Clear Lake Conditions

As I sit and write this I can look out my window and see the upper half of Mt. Konocti and it is covered with snow for the second time in the past two weeks. We have finally gotten some weather, the creeks are running and the lake is slowly starting to rise. Clear Lake is now over 2 feet Rumsey a gain of three quarters of a foot the past two days. With the forecast for more rain we may get to 3 feet or better this next week. Water temperatures have been running between 39 and 45 degrees, with the lower end of the lake producing the 45 degree marks.

Water color is good in the deeper portions of the lake, with clarity to about 4 feet. The runoff coming in from all areas of the lake will stain up the North end especially from the mouths of Rodman, Adobe, and Kelsey Creeks and down lake towards the narrows.

It always amazes me the size of the trees and limbs I see floating down Kelsey Creek and heading towards the lake. Keep that in mind as you run the lake.

January Fishing

I will be the first to tell you that January fishing on Clear Lake is no picnic, especially early January and low 40 degree water temperature. Most successful anglers will be using live bait.

While we had a pretty good bite going on the North end of the lake with plastics a couple of weeks ago, twenty to thirty fish days, the water temperature dropped to about 40 degrees and our bite died. I have spoken to a number of anglers during the past week who have struggled to get bit.

I got out to do a trip on New Year’s eve for a good client and his sister. I was feeling pretty good about still catching fish on artificials until the water cooled down. Once I saw the water dipping down to the low 40’s I knew we were going to be using shiners to catch fish.

Spending all of our time on the south end of the lake, they caught 20 some fish to 5 pounds, all on shiners. The fish they caught were not giants, but they were typical winter fish, fat and in excellent shape. Her best 5 went a solid 23 pounds with a 5 pounder for the big fish.

I spoke with three other anglers who fished New Year’s eve who stuck with artificials, worms, jigs, and rip baits and between their three boats a total of 2 fish were landed. This just proves to me that the best way to enjoy one of the good weather days of January is to take along some live bait.

Right now, I would concentrate on prominent rock formations like points, shelves, and ledges. The fish we found the other day were between 6 and 9 feet and a surprising number of them were very close to the bottom.

fishing at clear lake

The last fish of 2007! Jeff celebrated his sister Cyndie’s 40th birthday with a New Year’s Eve fishing trip on Clear Lake. This was her best fish of the day, a solid 5 pounder, and one of about a dozen she landed during the day. The weather was awesome, the company was great, and the fishing was pretty good. While we thought the day started out a little cold, being from Canada, Cyndie came prepared including the shorts she wore at the end of the day.

Winter Fishing Tip

One of the things I have learned over the past few years of cold water fishing is fluorocarbon is the way to go. Fishing in cold water requires slow bait movement, staying on the bottom, and trying to get reaction baits just a little deeper.

The heavier density of fluorocarbon line causes it to sink. This characteristic makes it easier to keep a light bait on the bottom. Bottom contact and feel is very important in fishing a split shot or slip shot rig and fluorocarbon line improves your ability to keep in touch with your bait and keep it on the bottom. You will really appreciate this trait in deeper water.

I have also noted that when fishing jerk baits using fluorocarbon line will run a bait about a foot to two feet deeper on comparable cast with monofilament. That extra foot might not make a difference but I have sure seen more days when it does.

The other characteristic of fluorocarbon that I really like in cold water fishing is a relative lack of stretch. Bass in cold water tend not to be real aggressive. They will pick at baits, pick up the tails of worms, and believe it or not sometimes just mouth a shiner. Using a line that has little stretch really improves your feel of what is happening on the business end with shy bites.

I have had good success with fluorocarbon made by P Line, Seaguar, and Gamma. If you fish twelve months of the year like I do and have not yet tried fluorocarbon, check it out, I feel pretty good that it will give you more bites in cold water.

Recovery Update

Thanks for all the phone calls, emails, and thoughts during my recovery from the heart attack I suffered in October. Quite a few of you sent cards or took time out of your busy schedule to call me and I really appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Things are going well and I am pleased to report that I have been exercising and getting back to normal.

My plans are to get back on the water a couple of days a week this month and return to light duty guide trips in February. By the first of March I will be back to full speed.

Shiners Anyone?

Anyone interested in doing a little winter fishing here on Clear Lake with live bait give me a call or drop me an email. The last 3 weeks of this month I am available to do one trip a week and will do the same in February. Strictly from a productivity point of view, these will more than likely be live bait trips. There is a lot of flexibility in my schedule right now so if you have flexibility in your schedule and want to catch some fish on one of our nice winter days give me call.

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Don't be afraid to check out www.clearlakeguideservice.com. There is a lot of useful information available. Even insights into the best times to fish the lake and other fishing tips. Local lodging, weather, and even lake level reporting is available through the links we have set up.

Good fishing and I look forward to seeing you soon!