Clear Lake, CA Fishing Report

It's been over a month since my last post.  I have been very busy with lot's of new customers as well as repeat customers.  We are in our summer pattern now with the lake level slowly dropping due to the normal usage of water for irrigation in Yolo County.  The weed growth has also exploded in many areas of the lake making it much harder to fish in those areas and get a bait in front of the fish.  The fish are currently in three stages,  spawning, post spawn and moving up to spawn.  Most of the fish we have caught these past couple of weeks have been post spawners but I am still seeing fish on their spawning beds.  Although there have been some reports of topwater action with frogs, spooks, and some wake baits, the action seems to be very sporadic.  
     My best success at this time of the year is to rig a wacky senko and work this bait through the  spawning areas, coves, around docks  and fish it through the weeds out to depths of 10 feet.  I use 12 to 15 test fluorocarbon  line as a leader to my braided line for this technique.  Most of the fish we are currently catching are in the three to five pound range.  Fishing pressure has dropped off from the tournament circuits but there are still various club organizations visiting the lake every weekend and the WON people have a big one scheduled for the week days of June, 10, 11th & 12th,  the entry fee for this one is a $1050 and will draw some of the heavy hitters so look for a busy lake leading up to those days.    The fish have been hammered hard and many have been caught off of their spawning beds over the last month with all the tournaments and sight fisherman.  It will take awhile for them to rest up and start to actively feed again.  I typically find May to be a slower bite time for me than other months.   The fish are scattered,  you still have to cover a lot of water and try various techniques to entice a bite.  Over these next couple of summer months you will see a lot more people throwing topwater baits and big wake baits and also start working the deeper sections of the lake with jigs and dropshot baits worked over the deeper rockpiles.   That's it for now, feel free to email or call me at anytime for any info needed.   God Bless,  Bob 

 It's been over a month since my last post.  I have been very busy with lot's of new customers as well as repeat customers.  We are in our summer pattern now with the lake level slowly dropping due to the normal usage of water for irrigation in Yolo County.  The weed growth has also exploded in many areas of the lake making it much harder to fish in those areas and get a bait in front of the fish.  The fish are currently in three stages,  spawning, post spawn and moving up to spawn.  Most of the fish we have caught these past couple of weeks have been post spawners but I am still seeing fish on their spawning beds.  Although there have been some reports of topwater action with frogs, spooks, and some wake baits, the action seems to be very sporadic.  
     My best success at this time of the year is to rig a wacky senko and work this bait through the  spawning areas, coves, around docks  and fish it through the weeds out to depths of 10 feet.  I use 12 to 15 test fluorocarbon  line as a leader to my braided line for this technique.  Most of the fish we are currently catching are in the three to five pound range.  Fishing pressure has dropped off from the tournament circuits but there are still various club organizations visiting the lake every weekend and the WON people have a big one scheduled for the week days of June, 10, 11th & 12th,  the entry fee for this one is a $1050 and will draw some of the heavy hitters so look for a busy lake leading up to those days.    The fish have been hammered hard and many have been caught off of their spawning beds over the last month with all the tournaments and sight fisherman.  It will take awhile for them to rest up and start to actively feed again.  I typically find May to be a slower bite time for me than other months.   The fish are scattered,  you still have to cover a lot of water and try various techniques to entice a bite.  Over these next couple of summer months you will see a lot more people throwing topwater baits and big wake baits and also start working the deeper sections of the lake with jigs and dropshot baits worked over the deeper rockpiles.   That's it for now, feel free to email or call me at anytime for any info needed.   God Bless,  Bob 

 The water temps are now starting out at 50 to 51 degrees in the mornings.,  The warmer weather that is expected this next week will move the temps up into the high 50's by the end of this next week.   The bite is already good on live bait and artificial baits are also working well.    The tournament folks are using the ""A"" rig as their primary bait of choice along with a variety of swimbaits.   Other baits such as chatterbaits,  Lucky Craft lipless crankbaits in the 1/2 oz size and jigs are also working.   We are catching some really nice size fish with almost all fish being over three pounds and five pounders are common.  The bite is only going to get better and better as more fish move up to prepare for the spawn.    The last three tournaments on the lake have taken well over 30 pounds for the best five fish to win the tournament and or get a check.     The "A" rigs come in all sizes and types and are being rigged up with a whole variety of small swimbaits on them.   The Kitech brand is by far the most popular.  Some people are using five to even eight wire set ups for these rigs and they are putting a lot of fish in the boat for those who can stay with them and throw them all day long. 
     Clear Lake is fishing ""Great"" right now with lot's of trophy size fish being caught.   We are going to have an outstanding spring bite.  Now is the time to get on the lake and fish your favorite baits and have a chance of catching a fish of a lifetime.  
     I am getting really booked up on my calendar with only a few openings left for March and April.   Don't wait until the last minute if you want to book a trip.   Myself along with the other guides book out a lot in advance.   As usual,  feel free to email or call me at anytime for any information needed.     God Bless,   Bob Myskey

February 19th, 2013 Lake Conditions, Fishing Report

 Well since the last time I posted, I had a knee operation, celebrated Christmas, New Years and our Anniversary.  Things are fine at Clearlake.  Fishing/catching, has been very slow.  For most of the later part of December we got lot's of rain,  combine this with most of January so far with ""Cold"" temp's with nightime getting down into the 20's has made it very tough and not very many people fishing.    Many of the local fisherman have been having no luck with artificial baits and even the live bait bite has been tough.  Water clarity is very good at mid lake and in the South arms.  The upper end of the lake has also cleared up a lot from the heavy rains in December.  Currently our lake level is at 5.85 feet and considering that all of last year we only got to a high of 5.90 feet, we are well on our way to a full lake if we can get some more decent rainfall. ( Lake is full at 7.57 feet)  Even though things have been very slow for catching fish so far this month, the results of the team tournament on the 13th of this month proved that the fish are still here and are getting ""Big"".  The winners of the tournament had 34 lbs for their best five fish to win the tournament.   Although most of the 36 boat teams struggled and only 9 of the teams managed to catch a five fish limit.   
      The good news is that a friend of mine fished this week with live bait and got on a school of fish and caught 30 fish with their best five fish going an incredible 35lbs.     It just proves that you have to ""Find""them and once you do you can load the boat with some beautiful trophy size bass.  Once our water temp starts to warm up a few degrees, the bite will get much better.  Currently our water temperature is holding right around 43 to 45 degrees.  Any warm up that takes us up to the 50 degree mark will certainly turn these fish on and the bite will steadily get better as we move into February & March.  .
     I have spent this slow time getting my gear worked on, reels serviced, boat problems fixed, new graph, livewell cables, valve, etc. I will be hitting the lake a lot over these next couple of weeks preparing for several bookings I have in February.   I have a lot of bookings on the calendar and I am hoping for another great fishing year here on Clear Lake.   That's it for now, feel free to email or call me at anytime for any information needed.  If your planning on booking a trip,  book early to get your date, some of the prime weeks are already getting full.   Here's to a Happy, Healthy, Blessed 2013 for all of us.   God Bless,   Bob