Clear Lake Conditions

Water level today is documented at 5.77 feet Rumsey. This equates to a one foot drop in lake level during the past month. The lake level has now gotten very close to the level of last year at this time. Water temperatures are holding in the mid to high 60’s and even in the low 70’s in some areas.

Water clarity is good. Depending on the location, bottom is clearly visible from three to ten feet. I have not seen any significant algae blooms lately.

One thing that is clearly evident is we will have a very weedy lake this summer as vast beds of weeds are reaching for the surface in areas all over the lake. Sago grass has also begun its annual drift around the lake. This grass has no root system and drifts freely around the lake controlled by the winds. The reason this is of interest is when it blows up against the tules it creates little mats that bass will sit under.

What Is Rumsey?

A common question during a trip with a subscriber of this newsletter starts out,” …when you are explaining the lake level, I don’t know what that means.”

Here is a brief explanation boiled down to the pertinent facts. Since Clear Lake is a natural lake there are different factors in describing its surface elevation rather than in terms of feet in elevation. The lake has one outflow, which is Cache Creek. In this creek is a very narrow stretch of passage that is known as a riffle, something similar to a stretch of rapids.

A long time ago an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers named Rumsey, identified this riffle as the place to verify lake level. Remember, back in those days they had no gps. He noted that there was a point each fall when the water in the lake was low enough that Cache Creek quit flowing over the riffle, in essence, the riffle became dry. He created the measurement that at this point of no water running over this riffle would become zero (0) on the lake level guage. If one foot of water would run over the riffle the lake level would be at one foot on what would become the Rumsey measurement or now shortened, one foot Rumsey (+1).

The lake level is now measured in Lakeport at one dock maintained by Vector Control but the name has stuck and reported lake level is still referenced against the depth of water over that Rumsey Riffle.

I report the lake level because almost all public bodies of water in California that hold bass are reservoirs. Typical of the purpose of a reservoir, it is filled up during the winter and spring to hold water for multiple uses during the rest of the year. In some of our reservoirs water levels can fluctuate several hundred feet a year.

The average angler shows up to the body of water they want to fish and finds that either the water is up or down and then adjusts their fishing from there. The better angler knows before they arrive what the water level is and which of his spots are in the water or out of the water.

Since we do not have as drastic of lake level changes but also do not have as much depth as reservoirs, the dropping of Clear Lake by one foot since last month may mean that whole sections of the lake will not be holding fish. That is why I report the change in lake level each month.

Hope you enjoyed this and as always, I appreciate your questions.

May Fishing Recap

Fishing this past month has been a real challenge. It has been by far one of my most difficult months of guiding over the past few years and the numbers reflect that. We had 13-four pounders, 5-five pounders, 3-six pounders, 2-seven pounders, and 1 eight pounder. While we did not but a bunch of big fish on the board the average sized fish ran about two and a half pounds making for some good action.

Most of the fish were caught on the North end of the lake in front of the tule beds and in between docks. Docks also produced a good number of fish this past month.

Our most successful trips number wise were towards the end of the month on Senkos. We also experienced a couple of days that produced perfect conditions for sight fishing and those days were a blast. The frog bite produced a few fish but not the numbers of years past and overall the top water bite has not developed that I can find.

June Fishing

At some point this month, Summer will start, I think. With warmer temperatures and the bulk of the spawn done we will really start looking for a reaction bite. Top water action should improve as the month wears on. Right now, most of the frog bite is actually a fish hitting the frog to protect bass fry, not because they are hungry to eat a frog. As the fry guarding duties cease, the urgency for the fish to begin feeding again to build back its strength and overall health will kick in. I look for the fish to be more aggressive and the strike zone to open up.

Normal summertime fishing includes a little surface action in the morning that will transition into a mid depth presentation, such as crank baits, and then go a little deeper with worms and jigs. This is a time when the deeper offshore structure can load up with fish that will remain as long as bait is present. While most of our fishing over the past several months has been in ten feet of water or less, now we will begin to start finding fish in water as deep as 25 to 30 feet.

There will still be a little spawning activity but typically, the water will be too clouded in many areas to successfully locate fish.

Good bait choices for the month of June include my favorite top water tools the Rico and the frog. Crank baits such as the Speed Trap are good search baits that will help you cover water quickly and locate areas that have active fish. If these should fail you, try the Senko fished wacky style and painfully slowly on docks.

New Items

Bass Bag I have two items that aren’t really new but I have not reviewed for readers of this newsletter. One is a take for granted item for anyone who fishes tournaments or anyone who uses a digital scale to weigh their catch.

It is a neat little heavy duty plastic bag designed for weighing fish. It is made of reinforced plastic, has two heavy duty grommets at the top, and has a drain on the corners of the bottom of the bag. The benefits of using this bag when weighing your fish or a number of fish are many. Once placed in the bag, fish quit flopping so you get the weight quicker with less stress to the fish. Since the bag is slick it appears to be less damaging to the fish’s protective slime coat. Also you do not have to puncture a scale hook through the fish’s mouth which is also less damaging to the fish. The big deal to a tournament fisherman is how much time it saves on a day when you are culling a large number of fish. The big deal to a non tournament angler is how much easier the weighing process is on the fish.

It is called the Bass Bag and it is distributed by Bag-em products (www.bassbag.com). It actually comes in two sizes and on this lake we use the big one. I believe they still sell for around $15. Check this product out at your local tackle shop. If you cannot find it locally, call Tackle It in Lakeport, CA., (707.262.1233) they carry two sizes.

The other neat little item is a hook made by Gamakatsu. It is designed for fishing Senkos wacky style and weedless. I have been testing this hook since last year and really like it for Senko fishing. I confess that I have tried the little o-ring deal to try to save Senkos but have not been very happy with it at all. With the o-ring I found out I was still losing the same number of Senkos but now I was also loosing an o-ring, not good.

The size 1 hook has been working fine on the 5” Senko. The advantages include that the bait can be fished weedless wacky style, making it very easy to skip into hard to reach places and not get hung up. I have found the little nylon weed guard to be durable and effective. Another advantage of this hook is it actually holds the bait on better and longer than the o-rings from what I have seen. The hook is strong and durable and I have not had a hooking problems with it. It is called the Finesse W.G. Weedless hook and it comes in a 5 pak for about $5. Check this little item out at your local shop as well.

June Dates

I currently have the following dates available in June. They are the 6th, 16th, 17th, and 25th. There are still openings available in July. A reminder about Spring 2009, you might want to think ahead as I have already begun booking dates for 2009, and I will be limiting my dates for next March.

Closing

I really appreciate all the interest and comments I have received from you all about this newsletter. My wife Deb and I both also thank you for making 2008 and awesome year for us so far. Our business continues to grow with the help of you and your spreading the word. Thank you again for helping us grow and in turn, be able to provide more as we do so.

Good fishing and keep a tight line.

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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!