Clear Lake Conditions

Water level today is documented at 2.3 feet Rumsey. This is a drop of about one foot in lake level during the past month. The lake level is still about a quarter of a foot higher than last year at this time. Water temperature is running in the mid 70’s throughout the lake.

Water clarity during the past month is still o.k. in most areas and still real clear in some of the weedier areas. We have experienced some algae blooms over the past week of hot weather, though it is in isolated areas. In some areas deep in the weed beds you can still see bottom in 4 to 5 feet of water. In other areas of the lake, 5 feet or so is about it.

Fishing pressure is picking up as we are moving into the fish off time of year which means, if there is no tournament here, there are a bunch of tournament anglers here getting ready for one coming soon. Virtually every weekend in September is booked with a major tournament of some form.

August Fishing Recap

As anticipated, August saw some better fish to the boat. The hottest weather brought about some more action with top water baits and any time we can get bit on surface baits…some bigger fish will hit the old Boga grip. We have to go back to April to find a better big fish month and September should follow right along.

We had two separate weeks of really hot weather bringing stable air, lack of wind, and increasing water temperature. Those two weeks presented some very good bass fishing and some aggressive surface action beyond the morning flurry. Unfortunately, many of the better areas for this action came from totally new water as some of my better traditional areas of the lake simply were not producing. It has been a lot of research, trial and error during prefish days this year, all a part of the process to keep you folks on fish.

The numbers for August include 13-four pounders, 9-five pounders, 4-six pounders, 1-eight pounder, and 1-nine pounder . There were quite a few personal best fish for clients in those totals. Yep, they will bite when it gets hot!

two-bass-fish

Jenny and Peter Kim of Oakland fished August 1 as part of an extended birthday celebration for Jenny. Both caught their personal best that day – Jenny got a 5.25 and Peter landed a 6.5. See what I mean…August is looking better already! O.K., so I ran the picture again…I told you August was looking better!

September Fishing

Boy do I like September bass fishing on Clear Lake! Some mornings, like today as I write this, we get the feeling of fall in the air. We left the windows open in the house last night and woke to a house interior of 56 degrees this morning, now that feels like fall! These cooler mornings and nights start to drop the surface water temperature of Clear Lake and that is a key signal to the bass.

Falling water temperature caused by the shorter days of sunlight mixed with a lower water level initiates the annual die back of our massive weed beds. This is good news in the long term and bad news in the shorter term. The bad news is the decomposition of the dying weed masses depletes dissolved oxygen from the surrounding water. Areas that may have been full of juvenile bait fish might now be totally devoid of bait as they have moved out to water with a better dissolved oxygen content. Where the bait goes…so do the bass.

Pay particular attention to the weeds you have fish in. Not all weeds are created equal and some will show less dramatic die off patterns than others. Also, remember that just because the weeds are no longer showing on the surface does not necessarily mean that they are dead down to the lake bottom.

In most reservoirs and at Clear Lake, bass follow bait into extremely shallow water during the fall. Surface presentations, shallow water presentations, and medium depth approaches will all produce action this month.

The Purcell family from Nevada made a return trip to Clear Lake last month and got on a good day of fishing with a mix of surface action and drop shot.

Every thing from a popper to a ¾ ounce jig will work this month. It is our job to find which approach is best at what time of the day.

Stick with shad pattern baits (even though the shad population here is in sad shape) and crawdad pattern baits.

The upper end of the lake is a good area for a chance at size, but not so much numbers. The lower ends of the lake will produce better, more consistent numbers and a fair chance at size.

Big Fish of the Month

Big Bass Fish at Clear Lake

Anthony Sperling has been fishing with me for several years now and posted his new personal best in August with this nice 9 pound Clear Lake bass! The best part was it came on a surface bait…it doesn’t get any better than that. If this fish had been living around a better food source it was long enough to be a ten. Congrats Anthony!

Boating in Weeds Tips

Here are a couple of tips that I have learned over the years for boating around the vast weed beds here on Clear Lake.

Firstly, there are fish in those weed beds so don’t be afraid to go into them, through them, around them, and behind them. Fish will always be around the edges of where the weeds stop and open water begins whether that is a space of ten feet in diameter or open lake. Last month we caught many of our fish in areas other boats would not go into because it either did not look appealing or looked like too much work. Less pressure…more unfished fish.

Secondly, yes you can usually run your outboard through what looks like impenetrable weed beds. Keep an eye on your motor’s water pressure and trim your motor out so it is at least level with the water surface. You might be surprised what your motor will go through. If you find fish there, make sure you go back out exactly where you went in. If you make return trips, use the same route and be precise with your boat placement so you keep the path in as small as possible. Never go on a straight line as your trailblazing will be easy to see from the outside of the weed bed.

Thirdly, before putting your boat on plane after coming through a weed bed, stop your boat in neutral. Put it in to reverse and give it a little throttle to blow weeds wrapped around the prop and lower unit forward. You might have to do this two or three times between forward and reverse to totally free the lower unit and prop but it almost always works.

Finally, after a trip into some vast weed beds and once you are home, pull the props off of your electric and big motors. Check for and remove dried weeds and fishing line from the prop shafts. I have found over the years that I actually have more trouble from fishing line that has suspended in the weeds than the weeds themselves. This is something I do once a week on my rig and believe me, there is hardly ever a time when I do not find something behind at least one of the propellers.

Top Water Tackle Tip

For several years I have been throwing all of my surface baits on braided line. As referenced before, it has less memory for longer casts, it floats which helps keep the nose of the bait up, and with its lack of stretch it is easier to make a good hook set on a long cast.

This year instead of using 50 pound braid on all of my baits I went to 20 pound braid on Ricos, junior spooks, and the smaller sammy. After several months of testing I am happy with the performance of the lighter line and will not be changing back. I always wondered if the 50 pound test wasn’t a little overpowering on these smaller, more subtle baits. I think it was.

Twenty or even thirty pound braid if you want, is much smaller diameter than the fifty and allows you much more flexibility when working these smaller baits. We have not lost any fish by going lighter and have still almost straightened out the hooks on some of these baits with the lighter line.

I will stick with the heavier line for frogs, buzz baits, and walking baits as they seem to work just fine.

September Dates

This month will provide some good action so find the time to come fish! Every weekend this month is committed to either guiding or a fish off but there are still days available during the week. Give me a call for availability and let’s get you on the water.

Closing

Thank you for your continued interest and support of Clear Lake Guide Service! It has been the hardest year of guiding I have done since starting with regard to staying on fish and we have experienced some real tough days and some awesome days, that’s fishing. Our business continues to grow with the help of you and your spreading the word. 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!