In This Issue:
Current Fishing on Clear Lake
Our Tournament Activity
Table of Conditions
Activity This Month
Ultimate Bass University
Looks Like a Better Swim Bait Year
Scheduling in 2011
Volume 5, Issue 3
March, 2011
Bass Fishing

Current Fishing on Clear Lake

Current reports are kinda hard to come by...the fishing pressure here has just been very light.  The few boats you see out on the water are either the few locals who fish no matter what or guys who fish tournaments.  Both groups are about as easy to get useful information out of as pulling a tooth out of shark.

Surprisingly, for all the predictions and forecasts, the lake has held up pretty well.  It continues to slowly rise and will probably be at official full pool (7.5 feet) by the time this hits your mailbox.  So much of our precipitation fell in the form of snow that the run off was calm and didn’t stain up the creeks as badly as expected.

Successful anglers have been using rip baits, swim baits, and rattle baits in all three arms of the lake.  The key has been locating some form of bait.  Depending on which area of the lake you are fishing the fish are coming from 5 to 9 feet and the deeper ones from the 15 to 20 down to even 25 foot range depending on the day and time of day.  Males have begun showing in some of the staging areas which has improved the numbers game a bit.  Overall results have improved enough that top finishers are getting between 10 and 20 bites for a day...not everyone, just the top finishers.

The fish remain bunched up when and where you find them.  This week during my time out when I caught a fish, I caught another one or two in the same area.  One spot I hit produced 3 fish in 4 casts.

I still don’t see days of big numbers for most anglers.  While I am sure there will be anglers out who will get up into the 20 fish range I still look for an average day this month to be in the 10 fish range.  The great news is that those fish are running larger, pushing almost 4 pounds right now.

Bass Fishing

Our Tournament Activity

Jim and I have committed to fishing the ABA Clear Lake division after skipping the first one due to his arm surgery. We are also fishing both the Holder Ford and Konocti Vista’s inaugural event next month as well.

Our first event this past month began with him just getting released for full duty and me sicker than a dog and unable to fish the event. We had done our homework and felt ready to compete and poor Jim had to do it by himself in some pretty cold and windy conditions. A combination of swim baits and shaky heads brought in almost 24 pounds with a big fish of 6.68 for a solid second place start to the year. He managed to go through two limits of fish during the day before breaking a cable on the trolling motor late in the day. Off to a good start...

Bass Fishing

Table of Conditions

Lake Level Water Temperature Water Clarity

7.34 Rumsey

46 to 51
2 to 10 feet
Rising
Steady
North to South


bass fishing clear lake, California

Activity This Month

Look for the days of light fishing pressure to be over for the next 8 weeks or so.  The weekend of the 12th and 13th is the Holder Ford open team tournament out of Konocti Vista Casino.  A great event that has been going on forever will boast a field in the 125 to 145 boat range.  Signups can still be done through the afternoon of the 11th.  The following weekend (Friday the 18th and Saturday the 19th) will be filled by the AC Pro Am out of Redbud.  Early indications show this may have a 100 boat field.  Finally on the 20th is an ABA team event that should have a field of 20 to 30 teams.  Of course, there will be numerous other smaller events taking place that are predominantly smaller, club size events that will not show up on the schedule.

A reminder about what looks to be a fun, new open team tournament event that is scheduled for the 16th and 17th of April.  It is scheduled as a new annual event that is being run by Konocti Vista Casino and has an “all in” of just $160.  It is limited to 100 teams so check it out. Sign ups will begin Saturday, January 22.

As always, if you are planning a trip to Clear Lake and don’t know if your dates are going to be shared with a competitive event, drop me a line and I will let you know what I see listed on the calendar maintained by DFG.  Just another service we offer.

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Ultimate Bass University

Kent Brown invited me to do a little time talking about Clear Lake last month during his Ultimate Bass University at Gone Fishin’ Marine in Dixon.  Had a great group with a bunch of good questions, got a first time tour of an incredible facility, met the staff, and overall had a great time.  Thanks to those of you who were in attendance and participated, thanks to Mark and his crew, and of course, thanks to Kent for the invitation.  The hard part about those kind of things is not filling the allotted time but shutting up!

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Scheduling in 2011

Any of you thinking about scheduling a trip this month only have about a week that is still available.  Current available dates in March are: 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, & 17.  The next available dates are into almost the middle of April.   Thank you to all of you who have booked dates for this spring!  If you are thinking about fishing in April or May start thinking about some dates, making plans, and firming up dates on our calendar.  Another thing about May, we had some awesome days last year during the month of May that were mostly sight fishing, 20 to 30 fish days and a blast!

bass fishing clear lake, California

Looks Like a Better Swim Bait Year

Early indications show a better year for fishing the bigger baits. Popular baits this year so far include the Osprey Top Hook Talon in both 5 and 6 inch, Jerry Rago BV3D in 7 inch, and don’t forget that the little Fish Trap can be a very productive early season bait.

Don’t let the phone camera perspective fool you...that is a 7 inch bait wadded up in the mouth of this bass! I love it when they are chewing these things! You wouldn’t believe this fish’s weight so I won’t say but yesterday was a good day...

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Closing

Thank you for your continued interest and support of Clear Lake Guide Service!  Our business continues to grow with the help of you and your spreading the word and my wife Deb and I both thank you.  Good fishing and keep a tight line.

bass fishing clear lake, California

Miss an Issue of the Clear Lake Report?

We have archived all of our past Clear Lake Report Issues on our Clear Lake Fishing Guide Service website! Go to our Clear Lake Fishing Report Index!

Bass Fishing There is a lot of useful information available on the Clear Lake Website. 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!

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Kelseyville, CA 95451
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