What a year it has been so far, Covid outbreak, Black Lives matter protests, political upheaval, and un precedented fires throughout the Northwest and we are still in the middle of it all.   Currently and for most of September the bite, fishing, catching, at least for me has been pretty tough and very slow.   As a result I have allowed my customers to change their date or cancel their trips over these past few weeks and the up coming week.  The smoke from all the fires was also a factor but now is clearing up even though we just had another major fire erupt in Napa and Sonoma counties with many homes & wineries being lost and not under control as of this post.   The lake is now at its lowest point of the year, so be cautious when boating close to the shore as many areas now can be a hazard that normally have more water on them.  October is always a busy month for the tournament organizations and it will be again this year.  Every weekend will have some type of tournament going on so try to fish during the week if you can to avoid the extra boat traffic.  We are currently in a heat wave which has set records in many areas and is unusual for this time of the year.  We need a cool down period to get the water temperature to drop and to put the fish in their fall feeding mode to get the current bite to improve.   Stay safe, stay calm, wear your mask, follow the rules, lean on God,   God Bless,  Bob & Tary
 

  As far as the Covid 19 concerns go,  nothing has changed since my last report.   Myself and the other guides working the lake are trying to do business as normal but asking our customers to be concerned and aware of their own health conditions before booking a trip and making sure that they do not have any underlying conditions that could be linked to Covid.  I have masks available on the boat for those who want to wear them and also sanitizer for frequent use.   Even though Covid remains a big problem and a big concern, as guides we have been very busy with people wanting to get away and out of their own restricted environment in the big cities. 
   Currently for this time frame of late August,  the bite has gotten slower which is typical for this time of the year.  The tournament organizations will be hitting the lake on weekends throughout September and October which is also normal, so fishing during the week is definitely recommended to avoid the excess boat traffic.  The bait fish are starting to show up all around the lake and I expect that the top water bite will get much better through September and I also expect that the overall bite will get much better as we head into the fall season.   As of this writing their are major fires throughout California including three that are in surrounding areas around the lake.   We do have smokey conditions now but as these fires get under control and the prevailing West winds kick in,  our air quality will get back to normal.   It's a trying time in the Country now with riots, fires, political upheaval, & Covid 19, but my wife and I are blessed with good health and we approach each and every day with gratitude for all that we have.   God Bless,  Bob & Tary  

  It's Memorial day weekend and the parking lots at the boat ramps are packed with over 1/2 of the boats being from out of the county.  As one of the several local guides working the lake, we are being told that we should not guide as we would be bringing people from out of the area and not honoring the Governors shelter in place and Non Essential travel ban.  It seems to be a double standard for us since out of county boaters can come here,  out of the area guides are coming here and guiding, and you can come here and rent a boat from the local source.   With all of this in mind,  I expect to start re scheduling and re booking several of my cancellations and also start picking up some of my future bookings in the next few weeks or so.
    The lake is currently in great conditions with very nice water clarity and no algae blooms,  although with the predicted next few days of hot weather, we may see the algae blooms start to appear.  I have been out on the lake twice this past week and I would rate the fishing as good.   I have not caught any real big fish but most of the fish we are catching are hard fighters in the one to three pound range.   The top water bite has started to pick up as the bass start to feed up from the spawn and also those that are protecting beds and their babies.  I do expect that once we can fully start guiding and for those who will be coming here through out the summer and fall, that we will continue to have a good fishery and a good bite.  
     The Covid 19 crisis is far from over and I expect in the next few weeks we will see a spike in our counties current 10 cases from this Memorial day crowd that has come to the lake.   As for myself, my wife, and our own caution,  I will be selective in my trips, giving a critique of my customers health and well being, and being satisfied that neither myself, or my customers pose a threat to our mutual health before booking any trips.   Stay safe, practice all the safety protocols, Happy Memorial Day,  God Bless, Bob and Tary 

   It's been a long time since I posted,  it seems the whole world has changed since my last post.  I last guided on March the 12th and right after that our Lake was closed down to all fishing, boating of any kind, and even fishing from the shoreline was and is prohibited.  I have had to cancel all of my mid March, all of April, and I am in the process of cancelling at least the first two weeks of May.  I have been sending deposits back and many of my customers have been asking when the Lake may be open for fishing.  This will all depend on our Governors recommendations and also our County Public Health Director.  It is a good possibility that the lake will be closed for the month of May and even into june for taking people from out of the area.   Our County health director issued a press release yesterday advising all out of the area people to please not visit Lake County during this time of stay at home and shelter in place order.  Even if you own a second vacation home here, they are asking that you honor the stay at home order in your own county and not travel to Lake County.
    I am hoping that I can start my guide business back up by July, but that will depend on how the virus is peaking, what the Governor declares and what our own Public Health Director orders.   For those of you who visit my website and this Facebook page and have pending trips or want to reschedule a trip, feel free to call, text, 707-349-4460, email, bob@fishclearlake.com, or leave me a message here to find out the status of the lake.   My wife and are doing fine, taking daily walks along the uncrowded shoreline of the lake, working in our garden and enjoying this """Very Expensive Vacation""   Stay safe, wear your mask, wash your hands often, we hope you have toilet paper,  (smile)   God Bless,   Bob and Tary
    

Well once again I have been remiss in keeping my reports up to date.  It's amazing what staying busy guiding can do to paying attention to my reports.  It's been another great season for Clear Lake and my business, and from what I have seen from this years trips and my most recent trips, 2020 is going to be even a better year than 2019.   All the fish we are catching are fat and healthy and are getting bigger all the time.   From now until the end of March, most of my trips will be worked around using live bait if the customers prefer and the results can be amazing.   A recent two day trip with the same customers resulted in 122 fish caught for the two days using live bait on a drop shot rig.  It doesn't always happen like this but the live bait definitely improves your chances. 
    The artificial bite currently is geared towards those who want to fish the bigger swim baits and A rigs along with lipless crank baits and deep diving crank baits.  Now through April is the time to throw the larger stuff and look for that trophy size bass.  The crappie bite is setting up to be another great year and they are currently schooling up out in the deeper water before moving in mass into the shallows to spawn later on.   The catfish are also hitting our live bait while fishing for bass and they have been big and fat so it looks like it will be another good year for them as well.   The lake was and is in good shape going into 2020, we had a full lake this year and with our current rainy conditions we are on track to have another good year of water level.  
     From now through April you can work a variety of techniques from throwing the big 8 to 10 inch baits, to drop shotting plastics and live bait.   This is the time frame when that trophy size bass can be caught but you have to be prepared for what the weather will bring with colder temperatures, storms, wind, and rain.   The lake is literally loaded with millions of crappie, blue gill, silver side minnows, and shad, all of which bodes well for bigger bass in 2020.   There is so much bait in the lake that currently it is my estimation that we have over a thousand white pelicans working the lake and herding the bait into the shallows to eat, It's and amazing sight to see.   I will close by wishing all of you who read my report a Blessed Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2020.   God Bless,   Bob and Tary      

The good news at Clear Lake is that the lake is dropping and some big fish are being caught.   The bite went from everyone struggling to put a fish in the boat to some very solid limits and days out on the water.  Starting with last weekends 133 boat tournament which was on the 16th and 17th,   several big fish are being landed and lots of fish in the 3 to 7 pound range.  The average weight per fish caught in that two day tournament was over 3lbs.   I know personally of the following,  one 14.70 lber, three over 10lbs,  four over 9lbs, four over 8lbs and numerous fish in the three to seven pound range that have been caught since and during that tournament.   The 14.70 was caught and on video by one of our local fisherman,   one of the nines was caught by my customers and another of my customers caught a 8 1/2 during this past week.    By far the most popular technique has been the “”A””rig,  then its practically everything you can imagine.   Although lots of people think they have to throw the big baits to catch a big fish here,  my customers nine lber was caught on a four inch drop shot worm and the 8 1/2 lber was caught on a Ned rig.     The fishing should only get better and the news is out about the bigger fish being caught,  it’s been a pretty busy lake even during the week.   The up coming WON Clear Lake Event, 10th, 11th and 12th of April is already seeing a lot of pre fishing going on.   There should be some fantastic weights coming in for that one.  We are heading into some more inclement weather, rain is predicted for this next week, but I don’t expect it to back the bite off that much.   The lake is still in “monitor stage”” and will remain in monitor stage until it drops below the eight foot level.   It is at 8.59 feet as of today, (3/24),  it will drop about an inch a day if we don’t get to much rain this next week.  As long as it is above eight feet, the five MPH speed limit a quarter mile offshore will remain in effect and I stress to the boaters, please follow the rules.   As of today, 3/24,  all boat ramps are open except the ramp at Redbud Park in Clearlake.