Clear Lake Bass Report-April 30 1999 The strong winds showed up again this week and made it tough on the fish and fishermen. Most anglers concentrated on the more sheltered areas in the north end of the lake and in the Clearlake Oaks Keys. Al Frietas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake (707-995-9668) reports most of his customers heading for the north end and doing real well with plastics and blades. Al says there are still quite a few shore fishermen in the Clearlake area catching lots of bass with jumbo minnows and crawlers. Bob Higgins of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks (707-998-1006) reports a lot of good fish in the Keys on spinnerbaits and plastic worms and lizards. Terry Knight of the Lake County Record Bee reports good fishing in the north end of the lake regardless of the wind. The top producers are watermelon baby Brush Hogs and oxblood-blue 6 inch Maverick plastic worms worked in the tule pockets in 4 to 5 feet of water. Rodman Slough has been giving up a lot of good bass flipping either black or brown jigs in tules and brush.   Clear Lake Bass Fishing Report-April 23 1999 In spite of the windy conditions most of the week, the fishing has been very good all over the lake. Terry Knight of the Lake County Record Bee reports decent action with Flukes and smaller plastics in the north end of the lake. The fish are staging around seawalls and at the outer edge of the tules. Bob Higgins of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks (707-998-1006) reports pretty good fishing for 2 to 3 pounders with plastics and blades in the Keys. Bob also reports a 12 pound 9 ounce hog on a Baby Brush Hog and a 12 pound 5 ouncer on an in-line spinner taken in the Keys. Al Frietas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake (707-995-9668) reports bassers in his area are doing real well with plastic worms and jigs. Al says shore fishermen in the Clearlake area are nailing lots of big fish with minnows and crawlers. Chris Hinckley of Arcata CA made a worthwhile one day trip to Clear Lake. He caught 9 bass flipping in brush near Holiday Harbor in Nice. He had 4 bass between 3 and 4 pounds and a wall hanger that weighed 12 pounds 5 ounces. All the fish were released in Holiday Harbor so maybe I can catch the big one off my deck!   Clear Lake Bass Fishing Report-April 19 1999 The fishing continues to improve but the bass have not yet started to spawn. The smaller males are staging in shallow water all around the lake. The bigger females are still cruising in and out of the shallows. We had several club tournaments on the lake this weekend and all of them did quite well. The Chico Conservation Bass Club held their tournament out of Holiday Harbor RV and Mobile Home Park in Nice. Since I live in the park, I attended their weigh in. They had 25 fishermen participate and caught 104 bass for their 2 day effort. The top weight for a 5 fish limit was 16.32 pounds. The big fish for the tournament was 5.38 pounds. Sunday was their best day, there were 7 limits weighed in over 10 pounds and a total of 68 fish weighed in. The majority of the fish were taken on plastics in shallow water. Some of the larger fish fell for spinnerbaits. I found the club members to be a friendly and fun-loving bunch, I hope they return to the lake often. Al Frietas of Don's Bait and Tackle in Clearlake (707-995-9668) reports a lot of huge bass from 7 to 9 pounds gobbling jumbo minnows in the south end of the lake. The pros in his area have been doing real well with Brush Hogs and plastic frogs in the tules and flooded brush. Terry Knight of the Lake County Record Bee reports lots of bass in the 2 pound class hitting plastics, spinnerbaits and ripbaits in the tules in the north end of the lake.   Clear Lake Bass Fishing Report-April 2 1999 Winter hit us again on Tuesday night with cold wind, snow and rain. The water temperature varies from the high 40s to the low 50s. The weather has improved considerably and the weekend is supposed to be nice. The bass fishing remains decent in spite of the cold water. Bob Higgins of Limit Out Bait and Tackle in Clearlake Oaks (707-998-1006) reports fair to good results with plastics and or spinnerbaits in the Keys and around Rattlesnake Island. Terry Knight of the Lake County Record Bee confirms the spinnerbait and plastics bite. The north end of the lake is giving up quite a few large fish tight to the tules and in the flooded brush. Ed Ott of Ed's Market in Nice (707-274-8029) showed me a photo of two huge bass taken off the shoreline somewhere near Lakeport this morning with Brush Hogs by a young lady. The fish weighed 14 pounds 8 ounces and 13 pounds 8 ounces. Unfortunately the lady kept both fish. While I realize this is perfectly legal, it sure would be nice if people would release these large spawners so that they could reproduce. It is fish like these that produce the hardy and healthy young that are the future of our bass fishery.  Back to Old Reports