couldn't put in the boat. About 10 am the bass got a little more serious about eating and we finally had a good day - around 25 bass up to near 4 lbs - no big ones except the 8 lb catfish one of them landed. Was he cussing in sign!? The #301 Senko was the best color as usual. We fished the east shore north and south of Red Bud. Wonderful day to be a guide!!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I was going to mention that I tried bending the 2/0 Senko hook out a bit - maybe that helped some with my catch rate on Thurs! Fish in the keys were no deeper for me than 5 feet and today in the main lake - about 5 to 10 feet because of the cloud cover moving in. Great day to be on the lake weatherwise too. One doesn't get to see a front move in directly from the EAST very often! Clouded up at 11 am, total dark cloud cover at 1:30 pm, rain at 2:30 pm. If you love weather like I do, this was great! Water temp will probably cool again for the 17th time this year! Some of these bass are probably ready for a mental institution.

Wednesday, May 21st, 2008

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    Water Temp: 65 - 68

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: After reading a couple reports I figured this would be a great time for fishing Clear Lake. I arrived on Sunday 5/18 and the lake was flat and water temperature was around 65 - 68 degrees. I caught a few fish Sunday evening on senkos and even one on a spook (all male fish) and none over 3lbs. I was looking forward to fishing more top water baits but a front came in and the wind came up and pretty much ruined the top water bite. The wind blew pretty bad from Tuesday on and pretty much limited where you could fish. This is a great bass fishing lake but the wind can really be a problem. I'll be back up in September and hopefully the lake will be calm. I usually do real good fishing top water (spooks and buzz baits) in September. If planning a trip up here check local weather forecasts. If the wind is blowing - stay home.
    City: Daly City

    Tips: Check local weather reports before making the trip.

Tuesday, May 20th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 68-72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Left the county park about 7:30. Threw buzzbait and a frog for a while there. No bites. Went to to the state park and caught 1 on a rootbeer senko. Went towards Soda Bay and the wind was howling. Fished for a 1/2 hour for nothing and looked at the main lake and it was nothing but white caps. 3'ers made it a long ride back to the launch. Roughest I have seen it in a while. Ended up breaking my trolling motor on the way back. Bad day for me.
    City: K-ville

    Tips: Don't get caught out there when the wind is blowing that hard. Makes for a long day when in the wrong area.

Sunday, May 18th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 68 to 74

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: we launched out of nice area and fished down to lucern got on the water at 5pm started picking fish up in io ft of water guarding their beds all in the 2 to 3 lbs range all males . on drop shot it really didnt matter what color I also picked up my first top water fish on a frog pattern hula popper we ended up with 27 fish for the day, we got back on the water at 430am we fished till about 8am picking up 15 more then the dreaded wind came up and we had to get off the water , we went out next morning picking up 7 fish 2 to 3 lbs. the water temp had dropped from 74 to 66 degrees and the water had maybe 2 ft visability then the wind forced us off the water .
    City: carmichael

    Tips: dont fish on clear lake on windy days especially in a small boat

Thursday, May 15th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 72

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Clear Lake from 5-11 through 5-15. Fishing was slow until Thursday then the bite turned on. Fished out of Edgewater Resort. The bucks were up in the shallows 1 to 3 lbs. Caught fish mostly with dropshot on 6" MM II roboworms and senkos. My brother caught an 8 lb. bass on Tuesday. Thrusday night and Friday morning was an excellent bite. Rocks, docks, and tules it did not seem to matter when the bite was on. I wish I would of waited one more week to come fish the lake. I would say this next week will be the best week for the spawn. Thursday evening and Friday morning the two of us caught about 30 bass. Fish were mostly in the 1.5 to 3 lb. range with a 4 & 5 lb. fish in the mix. My brothers best 5 would of weighed in at about 19 lbs. Friday morning. I came from Ogden Utah to get a good pic and a fiberglass mount but I guess I will have to wait until next year (if I can afford the money for gas). My best ever was at Lake Powell in 1973 @ 7.5 lbs. One of these years I hope to come to Clear Lake and beat that weight. Go to Clear Lake and catch the fish I wanted to catch (Please release her so I can catch her next year. All fish we caught were released. Tight lines to all
    City: Ogden

    Tips: Weightless senkos, dropshot robowroms in red and purple colors worked best. Worked frogs and topwater in the early AM and late PM. (Only got one bite). Water was very clear--use 8lb. line. Get out on the water at first light. A very good bite the first 1.5 hours.

Saturday, May 10th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 64 degrees

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Put in at Redbud at approximately 7 AM. Fished only in the southwest arm region. It was a little windy early but died down as things heated up. Because of recent success with this pattern, I target shade, rocks, and vegetation. Boated eight fish before 1 PM. A seven, two sixes, a five, a three, and some twos. Lost three giants near the boat. I will never drop shot with weedless hooks that are almost barbless again. Wacky rigged senkos worked all day. Green pumpkin or watermelon seem good. Most fish came in fairly shallow water, 3-10 feet. Rocks nearby help as does vegetation. Distant casting can be key. They scare real easy. A fast rod tip is a must. With an extremely slow retrieve, anything that feels unusual is probably a fish chewing on your worm. Set the hook big time. On the big ones, you'd better get serious with the hook set or you'll be whining.
    City: Esparto

    Tips: I keep seeing guys fishing out in open water with the sun beating down. Unless you plan to fish deep because you've located fish, forget that. When that sun starts beating on the water, you have a great hint by just finding those hidden shady hiding spots. With the 90 to 100 degree temps coming, I'll be the guy throwing spooks in until right after sunrise; then it'll be frog time! Top water and shade patterns should score this weekend. I'll still keep the drop shot rig handy!

Friday, May 9th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 61-65

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: A fishing buddy of mine and I decided to check out the night bite last night. I was prepared for more wind, but what happened about 1 AM was a little scary. Heavy wind doesn't usually start in the middle of the night at Clear Lake - and so quickly! We got out of Konocti Bay as fast as we could and it was an adventure all the way back to the Oaks. I don't think I have ever loved my Range 520 better than last night! What a boat!! We were even mostly dry. As for the fishing, it was excellent except for the size. Again, most bass 2 1/2 to 3 1/4 lbs. I took Mike to a special spot of mine and he did land a 5 lb 7 oz bass for big fish. We did have several 4's and a decent limit of 21+ lbs. We both noticed the bass seemed to be schooled up more than usual. We had 2 double hookups - one about a second apart! Then no bites for awhile. We were very happy with 32 bass for the 7 hour trip but unhappy with how many we missed. Maybe that is a result of all the wind, I don't know. We lost as many as we landed, especially on the wacky-rigged senko, but no complaints. Great trip and a safe return!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Another interesting observation of last night was the position of the fish. Once the night bite started - about 11 PM, we would catch some bass in a foot or two of water while others were deeper than the daytime - about 15 to 20 feet. We had to work the whole water column. The brush hog was the top bait - with lots of Smelly Jelly! We targeted bass on rock walls, private launching ramps with deep edges (excellent areas in the spring), docks, tulles and rock flats.

Thursday, May 8th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 61

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: We launched out of Red Bud and started fishing the docks heading south with only one fish hitting a Sammy, but didn't eat the bait. We caught one on a Dirty Sanchez Sweet Beaver along a wall and then it shut down. We headed across to the island and fished the tules with no luck. We decided to go to the "Egg Rock" and spent a while throwing jigs with no luck. After a run through the cement blocks John hooked a nice 4 or 5 pounder who came off at the boat on a jig. We moved up to the big willow tree and John hooked another one on the jig and got it in the boat! We continued toward the north end of the lake stopping and putting 2 more in the boat on a drop shot. These fish came in 10 feet of water at the end of a dock with grass. Good day, with 9 in the boat, all solid fish.
    City: Sacramento

    Tips: Brown and purple.

Wednesday, May 7th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 63-65

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Another great client (and good fisherman) and I launched out of Red Bud at 8 am just as two other rigs had already taken out and were going to the north end to get out of the wind. Another horrible windy morning got me wondering if we would last - but we did - fishing protected lower lake areas and even in Cache Creek, then slowly working our way up the lake as the wind gradually let up after 1 pm. I was very pleasantly surprised at our results - 16 in the boat with two 4 1/2 pounders - overall best 5 near 20 1/2 lbs. I was very pleased. We caught bass as shallow as 2 feet - mostly in tulle areas. Wacky Senkos were again the key, although a few were caught on green pumpkin worms, AND - one on a brown/orange Rodstrainer jig - finally!!!!! Unlike last Thursday, we only saw one bass under a dock in the afternoon. A few places that were good last week were dead today. Most hookups today were non-bites - just pressure. It is always great to have a better day catching than one would expect!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Any tips that I would give would probably be blown out tomorrow!! A spring to forget!! Again, the #301 Senko worked very well as did one or two of the two/color laminates (912 and 926). My client did fish swimbaits a fair amount and actually had 2 hits, but no connections. I thought they would produce with the wind. One or two of the bigger bass seemed to have already spawned. Again, the bite was shallow - about 2 to 8 feet.

Tuesday, May 6th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 66

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: North end was awesome early. caught 22 up to 6.4 most on cranks some on grubs. white colors worked great. caught 6.4 on 2-1/2" grub. late in the day bite was off. post spawn should be on soon. (saw a couple of fish that were at least 10-12 lbs near Nice and would not bite.
    City: willows

    Tips: try something different than the norm.

Monday, May 5th, 2008

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    Water Temp: 58-70!!!

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Did you see that temp difference? From the oaks to above Shag Rock I found that much of difference, but those temps did not go up as I went south they were all over the place, very strange to me. OK, had my 4 year old and 6 year old in the boat so got about a solid 4 hrs of fishing out of 8 hrs on the water for a total of 8 hrs of fishing in 2 days, alot of swimming and eating:) Got 9 fish to 3.5 lbs on Mon drop shotting 4 inch worms, most were in a magic depth of 10-11 feet, I found fish in 8-30 feet but only the ones in 10-11 would eat for some reason, I did get a 3.5 bed fish, not the biggest girl but she was in 3 feet in the tulies right were she would be behind a under water wall out of the current & wind, out of 9 fish 2 were in 3 feet the rest 10-11 feet. Monday was 8 fish for 4 hrs also drop shotting also same depth. I did rip for about 30 minutes and cranked for about 45 minutes and did get one on the DT 10.
    City: San Jose

    Tips: Find 65 plus deg water and look for fish in 10-11 feet, you may have to look around but you will find it, 6 lb line wacky rigged 4 inch worms, I will not say the color, got a tourney coming up:)but hey lets face it, I don't think it will be won on a drop shot but who knows its been a stange spring but its picking up, I would sum up Clear Lake this year as being about 2 months behind schedule but its coming. I release 99.9% of my fish but my 6 year old daughter wanted me to bring a few home for the plate, she loves fresh fish and loves watching me clean them, I took what I thought were 2 males, one about 1.5 lbs and one about 2 lbs, I get them home and clean them and they had eggs, these fish were healthy but did not have belly's like a female would with eggs, I felt kind of bad after I openened them up. Yes I kill about 2 fish out of about 400-600 bass I catch a year so don't hate:)
    One more tid bit, a 17 team tourney fished out of the Oaks and it was won by a husband/wife team on Senkos, big fish 8.5 lbs that was cought by the wife:)