Since my last report the only thing that has changed is that the lake has gotten a little lower and a couple of ramp areas have closed due to the shallow water. The main ramps in the city of Lakeport, Clearlake Oaks and the city of Clearlake all have usable ramps. Exercise caution when launching and motor out into the deeper water with your main engine trimmed up until you get deep enough to get up on plane. This last weekend was the start of four major tournaments hitting the lake this week. Last week was the Angler's Choice fish off with 63 boats. It took 62 pounds for ten fish, two days, to win this tournament. While that is "Fantastic"" the reality is that most teams struggled to put together a decent limit of fish.
The main cause of the bite being slow and tough right now in my opinion is the VAST amount of bait in the lake along with millions of small fingerling bass in the 3 to 7 inch range. The big bass have all they want to eat and we will need some colder temp's, cooler water trend to turn these bigger fish on. Currently our weather trend is warm to hot with several up coming days predicted in the high 80's to low 90's. All of the fisherman who been fishing the upper end of the lake have basically been concentrating on the only thing they can fish and that is vast amounts of off shore weed beds. Most all of the docks on the West end of the lake have very little water under them to hold fish. As I said in my last post, using a drop shot will eventually get you a decent size fish but you will spend most of your day taking off the small fingerling bass. It will take bigger baits, big crankbaits, larger flipping, punching type baits, and certain topwater baits to eliminate the smaller fish bite. I am sure that those off shore weed beds are holding bigger fish for those who can spend their time working them, but it will take a lot of work and the right baits to catch them. Deep diving crankbaits, swimbaits and working a jig in the deeper waters will be a big part of the upcoming FLW tournament pros's and yes there will be a lot of them working those off shore weed beds. Triton Boat owners tournament starts tomorrow, 4th & 5th,(maybe 80 boats) then FLW is here Oct 9th through the 11. (maybe 100 boats) The following week will see ABA having their year end rally that should bring over 125 boats. All of these tournaments will be operating out of the West end of the lake and most of them will be using the 3rd & 5th street ramps in Lakeport. For you casual fisherman that may be planning on coming to the lake for any of these dates, you may want to consider launching at Clearlake Oaks, or at Redbud park in Clearlake.
All in all it is good news of the size of the fish for the winners of last weeks tournament. It is also good news that the lake is loaded with bait and that we have thousands if not millions of small fingerling bass. If you have younger fisherman, it is a great time to rig up a drop shot rig with a small worm and watch them catch all of those smaller bass, they will not get bored. Be safe, launch with caution, and boat with your motor trimmed up when you are within 50 yards of shore just to be safe. God Bless, Bob
The main cause of the bite being slow and tough right now in my opinion is the VAST amount of bait in the lake along with millions of small fingerling bass in the 3 to 7 inch range. The big bass have all they want to eat and we will need some colder temp's, cooler water trend to turn these bigger fish on. Currently our weather trend is warm to hot with several up coming days predicted in the high 80's to low 90's. All of the fisherman who been fishing the upper end of the lake have basically been concentrating on the only thing they can fish and that is vast amounts of off shore weed beds. Most all of the docks on the West end of the lake have very little water under them to hold fish. As I said in my last post, using a drop shot will eventually get you a decent size fish but you will spend most of your day taking off the small fingerling bass. It will take bigger baits, big crankbaits, larger flipping, punching type baits, and certain topwater baits to eliminate the smaller fish bite. I am sure that those off shore weed beds are holding bigger fish for those who can spend their time working them, but it will take a lot of work and the right baits to catch them. Deep diving crankbaits, swimbaits and working a jig in the deeper waters will be a big part of the upcoming FLW tournament pros's and yes there will be a lot of them working those off shore weed beds. Triton Boat owners tournament starts tomorrow, 4th & 5th,(maybe 80 boats) then FLW is here Oct 9th through the 11. (maybe 100 boats) The following week will see ABA having their year end rally that should bring over 125 boats. All of these tournaments will be operating out of the West end of the lake and most of them will be using the 3rd & 5th street ramps in Lakeport. For you casual fisherman that may be planning on coming to the lake for any of these dates, you may want to consider launching at Clearlake Oaks, or at Redbud park in Clearlake.
All in all it is good news of the size of the fish for the winners of last weeks tournament. It is also good news that the lake is loaded with bait and that we have thousands if not millions of small fingerling bass. If you have younger fisherman, it is a great time to rig up a drop shot rig with a small worm and watch them catch all of those smaller bass, they will not get bored. Be safe, launch with caution, and boat with your motor trimmed up when you are within 50 yards of shore just to be safe. God Bless, Bob
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