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Sunday, June 19th, 2005

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    Water Temp: hi 50's mid 60'

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Four days on the lake were GREAT what a vacation... between my son and i we caught over a hundred fish most in the 2 lb. range and a few 3's and 4's for good measure. dropshoting, Senko's wacky style , jigs, and Kreature's texas rig, were our top baits. no top water, crakin or reaction bit on our end. Fished the South end between Kinocti Bay and Soda Bay and a half a day in Monitor Bay, 20 - 40 fish days were our norm. Docks were a big producer as well as rocks in Soda Bay. Our thanks to Ross England at the Tackle It for the info and having all the tackle we needed to replenish what the fish chewed up. See ya in August i hope if not in Sept. for sure.
    City: turlock

    Tips: Senko's - Watermelon Red or red and black flake. Skinny Bear Jigs 3/8 brown and purple w/single or double tail trailer (green pumkin black flake). Kreature - green pumkin black flake. Dropshot worms - you'll have to talk to Ross, he'll put you on the right worm for the day... Docks, rocks and weed lines moved slow. Deeper water (15-25 ft.) was the key to most of our bigger fish.

Saturday, June 18th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 68.9

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished South end Sat and Sun.Rattlesnake area.Flipped and pitched Senko along tule edges.Lot of fish in the 2# range,two over 4#.Sun repeated same pattern and got spooled on my second cast,never saw it just snapped my 15# test.Ended up with 1 over 6# and lots in that 2# range again.
    City: Marysville

    Tips: Green Pumpkin Senko with small nail weight in the head.

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: four days of great bass fishing. We have been around the Konocti area (1 mile each way) and have been averaging 5-8 bass an hour on rubber worms on the bottom. My seven year old caught three off of the dock yesterday in the blowing cold. Most fish are males with a few females. The bite has been steady all day. Today the winds are calm and we are going out in about an hour.
    City: los gatos

    Tips: purple roboworms- floating

Friday, June 17th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 67 - 74

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Just got back from out weekly trip... My arms are killn me... Less fish due to wind and rain... didnt take the boat out but twice. Caught tons of fish on the same thing. Except.... RIBBIT RIBBIT.... 4 fish over 4 in about an hour....
    City: San Jose

    Tips: Same as before....

Thursday, June 16th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Question.... I usually fish off the piers in CA, and this will be my first time lake fishing. What is best to catch bass? I will be fishing off a dock. What is a drop-shot? (May just have what is needed in my fishing gear, but I might call it something else, eh?) ;)

    Cheers, and thanks
    City: Vancouver, Canada

Sunday, June 12th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Sat 6/11 not a bite with senkos hooked texas. Witnessed a 4 lber pulled out right in front of my dock with a drop shot rig. Sunday, based on the recommendation of the guys at outdoor pro shop threw a senko rigged wacky and 3 fish on 5 casts right off my dock. 4-2 was the largest. This was in the south end.
    City: San Ramon

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    Water Temp: 69

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Well tried almost everything with no luck not even a bite till about 9:30A then decided to go to the old stand by My spinning outfit with 8lb tournament Green line Split shotting a 4" Keeper Junebug fat mini worm Green flake and a chartruse tail. That did it for them caught about 10 fish in the next couple hrs 12inches to 3lbs. I guess when it get tough just gotta go back to basics
    City: Kelseyville

    Tips: Small baits seem to be the trick today but as always at Clearlake that could change anytime.

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    Water Temp: 70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Been on the lake for my weekly trip every year. The fishing was the worst I can remember. The wind made it impossible to fish most of the areas I wanted to fish. I caught a few fish on drop-shot and had a couple of very good crankin days but nothing to brag about. Best fish went 4.9 all week until I switched to minnows in the calm areas of the lake and then the quality got much better. Best of luck guys cause I couldnt get on a pattern.
    City: Sacramento

Saturday, June 11th, 2005

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Tore my keel up pretty good. Tied off into slip for the night @ Blue Fish Cove. Wind hammered my boat. Just fished off the dock for bluegill so my two girls 7 & 9 would know what it would feel like to catch fish. Didn't want to fight the wind and have only been to clear lake one other time. I don't really know where to go and how to fish the lake. I don't know if it's worth going back there. Can someone give me a tip? It would be greatly appreciated.
    City: Reno

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    Water Temp: Forgot to look

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Fished my favorite spots in the south end and the wind was blowing like crazy, fish 6/11 from 11:00 to 2:00, I do not mind the wind I can make it happen but the fish would not cooperate. I Have not been skunked at Clear Lake for 2 years but I guess it was humbling time. I tossed senkos, purple /brown drop shot with not even touch.
    City: San Jose

    Tips: I spoke to a local and he said you need to search and search until you find a school. He was using jibs but would not say where. His buddy got skunked but he did well.

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    Water Temp: 66-68

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I took my youngest daughter out and we fished the north end for three hours without a bite. I figured we needed to get away from the massive carp spawn so we headed south. We started drop shoting in deeper water and picked up two fish. It got rough so we headed into a cove and picked up two more, better fish, flipping heavy cover.

    My goal for the day was for my daughter to start feeling the bite in her own, setting the hook and fighting her own fish.

    We stayed with it. After heading north again, we started fishing docks. I found a large group of small fish that would bite anything you threw at them. My daughter started catching fish. Then she wanted to run the trolling motor.

    If you can picture a four foot tall kid standing on the front of a TR-20 running the motor, setting the hook, deck flipping 10" ers. Needless to say my day was complete. She really wanted to catch one of the 30 lb. carp that were tailing all over the shallow cover, but she stayed with drop shotting 4" worms with her Zebco 33.

    On this day Clear Lake was on fire with 10" fish and I can't remember when I had so much fun!
    City: Redwood Valley

    Tips: 4" worms off the docks, or deep rocks for small fish. We must have caught no less than 50.

Wednesday, June 1st, 2005

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    Water Temp: 68-70

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Another great couple days on the lake.... Between Wed and Thurs me and my girl caught about a Hundred fish. That seems to be the weekly average. Most fish were 1 to 2 lbs but a dozen or so were in the 3 to 4 range. Lake was very windy. White caps 2 to 3 foot rollers but my new Nitro skimmed across the top at 50 like she was on glass. Very impressed, props to the guys at Nitro.
    Saw alot of boats and talked to alot of guys that caught nothing but a sun tan. I watched them and didnt have the heart to tell them what they were doing wrong.. anyway Like I said before I am up there every week from Tues pm to Thurs PM...
    City: San Jose

    Tips: I have received many E-mails about Clear Lake and will give the info to anyone who e-mails me.

Monday, May 30th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 65-66

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Just wanted to stop back in and say thanks to Jeff for the tips. My buddy and I just got back from Clear Lake yesterday and we, the wives and the kids had a blast. Bass fishing was solid. We only carved out a few hours each morning to go off on our own, leaving the bulk of the day for family stuff. But that didn't stop us each from putting limits in the boat most days. I was also able to keep up my streak of decent lunkers pulling in a 6.9. Every trip seems to produce at least one fish over 5 lbs and make the trip for me. It took us a little while but we finally realized that he best bites weren't coming off the tule edge, but rather just past the first weed line in about 8-10 feet of water. All of the bass were caught on watermelon or black Senkos and Yum Dingers rigged wacky style. Also, contrary to common opinion, we were not just pitching and retrieving after the initial fall. I've noticed that, especially rigged wacky, most of my fish came after lifting the rod tip retrieving the worm and letting it fall back a second or third time on the way to the boat... more like a standard plastic worm retrieve. Most all of the bass came between Wheeler and Kinocti.

    More importantly, my son had an absolute blast as the bluegill and crappie fishing was phenomenal. He's only 3 1/2, but loves to fish. We had a great system... Dad hooks 'em and he reels 'em in. Only lost a few to the father son transfer process :). We spent every evening nailing crappie on red and white creme jigs (1/32) and many of the afternoons doing the same with the same bait for great sized bluegill.

    The family wants to make it an annual thing now. Thanks again Jeff.
    City: Stevenson Ranch

    Tips: Dark Senkos... off the tules in slightly deeper water rigged wacky with a slow retrieve. Others we spoke with were doing very well with 4" drop shot worms in brown / purple patterns. Also... I've never seen this many baitfish in my life. It's a wonder the bass bother hitting lures at all :)

Friday, May 27th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 70

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: The water has cleared a bunch since last weeks storms and the weather has been beautiful surface temps 66 early am to 70+ by afternoon sight fishing has been fantastic lots of fish are and have moved up. lots of fry from the earlier spawners. Still catching some pre spawn fish but not as many post spawn fish yet. Chartruse seems to be the color of the week. Been taking the kids out with some jumbo minnows and they are having a ball watching them catch a bunch of fish is better than catching them myself. Bob over at Limit Out tackel seems to have the best minnows. Had some fun with frogs yesterday caught several with my old bubble gum pink strike king frog. So good bite right now but as you know that can change over nite so get on while the gettin is good.
    City: Kelseyville

Wednesday, May 25th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 63-66

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: I got to do something I havn't done in awhile - back to back night trips Mon and Tues. Weather was good on Mon evening and amazing on Tues evening. We ran up to the north end at 8 pm Tues and the lake was like a pancake - barely a ripple. Don't see that much this time of year!! The first trip reminded me why I love guiding! I introduced Clear Lake to a new angler and soon he caught his first CL bass - 10 inches! I told him he could probably do better than that!! We moved to the docks south of Buckingham so we could fish shadows. I normally don't guide on Mondays because of the weekend tournament crush - but took a chance this time. I had him fishing a Sweet Beaver in dirty Sanchez color and heard a grunt and a yell about 8:10 pm. After telling him loudly to quite pumping his rod and keep the pressure on - I netted a pre-spawn 7 lb 2 oz bass for him. Talk about excited! Ever heard a grown man babble?! I think he spoke broken English for the next 2 hours!! He just got into bass fishing a few years ago and his biggest had been 5 something lbs. She was in about 4 feet of water near one of the many walls in that area - but off the wall a few feet. We had 5 before dark and then fished for about 4 hours in Konocti Bay and some other areas with NO fish! I couldn't believe it. We returned to the same spot where the big one was caught and within a minute, he sticks a 4-1 and a 2 1/4 on a black/red brush hog. I finally get a 2-10 - my only fish of the night. He wound up with a 17 lb limit and with my earlier 3-2 factored in, we had a 19 1/4 lb five fish limit. That was the "slowest" good limit night I can remember. He was still excited as he left with poloroid photo in his hand!! We caught 9 bass total. I had heard that the bite had taken a dive in the past week, but hoped we could have a great night Tues and maybe match the weekend tournament weight for two days (nights!). After a slow start in the south end, we went north to entice more bass that might have moved up. Obviously, we can't see our night fish and have to fish areas that should hold pre-spawn bass. I suggested chartreuse Senkos and that worked, along with the beavers. Pre-spawn bass hate chartreuse! After dark, about 11 pm, the fish came alive. We pitched brush hogs, worms, Senkos, and I used a "double wide" junebug beaver for the first time. Yes - it produced the two biggest bass as a big bait should - a 4 1/2 and a 4-14. I quit fishing after that. Clients had two other 4's and lots of 2-s and 3's - 15 bass total. We did get our 20 lb 3 oz limit for a two night total of 39 lbs 7 oz. I was happy with that even though we didn't make 40. One of the clients had cast over a cable with his line and, of course, hooked a 6+ and, of course, it broke his line. I lost a big one too that mowed down weeds like a lawnmower, but I couldn't catch up with her to get a really good hook set. A beautiful evening with beautiful bass and great clients!!!
    City: Yuba City

    Tips: I think the warm weather has certainly caused new bass to move up. Should be good this weekend. We fished several good areas around Lakeport with good spawning bottoms and some protection. I'm glad the tournament folks saved up some!! We did not try the drop-shot dock thing for post-spawn bass. That may be very good soon.

Tuesday, May 24th, 2005

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    Water Temp: 65

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Sorry guys I know this isn't a chat room, but I have to help out a man that wants to take his kid fishing and I think it's important for kids to have an exciting experience. Scott, I have been doing well on the crappie, bluegill, and bass from Baylis point to Wheeler point fishing the tules.For crappie cast to the tules and let the jig swing back to the boat reeling SUPER SLOW.A jig 4' to 7'under a bobber will produce for you too.We have been catching some fish just dropping straight down under the boat too. The bass have been eating the 5" watermelon sinko riged wacky with a weedless hook pitched into the pockets in the tules. I hope this helps and please give us a report when you get back.I won't be there this weekend my family and I will be fishing the columbia for giant sturgeon. Good luck.
    City: FRENCH CAMP

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    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Jeff: Thanks for the quick response and the suggestions. I've let my buddy know and my son's excited to hear it. I don't even mind a little crappie fishing if the bass bite slows down too much. You mentioned around the tules? In Southern California we don't get much of a chance to fish for crappie. Any particular area or depth you'd suggest?

    Thanks again for the info. We're really looking forward to the trip. Most of the big fish I've caught in my life have come during these once a year Clear Lake trips... looking forward to passing it on to the kid. Getting him off to the right start with some fast action on bluegill sounds like just the ticket, but then he's already telling me he wants bass. Gotta love hearing that :)
    City: Stevenson Ranch

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    Water Temp: 65

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Scott, I don't know about the north end but down south the bluegill are everywere. My vacation house is on baylis point and my kids were catching bluegill as fast as there meal worms would hit the water off our dock last weekend.The Berkley meal worms worked just as good and they stay on for about 10-15 fish.
    The crappie bite is also going well on 1/32 oz. chartruse jigs around the tules. Me and my son caught 50 in 2 hours on sunday. The bass fishing is a little slower, but senkos and drop-shotting is working around tules with rock. Good luck and hope you guys have a blast.
    City: FRENCH CAMP

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    Water Temp: ??

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: My buddy and I are bringing our sons up to Clear Lake for a week long trip starting this Saturday. It's an annual trip (usually) for the two of us, but this is the first time the families are coming. I'd really appreciate some tips on where to find the bass this time, as I missed the last two years and am not really up with what's working and where on the lake. But more importantly, I'm also hoping to get into some blue gill or something for the boys. Any tips on where to find some fun panfishing for youngsters would be very much appreciated. Thanks.
    City: Stevenson Ranch

Sunday, May 22nd, 2005

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    Water Temp: 63-65

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Hey Ryan, just spent Sat-Sun at the lake and saw a couple of "Bow-hunters". Spoke with them at the launch ramp today, and they got 150lbs.in the keys sunday-and 300lbs. in north lake on saturday.
    Now for the good part the bass report-or not so good. Wind played a big factor this weekend.lots of it. Tucked away at Rattlesnake for a short time both days with just a few dinks to show for the effort.The keys seemed to be the ticket to shelter yourself from the wind.However, like most weekends there was yet another tournamant and the keys were packed.We have a house on the water, and most of the guys were froggin or using the old trusty Senko. Most guys said they had a small limit 10-13 lbs. The action has taken a down turn from the past 2 previous weeks.
    City: antelope

    Tips: Go to the lake anyways and have fun!