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Sunday, October 21st, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished about 4 hours today and caught 10 fish. Best 5 went just over 13lbs. All fish were taken on my own hand poured worms it was my first time ever using them and they worked great. The weed die off is in full swing. I spent the day fishing the mid-lake area mainly focusing on weeds and tules.

    Tips: Pressure, pressure, pressure. Man there were a TON of boats out pre-fishing today. Be advised that the lake level is VERY low so be careful out there.

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    Water Temp: 58-60

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished north end .Got 12-15 fish on a flickshake worm to 3#,and a couple nice 4#ers on a 7"senko
    City: Lakeport

    Tips: small weed clumps

Thursday, October 18th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the South end today and found a huge school of shad. They were along a stretch of protected shoreline for about a hundred yards of solid shad. (no they weren't silversides) I didn't find any bass though in this area. We did find a school of 3 & 4lbers and we caught 5 or 6 nice fish. We ended up catching around 20 for the day. We caught all the fish on watermelon/red brushhawgs and beavers.
    City: Winston

Wednesday, October 17th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: We fished the North end today and the Nice and Lucerne area. Caught around 30 fish but nothing over 3 1/4 lbs. Watermelon candy Maverick worms on a shakey head and Brushhawgs fished shallow and slow.
    City: Winston

Monday, October 15th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 62.5

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Stopped in and talked to Bob Higgins of Limit Out bait and tackle at 6:20 Bob has yet to steer me wrong on tackle choices for the day. He said fishing had slowed down. I caught 30 to 40 fish mainly on Brush Hogs in 2 to 10 feet of water with the biggest going 6.15 lbs. Even though I had what he told was working I still bought some of the stuff he showed me. It was a small price to pay for thr first hand knowledge. I caught all my fish in the South end of the lake.
    City: Elk Grove

    Tips: Fish shallow. Some of the bites came while the bait was sitting there.

Saturday, October 13th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: We started fishing Saturday morning early with a sunny fall day. I had a tough time finding a bite and didn't catch the first one till 12:30 (ouch). we ended up catching 10 for the day with the largest at 5 lbs 12oz on a super spook. Sunday was another tough day with the same weather conditions another beautiful day. We caught 8 for the day with another 5lbs 12 oz on a brown and purple jig. Both days we had between 17 and 18 lbs for 5. On Monday a small front moved through with showers and we caught 9 fish with the largest at 4 lbs 11oz on watermelon red brushhawg. On Tuesday it rained hard most of the day and we had are best day for numbers with 17 fish with one 4lbs 8oz on a watermelon candy worm. We probably would of caught more fish but I spent a lot of time the first couple of days trying to feed them a frog.
    City: Winston

    Tips: Fish rock piles south and mid lake with Brown and purple football jigs,Shakey heads,drop shot,brushhawgs. Watermelon/Red,MMIII, There are still fish shallow on docks and tules. Good Luck

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    Water Temp: 63

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I hosted a BASS tournament out of the State Park, It was the Belly Boat Club from Santa Rosa. Andrew and I did the weight in and the BBQ. The weights were from 11 lbs to 21.0 lbs. The anglers drive there trucks around the lake and drop the one man pontoon in and fish in that area, then move on around the lake.
    Taking to some of them drop shot, senkos, lizards and brush hogs worked. They keep a converted ice chest (live well) on the pontoon with airaders until weight in time.
    I fish out of a bass boat, their space is small but cheeper. Good luck have fun
    City: Rocklin

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    Water Temp: 57-67

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Yes the water temp is correct, I found water from 57-67 through out the day. My Brother Benny came down from Oregon and I brought my 3 year old son Brandon up for some fall bassin at Clear Lake. On Friday it rained until 3:30 and than the bite pick up with around 10 fish to 3.5 lbs on Zoom watermellon Red flake 7" paddle tails in 6 inches to 2 feet of water, I kid you not. I had a 3.5lb fish hit my lure and I was so shallow my trolling motor was stuck on a rock. I got my biggest fish on Sat AM, a 4.12 lb on a 5" Watermellon Senko in again about 1 foot of water off of rocks, we got about 12 fish to 4.12 but when the sun came up the bite slowed down and you had to work for them, the cool thing was I got me first swim bait fish but he was only 2.5 lb but I was still happy, I have thrown that 3:16 Mission fish 5 times for 20-30 min and gave up, this time I got one. I spoke to a guy named Shawn who will be fishing the FLW in 2 weeks and he said he was catching swim bait fish to try it and I am glad I did, I finally broke the swim bait skunk.(Thanks Shawn!)On Sunday the am bite was dead for us and we had to work hard for fish, we got them on crank bait, Senko, Aarons magic robo's on drop shot and I got my 2nd swim bait fish, it was a nice fat 3.5 lb, I am hooked on swim baits now!!
    4:00 pm Sunday, dropped off my brother at the dock to head back to Oregon and picked up my Brother in law that lives in Clear Lake, while I was at the dock I saw Shawn (FLW Guy) and his family again and he said he is still doing well with the swim bait so I went and bought a Huddle knock off and I went and tossed it for 30 min while my brother in law tossed drop shot, he got 3 fish and I got one hit on the swim bait and very tired:) so I picked up the drop shot rod and got 2, my brother got 5 before we called it a day but he got a 5.3 on a 4 inch drop shot, I catch 2 to 3 lbers on 9 inch swim baits and he catch's 5 lbers on 4 inch wimpi worms.
    City: San Jose

    Tips: Watermellon anything, any style of fishing (Texas rig, shakie head, I think the wacky rig is the best way drop shotted though). Swim baits, mission fish 3:16 or huddle knock off. Rapala DT 10 shad color. Catch and release so my 3 kids can take their kids fishing:). God bless!

Sunday, October 7th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 62-66

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Everything was real nice for my night trip to Clear Lake Sat evening! Great weather in spite of post-front conditions, great clients, NO WIND (a 2007 first!), and pretty good fishing. We launched out of Red Bud at 4:15 pm and started fishing bass alley. One of the fellows started his early release process as he lost the first two he hooked - one a good fish. We spent the entire trip in the Jago area - fishing both on and off-shore structure. We actually found a "school" of 4 pounders - one after another in the boat. Really amazing after a few slow weeks. The quick-release artist in the middle of the boat was fishing jigs and hooked the fish of the trip - 6 or 7+ pounder. She came up to the surface - said hello, and spit the hook. Client and guide then proceeded to have a discussion about hooksets!! The average size was excellent however and we had good success right up until dark. Probably 25-30 bites in 3 hours. After dark the bite started out slow. I kept waiting for the carp to become active. They really never did and the bass never really did either. The post-front night was very quiet and still. The only bass that would come out and play were 2 and 2 1/2 pounders. One of the guys got big fish of the night - 3 lbs! We kept working on our 20th bass and it finally hit about midnight. Now we could call it a night. A good night - clients with quality bass up to 4 1/2 lbs and a limit of between 18 and 19 lbs. I almost forgot - the token cheap thrill - one got a catfish about 6 lbs.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: We found fish a little more shallow than on previous trips. I tried to fish my clients on ledges and breaklines from 10 to 18 feet and the bass were feeding there before dark. I think we will soon see the evening bite pick up. The evening and mornings will soon see cold temps while whatever warming there is will happen in the later afternoon. The late afternoon water temp for us was 66 degrees (surface). A few hours later it was 62. I noticed that some of the bass we caught actually allowed us to feel the "bite". This is a sign of "feeding" bass. I tried to see if there was a crank bite - still couldn't get it going. Our best worms were 10" black Power worms and 7 1/2" Robo worms in the Aaron's Magic w/R&B flake. We didn't find many bass around docks yesterday, but mostly on rock structure.

Saturday, September 29th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Saturday night. Launched out of Konocti Harbor around 8:30 pm. Headed south to Jago bay area fishing rocks and docks with Brush hogs and 10 inch yum worms and Berkley ol monster worms with brass and glass set up. Caught a couple 2 lbers in the first hour and half and thought we were in for a slow night. As soon as the clouds cleared, the moon came out , carp started rolling and so did the bite. We caught 18 more from 10 til midnight. All in a 200 yard strech. Several 5lbers and alot of healthy 2-3 lbers. Bellys are starting to get fat. Saterday fished later afternoon 4:00-6:30 caught 5 with the biggest going a tad over 6lbs. Threw a sinko at her after she showed off for us ,, crushing shad near our boat. She crushed the sinko, and the fight was on. Sat. night was slower , caught 7 with the biggest going 5.5. caught on a june bug brush hog on Dollar island. Can't wait for the crank bait bite.
    City: Rocklin

    Tips: Get on the lake and post your report.

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 71-75

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I took a nice gentleman to Clear Lake - his first visit and his first major bass fishing trip. I needed to show him the lake and how to bass fish - in one trip!! I think we did ok on both. The bite was slow but the day was beautiful (that means no wind)! He picked up worm fishing pretty fast - as a matter of fact - put the first two bites in the boat! He understood the concept of "hookset" from the getgo. Something fun happened early in the trip that is always "cool" for a guide. We were fishing a "Rattlesnake rockpile" and he was having difficulty working the Robo worm over the jutting rocks, so I told him to watch me once. I made a cast with my black 10" Power worm - twitching and finessing it over the rocks. Suddenly there was pressure on the line, I set, and a 4 1/2+ pound "prop" found its was into the boat. Hey - those "demo" bass are hard to get to bite at the right time!!! Believe it or not, my client caught on real quick! Usually when I have a client watch me, I get hung up just like them! We fished the Oaks and Lower Lake arms and toured above the narrows but didn't fish much up there. He did well, landing 4 of several bites and I got a few small ones besides the 4 1/2. After resting for awhile, I went out for the last hour bite and found a ledge near Anderson that had willing bass. Using only the 10" black Power worm, I landed 3 of 5 bites, a 4-6, 3-13, and a 2 1/2. Had dinner at Konocti and fished a little after dark, landing only 4 up to 4 1/4 lbs. I needed to fish shadows in the bright full moon but I was testing some new areas before I left at midnight. Long day, er, two days!!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I was amazed to see "normal" green water up past the narrows - around Shag and Horseshoe Bay. Like the 'ol days! I also noticed Griebs diving for good sized bait in the Oaks arm. They looked like mature shad? The movements of bass this late summer have been amazing. This may be caused by the lower water levels in addition to fishing pressure. Areas that held tons of bass 2 months ago are now devoid of bass - not ever a straggler. Got to move a lot! The bite should pick up when the water temp reaches the mid 60's and below. The jig bite is still slow for my boat. The 7 1/2 inch Robo worm and the 10" Power worm have be doing well lately - in dark colors. I tried some drop-shotting yesterday with no takers. The early morning bite for some reason hasen't been all that great - seems to get better a few hours after sunrise. Just my observation. I usually don't say much about tournament fishermen, but they really better watch their public image. Many still think it is just fine to approach another watercraft at 70 mph, missing them by 50 to 60 feet. Like it or not, this is not NASCAR on the water!!

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007

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    Water Temp: 67-71

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished our 2 day club tournament launching out of State Park Saturday and Sunday with a little prefishing on Friday. We camped at the park starting Wednesday and sat and watched while that monster thunderstorm brewed over the Valley and then moved right over the top of us that evening. We had hail the size of canned peas and wind that made the lake stand up and clear her throat...WOW what a storm!!! We entertained ourselves as we watched boats launching from State Park trying to prefish for the assorted tournaments this weekend and most were smart enough to turn around and put em' back on the trailer before they got past the reef marker.

    We found a rather tough bite all three days with maybe 12-15 fish each day. Friday was the best weather day so I let my 14 yr old son Casey play hookey and he helped me prefish on Friday. We had a good day (any day you can spend fishing with your kids is a GREAT day!!!) but the fish were pretty small. Casey got the big fish of the day, about 5.5-6 lbs so he was "jacked" for the rest of the day. I caught mostly small fish and just could not get a good big fish pattern going. We fished a lot of rock in the south end with deep drop-offs close by and found the shakey head with the ol' Zoom trick worm and a Yamamoto hula grub worked the best. It seemed that purple flake was a key color with both baits. We did get a few on the dropshot rig with purple Maverick worms getting the best reaction. I could not buy a jig bite or blade bite on any day we fished.

    Saturday and Sunday brought more of the same(and more boats too!!!) with plastics dominating the bite. I did manage a few fish on a Speed Trap in shad pattern throwing parallel to steep rock in the morning but that bite died very early. I was excited to find a few new areas way south in the Konocti arm that I had never fished before. I am usually a "North end" Clearlake fisherman but with the weeds and shallow water (plus no bite to speak of) we were forced to go find new water and had fun doing it. I just wish my fellow tournament fisherman would show a little more class sometimes.

    I was actally ashamed more than once this weekend as I watched boats fly right up to where we were fishing and crowd us to the point I was getting very pi$$ed off...:( Come on fellas...there is over 100 miles of shorline at Clearlake and it seemed that 75 boats wanted to fish the same 50 yards where I was sitting). Has this sport become so competative and cut-throat that we are willing to set aside good manners and common sense for the sake of a big limit of fish?

    I guess I already know the answer and it is making me sick to my stomach.
    City: Ukiah

    Tips: The only good tips I have for this report is if you have kids, take advantage of every moment you can spend with them, take them fishing as often as you can and try to teach them common fishing courtesy. That way, maybe they won't have to put up with what we are these days. It might be time to get my golf clubs out again...at least I expect rude people on the golf course from time to time.

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    Water Temp: 74

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Several non-keepers till about 9am. Just couldn't get anything going. Tried topwater, swimbaits and plastics. Finally at 9am, found the right crankbait and it was on. No monsters, but consistent fish in the 2-3# range. Started raining about 1pm. More bass boats on the lake then I have ever seen. Every dock, rock pile and point had a boat on it.
    City: Sacramento

    Tips: Crankbait was the pattern, but as we continue towards the fall transition I think it will be hit or miss untill you can put together some kind of pattern. I did hear there was a fair jig bite going also.

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 67

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: cranked some deeper water with lots of bait on it and got nothing. caught one about 3 on a drop shot in the tules. had a big strike on a frog in the tules but i didn't hook him.
    City: san francisco

    Tips: fish aren't very far back in the tules fish the outside ones.

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 73

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I showed two good fishermen around the lake Monday - my favorite day to guide - yea, right!! We fished several areas with different types of structures and actually hooked a lot of bass but they really didn't take the plastics very well. Maybe they saw a few baits over the weekend! Could they be highly-pressure fish that are afraid to open their mouth? Ya think?!!!!! Clients did land 5 and I got 2. Two biggest were only 3 1/2 and 3 3/4 lbs. The biggest of the day was lost at Rattlesnake Island at the end of the trip - nice fish!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Reaction baits did not work for us on Monday morning. Berkley and Robo worms did get some bites. The Yamamoto Kreature baits worked again - junebug was the early-on favorite. Black/blue was best in the afternoon. We caught a few around docks in the lower lake arm but most of our bites were on rock ledges - 15-22 feet deep. Concentrations of bass are hard to find, so move around some 'til you find a willing (or stupid) bass to bite. As I was driving back to Yuba City late Monday afternoon, 4 or 5 bass boats were heading for Clear Lake. A Tuesday tournament maybe?!!!!!

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: The wife and I fished for about 6 hours on Sunday and caught 14 fish. The bite is still pretty tough for us especially for larger fish. Our best 5 on Sunday went just over 14lbs. Caught fish on the drop shot, jig and senkos.
    City: Petaluma, CA

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: we got on the water at 6am started throwingA hula popper in a frog pattern and hooked up with 4 lbs. LM. made a few more cast and bam hooked up again this time she took me under the boat and got wraped up in trolling motor and broke off luckily I had 1 more popper in tht color. my brother hung a few on a zara spook 2 to 4 lbs after the sun got up started catching them on a X rap also hung some on drop shoting robo worms witches tee , june bug. wind really got up and forced us to fish out of the wind . the water was also very stained with green algea
    City: carmichael

    Tips: find clear water and stay out of the wind

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    Water Temp: 75

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Must Have been one of the Sturgeon we let go in there a few years back. We caught a few in the delta and they were still alive when we got home. We realized on the ride home they were undersized to keep. So we revived them in a baby pool with ALIVE and then sent them off. We found one the next day but the other 3 ....????
    City: LowerLake

    Tips: Ghost Shrimp on a slip sinker with TriFlow sprayed on.

Saturday, September 15th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 76

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished the south end Saturday with my buddy Catfish Riggs. We bounced around a lot catching a few fish to 4.9 lbs mostly on plastics. Best 5 weighted around 15lbs, not including the 2-8lb catfish my buddy landed. Didn't find much of a reaction bite so had to resort to plastics around docks and rocks. Tried blades, ripbaits, cranks to no avail. Senkos, worms, shakey heads, jigs all produced.
    City: Rohnert Park

    Tips: Fish slow. The fish are not very aggressive. They just pick up the bait and swim off.

Saturday, September 8th, 2007

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    Water Temp: 75-78

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Well, after hearing about all the "good" fishing reports (yea, right!) and after a week at the Columbia River, I headed for Clear Lake to see if my clients could catch a few. Thursday evening I fished an hour before dark - no bass. After dark I fished until 11 pm and landed 4 to 3 1/2 lbs and lost the "monster of the year" in Konocti Bay - using a black Power worm. Darn!!! Friday I met my clients at 6:15 am - one a pretty good fisherman and the other new to bass fishing. Not any more!! They both did very well I thought, using Robo worms and Power worms. In fact, by 10 am they had eight quality bass up to 4 lbs 1 oz and several over 3 lbs. I managed 2 dinks! The only disappointment was that the now "pro" newby lost the biggest of the day by Rattlesnake Island - maybe 5 lbs. Ugh! His partner and I then discussed "hooksets" - that only one was necessary - not a series of them, har! I think he was excited! He did get her to the boat however!! I believe they learned a lot about the lake and we did alright - 19 bass with a limit of 18 lbs and change! Today I knew that all the tournament boats would be present and they were. Find a rock to fish! Today was the first morning of "dew" on the boat - lots of it which meant "heavy moist air" which can slow the bite some. One doesn't usually see this in early Sept. Anyway, I met a nice out-of-state father/son team - exciting about seeing Clear Lake for the first time! I told them there was a "hatch" of bass boats today - they "emerged" after Labor Day!! Did the moist air affect the bite? They caught the first 4 bass - 2 each - and they were very small! We looked over the lake as best we could with the traffic - they might be fishing a future tournament. They were sold on the lake when dad landed what looked like a "holdover" bass from last year - a "FAT" 4 pounder. Dad was in the back seat and was the hot stick - he caught most of the quality bass out of the 14 we landed. Lots of "missed" bites today for whatever reason. We fished the same last spot by Rattlesnake that I had during the previous 2 trips. The bite has been pretty good for quality bass. Today - not a touch!!!!! Overall, I was very happy with the two trips - great folks and reasonabily good fishing.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: While my clients were fishing plastics - worms and Yamamoto Kreature baits, I threw a few reaction baits with no takes except for one frog blowup. I was just showing 'em how to fish a frog. Friday I was looking for a different color worm for one of the guys to use and I pulled out a "plum" colored 8" dead ringer worm. I said "try this". I haven't used that color for 2 years. Bingo - that is the color they wanted in the afternoon. Amazing!!! Today, black Power worms and black/blue Kreatures worked pretty good. We fished as many ledges and we could and that seemed to be the preferred structure, especially if it produced shadows under the water. That is important now that Clear Lake is "clear"!! Dock shadows were also good "structure".