We are now in our third year of drought and low water conditions for Clear Lake. Currently our lake level is slightly lower than it was for this same time frame last year. What this means is that the launch ramps will once again be impacted and some will close because of being to shallow to be able to launch your boat. Currently the best ramp to launch at is the 5th street launch ramp in the city of Lakeport. The third street ramp is now closed and launching at the County Park or at the Redbud ramp in the city of Clearlake can be very dicey and you have to be very careful. Those ramps will probably close by the first of September or mid September. Fishing, catching is very, very slow right now and I don't expect it to get much better until later on this fall when the water starts to cool and the bass start to feed heavily to bulk up for the winter. We have been in a decline for catching numbers now for the past two months, so much so that I have cancelled some of my trips and have been turning others down. It's hard to say why the fishing has gotten so tough, I am sure that the overall pressure from all the tournaments that have hammered this lake year after year and every single weekend has not helped the overall fish population. Combine that with three years of low water levels which may have impacted the overall success of the spawn, and we have a current condition of a down right tough bite with many fisherman not catching a fish for their time on the water. The lake has had some pretty bad algae blooms and they vary from day to day and depending upon which way the wind blows or if it blows, you will find it different each time you go out. The water temperature has been hanging around 78 to 81, be sure to picture your fish when caught and release them and not carry them around in the live wells. I am hoping and praying for a lot of rain this winter to fill up the lakes and that this current condition of a tough bite is just a momentary thing. The lake will continue to drop over these next two months, be safe and be careful while boating anywhere close to shore due to possible hazards.
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