Just returned from a little more then a week of fishing at Clearlake. Fishing was very different from day to day for one reason or another. Weather changes, wind changes, boat traffic? Either way some days I caught 60+ fish by noon and other days it was a struggle to catch 12 fish. Over all fishing is pretty good. I fished from one end of the lake to the other over the course of the week. We did notice a lot of fry throughout the lake and I did catch a few post spawn females with bloody tails so that may explain the bite.

Water temps are in the high 70’s and water condition remains pretty good with the moderate temps and wind the bloom has been minimal. Temps were fairly stable in the mid 80’s most of the week. The one day that was real hot was one of the better catching days. Winds varied direction and speeds from 5-20 mph. Its looking like its gonna be a windy year. Water clarity varied from cloudy to clear depending on location.

Catching fish can be had just about any way you want to catch em. Crank baits, senko, chatter baits, jigs, drop shot and of course a variety of top water methods. Moving around and trying a variety of baits seemed to be the key. I didn’t find the fish to be schooled up. Actually quite the opposite, they seemed to be randomly spread out at this point. The one bite that seems to be missing is the flip bite. The lake is down 2 feet in the past month and a half. Combined with a late span this may be why. My suggestion is to move around and try different baits until you find em. If you are a junk fisherman Clearlake is your lake.

Smoke was only an issue on one day. I believe the fires are now under control so get on