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Tuesday, June 13th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 00

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: going to clear lake on friday any tips
    City: live oak

Saturday, June 10th, 2006

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: First thanks to Larry for posting reports. - I'm not a pro. WON winner 1 fish away from 50 lbs for 2 days! Krikey! I was on the lake both days as well doing some 1/2 days of fishing and sightseeing. - Sat - We got a few on north end near county park on drop shot and a couple just above Ferndale Resort, the first 200 yards or so along the rocks and bushes. I got one a white/white spinnerbait. Then not many more. - Sun - We were on the south end around Brown's Landing and Indian Island about 4 fish in 4 hours. Caught the fish on drop shot between 88 rock and the first house below it. - I definitely stayed in a bad place and used a non productive rig too long. (My biggest fishing fault is not moving more and changing up styles.) - Will be back up the 23rd to go at it again. - Larry The Cable Guy was funny.
    City: Oakland/Clearlake

    Tips: note to self: move

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    Water Temp: 71

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I had fun doing a "teach the lake" trip Saturday with my Catfish "Guru" client - the fellow from Colorado who landed a potiential lake record catfish last year about this time on a night trip with me. The monster was well over 30 bs. We tried to do some "catching" also as we metered lots of offshore structure. He was amazed!! We learned the Rattlesnake arm and some of the southern upper lake. The morning bite was best - our first five were the biggest - about 16 1/2 lbs. Dropshotting and splitshotting worked well, especially in rocky areas and dock pilings about 10 feet deep. Cranking did not work - Senkos caught a few. The lake is finally showing its wonderful green tinge which will bode well for summer fishing. Dark colors worked well for us, especially black grape and green pumpkin. We caught a dozen bass or so - the smallest about 1 1/2 lbs. We have a night trip coming up in a day or two, but I am worried about the very cool nights and wind we are experiencing lately.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I was excited that night when a potiential client (I couldn't work him in last year) called me about 10 pm Sat night - asking advice on handling a monster bass he caught at sunset on a crankbait. He figured she weighed (spawned out!) about 13 lbs. I saw the photo (you may too, soon) and figured her to be at least 12+!! She was nearly 27 inches with an 18 inch girth. Those bass are rare these days at Clear Lake. She was released after photos. I think some the the larger females that spawned earlier in the year should be putting on the feed bag anytime now. This gal could have been the start. The tournament this past weekend was interesting from what I heard - good weights Sat and some big fish - weather change - less weight on Sun. Anybody for some steady warm weather for at least 4 or 5 days????

Monday, June 5th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 67

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Launched at dawn. Threw a spook, buzz bait and frog. No action. Found a few bass near county park on hogs. Some were pre-spawn others post. The fish I caught hit hard and faught aggressively. Maybe another 7 or eight degrees of water temp increase and the top water will turn on.
    City: Redwood Valley

    Tips: When you find the fish. They will eat.

Sunday, June 4th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 68

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I spent Memorial week at Clear Lake. The 3 day weekend the wind was blowing good in the south end on the Clearlake side so I didn't fish from the boat but caught HUGE 1# + bluegill and a 4# carp on white skirt jigs in front of the house.

    After everybody went home it calmed down Tuesday and I went out to fish some of the spots around Jago Bay towards Konocti. There were huge balls of shad in the water. I actually stayed off some points because of the big 10 ft wide black rocks underwater. I know that part of the lake really well and thought I must have never seen the rocks that far off the point before. Of course the rocks were shad and they would pass by.

    I knew it would be tough fishing with that much bait but I was out learning how to use the trolling motor and getting used to some new reels so I didn't move much. I didn't catch many but got the gear figured out. Learning to use a trolling motor with foot controls is like the first day of Spanish class (for a gringo) but I got it down pretty quick.

    Went out again Thursday with guide Bob Myskey.

    http://www.fishclearlake.com/

    I've been on 3 trips with him and always catch fish and he and I get along fine. A salmon fishing friend of mine came up and we met at Redbud and worked the area south of Lebow point drop shotting Margarita Mutilator Roboworms rigged wacky style with short drops (about 4 inches) to the weight. It worked great. I caught a good series of fish about 10 ft off the rocks. My buddy Em was having trouble feeling the (non) drop shot bite. Most of the time it was just pressure, not a hit or even a tap.

    It was shake about 5 times pause and slowly lift or reel then you'd feel the fish.

    We worked that area pretty good then tried some other tule beds south of Konocti but it was slow there.

    We moved up around the Narrows and worked a rock wall, same rig, same worm and the action picked up. It is amazing how many fish a 20 yard stretch of lake can hold. Em figured out the drop shot feel and started to kick my butt. I got into some 3's and 4's but he caught a 7+ ("oh let's call it an 8!")

    The 4 hour trip ended with 20+ fish not many under 2 lbs and all fought hard. Some were pre spawn, the "8" was, some post.

    The next day I went out and used the same drop shot rig with a longer drop, about 14 inches and launched from Redbud fishing from the 88 rock (south of Lebow) to about the 3rd house. I caught smaller fish, all under 3 lbs, and they were farther out. I caught them all from about the dockline. 10 fish in 2 hours.

    Saturday I didn't fish much, but I did drop shot Indian Island and got a few right in the tule line. Got a good 4 at the back of the island near the creek entrance, then I just watched the speed ski races on the water and cruised around.

    I'll never go out on the water there without a drop shot rigged up. I know some guys find it boring, but not me. It works and doesn't just catch small fish. I even drop shotted and caught some bass off the wall of the place I was staying at.

    It was a really fun week. Saturday night I checked out the Midget races at Lakeport Speedway. Can't wait to go back for another week later this summer, hopefully I'll catch a top water bite with my fly rod.

    Got to say hi to Franz the fishing Guru at Catfish Ed's message board at the launch ramp, and Bob at Lakeshore Bait and Tackle, didn't get to the new shop down the street yet.
    City: Oakland/Clearlake

    Tips: Shake shake shake shake shake pause.

    Line moving? Feel pressure on a slow lift or reel?

    Yes?! SET THE HOOK!

    No? See above and repeat.

Saturday, June 3rd, 2006

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    Water Temp: 68

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Spent all week fishing Clearlake,from monday till saterday june 3rd. fihsing tues was tough wendsday same cought eaght to ten fish tuesday bigest going around 31/2, all fish had big belley's,and verry strong, thursday much better day bigest arond six pound's great lake cant wait to get back out.
    City: Turlock

    Tips: zoom plastick's worked fof me in grass.

Friday, June 2nd, 2006

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    Water Temp: 68

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished off Brown's Landing tucked in from the wind a little. Worked from 88 rock to the 3rd house. Drop shot with a 18 inch leader, got 12 in 2 hours.

    whee big fun

    Bluegill everywhere, bring the kids.

    A full day of dual sport riding with friends and vintage midgets at Lakeport Speedway tomorrow.

    Is this a fun place or what?!
    City: Oakland/Clearlake

    Tips: wear sunscreen

Thursday, June 1st, 2006

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    Water Temp: 66-70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: fished june 1-4 fished senco's, flipping tubs, and worms first 2 day caught few to 3.5 lbs, son put on green pumpkin lizard and really started getting bit. largest fish 5.6 lbs on watermelon 4" flipping tube at the bouy at kelsey ck. in about 6' of water. son's 4.6 lber in konocti bay on lizard in 10' of water. had good success at the following locations, henderson pt, kelsey ck/state park, sunset resort area, indian beach, konocti bay no. shore so. of trailer pk, and between konacti resort and water tank. had less success at soda bay, and rattle snake. clear lake is a great place to vacation and fish except for the ever present wind.
    City: medford

    Tips: fish outside tules to 10' use anything watermelon or green pumpkin. leave your hard baits home.

Monday, May 29th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 64-67

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: We fished the edge of tules by state park. We had our best success on 6" ox blood worms fished slow. Fish were just weight, no hard hits. We also had some luck on a white spinner bait.
    City: MIDDLETOWN

    Tips: fish slow right at tule line or back in tules. ox blood seemed to work best followed by mm III.

Sunday, May 21st, 2006

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    Water Temp: 73

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I had the pleasure of introducing world-famous Clear Lake to a fine angler from the state of New York. Could he ever cast - he loved all the docks!! I wish I could have led him to one of the big girls but we caught 19 up to only 3 1/2 lbs or so. They averaged about 2 1/2 with only two small ones. Good quality by New York standards. We fished in the Oaks arm and south of Buckingham. It was cloudy all day and a bit breezy so sight-fishing was not possible - though we did see a few but only one good one. Did we ever see the bluegills! Never has my boat caught so many bluegills (on 8" worms!) and had so many 'gill bites. Man they fight! He was a spinnerbait master and caught several bass on a white 3/8 oz Rodstrainer model - and missed several! We also used dark colored Berkley Power worms. I even drop-shotted a few. Lots of action all day for bass but not lots of weight.
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I don't have much to say positive about the bite since there is a lot of post-spawn happening now. There are always some late spawners so there is still a chance of a nice pre-spawn bass for awhile. Again, this year many bass will be able to spawn far out of the reach of anglers - which is a good problem in the long run!

Sunday, May 14th, 2006

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: I'm bringing my brother-in-law to clearlake for his first time. I've fished the lake numerous years in the fall but only once in the spring. We're going 5-19-6, next friday for a week of just fun fishing. Not many fisherman are interested in giving up info because of all the tourneys going but I'd really appreciate any assistance. Like, the best pattern this time of year, best techniques (texas rig vs. split shot, worm size, color, etc) spinnerbaits(color and retrieve)cranks(deep divers vs. rattletraps)docks vs walls vs tules, northlake vs south and maybe even some locations on the lake as I have a clearlake map. If you're willing to share you can email me directly @ sns4shay@msn.com so as not to give away the farm to the internet world. Thank you in advance for any assistance.
    Steve
    City: Grants Pass

Saturday, May 13th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 68-72

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Launched at about 1:30PM on Saturday and the wind was already picking up. Fished between Shag rock and Buckingham with no luck. Headed to the backside of Rattlesnake island and caught a nice, acrobatic 4lber on a watermelon, red flake brush hog, rigged Carolina style. Called it a day after only 2 hours as a new gas grill was waiting to be built at home. (Which took A LOT more than two hours to build....grrrrrr....)

    Tips: Fishing is tough right now, be patient and mix up your presentations is probably the best advice I could offer. The bluegills are EVERYWHERE, if you get bored catching no bass, try tying on a small jig or worm and catch a few dozen of them.

Wednesday, May 10th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 69-72

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Great advice from the previous reporters tip section, har!!!! Anyway, I was able to return to my pre-teaching roots (I had to do a lot of night trips then) and guide Mon and Tues night. Mon. the weather was very nice with a little wind and Tues was one the of rare mid-year nights with NO wind. Your best chance of no wind at Clear Lake is the second or third day into a warming trend. Beware summer cold fronts - lots of wind day and night! Monday I guided a nice couple for the second time. They are moving to Lakeport and trying to learn the lake. We fished the Rattlesnake arm, Konocti Bay, and areas in-between. We did well, catching 14 up to 6 lbs 10 oz. I was pleased with our limit of 21 1/4 lbs! We targeted tule areas with nearby rock. The big bass was on a rock ledge in Konocti Bay - about 15 feet deep and had not spawned. Best bait was a black 10" Power Worm followed by a 8" Dead Ringer. The Yamamoto Kreature bait produced bass too. Jig bite was dead. Tues night found me fishing with 2 really nice young guys who were pretty good fishermen. One of our first stops was Dollar Island, about 7 pm, where one of the fellows lost a wallowing big bass and on the next cast nails a 4-7 - maybe the male. We caught a few more up to 3 lbs. Since the lake was flat we went up to the north keys but didn't do well though the other fellow lost a 6+ when she came straight out of the water. Hookset, hookset!! All the locals now have their boats in the water - ropes everywhere - weeds growing, tough guiding! We ended up in the Kono-Taye area, fishing docks and walls and the other fellow who haden't boated a fish proceeded to catch 4 in a row up to 3 1/4 lbs - tying his partner with 4 apiece. This was about 2 am. I had 5, so we wound up with 13 bass but only an 18 1/4 lb limit - 5-2 the biggest. Had they landed the big ones they lost, we would have had some good weight. The important thing is that everyone learned a lot and I always do to. Every bass trip should be a learning experience no matter what your level of expertice!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: Not much to say in the way of tips. Either most of the big bass have spawned in the south or they are all being hauled up to the casino. I'm sorry to see that happening again! There are lots of hungry small bass and bluegill everywhere. Frog bite should be just around the corner in the north end, as well as topwater. Fun, fun!!!

Monday, May 8th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 66-70

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: My fishing partner and myself spent the last 4 days with 2 boats fishing hard. Ended up with 40 fish, best one was 4.6 caught by my wife. The only fish I could find were small males (1-2 lbers). Caught them in shallow water pitching brush hogs in the holes of cattails. Some also fell to senko's and white spinnerbait. Best location was the island straight out from redbud. I stayed in the disease keys, you talk about nasty. What kills channel cats? Every where you look dead stuff floating. I spent alot of time in the keys and caught more fish out of redbud in 2 hours than I did around the keys. Water in the keys was 70 with a visability of about 6". I did catch a bluegill the size of my steering wheel on a 3/8 oz. spinnerbait.

    Tips: If you don't know the lake get a guide.

Sunday, May 7th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 67-69

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished yesterday and today, the fishing was tough but the experience was truly enjoyable. The lake right now is alive and full of life, shad are everywhere, and many large fish are cruising the warm water, enjoying the sunshine and looking for a mate (not too interested in eating unfortunately). I did manage to catch a few fish each day by slow fishing a Carolina rigged brush hog in watermelon and red flake and also using a Staysee 90 in the Ghost Tennessee Shad pattern. The largest fish I caught this weekend was -maybe- 4lbs. I fished the middle of day each day this weekend (hey I like to sleep in on the weekends) and caught a handful of fish each day. Saw NUMEROUS fish cruising the shallows with a good dozen easily bigger than 5lbs with one or two approaching 8-10lbs. Lots of bluegills are showing just about everywhere and did I mention the tremendous amount of shad all over? Man, no wonder the fish in this lake are shaped like footballs. And I mean very big schools of live shad not the dead ones we've seen over the last several weeks. Carp were surfacing all over today I also got to enjoy watching a hawk swoop down and take a fairly large crappie (or bluegill perhaps) it was quite a sight for sure.

    Tips: Advice is to fish slow and try not to focus on the large cruising fish unless you find one locked on a bed. Possibly kill time during the middle of the day fishing small jigs for bluegills and crappie. These fish are all around and are easy to find. Sunday I primarily fished between shag rock and Buckingham and yesterday I focused south down around Luebow point.

Sunday, April 30th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 67-69

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Saturday and Sunday with my 4 year old daughter and 21 month old son. I landed 7 fish to 4 lbs on W/M seed New Age knock off senkos 5" and reg senko purple with chartrues tip, caught 5 fish on Sunday. Fished half the day and swam the other half on both days. Got to keep the kids cool and happy. Fished the South end accross from Red Bud. Fish were holding on reg points in tulies and points that were made of tulies. I did find a few holding on big boulders. There were huge balls of shad everywhere but the good news is they would hit my senko under the ball of shad which suprised me, I know under a ball of shad is the best place to fish but with a bait that does not look anything like a shad suprised me, maybe they thought it was a small fish feeding on the shad. The fish were feeding heavey at night where I camped, the bass, crappie and carp were tearing up the shad under a light at the end of a dock, 3 guys landed 7 fish to 7 lbs under that lamp using dart heads with white flukes on the outsides of the ball of shad. I caught a 4 lber about 20 feet in front of 6 poeple on the beach and I let her come up and shake her head the a 65 year old guy just loved it, he swam over and gave me a cigar!!
    City: San Jose

    Tips: For me senkos in any color tossed into the tulies and pulled through real, real slow and watch that line. The fish under 3 lbs would hit it hard but the fish over 3 lbs would just be a presure bite, and if you feel weight, reel down and set the hook.
    Bob on Lake Shore drive in Clear Lake by Red Bud launch ramp turned me on to New Age Senkos, they have scent, last longer, have a resest hook groove and are $1.50 cheaper per bag. Good Luck and God Bless.

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    Water Temp: 63 to 70

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Me and my best fishing buddy decided this is the lake to fish. Wow, we went to two of my favorite spots, and nothing! He says, let's fish shallow instead of deeper. First thing he does is throw a Senko about two feet deep, and BANG! A 9+ give him the biggest fish he has caught on that lake. We kept on fishing shallow, and ended up with about a dozen fish. Most were 2-4 lb range.
    City: Sacramento

    Tips: We didn't catch anything deeper than 4-5 feet. A lot on beds, and getting to them.

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished Sunday all day boated 24 fish. We got about 33% of them off beds the other we were fishing small worms and flukes. Morning was tough but as the water warmed things heated up a bit..biggest fish went 5lbs with the rest in the 2-3 lb range...Saw a ton of tourner fisherman but didnt' see too many of them catching fish.
    City: Mtn View

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    Water Temp: 62 to 67

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Ok here it is. Fished the lake from 27th to the 30th.Had 5 baots in your party and I can tell you it was tough fishing but there is hope,the bass are starting to turn on slowly.Only two reaction bites all trip out of your party.The baits that worked the best were bush hogs in green pumpkin. Had to down size was the key, 3/16oz and down size the hooks.Senkos worked too if you wacky rigged them, that got thoughs fish that were just under the water in the state park and under the docks.The big fish for the party were a 6.13 until Sat. eve when I boated 10.3 and a 5 plus. Keep throwing there going shallower every day.Good luck
    City: oakdale

    Tips: The fish are jacked up so go slow. Stay away from the keys and rattlesnake the dead shad and crap everywhere.

Saturday, April 29th, 2006

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    Water Temp: 62-66

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I realize that almost everyone is a tournament fisherman, but I am really surprised at the lack of reports considering the hundreds of people that fish the lake every week. Anyway, I guided there Tues, Wed, and Fri - overall fair fishing. Tues was a cloudy post-front day with no sun which left us with poor fishing. My clients each had a good fish on near Lucerne - one big one on a ripbait and the other on a spinnerbait - both were lost. Finally one of them lands a near 3 pounder on a worm. A few more bites and that was it. Wed was a different story - SUN - the necessary spring ingredient! A client and I caught 10 bass - the five biggest near 18 lbs. We started from the Oaks and worked our way north. Above state park we started catching a few. We worked a fun pattern using Norman DD-14 shad colored crankbaits. We found off-shore roaming schools of shad and slowly worked the lures under the schools looking for the lazy bigger ones. We put several in the boat up to 4 lbs. Also caught a few on #221 Senkos. In the early afternoon we bought a ticket to enter the north keys. What a zoo! I wanted to show him all the nice bass we could SEE but not CATCH. I know some were caught in the morning. My client, who has fished with me several times, decided he was going to catch one anyway - in spite of what I said. The nerve!!!! We spotted a tail sticking out from a dock and as I was moving my Ranger out to the middle, I suddenly hear a lot of noise from a human and a fish!! Not a monster, but he was very pleased with the 4 1/4 pounder, fooled again with a 221 Senko. Even the home owners were on their docks, trying to catch their new neighbors!! Friday two more clients and I caught another 10 bass up to near 5 lbs. I'm afraid sight-seeing was mostly the order of the day. We saw bass of all sizes from 10 inches to well over 10 lbs. Three 8's swam right by the boat in Konocti Bay. They were friendly but gave us the fin as we cast our Senkos to them. After 11 am the bite just died as the bass tried to get a tan in a foot of water! They were spooky!!! We got a few quality bass and some very small bass - all on Senkos - colors 221, 222, and 301. Our limit wasn't big - maybe 13-14 lbs. We fished most of the time on these trips, but did a lot of learning new areas, as most of my clients want to do. I wish my report was full of monster bass, but I tell it like it is - good or bad!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I really think one of the problems (just some of my theories) is that the weather had made a very sudden change causing the bass to move up quickly - making them a little more wary. As they get used to the shallows, I think the bite will improve. On Friday, about 1 pm sharp, the carp showed up in Konocti Bay to warm up at the 2 foot level. I do believe that 2 to 6 lb bass become a little nervous sunning themselves next to 20+ lb carp. The carp, bass, and bluegill (which were all over on Fri) will all be competing for spawning areas at the same time. I have notice through the years that the bass will often spawn a little sooner than the bass. This year will be an interesting spawn. May the best species win!!! We found bass still actively feeding on shad - even in the north keys. We didn't try swimbaits much because the Senkos and slow moving crankbaits seemed to work well. My Rattlin' Weapon jig with #180 Yamamoto grub did catch a few on Friday - including the near 5 pounder on a dock piling in the west side of the Rattlesnake arm. Hope some of this makes sense!!!