Current Fishing on Clear Lake

WOW!...where do I even start! Seems like I was writing only yesterday that the air temperature was not matching the fish’s temperature or should I say temperment. Fishing pressure has been extremely light other than the blip on the radar screen called the Holder Ford team tournament. That little event put 155 teams on the water for two days plus a number of prefish days. It was won with 60 pounds, 3rd place was 50 pounds, and it took 42 pounds to be in the money at 31st place. Sounds awesome! I got phone calls and emails about the bite being off the hook! Here is the real deal...out of 155 teams, 95 failed to bring two limits of fish to the scales. Fishing here remains pretty good for the few who run around alot and fish hard. The average angler is still struggling to catch a limit of fish.

Added to the intricacies of the bite is the super high water. Clear Lake has been over flood stage for several weeks. As of this writing it is still at 9.2 feet, almost two feet past the full mark. All county park ramps around the lake are currently closed and are to remain closed until the lake returns to 8 feet. Considering that over the past 4 days without rain the lake has dropped a mere .03 feet, that is going to take a while. Launch ramps are still open at 5th Street in Lakeport and Redbud in Clearlake. Konocti Vista Casino also has a ramp that is still available. The water is too high to get a boat under the bridge over Rodman slough.

Successful anglers have been using rip baits, swim baits, and spinner baits in all three arms of the lake. Typically this time of the season we are looking for and concentrating on the flooded deeper tule beds and there are fish there, it is just extremely difficult to see/guess where they are located.

The last couple of days we have enjoyed mid 70 degree air temperatures which has the surface water temp starting out at 51 or so in the morning and getting as high as 57-58 degrees in the afternoon in some parts of the lake.

In the coming weeks of high water and in some cases stained high water the best approach seems to be run and gun. We are picking up a fish on a stop and then moving on to the next stop. 1 or 2 fish a spot and then on to the next. One thing to keep in mind is that these fish will be spawning soon, very soon.

I think I have already caught more swim bait fish this year than last year combined. Which is really cool as it is a blast to watch fish crush the big baits! The pic of the fish with a swim bait in its mouth on last month’s newsletter was a little deceptive due to the perspective of the camera. I have had a few people ask about the fish’s size since it was a 7 inch bait that was barely visible in its mouth, it was a fat and sassy Clear Lake 7 pounder, believe it or don’t.

Of course, live bait works too.

Billy Rehm from Washington State shows off a 5 and a 6.25 caught today in some beautiful weather conditions. Can you tell which one was caught first in the day? Our trips this week have been productive with live bait.

Our Tournament Activity

Our ABA Clear Lake division 2nd tournament was postponed due to a horrible weather forecast, a great and gutsy move by the TD, Ed Clarke.

The other tournament we were scheduled to fish was the Holder Ford. We went into the event thinking we had a pretty good shot at 50 pounds on 25 a day without a big fish. We were early out on day 1 and got off to a good start with a 4, 5, and 6 off our first stops. We then struggled the rest of the day to come up with a couple more 5’s to end the day with almost 25 pounds. All of our fish came on an assortment of swim baits. Day 2 is where our roll kind of came to a stop. Our plan based on prefishing was to move to the Redbud arm of the lake and switch to worms. Worked well in practice, not very many bites but 25 to 27 pound limits. 3 hours in to morning 2 and we had one 4.5 to show for the plan...obviously it fell apart and that means scramble time.

We started working our way back up the lake fishing a combination of worms and swim baits at various depths and put another pair of 4 pounders in the boat but still didn’t have a limit. First time in a long time that I had to fizz a fish, much less 3 fish that came from 30’ of water. Each of us went through a little mental lull where we thought we blew it. Finally in the last couple of hours we were able to get on some spots we couldn’t fish on day 1 and filled out our limit and culled a few to work up to an almost 22 pound limit. It felt good going to weigh in knowing that we were toast but both rallied ourselves to finish strong. If only we had another 45 minutes.......

14th out of 155, with 46 and a half pounds.

Table of Conditions

Lake Level	Water Temperature	Water Clarity
9.24 Rumsey	52 to 58	2 to 8 feet
Steady to Falling	Rising	North to South

Activity This Month

This month features all team events for Won Bass (9th), ABA (10th), Konocti Vista Casino open team (16th & 17th), National Bass West (23rd), and a final event that has a permit but I really don’t know what the heck it is, scheduled for the 29th and 30th. 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 are available up to the night before the event.

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.

Affordable Swim Bait Rods

Jim and I have picked up a couple of Matt Newman’s swim bait rods from his new iRod Genesis Series. There are 3 of them; the Jumbo, Large, and Jr. Swim. The Jumbo is 7’ 9”, rated for 20-60 pound test line, and 8 to 12 oz. baits. This dude is a beast! It will handle the heaviest baits you own with ease. To give you an example the 10” Triple Trout weighs in at 4.5 oz. The Large model is also 7’ 9”, rated for 20-60 pound test, and baits from 4 to 10 oz. The Jr. Swim is 7’ 8”, rated for 12-20 pound line, and 1 to 4 oz baits.

All 3 rods feature a mat finish blank and a moderate action. Jim and I have caught fish on all 3 models to 7 pounds so far. The most notable thing to me is the difference in the moderate action and how light they are for their strength. These rods were designed by Matt to have the right bend for both casting big baits and hooking/fighting fish on big baits. I think he has done a great job on them!

Most anglers will find the Jr. Swim model will cover all of their needs from small bottom walkers to 6 and 7 inch Ospreys. The Large model will handle everything else you have that is bigger than those. The Jumbo is reserved for the heaviest of baits which most people don’t own.

Look for them at Tackle Warehouse at a retail of just $149.99. There are also some videos of them in action. If you are looking for your first or best swim bait rod, check these out. We wish Matt the best of luck, he is a classy guy in a sometimes classless business.

Scheduling in 2011

April’s scheduling is just about wrapped up. We still have the 12th, 18th, 19th, and 22nd available so it is time to start looking towards May. Thank you to all of you who have booked dates for this spring! If you are thinking about fishing in 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!

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.

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!

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!