Clear Lake Conditions

As I sit and write this I can look out my window and see not only the upper half of Mt. Konocti and it is covered with snow but the surround low lying hills too. We actually had snow falling at lake level but not sticking. Clear Lake is approaching 3 feet Rumsey, still short of last year but at least it is starting to come up. The forecast includes rain/snow mix and rain showers for the next 8 days so hopefully this time the forecast will actually add up to a rising lake. Water temperatures had actually made a turn for the better through the middle of January starting in the mid 40’s and hitting 47 degree by mid day but with the current air temps and lack of sunshine, we are headed back to the low 40’s again. One interesting note is the north end temps have caught up with the south end temps.

Water color is good in the deeper portions of the lake, with clarity to about 4 feet. Overall, the entire lake is pretty fishable, but there is only about a foot of visibility on the north end. Depending on how much rain actually falls around here through this batch of storms, runoff coming in from all areas of the lake can stain up the North end especially from the mouths of Rodman, Adobe, and Kelsey Creeks and down lake towards the narrows.

February Fishing

Until this week, the fishing had definitely been picking up. Our live bait trips were successful and a couple of days ago we even put together a 15 fish day on the north end using artificials. Most of the reports you can find for Clear Lake right now detail bleak trips of blanks, one or two fish per day, and that is it.

February is still going to be a month for live bait if you want consistency. It is absolutely winter here. As long as it stays cold, the fish will be relatively inactive and tough to tease into biting. Watch the weather though. If we start to see a break in the storm pattern and some sunny days towards the middle of the month, the bite will begin to perk up.

The rip bite has not really materialized yet and probably won’t until the water starts staying consistently above 47 degrees. Best bet with ripping right now will be first hours of the morning and then put it away.

When the bite is tough here and you don’t want to use live bait, stick with the plastic worm. It will just flat catch fish for you. Whether a shakey head trick worm, a dart head worm, or a drop shot worm, fished slowly and thoroughly, these baits will at least get you bit. Depending on the day, one will work better than the other but my point is, one of them will work. During our last trip, my partner Jim was getting bit more often on the drop shot, but the fewer bites I got on the shakey head produced our better fish.

In this type of water, fish will be a little more spread out and not really sitting on docks, pilings, or walls. Look for them off the bank and keep changing depths until you find the depth where you get bit.

The other key we have found recently is in certain areas you will start to see small balls of baitfish. They aren’t very big, but when you find them, there are bass around.

Bait color choices are simple, use what you have the most confidence in this month. Worm colors include junebug and green pumpkin for shakey heads, oxbloods and purples for drop shotting. In the more stained water go with black and blue jigs and in the clearer water either brown and orange or brown and purple.

Winter Fishing Tip

When hitting the water for a day of bass fishing during the winter I know I am not going to get a lot of bites. How do you deal with that fact and is there anything you can do to tip the odds in your favor? Here is how I deal with it.

Firstly, I lower my expectations. I already know that cold water and especially stained cold water present conditions that make it difficult to coax a bass into biting. I won’t hit the water thinking I am going to blank but I convince myself that catching a limit of 5 fish is a good goal, anything beyond that is gravy.

Secondly, since I now know I am fishing for only 5 bites, I have to concentrate and work at making each presentation as good as I can make it. I certainly don’t want to miss one of those 5 bites so I have to pay attention. I will also use a scent on the bait so that a fish that picks up the bait will hang on to it a little longer giving me every possible chance to set the hook. Each cast needs to be accurate. A cast 3 feet off of the piling might not get bit, today I am going to have to hit each piling I fish. The reason I am anticipating so few bites is the strike zone of the bass is smaller now than any time of the year.

Thirdly, I really pay attention to the bites I get and exactly what I was doing when I got bit. As an example, on our last day on the water, Jim cast over my line and eventually fouled our lines together. Of course I accused him of doing it on purpose as I just knew I was going to get bit on that cast! In the middle of his attempt to untangle the lines, I noticed my line starting to move, and at about the time I was going to really chew him out for messing up my opportunity he felt the fish on the line in his hand, pulled the line tight, and hand lined my fish to the boat. The point here was, that was not an accident, that fish told us we may have been fishing too fast. We slowed our retrieves way down and doubled our fish count for the day. This is why it is critical to pay attention to each bite and attempt to duplicate the presentation.

Finally, understand that even when you are not getting bit you should be learning something. When you are not getting bit, a change is in order. The first thing I change is presentation rather than location. When I pull onto a spot I already believe that bass are present, I just have to figure out how to get them to bite. Overall the best rule of thumb for winter fishing is you cannot fish too slowly. The water is cold, the bass are cold, the bass you catch won’t fight real hard because physically, they cannot. Give them plenty of time to see your offering.

As you can see, I think a lot of success in winter fishing depends on your mind set. Think about it before you hit the water and you will have a better day once you get on the water.

Recovery Update

All is going well. I am up to an hour of walking at a time and covering about 3 miles in that time span. I have done a couple of full days on the water and feel pretty good. So far, everything is looking good and I feel that I am on schedule for a full recovery by the first of March.

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. There are some beautiful days ahead this month with very light fishing pressure, you might as well come and enjoy one. My goal for February is to put on a trip once a week. To support that goal I am offering a two for one special, two anglers for the price of one during the month of February, that is a $100 savings. This is the last month for a while where there will be a lot of flexibility in my schedule. March is almost full and April is filling fast.

The last shiner trip we did was a 50 fish day, that is a lot of fish for one guy to real in!

Here is the first fish of 2008 for me, and the first nice fish of the year for a client, a 9.25 pounder. You can decide which one is which:

Bass Fishing on Clear Lake

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Good fishing and I look forward to seeing you soon!