Northern California and FLW touring pro Jimmy Reese sat down with RBBASS to give some insight on how he would approach fishing Clear Lake for this weekend’s R2S Open and after a large fish die off.

After a massive fish die off like the one that recently took place on Clear Lake, I would run and gun. You want to be moving around until you find fish because it’s all about area. If they are not biting, they are biting somewhere on the lake. You need to keep moving until you find them. When you pull up to an area, you can make 5 to 10 casts and know if there are going to be fish in the area or not.

It’s not about what lure your throwing, it’s all about the area you’re fishing. For example, you can be throwing a crankbait, jig or worm and you should quickly get an indication if fish are in that area. You need to be watching your graph and if you are not seeing fish, you need to pick up and move somewhere else, which will be key. If you find the right areas you can make casts 360 degrees around the boat, which is something that in 25 years of fishing this lake, I have not really seen before.

Some baits that I would be throwing this time of the year and for the R2S event will be a Square bill, jig and top water. A square bill is a great search bait that will cover 2-7ft of water. The color you will want to think about using is a shad pattern because of the current water color.

Another lure that you will want to be throwing will be a jig. Dragging, swimming and popping techniques will all produce bites and will be an effective way to put fish in the boat. Trailers that I would be using would be the Yamamoto Flappn Hog and a 5” Yamamoto Twin Tail. The Flappn hog on the back of a jig catches big fish and the twin tail can catch big fish as well, but catches numbers of fish. Good color choices will be greens for the Flappn Hog and purple for the twin tail. Both baits allow you to cover a lot of water in a quick amount of time. I would throw these baits until you start finding fish. Once you find fish, then you can start playing around with different techniques and lures to figure out ways to catch bigger fish if needed.

Top water is going to be another great bait to use. Lures like the Whopper Plopper and Frogs will work this time of year. Typically, the water temps have been running from 81-93 degrees this summer, which can produce bites. This bite is only going to get better as the water temp drops and cools down. Most people will be throwing top water first thing in the morning, which can be an excellent way to catch fish during the R2S event. Others may decide to start off with a jig in the morning. Water clarity, temperature and area will play a key role in what is going to work better and what an angler will decide to throw first thing in the morning. Clear water will produce better top water bites, especially with the frog. Now, if the fish are up on the surface early in the morning then clarity and color really will not make as much of a difference.

If I were fishing the event, I would either be fishing mid lake or up North. It’s just a matter of time that the North end of the lake will turn. It may not turn on by the time the R2S event hits, but it’s something to keep in mind. There will most likely be some pods of fish up North right now that can be caught, but it’s not as good as it’s going to be once it really turns on.

There are going to be many things to take into consideration if you are fishing Clear Lake right now. Taking all the above information that Jimmy shared will be a great starting point. Get out to the R2S event this weekend and catch some fish!

Jimmy’s sponsors are Gary Yamamoto, Cal Coast Fishing, Douglas Outdoors Rods, Roboworm, Power Pole, P-line, Solarbat, Gamakatsu, Konocti Vista Casino, Lowrance, Top This, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Bob’s Machine and Big O Tires.